Creating host-level application-consistent backups of virtual machines

A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer instructions that, upon execution by a computing device, cause the computing device to at least:

• cause a first backup process to produce a first backup comprising virtual machine volume data, the virtual machine volume data corresponding to a virtual machine;
• send an indication to a virtual machine to produce a second backup, the second backup comprising backup state data provided by an application running on the virtual machine;
• and
• update the virtual machine volume data in the first backup using the second backup.

A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer executable instructions that, upon execution by a computer, cause the computer to perform operations comprising:

• halting a mirroring process on a mirrored storage device, the mirrored storage device comprising a first memory and a second memory, the first memory having stored thereon a virtual disk volume, the mirroring process maintaining the second memory as a mirror image of the first memory;
• causing a virtual machine to participate in a backup process, the virtual machine running an application, the application having a current state;
• causing the application to participate in the backup process to produce a snapshot having data consistent with the application's current state;
• locating the virtual disk volume in the second memory;
• and
• updating the virtual disk volume with the snapshot;