Abstract: Various approaches for exposing a virtual Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) locality table to the guest OS of a VM running on NUMA system are provided. These approaches provide different tradeoffs between the accuracy of the virtual NUMA locality table and the ability of the system's hypervisor to migrate virtual NUMA nodes, with the general goal of enabling the guest OS to make more informed task placement/memory allocation decisions.

Abstract: A method for protecting an OS disk of a computing device without block encrypting the OS disk. The method identifies one or more files that store configuration data associated with OS binaries executed on the computing device. The method encrypts the configuration data stored in the one or more files using an encryption key and seals the encryption key to a TPM of the computing device. The method then boots the computing device by attempting to unseal the encryption key by authenticating one or more of the OS binaries with the TPM. When authenticating the one or more of the OS binaries is successful, the method completes boot of the computing device by decrypting the configuration data using the encryption key. If authentication of the one or more of the OS binaries is not successful, however, the method aborts boot of the computing device.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a method for scheduling networking threads associated with a data compute node (DCN) executing at a host computer. When a virtual networking device is instantiated for the DCN, the method assigns the virtual networking device to a particular non-uniform memory access (NUMA) node of multiple NUMA nodes associated with the DCN. Based on the assignment of the virtual networking device to the particular NUMA node, the method assigns networking threads associated with the DCN to the same particular NUMA node and provides information to the DCN regarding the particular NUMA node in order for the DCN to assign a thread associated with an application executing on the DCN to the same particular NUMA node.

Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for providing content to virtual machines. A request for content can be received, wherein the request originates from a virtual machine hosted by the computing device, comprises a unique identifier for the content, and is received from the virtual machine through an inter-process communication mechanism. The unique identifier can be validated. Content can then be retrieved using the unique identifier. A copy of the content can then be provided to the virtual machine in response to validation of the unique identifier, the content being provided to the virtual machine through the inter-process communication mechanism.

Abstract: Techniques for concurrently supporting virtual non-uniform memory access (virtual NUMA) and CPU/memory hot-add in a virtual machine (VM) are provided. In one set of embodiments, a hypervisor of a host system can compute a node size for a virtual NUMA topology of the VM, where the node size indicates a maximum number of virtual central processing units (vCPUs) and a maximum amount of memory to be included in each virtual NUMA node. The hypervisor can further build and expose the virtual NUMA topology to the VM. Then, at a time of receiving a request to hot-add a new vCPU or memory region to the VM, the hypervisor can check whether all existing nodes in the virtual NUMA topology have reached the maximum number of vCPUs or maximum amount of memory, per the computed node size. If so, the hypervisor can create a new node with the new vCPU or memory region and add the new node to the virtual NUMA topology.

Abstract: Techniques for recovering metadata associated with data backed up in cloud object storage are provided. In one set of embodiments, a computer system can create a snapshot of a data set, where the snapshot includes a plurality of data blocks of the data set that have been modified since the creation of a prior snapshot of the data set. The computer system can further upload the snapshot to a cloud object storage platform of a cloud infrastructure, where the snapshot is uploaded as a plurality of log segments conforming to an object format of the cloud object storage platform, and where each log segment includes one or more data blocks in the plurality of data blocks, and a set of metadata comprising, for each of the one or more data blocks, an identifier of the data set, an identifier of the snapshot, and a logical block address (LBA) of the data block.

Abstract: Techniques for concurrently supporting virtual non-uniform memory access (virtual NUMA) and CPU/memory hot-add in a virtual machine (VM) are provided. In one set of embodiments, a hypervisor of a host system can compute a node size for a virtual NUMA topology of the VM, where the node size indicates a maximum number of virtual central processing units (vCPUs) and a maximum amount of memory to be included in each virtual NUMA node. The hypervisor can further build and expose the virtual NUMA topology to the VM. Then, at a time of receiving a request to hot-add a new vCPU or memory region to the VM, the hypervisor can check whether all existing nodes in the virtual NUMA topology have reached the maximum number of vCPUs or maximum amount of memory, per the computed node size. If so, the hypervisor can create a new node with the new vCPU or memory region and add the new node to the virtual NUMA topology.

