Granted Patent B2

US 12,572,430 · App. 18/112,989 · Granted Mar 10, 2026

Inventors: Rajaram Balakrishnan (Fremont, CA); Balamurali Palaiah (Gilroy, CA); Jayakrishnan Ramakrishna Pillai (Tracy, CA); Kiran Joseph D Almeida (Bengaluru, IN); Negi Shardul Singh (Pleasanton, CA); Vineeth Karinta (Apex, NC)

Assignee: NETAPP, INC.

G06F11/1484G06F9/45558G06F9/541G06F11/1451G06F11/1469G06F2009/4557G06F2009/45583G06F2009/45587G06F2201/815

Abstract

Claims (63)

1 . A method executed by one or more processors, comprising:

discovering, by a first plugin, from a virtual machine (“VM”) management system, a plurality of VMs that share a logical data store having a plurality of virtual volumes used for storing data for the VMs by a storage system registered with the first plugin and a virtual appliance of the VM management system;

obtaining, by the first plugin, from the virtual appliance, metadata and storage layout of a set of virtual volumes used by a VM to store data;

using a first application programming interface (API), by the first plugin, for identifying a first set of storage volumes used by the storage system to store data for the set of virtual volumes;

creating, by the first plugin, a consistency group (“CG”) having the identified the first set of storage volumes and generating a snapshot of the CG;

creating, by the first plugin, a directory for the VM for a restore operation to restore the VM from the snapshot;

renaming, by the first plugin, a logical object associated with the snapshot;

calling, by the first plugin, the virtual appliance to import the renamed logical object as a virtual volume for the restore operation;

utilizing, by the virtual appliance, a second API to import the virtual volume as a virtual disk, the second API creating a virtual disk descriptor file for the restore operation, the virtual disk descriptor file stored within the directory; and

attaching, by the first plugin, the virtual disk with the VM.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

restoring, by the first plugin, the VM and providing virtual volume metadata to the virtual appliance for the restored VM.

3 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

grouping, by the first plugin, the first set of storage volumes for taking the snapshot, based on a storage profile indicating a service level for the set of virtual volumes.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

discovering, by the first plugin, all storage volumes within the logical data store.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

identifying, by the first plugin, the first set of storage volumes from the discovered storage volumes.

6 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

provisioning, by the virtual appliance, the set of virtual volumes for the VM based on a service level defined by a storage profile.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the first plugin obtains VM files from the VM management system and uses the first API to obtain the first set of storage volumes from a storage operating system of the storage system.

8 . A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium having stored thereon instructions comprising machine executable code, which when executed by a machine, causes the machine to:

discover, by a first plugin, from a virtual machine (“VM”) management system, a plurality of VMs that share a logical data store having a plurality of virtual volumes used for storing data for the VMs by a storage system registered with the first plugin and a virtual appliance of the VM management system;

obtain, by the first plugin, from the virtual appliance, metadata and storage layout of a set of virtual volumes used by a VM to store data;

use a first application programming interface (API), by the first plugin, for identifying a first set of storage volumes used by the storage system to store data for the set of virtual volumes;

create, by the first plugin, a consistency group (“CG”) having the identified the first set of storage volumes and generating a snapshot of the CG;

create, by the first plugin, a directory for the VM for a restore operation to restore the VM from the snapshot;

rename, by the first plugin, a logical object associated with the snapshot;

calling, by the first plugin, the virtual appliance to import the renamed logical object as a virtual volume for the restore operation;

utilize, by the virtual appliance, a second API to import the virtual volume as a virtual disk, the second API creating a virtual disk descriptor file for the restore operation, the virtual disk descriptor file stored within the directory; and

attach, by the first plugin, the virtual disk with the VM.

9 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the machine executable code, which when executed by a machine, further causes the machine to:

restore, by the first plugin, the VM and providing virtual volume metadata to the virtual appliance for the restored VM transfer a snapshot of the VM backup to a secondary storage system.

10 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the machine executable code, which when executed by a machine, further causes the machine to:

group, by the first plugin, the first set of storage volumes for taking the snapshot, based on a storage profile indicating a service level for the set of virtual volumes.

11 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the machine executable code, which when executed by a machine, further causes the machine to:

discover, by the first plugin, all storage volumes within the logical data store.

12 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 11 , wherein the machine executable code, which when executed by a machine, further causes the machine to:

identify, by the first plugin, the first set of storage volumes from the discovered storage volumes.

13 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the machine executable code, which when executed by a machine, further causes the machine to:

provision, by the virtual appliance, the set of virtual volumes for the VM based on a service level defined by a storage profile.

14 . The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium of claim 8 , wherein the first plugin obtains VM files from the VM management system and uses the first API to obtain the first set of storage volumes from a storage operating system of the storage system.

15 . A system, comprising:

a memory containing machine readable medium comprising machine executable code having stored thereon instructions; and a processor coupled to the memory to execute the machine executable code to:

discover, by a first plugin, from a virtual machine (“VM”) management system, a plurality of VMs that share a logical data store having a plurality of virtual volumes used for storing data for the VMs by a storage system registered with the first plugin and a virtual appliance of the VM management system;

obtain, by the first plugin, from the virtual appliance, metadata and storage layout of a set of virtual volumes used by a VM to store data;

use a first application programming interface (API), by the first plugin, for identifying a first set of storage volumes used by the storage system to store data for the set of virtual volumes;

create, by the first plugin, a consistency group (“CG”) having the identified the first set of storage volumes and generating a snapshot of the CG;

create, by the first plugin, a directory for the VM for a restore operation to restore the VM from the snapshot;

rename, by the first plugin, a logical object associated with the snapshot;

calling, by the first plugin, the virtual appliance to import the renamed logical object as a virtual volume for the restore operation;

utilize, by the virtual appliance, a second API to import the virtual volume as a virtual disk, the second API creating a virtual disk descriptor file for the restore operation, the virtual disk descriptor file stored within the directory; and

attach, by the first plugin, the virtual disk with the VM.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the machine executable code further causes to:

restore, by the first plugin, the VM and providing virtual volume metadata to the virtual appliance for the restored VM transfer a snapshot of the VM backup to a secondary storage system.

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the machine executable code further causes to:

group, by the first plugin, the first set of storage volumes for taking the snapshot, based on a storage profile indicating a service level for the set of virtual volumes.

18 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the machine executable code further causes to:

discover, by the first plugin, all storage volumes within the logical data store; and

identify, by the first plugin, the first set of storage volumes from the discovered storage volumes.

19 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the machine executable code further causes to:

provision, by the virtual appliance, the set of virtual volumes for the VM based on a service level defined by a storage profile.

20 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the first plugin obtains VM files from the VM management system and uses the first API to obtain the first set of storage volumes from a storage operating system of the storage system.

Assignments (1)

Continuity (2)

References Cited (39)