Method and system for fast generation of file system snapshot bitmap in virtual environment

A computer-implemented method for generation of incremental backup of Virtual Execution Environment (VEE), comprising:

• (a) activating a first VEE under a host OS, wherein the first VEE provides services to remote users and has a first VEE file system;
• and
• (b) activating a designated VEE given additional privileges to access hardware of the computer system by a host-side software component and running a tracing application that generates file-based snapshots by
• (i) creating a bitmap of the first VEE file system and tracking changes of files of the first VEE file system,
• (ii) tracing the changes of the files and updating the bitmap according to the tracing,
• (iii) freezing writes to the first VEE file system,
• (iv) generating a snapshot of the first VEE file system based on the bitmap, and
• (v) unfreezing the writes to the first VEE file system,
• wherein the host OS, the first VEE and the designated VEE all execute on the same processor of a computer system.

A system for generation of incremental backups of Virtual Execution Environments (VEEs), the system comprising:

• a processor;
• a memory coupled to the processor;
• a computer code loaded into the memory and executed on the processor for implementing the following functionality:
• activating a first VEE under a host OS, wherein the first VEE provides services to remote users and has a first VEE file system;
• and
• activating a designated VEE and giving the designated VEE additional privileges to access hardware of the computer system by a host-side software component and running a tracing application that generates file-based snapshots by
• (a) creating a bitmap of the first VEE file system and tracking changes of files of the first VEE file system,
• (b) tracing the changes and updating the bitmap,
• (c) freezing writes to the first VEE file system,
• (d) generating a snapshot of the first VEE file system based on the bitmap, and
• (e) unfreezing the writes to the first VEE file system,
• wherein the host OS, the first VEE and the designated VEE all execute on the processor of the computer system.

A system for tracing states of Virtual Execution Environments (VEEs), the system comprising:

• a processor and a memory;
• a host operating system (OS) running on the processor;
• a plurality of isolated VEEs running under the host OS, wherein the VEEs provide services to remote users, and wherein each VEE has a VEE file system;
• and
• a backup VEE given additional privileges to access file systems of the isolated VEEs and running a backup application that generates file-based backups by
• (a) creating a bitmap of a target VEE file system and tracking changes of files of the target VEE file system,
• (b) recording the changes of the files,
• (c) freezing writes to the target VEE file system,
• (d) updating the bitmap according to the changes of the files,
• (e) generating the backup of the target VEE files system based on the bitmap,
• (f) during the backup process
• (A) protecting data to be backed up by copying the data to an intermediate container;
• (B) copying data to be backed up either from original storage or from the intermediate container to the backup;
• (C) making the intermediate container inactive once the backup is complete;
• and
• (f) releasing the writes to the target VEE file system,
• wherein the host OS, the first VEE and the designated VEE all execute on the processor.