Abstract: In one set of embodiments, a computer system can create a snapshot of a data set, where the snapshot includes a plurality of data blocks of the data set. The computer system can upload the snapshot to a cloud object storage platform of a cloud infrastructure, where the snapshot is uploaded as a plurality of log segments conforming to an object format of the cloud object storage platform, and where each log segment includes one or more data blocks in the plurality of data blocks, and a set of metadata comprising, for each of the one or more data blocks, an identifier of the data set, an identifier of the snapshot, and a logical block address (LBA) of the data block. The computer system can then communicate the set of metadata to a server component running in a cloud compute and block storage platform of the cloud infrastructure.

Abstract: Various approaches for exposing a virtual Non-Uniform Memory Access (NUMA) locality table to the guest OS of a VM running on NUMA system are provided. These approaches provide different tradeoffs between the accuracy of the virtual NUMA locality table and the ability of the system's hypervisor to migrate virtual NUMA nodes, with the general goal of enabling the guest OS to make more informed task placement/memory allocation decisions.

Abstract: The present disclosure is related to methods, systems, and machine-readable media for supporting deduplication in file storage using file chunk hashes. A hash of a chunk of a log segment can be received from a software defined data center. A chunk identifier can be associated with the hash in a hash map that stores associations between sequentially-allocated chunk identifiers and hashes. The chunk identifier can be associated with a logical address corresponding to the chunk of the log segment in a logical map that stores associations between the sequentially-allocated chunk identifiers and logical addresses. A search of the hash map can be performed to determine if the chunk is a duplicate, and the chunk can be deduplicated responsive to a determination that the chunk is a duplicate.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a method for scheduling networking threads associated with a data compute node (DCN) executing at a host computer. When a virtual networking device is instantiated for the DCN, the method assigns the virtual networking device to a particular non-uniform memory access (NUMA) node of multiple NUMA nodes associated with the DCN. Based on the assignment of the virtual networking device to the particular NUMA node, the method assigns networking threads associated with the DCN to the same particular NUMA node and provides information to the DCN regarding the particular NUMA node in order for the DCN to assign a thread associated with an application executing on the DCN to the same particular NUMA node.

Abstract: Solutions for managing archived storage include receiving, at a first node, a snapshot comprising object data (e.g., a virtual machine disk snapshot) from a second node (e.g., a software defined data center), and storing the snapshot in a tiered structure that includes a data tier and a metadata tier. Snapshots may be used for fail-over operations and/or backups, to support disaster recovery. The data tier comprises a log-structured file system (LFS), and the metadata tier comprises a content addressable storage (CAS) identifying addresses within the LFS. The metadata tier also comprises a logical layer indicating content in the CAS. Segment cleaning of the data tier is performed using a segment usage table (SUT). Some examples include performing a fail-over operation from the second node to a third node using at least the stored snapshot for workload recovery. In some examples, the CAS comprises a log-structured merge-tree (LSM-tree).

Abstract: A method for cleaning an object storage having a plurality of segments is provided. Each segment includes an identifier through which the segment is accessed. The method identifies a first segment in the plurality of segments. The first segment includes a first identifier and a first size. The method determines that a utilization ratio for the first segment is below a threshold. As a result, the method generates a second segment from the first segment, such that the second segment includes a second identifier that is the same as the first identifier and a second size that is smaller than the first size. The method then writes the second segment to the object storage.

Abstract: The present disclosure is related to methods, systems, and machine-readable media for supporting deduplication in object storage using subset hashes. A plurality of hashes of a plurality of blocks of a plurality of log segments can be received from a software defined data center, wherein each block corresponds to a respective logical address. Each of the plurality of logical addresses can be associated with a respective sequentially-allocated chunk identifier in a logical map. A subset hash comprising a hash of a subset of the plurality of blocks can be determined that corresponds to a contiguous range of the plurality of logical addresses. A search of a hash map for the subset hash can be performed to determine if the subset hash is a duplicate. The subset of the plurality of blocks can be deduplicated responsive to a determination that the subset hash is a duplicate.

