Reducing storage expansion of a virtual machine operating system
US8176294B2 · kind B2 · utility
6Cited by
0References
20Claims
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Assignee
Inventor
Key dates
| Filing date | Apr 6, 2009 |
| Grant date | May 8, 2012 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 15, 2030 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F9/5077
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Storage expansion for a virtual machine operating system is reduced. In one embodiment, virtual machines are run on a host and accessed by remote clients over a network. When a guest operating system on one of the virtual machines deletes a file, a VM storage manager on the host detects a special write performed by the guest operating system that writes zeros into a logical block of the file. The VM storage manager links the logical block to a designated block, and de-allocates the disk block that is mapped to the logical block. The de-allocation allows the disk block to be reused by the virtual machines.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.