System and method for environment aware backup and restoration
A remote agent for performing a backup of a virtual machine includes a persistent storage that stores backup policies and a backup manager that obtains a backup generation request for the virtual machine and, in response to the backup generation request, performs a component validation analysis of a production host that hosts the virtual machine to identify a backup state of the production host; makes a first determination, based on the backup state of the production host, that the production host is in a backup-enabled state; and, in response to the first determination, generates a backup of the virtual machine, using the backup policies, for storage in a backup storage; and validates that the backup of the virtual machine is stored in the backup storage based on a reduced size representation of the backup and a reduced size representation of a copy of the backup in the backup storage.
1. A remote agent for performing a backup of a virtual machine, comprising:
a persistent storage that stores backup policies; and
a backup manager programmed to:
obtain a backup generation request for the virtual machine; and
in response to the backup generation request:
perform a component validation analysis of a production host that hosts the virtual machine to identify a backup state of the production host, wherein the component validation analysis comprises:
identifying a first responsiveness status of a production agent of the production host;
identifying a second responsiveness status of the virtual machine; and
identifying the backup state of the production host based on both of the first responsiveness status and the second responsiveness status;
make a first determination, based on the backup state of the production host, that the production host is in a backup-enabled state; and
in response to the first determination:
generate a backup of the virtual machine, using the backup policies, for storage in a backup storage; and
validate that the backup of the virtual machine is stored in the backup storage based on:
a reduced size representation of the backup, and
a reduced size representation of a copy of the backup in the backup storage.
2. The remote agent of claim 1 , wherein the backup manager is further programmed to:
obtain a second backup generation request of the virtual machine;
in response to the second backup generation request:
perform a second component validation analysis of the production host to identify a second backup state of the production host;
make a second determination, based on the second backup state, that the production host is in a backup-disabled state; and
in response to the second determination:
perform a remediation of the production host based on the second backup state to attempt to change the second backup state of the production host to a backup-enabled state.
3. The remote agent of claim 2 , wherein the backup manager is further programmed to:
make a third determination, based on the remediation, that the production host is in the backup-disabled state; and
in response to the third determination:
reject the backup generation request.
4. The remote agent of claim 2 , wherein the backup manager is further programmed to:
make a third determination, based on the remediation, that the production host is in the backup-enabled state; and
in response to the third determination:
make a fourth determination that the virtual machine meets a policy exception based on, at least, an availability of computing resources of the production host; and
in response to the fourth determination:
perform a policy exception analysis to obtain modified backup policies; and
generate a second backup of the virtual machine using the modified backup policies.
5. The remote agent of claim 1 , wherein validating that the backup of the virtual machine is stored in the backup storage comprises:
making a second determination that the reduced size representation of the backup does not match the reduced size representation of the copy of the backup in the backup storage; and
in response to the second determination:
making a third determination that the reduced size representation of the backup matches a reduced size representation of a second copy of the backup in the backup storage.
6. The remote agent of claim 1 , wherein performing the component validation analysis of the production host that hosts the virtual machine to identify the backup state of the production host further comprises:
identifying an available storage capacity of the production host;
identifying a size of a shadow copy of the virtual machine; and
identifying the backup state of the production host based on both of the available storage capacity and the size of the shadow copy.
7. A method for performing a backup of a virtual machine, comprising:
obtaining a backup generation request for the virtual machine by a remote agent; and
in response to the backup generation request:
performing, by the remote agent, a component validation analysis of a production host that hosts the virtual machine to identify a backup state of the production host, wherein the component validation analysis comprises:
identifying a first responsiveness status of a production agent of the production host;
identifying a second responsiveness status of the virtual machine; and
identifying the backup state of the production host based on both of the first responsiveness status and the second responsiveness status;
making a first determination, based on the backup state of the production host, that the production host is in a backup-enabled state; and
in response to the first determination:
generating a backup of the virtual machine, using backup policies, for storage in a backup storage; and
validating that the backup of the virtual machine is stored in the backup storage based on:
a reduced size representation of the backup, and
a reduced size representation of a copy of the backup in the backup storage.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the method further comprises:
obtaining a second backup generation request of the virtual machine;
in response to obtaining the second backup generation request:
performing a second component validation analysis of the production host to identify a second backup state of the production host;
making a second determination, based on the second backup state, that the production host is in a backup-disabled state; and
in response to the second determination:
perform a remediation of the production host, by the remote agent, based on the second backup state to attempt to change the second backup state of the production host to a backup-enabled state.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises:
making a third determination, based on the remediation, that the production host is in the backup-disabled state; and
in response to the third determination:
rejecting the backup generation request.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the method further comprises:
making a third determination, based on the remediation, that the production host is in the backup-enabled state; and
in response to the third determination:
making a fourth determination that the virtual machine meets a policy exception based on, at least, an availability of computing resources of the production host; and
in response to the fourth determination:
performing a policy exception analysis to obtain modified backup policies; and
generating a second backup of the virtual machine using the modified backup policies.
11. The method of claim 7 , wherein validating that the backup of the virtual machine is stored in the backup storage comprises:
making a second determination that the reduced size representation of the backup does not match the reduced size representation of the copy of the backup in the backup storage; and
in response to the second determination:
making a third determination that the reduced size representation of the backup matches a reduced size representation of a second copy of the backup in the backup storage.
12. The method of claim 7 , wherein performing the component validation analysis of the production host that hosts the virtual machine to identify the backup state of the production host further comprises:
identifying an available storage capacity of the production host;
identifying a size of a shadow copy of the virtual machine; and
identifying the backup state of the production host based on both of the available storage capacity and the size of the shadow copy.
13. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer processor enables the computer processor to perform a method for performing a backup of a virtual machine, the method comprising:
obtaining a backup generation request for the virtual machine by a remote agent; and
in response to the backup generation request:
performing, by the remote agent, a component validation analysis of a production host that hosts the virtual machine to identify a backup state of the production host, wherein the component validation analysis comprises:
identifying a first responsiveness status of a production agent of the production host;
identifying a second responsiveness status of the virtual machine; and
identifying the backup state of the production host based on both of the first responsiveness status and the second responsiveness status;
making a first determination, based on the backup state of the production host, that the production host is in a backup-enabled state; and
in response to the first determination:
generating a backup of the virtual machine, using backup policies, for storage in a backup storage; and
validating that the backup of the virtual machine is stored in the backup storage based on:
a reduced size representation of the backup, and
a reduced size representation of a copy of the backup in the backup storage.
14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises:
obtaining a second backup generation request of the virtual machine;
in response to obtaining the second backup generation request:
performing a second component validation analysis of the production host to identify a second backup state of the production host;
making a second determination, based on the second backup state, that the production host is in a backup-disabled state; and
in response to the second determination:
perform a remediation of the production host, by the remote agent, based on the second backup state to attempt to change the second backup state of the production host to a backup-enabled state.
15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:
making a third determination, based on the remediation, that the production host is in the backup-disabled state; and
in response to the third determination:
rejecting the backup generation request.
16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 14 , wherein the method further comprises:
making a third determination, based on the remediation, that the production host is in the backup-enabled state; and
in response to the third determination:
making a fourth determination that the virtual machine meets a policy exception based on, at least, an availability of computing resources of the production host; and
in response to the fourth determination:
performing a policy exception analysis to obtain modified backup policies; and
generating a second backup of the virtual machine using the modified backup policies.
17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the method further comprises:
making a second determination that the reduced size representation of the backup does not match the reduced size representation of the copy of the backup in the backup storage; and
in response to the second determination:
making a third determination that the reduced size representation of the backup matches a reduced size representation of a second copy of the backup in the backup storage.