Patents by Inventor Keith Farkas

Keith Farkas has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Publication number: 20180373554
    Abstract: Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems include a hypervisor receiving an error message from an agent within a first virtual machine run by the hypervisor. In response to the error message, the hypervisor determines and initiates a corrective action for the hypervisor to take in response to the error message. An exemplary corrective action includes initiating a reset of the first virtual machine or a reset of a second virtual machine.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 4, 2018
    Publication date: December 27, 2018
    Inventors: Rostislav Vavrick, Keith Farkas, Smriti Desai, Baruch Oxman
  • Patent number: 10162661
    Abstract: 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.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 3, 2015
    Date of Patent: December 25, 2018
    Assignee: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: Keith Farkas, Elisha Ziskind, Joanne Ren
  • Patent number: 10108508
    Abstract: A system for monitoring a virtual machine executed on a host. The system includes a processor that receives an indication that a failure caused a storage device to be inaccessible to the virtual machine, the inaccessible storage device impacting an ability of the virtual machine to provide service, and applies a remedy to restore access to the storage device based on a type of the failure.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 3, 2016
    Date of Patent: October 23, 2018
    Assignee: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: Joanne Ren, Igor Tarashansky, Keith Farkas, Elisha Ziskind, Manoj Krishnan
  • Patent number: 10055307
    Abstract: The present disclosure is related to methods, systems, and machine-readable media for workflows for series of snapshots. A server can manage replication of a number of series of snapshots of a virtual computing instance (VCI). An on-host agent can replicate a parent series of the number of series of snapshots to at least one child series of the number of series of snapshots. The parent series can precede the at least one child series in the number of series of snapshots. A change in the parent series can be propagated to the child series. Management of the replication of the numbers of series of snapshots can be switched from the server to a different server.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 30, 2015
    Date of Patent: August 21, 2018
    Assignee: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: Joanne Ren, David W. Barry, Keith Farkas, Mike Zucca, Martin Valkanov
  • Patent number: 10007448
    Abstract: A method for restoring a data volume using incremental snapshots of the data volume includes creating a first series of incremental snapshots according to a first predefined interval. The method further includes creating a second series of incremental snapshots according to a second predefined interval that is an integer multiple of the first predefined interval. The method also includes receiving a request to restore the data volume to a point-in-time. The method further includes restoring the data volume to the point-in-time using none or some of the snapshots in the first series that were created at or prior to the point-in-time, and all of the snapshots in the second series that were created at or prior to the point-in-time.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: August 28, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 26, 2018
    Assignee: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Zucca, Keith Farkas, Joanne Ren, Mayank Rawat, Christos Karamanolis
  • Patent number: 9990220
    Abstract: Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems include a hypervisor receiving an error message from an agent within a first virtual machine run by the hypervisor. In response to the error message, the hypervisor determines and initiates a corrective action for the hypervisor to take in response to the error message. An exemplary corrective action includes initiating a reset of the first virtual machine or a reset of a second virtual machine.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 7, 2015
    Date of Patent: June 5, 2018
    Assignee: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: Rostislav Vavrick, Keith Farkas, Smriti Desai, Baruch Oxman
  • Patent number: 9891938
    Abstract: The present disclosure is related to methods, systems, and machine-readable media for modifying an instance catalog to perform operation. A storage system can include a plurality of packfiles that store data. The storage system can include a plurality of streams that include a plurality of hashes that identify the plurality of packfiles. The storage system can include an instance catalog that includes an identification of the plurality of streams. The storage system can include an operation engine to perform a number of operations on the plurality of packfiles by modifying the instance catalog using the identification of the plurality of streams.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 26, 2015
    Date of Patent: February 13, 2018
    Assignee: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: David W. Barry, Joanne Ren, Mike Zucca, Keith Farkas
  • Patent number: 9846611
    Abstract: A system for proactive resource reservation for protecting virtual machines. The system includes a cluster of hosts, wherein the cluster of hosts includes a master host, a first slave host, and one or more other slave hosts, and wherein the first slave host executes one or more virtual machines thereon. The first slave host is configured to identify a failure that impacts an ability of the one or more virtual machines to provide service, and calculate a list of impacted virtual machines. The master host is configured to receive a request to reserve resources on another host in the cluster of hosts to enable the impacted one or more virtual machines to failover, calculate a resource capacity among the cluster of hosts, determine whether the calculated resource capacity is sufficient to reserve the resources, and send an indication as to whether the resources are reserved.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 21, 2016
    Date of Patent: December 19, 2017
