US 8,682,862 B2 · Virtual machine file-level restoration

Abstract

Disclosed is a method and system for selectively restoring file-level data from a disk image backup. In embodiments, a virtual machine backup may be performed by dividing a virtual machine virtual disk file into a plurality of discrete fixed-sized data blocks sharing a common index file that is stored on a backup medium, such as a hard drive, to form a backup set. The index file is referenced to determine which fixed-sized block contains volume information, such as a partition table, of the backed-up virtual machine file. The individual blocks are processed as a virtual filesystem which is mounted and presented to an access module, which traverses the filesystem and provide access to individual files in the image backup to a client process. The restore files may be delivered to the client in a container file, which may be compressed to increase transfer speed. The container file may include executable instructions for automatically restoring the files to a desired location.

Claims27

Dependent claims

A method for retrieving a logical data unit stored within a deduplicated disk image residing on a backup storage device without restoring the entire deduplicated disk image, comprising:

receiving a request for at least one deduplicated disk image residing on a backup storage device;
identifying the at least one deduplicated disk image residing on the backup storage device based on information contained within an index file, which is indicative of a logical organization of the backup storage device;
mounting the at least one deduplicated disk image;
receiving a request for at least one logical data unit stored within the at least one deduplicated disk image;
identifying a portion of the at least one deduplicated disk image that corresponds to the at least one requested logical data unit without restoring the entire at least one deduplicated disk image;
restoring only the portion of the at least one deduplicated disk image;
and
transferring the requested at least one logical data unit to a recipient,
wherein the portion of the at least one deduplicated disk image that corresponds to the at least one requested logical data unit is made up of one or more data blocks,
wherein a file name of each data block is a hash value of the contents of each data block, and
wherein a map file stores a name of each data block.

8 more elements

A system for performing data restoration, comprising:

a processor;
a storage device operably coupled to the processor;
and
a file-level access module including a set of instructions executable on the processor for performing a method of data restoration comprising:
receiving a request for at least one deduplicated disk image residing on a backup storage device;
identifying the at least one deduplicated disk image residing on the backup storage device based on information contained within an index file, which is indicative of a logical organization of the backup storage device;
mounting the at least one deduplicated disk image;
receiving a request for at least one logical data unit stored within the at least one deduplicated disk image;
identifying a portion of the at least one deduplicated disk image that corresponds to the at least one requested logical data unit without restoring the entire at least one deduplicated disk image;
restoring only the portion of the at least one deduplicated disk image;
and
transferring the at least one requested logical data unit to a recipient,
wherein the portion of the at least one disk image that corresponds to the at least one requested logical data unit is made up of one or more data blocks,
wherein a file name of each data block is a hash value of the contents of each data block, and
wherein a map file stores a name of each data block.

12 more elements

A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising a set of instructions configured to perform a method for retrieving a logical data unit stored within a deduplicated disk image residing on a backup storage device without restoring the entire deduplicated disk image, the method comprising:

receiving a request for at least one deduplicated disk image residing on the backup storage device;
identifying the at least one deduplicated disk image residing on the backup storage device based on information contained within an index file, which is indicative of a logical organization of the backup storage device;
mounting the at least one deduplicated disk image;
receiving a request for at least one logical data unit stored within the at least one deduplicated disk image;
identifying a portion of the at least one deduplicated disk image that corresponds to the at least one requested logical data unit without restoring the entire at least one deduplicated disk image;
restoring only the portion of the at least one deduplicated disk image;
and
transferring the at least one requested logical data unit to a recipient,
wherein the portion of the at least one deduplicated disk image that corresponds to the at least one requested logical data unit is made up of one or more data blocks,
wherein a file name of each data block is a hash value of the contents of each data block, and
wherein a map file stores a name of each data block.

8 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Virtual machine file-level restoration

Life of this patent

Virtual machine file-level restoration

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims27