Adaptive storage system transcoder

1. A system for transcoding data in a virtual machine (VM) environment, comprising:

a storage medium having data stored thereon in a first VM data format, said data having a common descriptor associated therewith, said common descriptor comprising information describing said first VM data format;

a storage controller coupled to a data storage device comprising said storage medium, said storage controller configured to control the transfer of data to and from said data storage device;

a VM data format transcoder comprising processing logic configured to:

receive a request to provide data in a second VM data format;

submit instructions to said storage controller to transfer said data and its said associated common descriptor to said VM data format transcoder;

process said associated common descriptor to determine if said first VM data format is the same as said requested second VM data format;

transcode said data from said first VM data format to said requested second VM data format if said first VM data format is not the same as said requested second VM data format;

provide said data in said requested second VM data format.

2. The system of claim 1 , further comprising:

a directory service repository comprising a plurality of objects representing said data, said common descriptor, said data storage device, said VM data format transcoder, and said storage controller; and

a directory service configured to:

perform object management operations on the plurality of objects contained in the at least one directory service repository; and

provide predetermined object information to said VM data format transcoder to perform VM data format transcoding operations.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein said common descriptor comprises at least one of:

a set of non-vendor-specific elements describing how said common descriptor is formatted; and

a set of vendor-specific elements describing vendor-specific formatting features for said data.

4. The system of claim 1 , wherein said common descriptor includes a data block describing at least one of:

the length of said common descriptor;

the length of the data;

the creation date of the data;

which software vendor is associated with the data;

which software program is associated with the data;

which version of the software program is associated with the data; and

whether the data is encrypted.

5. The system of claim 1 , wherein said first VM data format and said second VM data format is one of:

a Virtual Hard Disk (VHD) format;

a Virtual Machine DisK (VMDK) format; and

a tape archive (tar) format.

6. The system of claim 1 , wherein said VM data format transcoder is operable to:

determine said first VM data format;

generate formatting information describing said first VM data format; and

create said common descriptor.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein said VM data format transcoder is embedded in said storage controller.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein said VM data format transcoder is a stand-alone device operable to submit said instructions to a plurality of said storage controllers, said instructions submitted through a connection to a network.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein a common descriptor associated with said requested second VM data format is represented as a common descriptor object in said directory, said common descriptor object operable to be retrieved by said directory service and provided to said VM data format transcoder.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein said data stored in said first VM data format is stored on said storage medium of a first storage device, and wherein said data is transcoded by said VM data format transcoder to said requested second VM data format for at least one of the set of:

storage on said storage medium of a second storage device;

execution on a first virtual machine;

storage on a said storage medium of a second storage device; and

execution in a second virtual machine.

11. A method for transcoding data in a virtual machine (VM) environment, comprising:

using a storage medium having data stored thereon in a first VM data format, said data having a common descriptor comprising information describing said first VM data format;

using a storage controller coupled to a data storage device comprising said storage medium, said storage controller configured to control the transfer of data to and from said data storage device;

using a VM data format transcoder comprising processing logic configured to:

receive a request to provide data in a second VM data format;

submit instructions to said storage controller to transfer said data and its said associated common descriptor to said VM data format transcoder;

process said associated common descriptor to determine if said first VM data format is the same as said requested second VM data format;

transcode said data from said first VM data format to said requested second VM data format if said first VM data format is not the same as said requested second VM data format;

provide said data in said requested second VM data format.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising:

using a directory service repository comprising a plurality of objects representing said data, said common descriptor, said data storage device, said VM data format transcoder, and said storage controller; and

using a directory service configured to:

perform object management operations on the plurality of objects contained in the at least one directory service repository; and

provide predetermined object information to said VM data format transcoder to perform VM data format transcoding operations.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein said common descriptor comprises at least one of:

a set of non-vendor-specific elements describing how said common descriptor is formatted; and

a set of vendor-specific elements describing vendor-specific formatting features for said data.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein said common descriptor includes a data block describing at least one of:

the length of said common descriptor;

the length of the data;

the creation date of the data;

which software vendor is associated with the data;

which software program is associated with the data;

which version of the software program is associated with the data; and

whether the data is encrypted.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein said first VM data format transcoder is operable to:

determine said first VM data format;

generate formatting information describing said first VM data format; and

create said common descriptor.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein said data format format transcoder is operable to:

determine said first VM data format;

generate formatting information describing said first VM data format; and

create said common descriptor.

17. The method of claim 11 , wherein said VM data format transcoder is embedded in said storage controller.

18. The method of claim 11 , wherein said VM data format transcoder is a stand-alone device operable to submit said instructions to a plurality of said storage controllers, said instructions submitted through a connection to a network.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein a common descriptor associated with said requested second VM data format is represented as a common descriptor object in said directory, said common descriptor object operable to be retrieved by said directory service and provided to said VM data format transcoder.

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein said data stored in said first VM data format is stored on said storage medium of a first storage device, and wherein said data is transcoded by said VM data format transcoder to said requested second VM data format for at least one of the set of:

storage on said storage medium of a second storage device;

execution on a first virtual machine;

storage on a said storage medium of a second storage device; and

execution in a second virtual machine.