    Assignee: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: Joanne Ren, Keith Farkas, Elisha Ziskind, Igor Tarashansky, Manoj Krishnan
  • Patent number: 9817734
    Abstract: Techniques for enabling virtual machine (VM) recovery on non-shared storage in a single virtual infrastructure management server (VIMS) instance are provided. In one set of embodiments, a VIMS instance can receive an indication that a VM in a first cluster of the VIMS instance has failed, and can determine whether the VM's files were being replicated to a storage component of the VIMS instance at the time of the VM's failure. If the VM's files were being replicated at the time of the failure, the VIMS instance can search for and identify a cluster of the VIMS instance and a host system within the cluster that (1) are compatible with the VM, and (2) have access to the storage component. The VIMS instance can then cause the VM to be restarted on the identified host system of the identified cluster.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: June 29, 2015
    Date of Patent: November 14, 2017
    Assignee: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: Joanne Ren, Keith Farkas, Mike Zucca, Parth Shah
  • Publication number: 20170060900
    Abstract: Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems include a source site management server receiving, from first and second potential target site management servers, characteristics of the first and second potential target sites that affect replication of data from the source site to each potential target site. The source site management server receives selection of one or more criteria to be met in the selection of a target site for replication of data. The source site management server determines which potential target site is a better match for the received criteria based upon a comparison of the received criteria with the received characteristics of the target sites. The source site management server configures, automatically in response to the determination, the selected site as the target site for replication of data within the source site.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2015
    Publication date: March 2, 2017
    Inventors: Martin MARINOV, Keith FARKAS, Konstantin IVANOV, Biliana PETROVA
  • Publication number: 20170060899
    Abstract: Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems include a target site management server transmitting, to a source site management server, a plurality of protection service plans available for replication of data from the source site to the target site. The transmission of the protection service plans includes a description of one or more service level characteristics provided by each protection service plan and excludes a listing of physical and virtual resources within the target site that are to provide the service level characteristics. The target site management server receives selection of one of the protection service plans and determines the physical resources within the target site to provide the advertised service level characteristics for the data replication. The target site management server further transmits configuration details to one or more of the determined physical resources to implement the replication infrastructure within the target site according to the selected protection service plan.
    Type: Application
    Filed: September 23, 2015
    Publication date: March 2, 2017
    Inventors: Keith FARKAS, Martin MARINOV, Martin VALKANOV, Konstantin IVANOV, Ajay VERGHESE
  • Publication number: 20170060620
    Abstract: Techniques are disclosed for maintaining high availability (HA) for virtual machines (VMs) running on host systems of a host cluster, where each host system executes a HA module in a plurality of HA modules and a storage module in a plurality of storage modules, where the host cluster aggregates, via the plurality of storage modules, locally-attached storage resources of the host systems to provide an object store, where persistent data for the VMs is stored as per-VM storage objects across the locally-attached storage resources comprising the object store, and where a failure causes the plurality of storage modules to observe a network partition in the host cluster that the plurality of HA modules do not. In one embodiment, a host system in the host cluster executing a first HA module invokes an API exposed by the plurality of storage modules for persisting metadata for a VM to the object store.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 15, 2016
    Publication date: March 2, 2017
    Inventors: Marc Sevigny, Keith Farkas, Christos Karamanolis
  • Publication number: 20170060449
    Abstract: A method for restoring a data volume using incremental snapshots of the data volume includes creating a first series of incremental snapshots according to a first predefined interval. The method further includes creating a second series of incremental snapshots according to a second predefined interval that is an integer multiple of the first predefined interval. The method also includes receiving a request to restore the data volume to a point-in-time. The method further includes restoring the data volume to the point-in-time using none or some of the snapshots in the first series that were created at or prior to the point-in-time, and all of the snapshots in the second series that were created at or prior to the point-in-time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: August 28, 2015
    Publication date: March 2, 2017
    Inventors: Michael ZUCCA, Keith FARKAS, Joanne REN, Mayank RAWAT, Christos KARAMANOLIS
  • Patent number: 9582303
    Abstract: Techniques are described for placing virtual machines (VM) on computer hosts. In one embodiment, a user may compose a constraint specification document which includes VM and host properties and how they are retrieved, as well as constraint predicates that define valid VM placements on hosts. Use of the constraint specification document permits new constraints, including constraints that involve new properties, to be handled without requiring changing the underlying code for collecting required input data and processing said data to determine whether placement constraints are satisfied. Instead, based on the constraint specification document, a resource scheduler or high availability module may program a programmable data collector to fetch the needed properties from the appropriate places.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: March 3, 2014
