Efficient replication of file clones

A system comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions executable by the one or more processors to cause the system to perform operations comprising:
• determining, at a source system in a storage replication environment, that a first file on the source system has been cloned to create a second file on the source system;
• changing, at the source system, a status of a first extent associated with the first file from non-cloned to cloned;
• sending, from the source system to a replica system in the storage replication environment, an update message comprising an address of the first extent on the source system and an indication that the status of the first extent has changed from non-cloned to cloned, the address of the first extent acting as a token;
• changing, at the replica system, based on the update message, a status of a second extent associated with a replica of the first file on the replica system from non-cloned to cloned;
• creating, at the replica system, based on the update message, a mapping of the address of the first extent on the source system to an address of the second extent on the replica system;
• replacing the token with the address of the second extent utilizing the mapping;
• creating, at the replica system, based on the mapping, a replica of the second file comprising a reference to the address of the second extent on the replica system;
• determining, at the source system, that a portion of the first file has been modified, wherein the portion of the first file begins at a given block offset;
• assigning, at the source system, a separate extent on the source system to the portion of the first file;
• and
• updating, at the source system, metadata associated with the first file to indicate that an initial portion of the first file is associated with the address of the first extent up to the given block offset and that the portion of the first file is associated with an address of the separate extent.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing system, cause the computing system to perform operations comprising:

• determining, at a source system in a storage replication environment, that a first file on the source system has been cloned to create a second file on the source system;
• changing, at the source system, a status of a first extent associated with the first file from non-cloned to cloned, the address of the first extent acting as a token;
• sending, from the source system to a replica system in the storage replication environment, an update message comprising an address of the first extent on the source system and an indication that the status of the first extent has changed from non-cloned to cloned;
• changing, at the replica system, based on the update message, a status of a second extent associated with a replica of the first file on the replica system from non-cloned to cloned;
• creating, at the replica system, based on the update message, a mapping of the address of the first extent on the source system to an address of the second extent on the replica system;
• replacing the token with the address of the second extent utilizing the mapping;
• creating, at the replica system, based on the mapping, a replica of the second file comprising a reference to the address of the second extent on the replica system;
• determining, at the source system, that a portion of the first file has been modified, wherein the portion of the first file begins at a given block offset;
• assigning, at the source system, a separate extent on the source system to the portion of the first file;
• and
• updating, at the source system, metadata associated with the first file to indicate that an initial portion of the first file is associated with the address of the first extent up to the given block offset and that the portion of the first file is associated with an address of the separate extent.