Systems, Methods, and Computer Program Products for Instant Recovery of Image Level Backups

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer program products are provided for instant recovery of a virtual machine (VM) from a compressed image level backup without fully extracting the image level backup file's contents to production storage. The method receives restore parameters and initializes a virtual storage. The method attaches the virtual storage to a hypervisor configured to launch a recovered VM. The method stores virtual disk data changes inflicted by a running operating system (OS), applications, and users in a changes storage. The method provides the ability to migrate the actual VM disk state (taking into account changed disk data blocks accumulated in changes storage) so as to prevent data loss resulting from the VM running during the recovery and accessing virtual storage, to production storage without downtime. In embodiments, the method displays receives restore parameters in an interactive interface and delivers the recovery results via an automated message, such as an email message.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A system for recovering a virtual machine, comprising:
 a storage;   a data conversion engine configured to:
 receive, from a server, a request for a data object of an image level backup, wherein the server is configured to receive a selection of the image level backup corresponding to the virtual machine; 
 determine a data portion of the image level backup, wherein the data portion includes the requested data object; 
 extract contents of the data portion from the image level backup; and 
 represent the extracted contents in the storage, 
   wherein the storage is configured to provide the extracted contents to the server.   
     
     
         2 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the server is a hypervisor, and the storage is a virtual storage. 
     
     
         3 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the data conversion engine is further configured to extract the contents of the data portion without fully extracting the image level backup. 
     
     
         4 . The system of  claim 1 , wherein the storage is communicatively coupled to the server, and the server is further configured to launch the virtual machine using the storage. 
     
     
         5 . The system of  claim 4 , further comprising a recovery finalization module, and the recovery finalization module configured to migrate the launched virtual machine on the storage to a copy of the virtual machine on a production storage. 
     
     
         6 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the recovery finalization module is further configured to:
 verify that the copy of the virtual machine has been created on the production storage; and   perform a failover from the launched virtual machine on the storage to the copy of the virtual machine on the production storage.   
     
     
         7 . The system of  claim 5 , wherein the recovery finalization module is communicatively coupled to the server, and the recovery finalization module further configured to migrate the launched virtual machine from the storage to the copy of the virtual machine on the production storage without downtime. 
     
     
         8 . A method for recovering a virtual machine, comprising:
 receiving, from a server, a request for a data object of an image level backup, wherein the server is configured to receive a selection of the image level backup corresponding to the virtual machine;   determining a data portion of the image level backup, wherein the data portion includes the requested data object;   extracting contents of the data portion from the image level backup; and   representing the extracted contents in a storage to provide the extracted contents to the server.   
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the server is a hypervisor, and the storage is a virtual storage. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the extracting comprises extracting the contents of the data portion without fully extracting the image level backup. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 8 , wherein the storage is communicatively coupled to the server, and the server is further configured to launch the virtual machine using the storage. 
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , further comprising migrating the launched virtual machine from the storage to a copy of the virtual machine on a production storage. 
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the migrating further comprises:
 verifying that the copy of the virtual machine has been created on the production storage;   performing a failover from the launched virtual machine on the storage to the copy of the virtual machine on the production storage.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 12 , wherein the migrating is performed by a recovery finalization module communicatively coupled to the server, and the migrating comprises migrating the launched virtual machine from the storage to the copy of the virtual machine on the production storage without downtime. 
     
     
         15 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform a method for recovering a virtual machine, the method comprising:
 receiving, from a server, a request for a data object of an image level backup, wherein the server is configured to receive a selection of the image level backup corresponding to the virtual machine;   determining a data portion of the image level backup, wherein the data portion includes the requested data object;   extracting contents of the data portion from the image level backup; and   representing the extracted contents in a storage to provide the extracted contents to the server.   
     
     
         16 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the server is a hypervisor, and the storage is a virtual storage. 
     
     
         17 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 15 , wherein the extracting comprises extracting the contents of the data portion without fully extracting the image level backup. 
     
     
         18 . The method of  claim 15 , wherein the storage is communicatively coupled to the server, and the server is further configured to launch the virtual machine using the storage. 
     
     
         19 . The method of  claim 18 , further comprising migrating the launched virtual machine from the storage to a copy of the virtual machine on a production storage. 
     
     
         20 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the migrating further comprises:
 verifying that the copy of the virtual machine has been created on the production storage;   performing a failover from the launched virtual machine on the storage to the copy of the virtual machine on the production storage.   
     
     
         21 . The method of  claim 19 , wherein the migrating is performed by a recovery finalization module communicatively coupled to the server, and the migrating comprises migrating the launched virtual machine from the storage to the copy of the virtual machine on the production storage without downtime.