PHYSICAL SERVER DISCOVERY AND CORRELATION

• US 20070260721A1
• Filed: 07/28/2006
• Published: 11/08/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 05/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vong, Ky Tong, Bose, Patrick Glen
• Granted Patent: US 8,909,758 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0856 by backing up or archiving configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0895 Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A virtual server system and a method of provisioning a plurality of virtual servers is described. The system may comprise a plurality of physical servers, at least one switch connected to the plurality of physical servers, and a virtual frame director to direct provisioning of a plurality of virtual servers on the physical servers. The virtual frame director may be configured to monitor an event related to a link between each physical server and the switch and, in response to the event, update a virtual server database. The system may comprise a Storage Area Network (SAN) and the virtual frame director may be arranged to configure the network fabric to allow the plurality of physical servers to access to the SAN. For example, the network fabric may be configured to access storage on the SAN from which each physical server is to boot.

Claims

1. A virtual server system comprising:

a plurality of physical servers;

at least one switch connected to the plurality of physical servers; and

a virtual frame director to direct provisioning of a plurality of virtual servers on the physical servers, the virtual frame director being configured to monitor an event related to a link between each physical server and the switch and, in response to the event, update a virtual server database.

2. The virtual server system of claim 1, which comprises a Storage Area Network (SAN) and wherein the virtual frame director is arranged to configure the network fabric to allow the plurality of physical servers to access to the SAN.

3. The virtual server system of claim 2, wherein the network fabric is configured to access storage on the SAN from which each physical server is to boot.

4. The virtual server system of claim 1, in which the virtual frame director is configured to update the virtual server database automatically, without human intervention, to modify a status of the link in the virtual server database, and wherein the link is associated with a virtual server.

5. The virtual server system of claim 1, in which the virtual frame director is configured to update the virtual server database to modify data associated with at least one virtual server.

6. The virtual server system of claim 1, wherein the event is a linkup event to identify establishment of a communication link between a physical server and a port of the switch.

7. The virtual server system of claim 6, wherein the linkUp event is generated in response to a power up of the physical server.

8. The virtual server system of claim 1, wherein the event is a linkup event that identifies stages in a boot process of a physical server.

9. The virtual server system of claim 1, wherein the event is a linkDown event to identify termination of a communication link between a physical server and a port of the switch.

10. The virtual server system of claim 9, wherein the virtual frame director is configured to initiate a monitoring policy in response to the linkDown event.

11. The virtual server system of claim 9, wherein the virtual frame director is configured to:

detect when a virtual server is running on the physical server associated with the linkDown event; and

in response to the linkDown event, initiate a fail-over procedure to provision the virtual server on another physical server.

12. The virtual server system of claim 1, wherein the virtual frame director is configured to:

register with the switch to receive Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) traps; and

update the virtual server database in response to receiving the traps.

13. The virtual server system of claim 1, wherein the virtual frame director is configured to:

power up each physical server that then establishes links between the plurality of physical servers and the switch; and

update the virtual server database to record newly established links.

14. The virtual server system of claim 1, which comprises a subnet manager to manage a network fabric, the virtual frame director being configured to query the subnet manager and, in response to a query response, update a connection topology in the virtual server database.

15. The virtual server system of claim 1, wherein the virtual frame director is configured to query the switch to identify port mappings and, in response to a query response, update a connection topology in the virtual server database.

16. The virtual server system of claim 15, wherein the virtual frame director is configured to:

receive a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) trap;

access the connection topology to identify an interface port of a switch that generated the trap;

identify a physical server connected to the switch via the interface port; and

identify a virtual server deployed on the physical server.

17. The virtual server system of claim 16, wherein the virtual frame director is configured to execute a virtual server policy associated with the virtual server.

18. The virtual server system of claim 16, wherein the virtual frame director is configured to identify the interface port using an ifIndex.

19. The virtual server system of claim 1, wherein connections between the physical servers and the switch are InfiniBand connections.

20. A method of provisioning a plurality of virtual servers, the method comprising:

monitoring an event related to a link between one of a plurality of physical servers and at least one switch connected to the plurality of physical servers; and

in response to the event, updating a virtual server database.

21. The method of claim 20, which comprises configuring a network fabric to allow access to a Storage Area Network (SAN) in response to the event.

22. The method of claim 20, which comprises automatically, without human intervention, modifying a status of the link in the virtual server database, wherein the link is associated with a virtual server.

23. The method of claim 20, which comprises updating the virtual server database to modify data associated with at least one virtual server.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the event is a linkUp event identifying establishment of a communication link between a physical server and a port of the switch.

25. The method of claim 20, which comprises querying the switch to identify port mappings and, in response to a query response, updating a connection topology in the virtual server database.

26. The method of claim 25, which comprises:

receiving a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) trap;

accessing the connection topology to identify an interface port of a switch that generated the trap;

identifying a physical server connected to the switch via the interface port; and

identifying a virtual server deployed on the physical server.

27. A virtual frame director device to manage a plurality of virtual servers, the device comprising:

a monitoring module to monitor an event related to a link between one of a plurality of physical servers and at least one switch connected to the plurality of physical servers; and

an update module to update a virtual server database in response to the event.

28. A virtual server system comprising:

means for monitoring an event related to a link between one of a plurality of physical servers and at least one switch connected to the plurality of physical servers; and

means for updating a virtual server database in response to the event.

29. A machine-readable medium embodying instructions to manage a plurality of virtual servers, the instructions, when executed by a machine, cause the machine to:

monitor an event related to a link between one of a plurality of physical servers and at least one switch connected to the plurality of physical servers; and

in response to the event, update a virtual server database.