Methods and apparatus for providing hypervisor level data services for server virtualization

1. A method of data backup from a protected site to a recovery site, comprising:

receiving, by a recovery site computing device, an intercepted write request from a protected site computing device;

selecting, by the recovery site computing device, a variable size storage unit from a plurality of variable size storage units to store the write request, wherein each of the variable size storage units comprises one or more variable size data chunks, wherein each of the one of more variable size data chunks corresponds to a window of time;

adjusting, by the recovery site computing device, a size of the variable size storage unit using at least one of the one or more variable size data chunks; and

storing, by the recovery site computing device, the write request in the variable size storage unit of a journal at the recovery site.

2. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

allocating at least one of the one or more variable size data chunks to the recovery site computing device.

3. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

de-allocating at least one of the one or more variable size data chunks from the recovery site computing device.

4. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

promoting write requests to a recovery disk.

5. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

adjusting the size of the variable size storage unit periodically based on a time period.

6. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

increasing the size of the variable size storage unit during a peak time period.

7. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

removing the variable size storage unit from the recovery site computing device during an off-peak period.

8. The method of claim 1 , comprising:

receiving, by the recovery site computing device, test data during a test period; and

testing the recovery site computing device using the test data.

9. The method of claim 8 , comprising:

testing the recovery site computing device using the test data in parallel with production journaling to avoid disruption of production replication and protection.

10. The method of claim 4 , comprising:

establishing, by a journal manager, a maintenance history indicating a time frame for how long write commands are saved in the recovery site computing device.

11. A system for data backup and replication from a protected site to a recovery site, the system comprising:

a protected site computing device; and

a recovery site computing device; wherein the recovery site computing device:

receives intercepted write requests from the protected site computing device;

selects a variable size storage unit from a plurality of variable size storage units for the write requests, wherein each of the variable size storage units comprises one or more variable size data chunks, wherein each of the one of more variable size data chunks corresponds to a window of time; and

stores the write request in the variable size storage unit of a journal at the recovery site.

12. The system of claim 11 , wherein a journal manager enforces a pre-specified maximum size constraint on the recovery site computing device.

13. The system of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of variable size storage units are virtual storage units.

14. The system of claim 11 , wherein the plurality of variable size storage units are physical storage units.

15. The system of claim 11 , wherein the recovery site computing device spans a history window of a pre-specified time length.

16. A system for data backup and replication from a protected site to a recovery site, the system comprising:

a recovery site computing device, the recovery site computing device comprising:

a journal comprising one or more variable-size storage units, wherein each of the one or more variable-size storage units comprises one or more variable-size data chunks corresponding to a window of time; wherein the one or more variable-size storage units are part of a pool of resources that are not dedicated to the journal;

wherein the recovery site computing device:

intercepts, at a sequence of times, data to add to the journal;

determines a time history window for the journal;

identifies a pre-designated maximum size of the journal;

compares a size of the data to the pre-designated maximum size of the journal;

identifies available variable-size data chunks from the one or more variable-size data chunks of the one or more variable-size storage units;

allocates the available variable-size data chunks to the journal; and

stores the data in the journal.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein the recovery site computing device comprises a recovery disk, wherein the recovery site computing device:

determines the time history window for the journal is full;

promotes old time data from the journal to the recovery disk;

removes the old time data from the journal; and

releases one or more variable-size data chunks from the journal.

18. The system of claim 16 , wherein the recovery site computing device comprises a recovery disk, wherein the recovery site computing device:

determines, responsive to the comparison, the data will exceed the pre-designated maximum size of the journal;

promotes old time data from the journal to the recovery disk;

removes the old time data from the journal; and

releases one or more variable-size data chunks from the journal.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the recovery site computing device comprises a recovery disk, wherein the recovery site computing device:

determines none of the variable-size data chunks from the one or more variable-size data chunks of the one or more variable-size storage units are available;

promotes old time data from the journal to the recovery disk;

removes the old time data from the journal; and

releases one or more variable-size data chunks from the journal.