    Date of Patent: February 28, 2017
    Assignee: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: Guoqiang Shu, Keith Farkas
  • Publication number: 20170031776
    Abstract: The present disclosure is related to systems and methods for scheduling and managing series of snapshots. An example method can include estimating a transfer time to transfer a first snapshot of a virtual computing instance (VCI) to a first snapshot series, and estimating a transfer time to transfer a second snapshot of the VCI to a second snapshot series. The method can further include determining a first schedule time to start a transfer of a first series of snapshots and determining a second schedule time to start a transfer of a second series of snapshots, wherein the first schedule time and the second schedule time are based at least in part on a respective recovery point objective (RPO). In some embodiments, the method can further include scheduling a point in time to record a next snapshot based at least in part on the shorter schedule time of the first schedule time and the second schedule time.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2016
    Publication date: February 2, 2017
    Applicant: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: Joanne Ren, Keith Farkas, Mike Zucca, Martin Marinov, Martin Valkanov, Biliana Petrova
  • Patent number: 9558070
    Abstract: Embodiments maintain high availability of software application instances in a fault domain. Subordinate hosts are monitored by a master host. The subordinate hosts publish heartbeats via a network and datastores. Based at least in part on the published heartbeats, the master host determines the status of each subordinate host, distinguishing between subordinate hosts that are entirely inoperative and subordinate hosts that are operative but partitioned (e.g., unreachable via the network). The master host may restart software application instances, such as virtual machines, that are executed by inoperative subordinate hosts or that cease executing on partitioned subordinate hosts.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: December 5, 2014
    Date of Patent: January 31, 2017
    Assignee: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: Michael Nelson, Keith Farkas, Elisha Ziskind, Sridhar Rajagopal, Guoqiang Shu, Ron Passerini, Joanne Ren
  • Publication number: 20170004051
    Abstract: The present disclosure is related to methods, systems, and machine-readable media for workflows for series of snapshots. A server can manage replication of a number of series of snapshots of a virtual computing instance (VCI). An on-host agent can replicate a parent series of the number of series of snapshots to at least one child series of the number of series of snapshots. The parent series can precede the at least one child series in the number of series of snapshots. A change in the parent series can be propagated to the child series. Management of the replication of the numbers of series of snapshots can be switched from the server to a different server.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2015
    Publication date: January 5, 2017
    Applicant: VMWARE, INC.
    Inventors: Joanne Ren, David W. Barry, Keith Farkas, Mike Zucca, Martin Valkanov
  • Publication number: 20170003992
    Abstract: The present disclosure is related to systems and methods for protecting virtual computing instances. An example system can include a first virtual computing instance (VCI) deployed on a hypervisor and provisioned with a pool of physical computing resources. The hypervisor and the first VCI can operate according to a first configuration profile. The system can include a fault domain manager (FDM) running on a second VCI that is deployed on the hypervisor and provisioned by the pool of physical computing resources. The FDM can be configured to provide high availability support for the first VCI, and the FDM can operate according to a second configuration profile. The system can further include a hypervisor manager running on the second VCI. The hypervisor manager can be configured to facilitate interaction between the FDM and the hypervisor by translating between the first configuration profile and the second configuration profile.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 30, 2015
    Publication date: January 5, 2017
    Applicant: VMware, Inc.
    Inventors: Keith Farkas, Manoj Krishnan, Stoimen Gerenski, Ivaylo Petkov Strandzhev
  • Publication number: 20160378516
    Abstract: The present disclosure is related to methods, systems, and machine-readable media for modifying an instance catalog to perform operation. A storage system can include a plurality of packfiles that store data. The storage system can include a plurality of streams that include a plurality of hashes that identify the plurality of packfiles. The storage system can include an instance catalog that includes an identification of the plurality of streams. The storage system can include an operation engine to perform a number of operations on the plurality of packfiles by modifying the instance catalog using the identification of the plurality of streams.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 26, 2015
    Publication date: December 29, 2016
    Applicant: VMWARE, INC.
    Inventors: David W. Barry, Joanne Ren, Mike Zucca, Keith Farkas
  • Publication number: 20160378622
    Abstract: Techniques for enabling virtual machine (VM) recovery on non-shared storage in a single virtual infrastructure management server (VIMS) instance are provided. In one set of embodiments, a VIMS instance can receive an indication that a VM in a first cluster of the VIMS instance has failed, and can determine whether the VM's files were being replicated to a storage component of the VIMS instance at the time of the VM's failure. If the VM's files were being replicated at the time of the failure, the VIMS instance can search for and identify a cluster of the VIMS instance and a host system within the cluster that (1) are compatible with the VM, and (2) have access to the storage component. The VIMS instance can then cause the VM to be restarted on the identified host system of the identified cluster.
    Type: Application
    Filed: June 29, 2015
    Publication date: December 29, 2016
    Inventors: Joanne Ren, Keith Farkas, Mike Zucca, Parth Shah