Granted Patent B2

US 9,720,778 · App. 14/624,231 · Granted Aug 1, 2017

Abstract

Claims (55)

1. A computerized method of backing up data associated with an out-of-band storage area network (SAN) datastore connected to a backup computing device over a SAN such that the backup is performed without using a local area network (LAN), the method comprising:

receiving, by the backup computing device, a request to back up data associated with a virtual machine (VM), the VM being associated with a VM datastore and a VM datastore disk in the SAN, wherein:

the VM datastore disk is associated with a unique ID; and

the backup computing device is out-of-band with the VM datastore such that the VM directly modifies the VM datastore without the modifications passing through the backup computing device;

comparing, by the backup computing device, the unique ID associated with the VM datastore disk with a unique ID associated with a disk available to the backup computing device, wherein the disk is in a copy data storage pool;

determining, by the backup computing device, that the unique ID associated with the VM datastore disk matches the unique ID associated with the disk available to the backup computing device;

opening for reading, by the backup computing device, the VM datastore disk;

disabling, by the backup computing device, caching by the VM datastore disk so that reads to the VM datastore disk do not use caching; and

copying, by the backup computing device, a snapshot of the VM datastore from the opened VM datastore disk to the disk in the copy data storage pool over the SAN, thereby backing up the VM datastore from the VM datastore disk that is out-of-band to the backup computing device, wherein the backup is performed over the (SAN) and not over the LAN.

2. The computerized method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining that the unique ID associated with the VM datastore disk does not match the unique ID associated with the disk on the backup computing device; and

copying data from the VM to a copy data storage pool over a local area network.

3. The computerized method of claim 1 , wherein the unique ID comprises a logical unit number (LUN) ID, a small computer system interface (SCSI) ID, or a disk label.

4. The computerized method of claim 1 , wherein the VM datastore disk is presented to the backup computing device by a SAN datastore.

5. The computerized method of claim 4 , wherein the backup computing device is connected to the SAN datastore by a fiber channel or an Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) SAN connection.

6. The computerized method of claim 1 , further comprising implementing a safety policy to prevent accidental writing to the SAN datastore.

7. The computerized method of claim 6 , wherein implementing the safety policy comprises:

comparing a unique ID of a disk associated with a write operation by the backup computing device against a unique ID of a datastore disk associated with the SAN datastore; and

cancelling the write operation when the unique ID of a disk associated with a write operation by the backup computing device matches the unique ID of the datastore disk associated with the SAN datastore.

8. The computerized method of claim 6 , wherein implementing the safety policy comprises:

determining the contents of a disk associated with a write operation contain a signature pattern associated with the SAN datastore; and

cancelling the write operation.

9. A backup computing system for backing up data associated with an out-of-band storage area network (SAN) datastore connected to the a backup computing system over a SAN such that the backup is performed without using a local area network (LAN), the computing system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor and including computer-readable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive a request to back up data associated with a virtual machine (VM), the VM being associated with a VM datastore and a VM datastore disk in the SAN, wherein:

the VM datastore disk is associated with a unique ID; and

the backup computing system is out-of-band with the VM datastore such that the VM directly modifies the VM datastore without the modifications passing through the backup computing system;

compare the unique ID associated with the VM datastore disk with a unique ID associated with a disk available to the backup computing system, wherein the disk is in a copy data storage pool;

determine the unique ID associated with the VM datastore disk matches the unique ID associated with the disk available to the backup computing system;

open the VM datastore disk for reading;

disable caching by the VM datastore disk so that reads to the VM datastore disk do not use caching; and

copy a snapshot of the VM datastore from the opened VM datastore disk to the disk in the copy data storage pool over the SAN, thereby backing up the VM datastore from the VM datastore disk that is out-of-band to the backup computing system, wherein the backup is performed over the (SAN) and not over the LAN.

10. The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the computer-readable instructions cause the processor to:

determine that the unique ID associated with the VM datastore disk does not match the unique ID associated with the disk on the backup computing system; and

copy data from the VM to a copy data storage pool over a local area network.

11. The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the unique ID comprises a logical unit number (LUN) ID, a small computer system interface (SCSI) ID, or a disk label.

12. The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the VM datastore disk is presented to the backup computing system by a SAN datastore.

13. The computing system of claim 12 , wherein the backup computing system is connected to the SAN datastore by a fiber channel or an Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) SAN connection.

14. The computing system of claim 9 , wherein the computer-readable instructions cause the processor to implement a safety policy to prevent accidental writing to the SAN datastore.

15. The computing system of claim 14 , wherein implementing the safety policy comprises:

comparing a unique ID of a disk associated with a write operation by the backup computing system against a unique ID of a datastore disk associated with the SAN datastore; and

cancelling the write operation when the unique ID of a disk associated with a write operation by the backup computing system matches the unique ID of the datastore disk associated with the SAN datastore.

16. The computing system of claim 14 , wherein implementing the safety policy comprises:

determining the contents of a disk associated with a write operation contain a signature pattern associated with the SAN datastore; and

cancelling the write operation.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium having executable instructions operable to cause an apparatus to:

receive a request to back up data associated with a virtual machine (VM), the VM being associated with a VM datastore and a VM datastore disk in the SAN, wherein:

the VM datastore disk is associated with a unique ID; and

the apparatus is out-of-band with the VM datastore such that the VM directly modifies the VM datastore without the modifications passing through the apparatus;

compare the unique ID associated with the VM datastore disk with a unique ID associated with a disk available to the apparatus, wherein the disk is in a copy data storage pool;

determine the unique ID associated with the VM datastore disk matches the unique ID associated with the disk available to the apparatus;

open the VM datastore disk for reading;

disable caching by the VM datastore disk so that reads to the VM datastore disk do not use caching; and

copy a snapshot of the VM datastore from the opened VM datastore disk to the disk in the copy data storage pool over the SAN, thereby backing up the VM datastore from the VM datastore disk that is out-of-band to the apparatus, wherein the backup is performed over the (SAN) and not the LAN.

Assignments (8)