VM State Encapsulation Boot Loader for Physical Migration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current virtualization technologies do not provide a straightforward method to convert a virtual machine into a form suitable for execution on a physical machine, which can be necessary for disaster recovery, problem reproduction, or software upgrades, especially when the virtualization layer may introduce compatibility issues.
Innovation Solution
The method involves creating a bootable image for a computer by instantiating a virtual machine within a virtualization system, encapsulating its state, and introducing a boot loader that performs transformations to allow the virtual machine state to be bootable on a target physical machine, using storage area networks or other storage technologies.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If virtual machine state is encapsulated within a virtualization system, then the virtual machine can be isolated and managed securely, but the virtual machine cannot be directly executed on physical hardware due to virtualization layer compatibility issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a boot loader as an intermediary component that mediates between the virtual machine state encapsulation and the physical hardware. The boot loader reads the virtual machine state from storage, performs necessary transformations to make it compatible with physical hardware, and initiates execution on the target machine. This resolves the contradiction by enabling secure virtual machine management while facilitating compatibility with physical hardware through the intermediary boot loader layer.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-creating and storing the virtual machine state encapsulation in a ready-to-deploy format. The boot loader is pre-configured with transformation instructions that prepare the virtual machine state for physical hardware execution. This preliminary preparation allows the virtual machine to be quickly migrated to physical hardware without requiring real-time conversion, thus maintaining security while enabling adaptability.
2Productivity
If virtualization technology is used for server consolidation and replication, then resource utilization improves, but the ability to migrate to physical hardware for disaster recovery or problem reproduction is limited
Solution Approach 1:
The patent makes the virtual machine state encapsulation universal by creating a format that can be executed on both virtualization systems and physical hardware. The boot loader is designed to be multi-functional, capable of reading virtual machine states from virtualization environments and transforming them for physical hardware execution. This universality enables the same virtual machine image to serve multiple purposes: normal virtualized operation, disaster recovery on physical hardware, and problem reproduction, thus maintaining high productivity while improving reliability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If a boot loader is introduced to transform virtual machine state for physical execution, then compatibility with physical hardware is achieved, but the system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the transformation functionality into a separate, dedicated boot loader component rather than integrating it into the virtual machine state or the physical hardware. This extraction allows the boot loader to be a standalone utility that can be independently developed, tested, and maintained. By separating the complexity into a distinct component, the overall system structure remains manageable while achieving physical hardware compatibility through the boot loader's specialized transformation capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
One embodiment of the present invention includes a method of making a bootable image for a computer, wherein the bootable image corresponds to a first virtual machine but is bootable on a target machine, the method comprising: (a) instantiating the first virtual machine within a virtualization system and executing computations thereof, the computations operating upon an encapsulation of virtual machine state for the instantiated virtual machine; and (b) introducing into the encapsulation, a boot loader that defines at least one transformation to be performed on the encapsulation to allow the target machine to boot from the virtual machine state.