# US 2014/0195753 A1 · Managing virtual hard disk snapshots

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- Number: US 2014/0195753 A1
- Document ID: US20140195753A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/737,460
- Filed: 2013-01-09
- Published: 2014-07-10
- Earliest claimed: 2013-01-09
- Assignees: International Business Machines Corporation
- Applicants: International Business Machines Corporation
- Inventors: Pralhad M. Khatri; Howard S. Krovetz; Christopher A. Maul
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20140195753A1

## CPC

- G06F 3/0619: {in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors}
- G06F 3/065: {Replication mechanisms}
- G06F 3/0664: {at device level, e.g. emulation of a storage device or system}
- G06F 3/0676: {Magnetic disk device}
- G06F 9/45533: {Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors}
- 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 11/1446: Point-in-time backing up or restoration of persistent data
- G06F 2009/4557: {Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing}
- G06F 2201/815: Virtual
- G06F 2201/84: Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

A method, system or computer usable program product for managing virtual disk snapshots including utilizing a processor to create multiple disk containers containing multiple snapshots on a host machine persistent memory, and combining the multiple snapshots on a guest operating system to produce a final snapshot utilized by the guest OS as a virtual disk.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method of managing virtual disk snapshots comprising:
utilizing a processor to create multiple disk containers containing multiple snapshots on a host machine persistent memory; and
combining the multiple snapshots on a guest operating system to produce a final snapshot utilized by the guest OS as a virtual disk.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein each of the disk containers holds a single one of the snapshots.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the guest operating system invokes a snapshot assembler to assemble the multiple snapshots into the final snapshot.

### Claim 4 (depends on 3)

The method of claim 3 wherein a configuration table is utilized to identify the disk containers and the snapshots, and wherein the snapshot assembler utilizes the configuration table to assemble the final snapshot.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4 further comprising a snapshot technology layer that communicates directly with the guest operating system and through the guest operating system with a hypervisor.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5 wherein the snapshot technology layer utilizes information from the snapshot configuration table to manage any interaction of the snapshots during reads and writes to the virtual disk.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6 wherein the snapshot technology layer is a copy-on-write snapshot technology layer.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein a new disk container is created to contain a new snapshot and wherein the configuration table is updated to instruct the snapshot assembler to produce the final snapshot including the new snapshot.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising a snapshot technology layer that communicates directly with the guest operating system and through the guest operating system with a hypervisor; wherein each of the disk containers holds a single one of the snapshots; wherein the guest operating system invokes a snapshot assembler to assemble the multiple snapshots into a final snapshot; wherein a configuration table is utilized to identify the disk containers and the snapshots; wherein the snapshot assembler utilizes the configuration table to assemble the final snapshot; wherein the snapshot technology layer utilizes information from the snapshot configuration table to manage any interaction of the snapshots during reads and writes to the virtual disk; wherein the snapshot technology layer is a copy-on-write snapshot technology layer; and wherein a new disk container is created to contain a new snapshot and wherein the configuration table is updated to instruct the snapshot assembler to produce the final snapshot including the new snapshot

### Claim 10

A computer usable program product comprising a persistent computer usable storage medium including computer usable code for use in managing virtual disk snapshots, the computer usable program product comprising code for performing the steps of:
utilizing a processor to create multiple disk containers containing multiple snapshots on a host machine persistent memory; and
combining the multiple snapshots on a guest operating system to produce a final snapshot utilized by the guest OS as a virtual disk.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The computer usable program product of claim 10 wherein each of the disk containers holds a single one of the snapshots.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The computer usable program product of claim 10 wherein the guest operating system invokes a snapshot assembler to assemble the multiple snapshots into the final snapshot.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The computer usable program product of claim 12 wherein a configuration table is utilized to identify the disk containers and the snapshots, and wherein the snapshot assembler utilizes the configuration table to assemble the final snapshot.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The computer usable program product of claim 13 further comprising a snapshot technology layer that communicates directly with the guest operating system and through the guest operating system with a hypervisor.

### Claim 15 (depends on 14)

The computer usable program product of claim 14 wherein the snapshot technology layer utilizes information from the snapshot configuration table to manage any interaction of the snapshots during reads and writes to the virtual disk.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The computer usable program product of claim 15 wherein the snapshot technology layer is a copy-on-write snapshot technology layer.

### Claim 17 (depends on 10)

The computer usable program product of claim 10 wherein a new disk container is created to contain a new snapshot and wherein the configuration table is updated to instruct the snapshot assembler to produce the final snapshot including the new snapshot.

### Claim 18

A data processing system for managing virtual disk snapshots, the data processing system comprising:
a processor; and
a persistent memory storing program instructions which when executed by the processor execute the steps of:
utilizing the processor to create multiple disk containers containing multiple snapshots on the data processing system persistent memory; and
combining the multiple snapshots on a guest operating system to produce a final snapshot utilized by the guest OS as a virtual disk.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The data processing system of claim 18 wherein each of the disk containers holds a single one of the snapshots.

### Claim 20 (depends on 18)

The data processing system of claim 18 wherein the guest operating system invokes a snapshot assembler to assemble the multiple snapshots into the final snapshot.

### Claim 21 (depends on 20)

The data processing system of claim 20 wherein a configuration table is utilized to identify the disk containers and the snapshots, and wherein the snapshot assembler utilizes the configuration table to assemble the final snapshot.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The data processing system of claim 21 further comprising a snapshot technology layer that communicates directly with the guest operating system and through the guest operating system with a hypervisor.

### Claim 23 (depends on 22)

The data processing system of claim 22 wherein the snapshot technology layer utilizes information from the snapshot configuration table to manage any interaction of the snapshots during reads and writes to the virtual disk.

### Claim 24 (depends on 18)

The data processing system of claim 18 wherein a new disk container is created to contain a new snapshot and wherein the configuration table is updated to instruct the snapshot assembler to produce the final snapshot including the new snapshot.