Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Amazon Technologies, Inc.

Emc IP Holding Company LLC

Benjamin A Leis

Mark Joseph Zbikowski

Parag Chakraborty

Norbert Paul Kusters

Jacob Kappeler Oshins

Scott Field

Karan Mehra

Nathan Bartholomew Thomas

Vishal Vikram Ghotge

Thomas Jay Miller

David Benson Cross

Pankaj Garg

Christopher Leland Eck

Rajeev Y Nagar

Michael L Michael

Brian D Andrew

Jianrong Gu

Jeffrey Kinsey

William L Scheidel

Gang Li

Duncan G Bryce

Mayank Rajawat

Natalia Valeryevna Varava

Venkatasubrahmanyam Raman

Daniel W H Chan

Barry Naujok

Brian L Henry

Kiran Ballal

Scott A Field

Vishal A Ghotge

The described technology is generally directed towards domains that data services can use to collect files of a global filesystem namespace into groups, and domains that can be used to exclude certain files or metadata. A data service (a domain patron) creates a domain, e.g., for a particular directory, and a domain manager associates files under that directory with domain membership information. The data service can relate exclusion information to the domain, e.g., to exclude part of the directory. This can be done by an exclusion domain instance, e.g., a child to a parent domain, or can be done in metadata, by having the data service (e.g., a snapshot data service) exclude certain metadata such as snapshot identifiers from a larger set of snapshot identifiers.

Excluding directory trees from data service operations

Systems and methods for managing deployment of an update to computing devices, and for diagnosing issues with such deployment, are provided. An update deployment manager determines one or more initial computing devices to receive and execute an update. The update deployment manager further monitors a set of performance metrics with respect to the initial computing devices or a collection of computing devices. If a deployment issue is detected based on the monitored metrics, the update deployment manager may attempt to diagnosis the deployment issue. For example, the update deployment manager may determine that a specific characteristic of computing devices is associated with the deployment issue. Thereafter, the update deployment manager may modify future deployment based on the diagnosis (e.g., to exclude computing devices likely to experience the deployment issue).

Managing update deployment

A method for establishing and maintaining a differential snapshot of a set of files stored on a volume is disclosed. The invention achieves processing time and disk space optimizations by avoiding copy-on-write operations for logically insignificant moves of blocks, such as the block rearrangements characteristic of defragmentation utilities. A file system enhancement enabling the passing of a block copy command from the file system to lower-level drivers, is used to inform the snapshotter that a block move operation is not logically meaningful. When the logically insignificant move is of a block whose data forms part of the data captured in the snapshot virtual volume, and when the move is to a block location that is functioning as logical free space, the snapshotter can simply modify its block bitmap and update translation table entries without needing to perform a copy-on-write.

Optimizing defragmentation operations in a differential snapshotter

A computing device has a hardware device employed to provide a hardware service to the computing device and a plurality of virtual machines including a host virtual machine (VM-H) to which the hardware device is assigned, and a client virtual machine (VM-C) that can consume the hardware service by way of the VM-H. The VM-C includes an emulating stack and an enlightened stack. The emulating stack interfaces an application requesting the hardware service with a trap in a virtualization layer of the computing device which re-directs the request to the VM-H. The enlightened stack interfaces the application with the VM-H and bypasses the virtualization layer. The emulating stack includes a shunt driver that shunts to the enlightened stack each request from the application directed to the emulating stack.

Virtual machine transitioning from emulating mode to enlightened mode

A computing device has a virtual machine bus (VM bus) operable in a pipe mode where all incoming data written to the VM bus from a source is passed through to be read from the VM bus by a sink, and a plurality of instantiated virtual machines (VMs). Each VM hosts an instance of an operating system upon an application may be instantiated. Each VM includes a computing object for issuing a call to a component object of another VM, and a VM bus system object for receiving the call and communicating same to a VM bus system object of the another VM by way of the VM bus. The VM bus system object is also for receiving the call from the VM bus system object of the another VM by way of the VM bus and for communicating the received call to the computing object.

Transferring data between virtual machines by way of virtual machine bus in pipe mode

A computer system and method for communicating in a virtual environment. The computer system may include a first partition and a virtual service client implemented at a first position in the first partition. The computer system may also include a second partition, and a virtual service provider implemented at a second position in the second partition. The first partition and the second partition may be in operative communication via the virtual service client and the virtual service provider. The first position and the second position may enable the virtual service client and the virtual service provider to reduce processing overhead associated with communicating in the virtual environment by eliminating a processing step, a buffer copy, a software interrupt, and/or a context switch.

Communicating in a virtual environment

A differential snapshot is established and maintained for a set of files stored on a volume. Copy-on-write operations are avoided for logically insignificant moves of blocks, such as the block rearrangements characteristic of defragmentation utilities. A file system passes a block copy command to lower-level drivers that are to inform the snapshotter that a block move operation is not logically meaningful. When the logically insignificant move is of a block whose data forms part of the data captured in the snapshot virtual volume, and when the move is to a block location that is functioning as logical free space, the snapshotter can simply modify its block bitmap and update translation table entries without needing to perform a copy-on-write.

Physical (or prior virtual) machine volumes can be converted to virtual machines at a virtual machine host while the physical machines are running. In one implementation, a volume shadow copy service can be used to create an application (and/or file system)-consistent snapshot of one or more physical machine volumes while the one or more volumes are running. The snapshot data can then be transferred to a mounted virtual hard disk file (dynamic or fixed) at a virtual machine host. Operational information (e.g., boot record, system registry, drivers, devices, configuration preferences, etc.) associated with the virtual hard disk file and the operating system(s) within the virtual machine can then be modified as appropriate to ensure that the corresponding virtual machine is bootable and functional at the virtual machine host. The virtual hard disk file can then be un-mounted, and used as a new virtual machine.

Converting physical machines to virtual machines

A computing device is partitioned to include a host partition (HP) instantiated at least in part to provide storage capabilities, and also to include a client partition (CP) instantiated at least in part to consume such storage capabilities of the HP in the form of a virtual storage device at the CP. The HP implements the virtual storage device of the CP as an image file on a physical storage device. The image file at the HP is compacted while the CP is active and employing the corresponding virtual storage device.

Compaction, de-fragmentation, and merging of virtual storage device of virtual machine

A file system enables the real-time correction of detected corruptions to on-disk data. An enhancement to a file system responds in real time to file system corruptions detected on a running volume, and repairs the corruptions at the point where the file system detects them. Upon detection of a corruption by the file system, the system enhancement records information describing the nature of the corruption. A repair scan is defined for each type of corruption encountered. Repair scans can be run at the top level of execution in the current thread in which the corruption is detected, or they may require a dedicated thread to service the repair operation.

Real-time file system repairs

An operating system copies data from memory pages into a paging file on disk, in order to free up space in the memory. A mechanism is disclosed that causes the data to be encrypted as it is copied into the paging file, thereby protecting the paged data from unauthorized (or otherwise undesired) observation. The data that is stored in the paging file is encrypted with a session key, that is generated shortly after the machine on which the paging file exists is started. The session key, which is used both for encryption and decryption of the paging file data, is stored in volatile memory, so that the key is not persisted across boots of the machine. Since the key is not persisted across boots, old paging file data that was stored prior to the most recent boot cannot be recovered in clear text, thereby protecting the data from observation.

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Benjamin A Leis