Server computer, computer system, and file management method

A computer system, comprising:

• a storage apparatus which modifies the configuration of a file for configuring a plurality of virtual computers respectively;
• and
• a storage device capable of storing data, and
• wherein the storage device comprises:
• a disk image storage unit which stores a disk image for storing a file for configuring the respective virtual computers;
• and
• a template disk image storage unit which stores a virtual server volume image as a template disk image for storing a file constituting a template of the disk image, the virtual server volume image including a plurality of files relating to an operation system or application programs, and wherein the storage apparatus comprises:
• a virtual computer execution unit that executes the virtual server volume image;
• a trace data output unit that outputs trace data relating to accesses to the files during execution of the virtual server volume image, the trace data including an access type, an access address, and an access frequency for each of the files of the plurality of files;
• a judgment unit which judges, for each of the files based on the trace data for the file, whether the file conforms to a first type of file, and, upon judging that the file conforms to the first type of file, judges whether the file conforms to a second type of file, the first type of file having a write access and the second type of file having an area where localized write accesses occur;
• a splitting unit which splits each of the files conforming to the second type of file into the area where the localized write accesses occur as a first file categorized as an entity and a remaining area of the file as a second file categorized as a reference;
• a storage unit that stores the first file and the second file in the template disk image;
• and
• a setting unit which extracts the entity of the first file from the virtual server volume image and stores the entity in the disk image, and which sets the second file to reference the entity of the corresponding second file in the virtual server volume image.

A method for managing a storage apparatus, the method comprising:

• executing a virtual server volume image, the virtual server volume image including a plurality of files relating to an operating system or application programs;
• outputting trace data relating to accesses to the files during execution of the virtual server volume image, the trace data including an access type, an access address, and an access frequency for each of the files of the plurality of files;
• judging, for each of the files based on the trace data for the file, whether the file conforms to a first type of file, and, upon judging that the file conforms to the first type of file, judging whether the file conforms to a second type of file, the first type of file having a write access and the second type of file having an area where localized write accesses occur;
• and
• splitting each of the files conforming to the second type of file into the area where the localized write accesses occur as a first file categorized as an entity and a remaining area of the file as a second file categorized as a reference.