Virtual machine back-up

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9952807-B1
Application number	US-201113174305-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Jun 30, 2011
Priority date	Jun 30, 2011
Publication date	Apr 24, 2018
Grant date	Apr 24, 2018

Abstract

A method, system, and computer program product for identifying the location of a Virtual Machine File System (VMFS) of a Virtual Machine (VM) on one or more LUNs on a storage medium, replicating the one or more LUNs storing the VMFS, and exposing the replicated one or more LUNs.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A system for data replication, the system comprising:
a virtual server having a virtual machine (VM); the VM communicatively coupled to a virtual machine file system (VMFS);
a non-transitory first storage medium comprising one or more logical unit numbers (LUNs), the storage medium storing the virtual machine file system; and
computer-executable logic operating in memory, wherein the computer-executable program logic is configured for execution of:

identifying a location of the VMFS on the one or more LUNs;
replicating the one or more LUNs storing the VMFS to create a replica of the one or more LUNs;
exposing the replica of the one or more LUNs; and
backing-up at least some data on the replica of one or more LUNs.

2. The system of claim 1 , the system further comprising a second virtual server and wherein the replica of the one or more LUNs are exposed to the second virtual server; and wherein the backing-up comprises taking a snapshot, by the second virtual server, of the VMFS on the replica of the one or more LUNs.

3. The system of claim 2 , wherein the computer-executable program logic is configured for execution of:
quiescing the VM before replicating the one or more LUNs.

4. The system of claim 2 , wherein the computer-executable program logic is configured for execution of:
mounting the replica of the one or more LUNs on the second virtual server.

5. The system of claim 2 , wherein the computer-executable program logic is configured for execution of:
registering the VM of the one or more LUNs on the second virtual server.

6. The system of claim 2 , wherein the computer-executable program logic is configured for execution of:
expiring the replica of the one or more LUNs after the backing-up; and

exporting the snapshot of the VMFS from the second virtual server.

7. The system of claim 1 wherein the backup-up further comprises using a second virtual server to copy data from the replica to an export directory.

8. A computer program product for use in replication for comprising:
a non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with computer executable program code for using read signatures in replication, the code configured to enable an execution of:
identifying a location of a virtual machine file system (VMFS) of a virtual machine (VM) on one or more logical unit numbers (LUNs) on a storage medium;
replicating the one or more LUNs storing the VMFS to create a replica of the one or more LUNs;
exposing the replica of the one or more LUNs; and
backing-up at least some data on the replica of the one or more LUNs.

9. The computer program product of claim 8 , the code further configured to enable the execution of:
exposing the replica of the one or more LUNs to a second virtual server;

and wherein the backing-up comprises taking a snapshot, by the second virtual server, of the VMFS on the replica of the one or more LUNs.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 , the code further configured to enable the execution of:
quiescing the VM before replicating the one or more LUNs.

11. The computer program product of claim 9 , the code further configured to enable the execution of:
mounting the replica of the one or more LUNs on the second virtual server.

12. The computer program product of claim 11 , the code further configured to enable the execution of:
expiring the replica of the one or more LUNs after the backing-up; and

exporting the snapshot of the VMFS from the second virtual server.

13. The computer program product of claim 9 , the code further configured to enable the execution of:
registering the VM of the one or more LUNs on the second virtual server.

14. The computer program product of claim 8 wherein the backup-up further comprises using a second virtual server to copy data from the replica to an export directory.

15. A computer implemented method for use data replication, the method comprising:
identifying a location of a virtual machine file system (VMFS) of a virtual machine (VM) on one or more logical unit numbers (LUNs) on a storage medium;
replicating the one or more LUNs storing the VMFS to create a replica of the one or more LUNs;
exposing the replica of the one or more LUNs; and
backing-up at least some data on the replica of the one or more LUNs.

16. The computer implemented method of claim 15 , the method further comprising:
exposing the replica of the one or more LUNs to a second virtual server;

and wherein the backing-up comprises taking a snapshot, by the second virtual server, of the VMFS on the replica of the one or more LUNs.

17. The computer implemented method of claim 16 , the method further comprising:
mounting the replica of the one or more LUNs on the second virtual server.

18. The computer implemented method of claim 15 , the method further comprising:
quiescing the VM before replicating the one or more LUNs.

19. The computer implemented method of claim 15 , the method further comprising:
registering the VM of the one or more LUNs on the second virtual server; and

exporting the snapshot of the VMFS from the second virtual server.

20. The computer implemented method of claim 15 wherein the backup-up further comprises using a second virtual server to copy data from the replica to an export directory.

Assignees

• Kumar Sunil
• Emc Ip Holding Co Llc

Inventors

• Kumar Sunil

Classifications

• G06F3/065

  Replication mechanisms · CPC title

• G06F3/067 Primary

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

• G06F11/1458

  Management of the backup or restore process · CPC title

• G06F2201/815

  Virtual · CPC title

• G06F11/1446 Primary

  Point-in-time backing up or restoration of persistent data · CPC title