VMware Assigned Ten Patents

Storing checkpoint file in high performance storage device
for rapid virtual machine suspend and resume
VMware, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,250,827) developed by Beveridge, Daniel James, Apollo Beach, FL, for a “storing checkpoint file in high performance storage device for rapid virtual machine suspend and resume.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method of enabling ‘fast’ suspend and ‘rapid’ resume of virtual machines, (VMs) employs a cache that is able to perform input/output operations at a faster rate than a storage device provisioned for the VMs. The cache may be local to a computer system that is hosting the VMs or may be shared cache commonly accessible to VMs hosted by different computer systems. The method includes the steps of saving the state of the VM to a checkpoint file stored in the cache and locking the checkpoint file so that data blocks of the checkpoint file are maintained in the cache and are not evicted, and resuming execution of the VM by reading into memory the data blocks of the checkpoint file stored in the cache.“

The patent application was filed on February 11, 2013 (13/764,516).

Hash-based snapshots
VMware, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,239,841) developed by Arnaudov, Antoan, and Tomov, Rosen, Sofia, Bulgaria, for a “hash-based snapshots.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Methods and systems configured to provide hash-based snapshot services for a virtual storage are provided. The system includes a processor and memory coupled with the processor. The memory is configured to provide the processor with instructions for maintaining, by a hash-based snapshot module executing on the system, a file system of the virtual storage. The file system is associated with a plurality of data blocks. The virtual storage is supported by a hash-storage having a hash base-file and a hash-database. The hash-database is configured for storing the plurality of data blocks. And the hash base-file includes hash codes generated by applying a hash function to the plurality of data blocks. The memory is further configured to provide the processor with instructions for accessing, by the hash-based snapshot module, the file system using hash codes contained in the hash base-file to identify data blocks stored in the hash-database, creating, by the hash-based snapshot module, a first snapshot for the file system, wherein the first snapshot is associated with a first hash snapshot file copied based on the hash base-file, and accessing, by the hash-based snapshot module, the first snapshot using hash codes contained in the first hash snapshot file to identify data blocks stored in the hash-database.“

The patent application was filed on July 16, 2013 (13/943,717).

Simulate storage
VMware, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,239,776) developed by Xue, Lan, Palo Alto, CA, Sathyanarayana, Sreevathsa, Bangalore, India, Jensen, Thor Donbaek, Hoejbjerg, Danemark, Lorimer, Erik, Sunnyvale, CA, and Truong, James, San Jose, CA, for a “systems and methods to simulate storage.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”The embodiments described herein include a host that includes an operating system and a storage simulation module in communication with the host. The storage simulation module includes a pseudo-adapter configured to emulate a storage adapter and a pseudo-storage device coupled to the pseudo-adapter, wherein the pseudo-storage device is configured to emulate a storage device. The storage simulation module is configured to simulate an error event for the pseudo-adapter and/or the pseudo-storage device upon receipt of an operation from the operating system.“

The patent application was filed on February 8, 2013 (13/762,922).

Acquiring quiesceing set of information associated with VM
VMware, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,239,731) developed by Hutchins, Greg, Palo Alto, CA, Czezatke, Christian, San Francisco, CA, Vaghani, Satyam B., Palo Alto, CA, Mahalingam, Mallik, Sunnyvale, CA, Chuang, Shaw, Mountain View, CA, and Le, Bich, San Jose, CA, for a “method and system for acquiring a quiesceing set of information associated with a virtual machine.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A method and system for acquiring a quiesceing set of information associated with a virtual machine. A virtual machine is cloned. The cloned virtual machine has an associated persistent storage device. The state of the persistent storage device is transformed into a quiesced state of the cloned virtual machine by utilizing a shut-down process. The shut-down process is executed on the cloned virtual machine to quiesce the cloned virtual machine and the quiesceing set of information of the cloned virtual machine is automatically reduced to information stored on the persistent storage device.“

The patent application was filed on November 7, 2011 (13/290,885).

I/O hint framework for server flash cache
VMware, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,239,682) developed by Liu, Deng, Mountain View, CA, Phelan, Thomas A., San Francisco, CA, Zhou, Li, Campbell, CA, Vadivelu, Ramkumar, San Jose, CA, and Uttamchandani, Sandeep, Cupertino, CA, for a “I/O hint framework for server flash cache.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”An I/O hint framework is provided. In one embodiment, a computer system can receive an I/O command originating from a virtual machine, (VM), where the I/O command identifies a data block of a virtual disk. The computer system can further extract hint metadata from the I/O command, where the hint metadata includes one or more characteristics of the data block that are relevant for determining how to cache the data block in a flash storage-based cache. The computer system can then make the hint metadata available to a caching module configured to manage the flash storage-based cache.“

The patent application was filed on February 27, 2013 (13/779,260).

