Systems and methods of processing data associated with rapid snapshot and restore of guest operating system states

1. A method for performing rapid snapshot and restore of guest operating system instance state, the method comprising:

processing a Golden Image of a guest OS instance for storage in RAM-based memory, including using a bitmap to keep track of incremental changes between the Golden Image and the snapshot in the RAM-based storage associated with a specific guest OS instance; and

after subsequent processing/results are effected, restoring the guest OS instance to the changed state associated with the snapshot stored in RAM.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein information is processed within one of multiple operating systems that are in isolation from core hardware via a kernel separation layer, wherein each operating system has a native application environment without necessity of emulation.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

opening a Golden Memory image;

allocating memory for RAM-based virtual disk for storage of the guest OS snapshots;

copying the contents of the Golden Memory image into the RAM-based virtual disk;

creating bitmaps for any blocks of data changed as between the snapshot and the Golden Image;

storing data of the snapshot into RAM storage;

waiting for requests from the guest virtual disk device; and

performing processing of request information from the guest virtual disk device, wherein the processing includes a capability to process requests that have originated from the guest operating system instance(s).

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

issuing, via a guest operating system Instance, a disk write command;

sending, from the guest virtual disk device to the virtual device server, write information;

writing, via the virtual device server, data in the write information at a given address in a RAM-based virtual disk;

setting, via the virtual device server, bits in a Changed Block Bitmap for blocks changed in the RAM-based Virtual Disk;

notifying, via the virtual device server, the guest virtual disk device that the write operation has been completed;

returning the virtual device server to a wait state where a request from the guest virtual disk device is awaited;

notifying, via the guest virtual disk device, the guest operating system instance that the disk write has completed.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

issuing, via a guest operating system instance, a snapshot write command;

copying, via a guest virtual disk device, the guest operating system instance state to a guest OS state snapshot storage;

sending, via the guest virtual disk device, a snapshot write command to the virtual device server, notifying it by injecting an interrupt;

allocating, via the virtual device server, memory for the snapshot storage and copying blocks of data that have changed using the changed block bitmap from the RAM-based virtual disk to the snapshot storage;

notifying, via the virtual device server, the guest virtual disk device that the snapshot write operation has been completed;

returning the virtual device server to a wait state where a request from the guest virtual disk device is awaited; and

notifying, via the guest virtual disk device, the guest operating system instance that the snapshot write has completed.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

issuing, via a guest operating system instance, a snapshot restore command;

sending, via the guest virtual disk device, a snapshot restore command to the virtual device server, including notifying it by injecting an interrupt;

copying, via the virtual device server, the changed blocks from the snapshot storage to the RAM-based virtual disk and then copying the unchanged blocks from a golden image to the RAM-based virtual disk;

notifying, via the virtual device server, the guest virtual disk device that the snapshot restore operation has been completed;

returning the virtual device server to a wait state where a request from the guest virtual disk device is awaited;

restoring, via the guest virtual disk device, the guest operating system instance state from the guest OS state snapshot storage; and

returning, via the guest virtual disk device, control to the guest operating system instance, which resumes execution from the context from when the snapshot was taken.

7. A method for initializing a virtual device server associated with performing rapid snapshot and restore of guest operating system instance state, the method comprising:

opening a Golden Memory image;

allocating memory for RAM-based virtual disk for storage of the guest OS snapshots;

copying the contents of the Golden Memory image into the RAM-based virtual disk;

creating bitmaps for any blocks of data changed as between the snapshot and the Golden Image;

storing data of the snapshot into RAM storage;

waiting for requests from the guest virtual disk device; and

performing processing of request information from the guest virtual disk device, wherein the processing includes a capability to process requests that have originated from the guest operating system instance(s).

8. The method of claim 7 wherein all of the steps are performed via the virtual device server.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein information is processed within one of multiple operating systems that are in isolation from core hardware via a kernel separation layer, wherein each operating system has a native application environment without necessity of emulation.

10. The method of claim 7 ,

wherein the step of performing processing includes:

issuing, via a guest operating system Instance, a disk write command;

sending, from the guest virtual disk device to the virtual device server, write information;

writing, via the virtual device server, data in the write information at a given address in a RAM-based virtual disk;

setting, via the virtual device server, bits in a Changed Block Bitmap for blocks changed in the RAM-based Virtual Disk;

notifying, via the virtual device server, the guest virtual disk device that the write operation has been completed;

and further comprising:

returning the virtual device server to the waiting step/state, where a request from the guest virtual disk device is awaited; and

notifying, via the guest virtual disk device, the guest operating system instance that the disk write has completed.

11. The method of claim 7 ,

wherein the step of performing processing includes:

issuing, via a guest operating system instance, a snapshot write command;

copying, via a guest virtual disk device, the guest operating system instance state to a guest OS state snapshot storage;

sending, via the guest virtual disk device, a snapshot write command to the virtual device server, notifying it by injecting an interrupt;

allocating, via the virtual device server, memory for the snapshot storage and copying blocks of data that have changed using the changed block bitmap from the RAM-based virtual disk to the snapshot storage;

notifying, via the virtual device server, the guest virtual disk device that the snapshot write operation has been completed;

and further comprising:

returning the virtual device server to the waiting step/state, where a request from the guest virtual disk device is awaited; and

notifying, via the guest virtual disk device, the guest operating system instance that the snapshot write has completed.

12. The method of claim 7 ,

wherein the step of performing processing includes:

issuing, via a guest operating system instance, a snapshot restore command;

sending, via the guest virtual disk device, a snapshot restore command to the virtual device server, including notifying it by injecting an interrupt;

copying, via the virtual device server, the changed blocks from the snapshot storage to the RAM-based virtual disk and then copying the unchanged blocks from a golden image to the RAM-based virtual disk;

notifying, via the virtual device server, the guest virtual disk device that the snapshot restore operation has been completed;

and further comprising:

returning the virtual device server to the waiting step/state, where a request from the guest virtual disk device is awaited;

restoring, via the guest virtual disk device, the guest operating system instance state from the guest OS state snapshot storage; and

returning, via the guest virtual disk device, control to the guest operating system instance, which resumes execution from the context from when the snapshot was taken.

13. A method for processing disk image write request information associated with performing rapid snapshot and restore of guest operating system instance state, the method comprising:

issuing, via a guest operating system Instance, a disk write command;

sending, from the guest virtual disk device to the virtual device server, write information;

writing, via the virtual device server, data in the write information at a given address in a RAM-based virtual disk;

setting, via the virtual device server, bits in a Changed Block Bitmap for blocks changed in the RAM-based Virtual Disk;

notifying, via the virtual device server, the guest virtual disk device that the write operation has been completed;

returning the virtual device server to a wait state where a request from the guest virtual disk device is awaited;

notifying, via the guest virtual disk device, the guest operating system instance that the disk write has completed.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the write information includes a write command, an address, a length and/or data.

15. The method of claim 13 wherein information is processed within one of multiple operating systems that are in isolation from core hardware via a kernel separation layer, wherein each operating system has a native application environment without necessity of emulation.