# US 2014/0156925 A1 · Selection of allocation policy and format for virtual machine disk images > Agents: this data is available as JSON from the patentgrep API and MCP server — see https://patentgrep.com/llms.txt - Number: US 2014/0156925 A1 - Document ID: US20140156925A1 - Status: Published application - Kind: A1 - Application number: 13/706,294 - Filed: 2012-12-05 - Published: 2014-06-05 - Earliest claimed: 2012-12-05 - Assignees: Red Hat Israel, Ltd. - Inventors: Ayal Baron; Saggi Y. Mizrahi - Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140156925A1 ## CPC - G06F 3/0689: {Disk arrays, e.g. RAID, JBOD} - G06F 3/0605: {by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator} - G06F 3/0631: {by allocating resources to storage systems} - G06F 3/0662: {Virtualisation aspects} - G06F 3/0676: {Magnetic disk device} - G06F 9/00: Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units (program control for peripheral devices G06F13/10) - G06F 9/45558: {Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects} - G06F 12/16: Protection against loss of memory contents {(contains no material, see G06F11/00)} - G06F 2009/45562: {Creating, deleting, cloning virtual machine instances} - G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N) ## Abstract A system and method are disclosed for selecting an allocation policy and format for storing a disk image of a virtual machine (VM). In accordance with one embodiment, a computer system that hosts a virtual machine (VM) selects an allocation policy and format for storing the disk image on a particular storage device (e.g., a magnetic hard disk, a Universal Serial Bus [USB] solid state drive, a Redundant Array of Independent Disks [RAID] system, a network attached storage [NAS] array, etc.), where the selection is based on one or more capabilities of the storage device, and on a parameter that indicates a tradeoff between performance and storage consumption. ## Claims ### Claim 1 A method performed by a computer system that hosts a virtual machine, the method comprising: selecting, by the computer system, one of a plurality of allocation policies for allocating storage on a storage device for a disk image of the virtual machine, wherein the selecting is based on: (i) one or more capabilities of the storage device, and (ii) a parameter that indicates a tradeoff between performance and storage consumption; and allocating storage for the disk image on the storage device in accordance with the selected policy. ### Claim 2 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the one or more capabilities of the storage device comprises snapshotting. ### Claim 3 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the parameter indicates one of maximum performance and minimum storage consumption. ### Claim 4 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the plurality of allocation policies comprises thin provisioning. ### Claim 5 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 further comprising selecting a format for storing the disk image on the storage device, based on at least one of: the parameter, or the one or more capabilities of the storage device. ### Claim 6 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the selecting is also based on: (iii) a parameter that indicates a tradeoff between redundancy and storage consumption. ### Claim 7 (depends on 1) The method of claim 1 wherein the selecting is also based on: (iii) one or more capabilities that the storage device lacks. ### Claim 8 An apparatus comprising: a memory to store a virtual machine comprising a virtual disk; and a processor to: select one of a plurality of formats for storing a disk image of the virtual disk on a storage device, wherein the selecting is based on: (i) one or more capabilities of the storage device, and (ii) a parameter that indicates a tradeoff between performance and storage consumption; and store the disk image on the storage device in the selected format. ### Claim 9 (depends on 8) The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the one or more capabilities of the storage device comprises deduplication. ### Claim 10 (depends on 8) The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the parameter indicates a balance of performance and storage consumption. ### Claim 11 (depends on 8) The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the plurality of allocation policies comprises a pre-allocation policy. ### Claim 12 (depends on 11) The apparatus of claim 11 wherein a user is expected to install on the storage device a file system that requires a given number of bytes, and wherein the pre-allocation policy pre-allocates storage space on the storage device having a size that is at least as large as the given number of bytes. ### Claim 13 (depends on 8) The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the selecting is also based on: (iii) one or more capabilities that the storage device lacks. ### Claim 14 A method performed by a computer system that hosts a virtual machine, the method comprising: selecting by the computer system, based on an allocation policy for allocating storage on a storage device, one of a plurality of formats for storing the disk image on the storage device; and storing the disk image on the storage device in the selected format. ### Claim 15 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 further comprising selecting the allocation policy from a plurality of allocation policies. ### Claim 16 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the allocation policy is selected based on one or more capabilities of the storage device. ### Claim 17 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the one or more capabilities of the storage device comprises Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) level. ### Claim 18 (depends on 14) The method of claim 14 wherein the plurality of allocation policies comprises metadata pre-allocation. ### Claim 19 A non-transitory computer readable storage medium, having instructions stored therein, which when executed, cause a computer system that hosts a virtual machine to perform a method comprising: selecting, by the computer system, one of a plurality of allocation policies for allocating storage on a storage device for a disk image of the virtual machine, wherein the selected policy is based on: (i) one or more capabilities of the storage device, and (ii) a parameter that indicates a tradeoff between storage consumption and redundancy; and allocating storage for the disk image on the storage device in accordance with the selected policy. ### Claim 20 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19 wherein the parameter indicates one of minimum storage consumption and maximum redundancy. ### Claim 21 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19 further comprising selecting a format for storing the disk image on the storage device, wherein the selection is based on at least one of: the parameter, or the one or more capabilities of the storage device. ### Claim 22 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19 wherein the selected policy is also based on: (iii) a parameter that indicates a security level. ### Claim 23 (depends on 19) The method of claim 19 wherein the selected policy is also based on: (iii) one or more capabilities that the storage device lacks.