Interdependent virtual machine management
VMware, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,213,572) developed by Farkas, Keith, San Carlos, CA, Ziskind, Elisha, Sharon, MA, and Ren, Joanne, Cupertino, CA, for a “interdependent virtual machine management.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems determine a list of virtual machines to be subject to a corrective action. When one or more of the listed virtual machines have dependencies upon other virtual machines, network connections, or storage devices, the determination of the list includes determining that the dependencies of the one or more virtual machines have been met. An attempt to restart or take another corrective action for the first virtual machine within the list is made. A second virtual machine that is currently deployed and running or powered off or paused in response to the corrective action for the first virtual machine is determined to be dependent upon the first virtual machine. In response to the second virtual machine’s dependencies having been met by the attempt to restart or take corrective action for the first virtual machine, the second virtual machine is added to the list of virtual machines.“

The patent application was filed on December 2, 2013 (14/094,344).

Providing virtual desktops using resources accessed on public computer networks
VMware, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,201,667) developed by Ringdahl, Kenneth, Pelham, NH, Baron, Steven, Nashua, NH, Ahlawat, Pranay, Milford, MA, Becker, Robert S., Concord, MA, McKay, and Peter C., Medfield, MA, for a “providing virtual desktops using resources accessed on public computer networks.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A computer system supports hosting of virtual desktops using resources available in the cloud. Connections to various resources used by a desktop configuration are made dynamically using authentication information associated with the user assigned to the desktop configuration. In addition to using file storage, directory services and user management information on private resources on a private network, these resources may also be accessed through a public network.“

The patent application was filed on December 30, 2011 (13/341,026).

Allocating and surfacing host-side storage capacity to virtual machines
VMware, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,195,585) developed by Phelan, Thomas A., San Francisco, CA, Rawat, Mayank, Sunnyvale, CA, Madnani, Kiran, Santa Clara, CA, Zhang, Wei, San Jose, CA, Liu, Deng, Mountain View, CA, and Bandarupalli, Sambasiva, Sunnyvale, CA, for a “techniques for allocating and surfacing host-side storage capacity to virtual machines.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”Techniques for surfacing host-side flash storage capacity to a plurality of VMs running on a host system are provided. In one embodiment, the host system creates, for each VM in the plurality of VMs, a flash storage space allocation in a flash storage device that is locally attached to the host system. The host system then causes the flash storage space allocation to be readable and writable by the VM as a virtual flash memory device.“

The patent application was filed on January 23, 2013 (13/748,247).

Customizable virtual disk allocation for big data workload
VMware, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,195,393) developed by Li, Xinhui, Beijing, China, Lu, Luke, Palo Alto, CA, and Lu, Sheng, Beijing, China, for a “customizable virtual disk allocation for big data workload.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”An example method to allocate a virtual disk for a virtual machine in a virtualized computing system includes allocating a plurality of virtual machine disk file, (VMDK) candidates in a virtual machine file system, (VMFS) volume, selecting a subset of VMDK candidates from the plurality of VMDK candidates for having performance scores indicative of higher I/O throughputs associated with the one or more physical hard disks than rest of the plurality of VMDK candidates, and configuring the virtual disk based on the subset of the VMDK candidates. The VMFS volume is supported by one or more physical hard disks in a storage system in the virtualized computing system.“

The patent application was filed on May 30, 2014 (14/290,992).

Visualizing linked clone trees
VMware, Inc., Palo Alto, CA, has been assigned a patent (9,244,717) developed by Pissay, Sandeep Srinivasa Rao, Bangalore, India, and Balachandran, Vipin, Kollam, India, for a “method and system for visualizing linked clone trees.”

The abstract of the patent published by the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office states: ”A virtual computer system, including a plurality of virtual machines, (VMs) running on one or more host computers, is configured to manage virtual disks in a manner to facilitate making copies of one or more virtual machines, (VMs) by means of a method known as linked cloning. Techniques are disclosed for scanning a storage system to determine the set of VMs, identifying virtual disks associated with each VM, examining parent/child relationships among the virtual disks, and displaying the virtual disk hierarchy. Redundant virtual disks may be identified as the set of virtual disks that have exactly one child disk and that are not associated with a snapshot. Provisions for generating a relocate list to support migration of a linked clone may also be utilized.“

The patent application was filed on March 29, 2012 (13/434,592).