Cloning virtualized file servers

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11954078-B2
Application number	US-202117238001-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 22, 2021
Priority date	Dec 6, 2016
Publication date	Apr 9, 2024
Grant date	Apr 9, 2024

Abstract

Examples described herein include virtualized file servers which may include cloned instances of the virtualized file server. Cloning a virtualized the server may allow for testing of new and/or revised features, disaster recovery plans, or other configurations while maintaining availability of the parent (e.g., source) virtualized file server.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. At least one non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with instructions which, when executed, cause at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
taking a snapshot of a file system virtual machine (FSVM) of a virtualized file server (VFS), the VFS including a plurality of FSVMs, including the FSVM, the FSVM hosted on a first computing node of a computing node cluster, wherein the plurality of FSVMs are configured to present a namespace of storage items, the namespace implemented using a storage pool distributed across the computing node cluster, the storage pool including local storage devices of computing nodes of the computing node cluster;
utilizing the snapshot to create a clone of the FSVM (cloned FSVM), the cloned FSVM hosted on a second computing node of the computing node cluster;
updating metadata for shared access to a storage item by the FSVM and the cloned FSVM; and
receiving a storage access operation for access to the storage item by at least one of the FSVM or the cloned FSVM.

2. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the storage access operation is received in accordance with a first protocol, and wherein the operations further comprise translating the storage access operation to a block request configured to utilize a second protocol to access one or more blocks of the storage item at one or more storage locations in the storage pool.

3. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 2 , wherein the operations further comprise processing the block request to access a first portion of the storage item at a first storage location and a second portion of the storage item at a second storage location as specified by the block request.

4. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the storage access operation is received from a user virtual machine hosted on the first computing node or the second computing node.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the storage access operation is received from a user virtual machine hosted on the first computing node.

6. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the storage access operation is received from a user virtual machine hosted on the second computing node.

7. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the snapshot is a copy-on-write snapshot.

8. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the snapshot comprises a read-write snapshot.

9. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the storage item comprises a share.

10. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 1 , wherein the storage pool includes local storage of the first computing node or the second computing node.

11. A system comprising:
a storage pool including storage devices distributed across a computing node cluster;
a file system virtual machine (FSVM) of a virtualized file server (VFS), the VFS including a plurality of FSVMs in addition to the FSVM, the FSVM hosted on a first computing node of the computing node cluster, wherein the plurality of FSVMs are configured to present a namespace of storage items, the namespace implemented using the storage pool, the storage pool including local storage devices of the computing node cluster;
a clone of the FSVM (cloned FSVM) hosted on a second computing node of the computing node cluster; and
metadata for shared access to a particular storage item of the namespace of storage items by the FSVM and the cloned FSVM, wherein the FSVM is configured to receive an access request for the particular storage item.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein the access request for the particular storage item is arranged in accordance with a first protocol, and wherein the system further comprises:
a storage controller configured to translate the access request to a block request configured to utilize a second protocol to access one or more blocks of the storage item at one or more storage locations in the storage pool.

13. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a user virtual machine hosted on the first computing node or the second computing node, the user virtual machine configured to provide the access request.

14. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a user virtual machine hosted on the first computing node, the user virtual machine configured to provide the access request.

15. The system of claim 11 , further comprising a user virtual machine hosted on the second computing node, the user virtual machine configured to provide the access request.

16. The system of claim 11 , wherein the cloned FSVM is provided from a snapshot of the FSVM.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the snapshot is a copy-on-write snapshot.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the snapshot comprises a read-write snapshot.

19. The system of claim 11 , wherein the particular storage item comprises a share.

20. The system of claim 11 , wherein the storage pool includes local storage devices of the first computing node, the second computing node, or both.

21. A method comprising:
taking a snapshot of a file system virtual machine (FSVM) of a virtualized file server (VFS), the VFS including a plurality of FSVMs, including the FSVM, the FSVM hosted on a first computing node of a computing node cluster, wherein the plurality of FSVMs are configured to present a namespace of storage items, the namespace implemented using a storage pool distributed across the computing node cluster, the storage pool including local storage devices of the computing node cluster;
utilizing the snapshot to create a clone of the FSVM (cloned FSVM), the cloned FSVM hosted on a second computing node of the computing node cluster;
updating metadata for shared access to a storage item by the FSVM and the cloned FSVM; and
receiving a storage access operation for access to the storage item by at least one of the FSVM or the cloned FSVM.

22. The method of claim 21 , wherein the storage access operation is received in accordance with a first protocol, and wherein the method further comprises translating the storage access operation to a block request configured to utilize a second protocol to access one or more blocks of the storage item at one or more storage locations in the storage pool.

23. The method of claim 22 , wherein the method further comprises processing the block request to access a first portion of the storage item at a first storage location and a second portion of the storage item at a second storage location as specified by the block request.

24. The method of claim 21 , wherein the storage access operation is received from a user virtual machine hosted on the first computing node or the second computing node.

25. The method of claim 21 , wherein the storage access operation is received from a user virtual machine hosted on the first computing node.

26. The method of claim 21 , wherein the storage access operation is received from a user virtual machine hosted on the second computing node.

27. The method of claim 21 , wherein the snapshot is a copy-on-write snapshot.

28. The method of claim 21 , wherein the snapshot comprises a read-write snapshot.

29. The method of claim 21 , wherein the storage item comprises a share.

Assignees

• Nutanix Inc

Inventors

• Bafna Kalpesh Ashok
• Venkatesh Anil Kumar Gopalapura
• Kanada Devyani Suryakant
• Tyagi Saurabh
• Bellubbi Vijaykumar
• Ranasingh Mausumi
• Sharma Rishabh

Classifications

• G06F16/188 Primary

  Virtual file systems · CPC title

• G06F3/0607 Primary

  by facilitating the process of upgrading existing storage systems, e.g. for improving compatibility between host and storage device · CPC title

• G06F3/064

  Management of blocks · CPC title

• G06F3/0647

  Migration mechanisms · CPC title

• G06F3/067

  Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title