Creating validated database snapshots for provisioning virtual databases

A method for pre-provisioning validated database snapshots, the method comprising:

• receiving a plurality of database blocks corresponding to a point-in-time copy of a source database;
• storing the database blocks on a storage system;
• receiving transaction logs from the source database corresponding to transactions executed in the source database;
• creating multiple recovery milestones without having received a request for provisioning a virtual database, each recovery milestone comprising database blocks from which a consistent snapshot of source database corresponding to a point in time can be created, wherein at least some of the database blocks are associated with multiple recovery milestones, the creating of each recovery milestone comprising:
• applying a set of transaction logs to either a plurality of database blocks received from the source database or a plurality of database blocks of a previous recovery milestone;
• and
• responsive to receiving a request to provision a virtual database corresponding to a point in time, identifying a recovery milestone corresponding to the point in time, and provisioning the requested virtual database based on the recovery milestone, wherein provisioning comprises applying a first set of transaction logs to the recovery milestone, wherein the first set of transaction logs is smaller than a set of transaction logs applied to the point-in-time copy of the source database to obtain the same recovery milestone.

A computer program product having a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer program modules configured to execute on the computer processor, the computer program modules comprising:

• a point-in-time copy manager configured to:
• receive a plurality of database blocks corresponding to a point-in-time copy of a source database and storing the database blocks on a storage system;
• a transaction log manager configured to:
• receive transaction logs from the source database corresponding to transactions executed in the source database;
• a recovery milestone manager configured to:
• create multiple recovery milestones in advance of receiving a request for provisioning a virtual database, each recovery milestone comprising database blocks from which a consistent snapshot of source database corresponding to a point in time can be created, wherein at least some of the database blocks are associated with multiple recovery milestones, the creating of each recovery milestone comprising:
• applying a set of transaction logs to either a plurality of database blocks received from the source database or a plurality of database blocks of a previous recovery milestone;
• and
• validating the recovery milestone created to determine whether the recovery milestone can be used to create a consistent snapshot of the source database, the validating comprising, responsive to determining that the recovery milestone is invalid, identifying a defect resulting in creation of the invalid recovery milestone and executing steps to fix the defect, the steps comprising receiving a recent version of a vendor library create a corresponding valid recover milestone;
• and
• a virtual database manager configured to:
• responsive to receiving a request to provision a virtual database corresponding to a point in time, identify a recovery milestone corresponding to the point in time, and provision the requested virtual database based on the recovery milestone.

A computer program product having a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing computer program modules configured to execute on the computer processor, the computer program modules comprising:

• a point-in-time copy manager configured to:
• receive a plurality of database blocks corresponding to a point-in-time copy of a source database and storing the database blocks on a storage system;
• a transaction log manager configured to:
• receive transaction logs from the source database corresponding to transactions executed in the source database;
• a recovery milestone manager configured to:
• create multiple recovery milestones in advance of receiving a request for provisioning a virtual database, each recovery milestone comprising database blocks from which a consistent snapshot of source database corresponding to a point in time can be created, wherein at least some of the database blocks are associated with multiple recovery milestones, the creating of each recovery milestone comprising:
• applying a set of transaction logs to either a plurality of database blocks received from the source database or a plurality of database blocks of a previous recovery milestone;
• and
• a virtual database manager configured to:
• responsive to receiving a request to provision a virtual database corresponding to a point in time, identifying a recovery milestone corresponding to the point in time, and provisioning the requested virtual database based on the recovery milestone, the provisioning comprising, applying a first set of transaction logs to the recovery milestone, wherein the first set of transaction logs is smaller than a set of transaction logs applied to the point-in-time copy of the source database to obtain the same recovery milestone.