This chapter presents some practical programming challenges not covered in the sample program. What to read next Scan VMDK for Virus Signatures Creating Virtual DisksThis section discusses the types of local VMDK files and how to create virtual disk for a remote ESXi host. VMDK File VersionsVirtual disk programs must be able to cope with VMDK files up to version three (3). Working with Virtual Disk DataThe virtual disk library reads and writes sectors of data. It has no interface for character or byte-oriented I/O. Managing Child Disks RDM Disks and Virtual BIOSThis section outlines low-level procedures for restoring raw device mapping (RDM) disks and NVRAM. Interfacing With VMware vSphereThis section provides pointers to various vSphere programming interfaces. First Class Disk (FCD) BackupFirst Class Disk (FCD), also known as Improved Virtual Disk, provides storage lifecycle management on virtual disks, independent of virtual machines. An FCD may be created natively using the FCD interfaces or an existing virtual disk may be promoted to an FCD. Container Storage SnapshotCloud Native Storage (CNS) is a vSphere feature that allows Kubernetes to auto-provision scalable storage on demand. CNS also provides vSphere administrator visibility into container volumes through vCenter Server. Container Storage Interface (CSI) is part of CNS, based on First Class Disk (FCD). VADP and VM Service Managed VMsAs of vSphere 8.0 U3, VADP partners can repurpose existing applications to support backup and restore of virtual machines managed by IaaS Platform, formerly Tanzu. IaaS Platform includes two related components: VM Service for the vSphere side and VM Operator for the Kubernetes side. Datasets Backup and RestoreThe DataSets facility allows programs to read and write key-value entries related to a virtual machine. This section describes how to back up and restore DataSets files.
