System and method for full virtual machine backup using storage system functionality

摘要

Techniques for virtual machine full backup are described herein. According to one embodiment, in response to a request to back up a virtual machine (VM) of a client, a request of VM backup is sent out. A consistent state of the VM is then identified via a VM application program interface (VM API). Subsequently a request is sent to a storage system associated with the client to ask for VM disk image associated with the consistent state of the VM to a target backup storage system.

主权项

1. A computer-implemented method for restoring backup data, the method comprising:
receiving at a backup server a request to restore a first virtual machine (VM) to a first host system, wherein the backup server manages backup operations of a plurality of storage systems over a network; identifying by the backup server a first of the storage systems that is associated with the first host system; identifying by the backup server a second of the storage systems that stores a first VM disk image file corresponding to the first VM that has been previously backed up; transmitting a first request to a VM manager (VMM) via a VM application programming interface (API) of the first host system, the first request requesting the VMM to create a second VM; and transmitting a second request to the second storage system requesting the second storage system to transmit the first VM disk image file to the first storage system, wherein the first storage system associates the first disk image file with the second VM representing the first VM restored.