Backing up virtual machine operating system data on sequential-access data storage systems

A computer program product for backing up virtual machine operating system data on sequential-access data storage systems, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable storage medium and program instructions stored on the computer readable storage medium, the program instructions comprising:
• program instructions to boot, on a host machine, at least one virtual machine running on a hypervisor into an operating system using operating system data, wherein the operating system data is provided to the at least one virtual machine from a random access storage unit of a storage system that is communicatively connected to the host machine and a sequential access backup system, and wherein the random access storage unit stores the operating system data as a first plurality of blocks;
• program instructions to record, in a sequential order, the operating system data provided to the at least one virtual machine as the operating system is booted into, wherein the operating system data is recorded in a record file;
• and
• program instructions to record on the sequential access backup system, based, at least in part, on the record file, sequential boot data, wherein the sequential boot data is a copy of the operating system data that represents the operating system data as a second plurality of blocks based, at least in part, on the sequential order of the operating system data provided to the at least one virtual machine.

A computer system for backing up virtual machine operating system data on sequential-access data storage systems, the computer system comprising:

• one or more computer processors;
• one or more computer readable storage media;
• program instructions stored on the one or more computer readable storage media for execution by at least one of the one or more processors, the program instructions comprising:
• program instructions to boot, on a host machine, at least one virtual machine running on a hypervisor into an operating system using operating system data, wherein the operating system data is provided to the at least one virtual machine from a random access storage unit of a storage system that is communicatively connected to the host machine and a sequential access backup system, and wherein the random access storage unit stores the operating system data as a first plurality of blocks;
• program instructions to record, in a sequential order, the operating system data provided to the at least one virtual machine as the operating system is booted into, wherein the operating system data is recorded in a record file;
• and
• program instructions to record on the sequential access backup system, based, at least in part, on the record file, sequential boot data, wherein the sequential boot data is a copy of the operating system data that represents the operating system data as a second plurality of blocks based, at least in part, on the sequential order of the operating system data provided to the at least one virtual machine.