System and method for managing snapshots of storage objects for snapshot deletions

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10872059-B2
Application number	US-201816112704-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Aug 25, 2018
Priority date	Aug 25, 2018
Publication date	Dec 22, 2020
Grant date	Dec 22, 2020

Abstract

System and method for managing snapshots of storage objects stored in a storage system uses a storage structure that includes both a storage object and any snapshots of the storage object. When a request to delete the storage object is received, the storage structure that includes the storage object is checked to determine if there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure. After determining that there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure, the storage object is marked as being delete designated without deleting the storage structure. After determining that there is no snapshot in the storage structure, the storage structure is deleted.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method for managing snapshots of storage objects stored in a storage system, the method comprising:
receiving a request to delete a storage object stored in a storage structure in the storage system, wherein the storage structure is also used to store any snapshots of the storage object;
in response to the request to delete the storage object, checking the storage structure to determine if there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure; and
after checking the storage structure to determine if there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure, marking the storage object as being delete designated without deleting the storage structure when a determination is made that there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure and deleting the storage structure that includes the storage object when a determination is made that there is no snapshot in the storage structure.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage structure includes snapshots created by different requesting entities.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the different requesting entities include a data protection module and a virtualization software that supports one or more virtual computing instances.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage object and the snapshot are both stored in the storage structure using a B+ tree structure.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage structure includes at least an archive section, a metadata section and a data section, and wherein a reference to the snapshot of the storage object is stored in the archive section of the storage structure.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein checking the storage structure to determine if there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure includes reading the archive section of the storage structure to see if there is any reference to snapshots for the storage object in the storage structure.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving a request to delete a snapshot of the storage object in the storage structure;
in response to the request to delete the snapshot, determining whether an existing linked clone in the storage structure is associated with the snapshot; and
after determining whether is an existing linked clone in the storage structure is associated with the snapshot, marking the snapshot in the storage structure as being delete designated without deleting the snapshot in the storage structure when a determination is made that there is an existing linked clone associated with the snapshot and deleting the snapshot in the storage structure when a determination is made that there is no existing linked clone associated with the snapshot.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the storage object is a namespace object of a virtual machine or a virtual disk object of the virtual machine and the snapshot is a snapshot of the namespace object or the virtual disk object.

9. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing program instructions for managing snapshots of storage objects stored in a storage system, wherein execution of the program instructions by one or more processors of a computer system causes the one or more processors to perform steps comprising:
receiving a request to delete a storage object stored in a storage structure in the storage system, wherein the storage structure is also used to store any snapshots of the storage object;
in response to the request to delete the storage object, checking the storage structure to determine if there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure; and
after checking the storage structure to determine if there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure, marking the storage object as being delete designated without deleting the storage structure when a determination is made that there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure and deleting the storage structure that includes the storage object when a determination is made that there is no snapshot in the storage structure.

10. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the storage structure includes snapshots created by different requesting entities.

11. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 10 , wherein the different requesting entities include a data protection module and a virtualization software that supports one or more virtual computing instances.

12. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the storage object and the snapshot are both stored in the storage structure using a B+ tree structure.

13. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the storage structure includes at least an archive section, a metadata section and a data section, and wherein a reference to the snapshot of the storage object is stored in the archive section of the storage structure.

14. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein checking the storage structure to determine if there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure includes reading the archive section of the storage structure to see if there is any reference to snapshots for the storage object in the storage structure.

15. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the steps further comprise:
receiving a request to delete a snapshot of the storage object in the storage structure;
in response to the request to delete the snapshot, determining whether an existing linked clone in the storage structure is associated with the snapshot;
after determining whether is an existing linked clone in the storage structure is associated with the snapshot, marking the snapshot in the storage structure as being delete designated without deleting the snapshot in the storage structure when a determination is made that there is an existing linked clone associated with the snapshot and deleting the snapshot in the storage structure when a determination is made that there is no existing linked clone associated with the snapshot.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 9 , wherein the storage object is a namespace object of a virtual machine or a virtual disk object of the virtual machine and the snapshot is a snapshot of the namespace object or the virtual disk object.

17. A computer system comprising:
a storage system having computer data storage devices to store at least one storage structure;
memory; and
a processor configured to:
receive a request to delete a storage object stored in a storage structure in the storage system, wherein the storage structure is also used to store any snapshots of the storage object;
in response to the request to delete the storage object, check the storage structure to determine if there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure; and
after checking the storage structure to determine if there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure, mark the storage object as being delete designated without deleting the storage structure when a determination is made that there is at least one snapshot in the storage structure and delete the storage structure that includes the storage object when a determination is made that there is no snapshot in the storage structure.

18. The computer system of claim 17 , wherein the storage structure stored in the storage system includes snapshots created by different requesting entities.

19. The computer system of claim 17 , wherein the storage object and the snapshot are both stored in the storage structure using a B+ tree structure.

20. The computer system of cl

Assignees

• Vmware Inc

Inventors

• Desai Asit
• Uluski Derek
• Garthwaite Alexander T
• Satnur Sunil
• Languev Ilya

Classifications

• G06F16/128 Primary

  Details of file system snapshots on the file-level, e.g. snapshot creation, administration, deletion (error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in operations or in hardware G06F11/14, G06F11/16) · CPC title