Internal storage in cloud disk to support encrypted hard drive and other stateful features
AssigneeGoogle Inc.
InventorsJoseph Richey, Michael Halcrow, Sergey Karamov
Life of this patent
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Abstract
A cloud implementation of a persisted storage device, such as a disk, is provided. The implementation supports a variety of features and protocols, in full analogy with a physical storage device such as a disk drive. The present disclosure provides for implementing standard eDrive protocols in the cloud by designing internal disk storage, referred to as a “system area,” in a virtual disk instance that the virtual disk can potentially utilize for a multitude of disk features. This internal storage can be used to implement eDrive protocols, which use the system area to maintain the necessary internal virtual disk state.
Claims18
A method for supporting encrypted hard drives in memory, the method comprising:
- instantiating, with a virtual machine, a virtual disk instance that supports encrypted hard drive protocols;
- creating a disk storage area in the virtual disk instance used to implement the encrypted hard drive protocols;
- encrypting the virtual disk instance via an encryption key stored internally to the disk storage area, wherein encryption is inaccessible to a host associated with the virtual disk instance;
- receiving an input/output request from a guest operating system;
- and
- skipping the disk storage area in processing the input/output request, wherein skipping the disk storage area comprises adjusting an input/output offset for the input/output request by incrementing the input/output offset by a size of the disk storage area.
A system comprising:
- one or more processors;
- and
- one or more storage devices coupled to the one or more processors and storing instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations for supporting encrypted hard drives in memory, the operations comprising:
- instantiating a virtual disk instance that supports encrypted hard drive protocols;
- creating a disk storage area in the virtual disk instance used to implement the encrypted hard drive protocols;
- encrypting the virtual disk instance via an encryption key stored internally to the disk storage area, wherein encryption is inaccessible to a host associated with the virtual disk instance;
- receiving an input/output request from a guest operating system;
- and
- skipping the disk storage area in processing the input/output request, wherein skipping the disk storage area comprises adjusting an input/output offset for the input/output request by incrementing the input/output offset by a size of the disk storage area.
A non-transitory computer readable medium for storing instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations for supporting encrypted hard drives in memory, the operations comprising:
- instantiating a virtual disk instance that supports encrypted hard drive protocols;
- creating a disk storage area in the virtual disk instance used to implement the encrypted hard drive protocols;
- encrypting the virtual disk instance via an encryption key stored internally to the disk storage area, wherein encryption is inaccessible to a host associated with the virtual disk instance;
- receiving an input/output request from a guest operating system;
- and
- skipping the disk storage area in processing the input/output request, wherein skipping the disk storage area comprises adjusting an input/output offset for the input/output request by incrementing the input/output offset by a size of the disk storage area.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.