Abstract: A method for protecting an OS disk of a computing device without block encrypting the OS disk. The method identifies one or more files that store configuration data associated with OS binaries executed on the computing device. The method encrypts the configuration data stored in the one or more files using an encryption key and seals the encryption key to a TPM of the computing device. The method then boots the computing device by attempting to unseal the encryption key by authenticating one or more of the OS binaries with the TPM. When authenticating the one or more of the OS binaries is successful, the method completes boot of the computing device by decrypting the configuration data using the encryption key. If authentication of the one or more of the OS binaries is not successful, however, the method aborts boot of the computing device.

Abstract: A method for cleaning an object storage having a plurality of segments is provided. Each segment includes an identifier through which the segment is accessed. The method identifies a first segment in the plurality of segments. The first segment includes a first identifier and a first size. The method determines that a utilization ratio for the first segment is below a threshold. As a result, the method generates a second segment from the first segment, such that the second segment includes a second identifier that is the same as the first identifier and a second size that is smaller than the first size. The method then writes the second segment to the object storage.

Abstract: Techniques for the increased efficiency of storing data objects storage in the object storage of a software designed data center (SDDC) are provided. The techniques include the efficient storage of data, while enabling snapshots of each updating of the data. The snapshots of the data may be efficiently recovered via the techniques. Difference-level mappings for each snapshot are encoded in compact self-balancing data trees included in the object's metadata. The metadata mappings include mappings between various address spaces employed by the SDDC, as well as the address spaces employed by data stores that store the data on physical medium. Because the metadata is efficiently structured, the metadata for an object may be cached for quick lookups during data access and/or snapshot recovery. The techniques also provide low-latency recovery and/or system rollback in the event of any failure in the SDDC.

Abstract: Techniques for the increased efficiency of storing data objects storage in the object storage of a software designed data center (SDDC) are provided. The techniques include the efficient storage of data, while enabling snapshots of each updating of the data. The snapshots of the data may be efficiently recovered via the techniques. Difference-level mappings for each snapshot are encoded in compact self-balancing data trees included in the object's metadata. The metadata mappings include mappings between various address spaces employed by the SDDC, as well as the address spaces employed by data stores that store the data on physical medium. Because the metadata is efficiently structured, the metadata for an object may be cached for quick lookups during data access and/or snapshot recovery. The techniques also provide low-latency recovery and/or system rollback in the event of any failure in the SDDC, including when the failure occurs while uploading a snapshot.

Abstract: Techniques for the increased efficiency of storing data objects storage in the object storage of a software designed data center (SDDC) are provided. The techniques include the efficient storage of data, while enabling snapshots of each updating of the data. The snapshots of the data may be efficiently recovered via the techniques. Difference-level mappings for each snapshot are encoded in compact self-balancing data trees included in the object's metadata. The metadata mappings include mappings between various address spaces employed by the SDDC, as well as the address spaces employed by data stores that store the data on physical medium. Because the metadata is efficiently structured, the metadata for an object may be cached for quick lookups during data access and/or snapshot recovery. The techniques also provide low-latency recovery and/or system rollback in the event of any failure in the SDDC.

Abstract: Techniques for tiering data to a cold storage tier of a cloud object storage platform are provided. In one set of embodiments, a computer system can identify one or more old snapshots of a data set that reside in a first storage tier of the cloud object storage platform, where the one or more old snapshots are snapshots that are unlikely to be deleted from the cloud object storage platform within a period of N days. The computer system can further, for each snapshot in the one or more old snapshots: identify one or more data blocks in the snapshot that are superseded by a more recent snapshot in the one or more old snapshots; write the one or more data blocks to a second (i.e., cold) storage tier of the cloud object storage platform that has a lower storage cost than the first storage tier; and cause the one or more data blocks to be deleted from the first storage tier.