METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR RANKING OF TARGET SERVER PARTITIONS FOR VIRTUAL SERVER MOBILITY OPERATIONS

• US 20080320269A1
• Filed: 06/21/2007
• Published: 12/25/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: McGOWAN, DILTON MONROO II, HOULIHAN, JOHN RICHARD
• Granted Patent: US 8,782,322 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/203 using migration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2035 without idle spare hardware
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2048 where the redundant components share neither address space nor persistent storage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4856 resumption being on a different machine, e.g. task migration, virtual machine migration G06F9/5088 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5077 Logical partitioning of resources; Management or configuration of virtualized resources specific details on emulation or internal functioning of virtual machines G06F9/455

Abstract

A computer implemented method, data processing system, and computer program product for automated ranking of target server partitions based on current workload partition performance state. When a violation of a stack tier policy for the virtualized process collection in a source logical partition is detected, the stack tier comprising the virtualized process collection is examined to determine a scalability of the stack tier. A set of logical partitions are examined to identify target logical partitions for the migration event, wherein the target logical partitions are compatible for migrating the virtualized process collection based on the scalability of the stack tier. A performance state of the virtualized process collection is analyzed, and the target logical partitions for selection in the migration event are ranked based on the performance states of the virtualized process collection and the stack tier policy.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for determining a target logical partition for a migration event of a virtualized process collection at runtime, the computer implemented method comprising:

responsive to detecting a violation of a stack tier policy for the virtualized process collection in a source logical partition, examining a stack tier comprising the virtualized process collection to determine a scalability of the stack tier;

examining a set of logical partitions to identify target logical partitions for the migration event, wherein the target logical partitions are compatible for migrating the virtualized process collection based on the scalability of the stack tier;

analyzing a performance state of the virtualized process collection; and

ranking the target logical partitions for selection in the migration event based on the performance states of the virtualized process collection and the stack tier policy.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein a violation of the stack tier policy occurs when performance metrics of the virtualized process collection exceed a maximum or minimum threshold specified in the stack tier policy.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein a violation of the stack tier policy occurs when performance metrics of the virtualized process collection exceed a maximum or minimum threshold specified in the stack tier policy a predefined number of times.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 2, wherein identifying target logical partitions for the migration event further comprises:

if the performance metrics of the virtualized process collection exceed a maximum threshold in the stack tier policy, identifying target logical partitions for a ‘

scale up’

or ‘

scale out’

migration event; and

if the performance metrics of the virtualized process collection exceed a minimum threshold in the stack tier policy, identifying target logical partitions for a ‘

scale down’

or ‘

scale in’

migration event.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein a ‘

scale down’

event migrates the virtualized process collection to a less powerful server.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein a ‘

scale in’

event consolidates the virtualized process collection to a single server.

7. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein a ‘

scale up’

event migrates the virtualized process collection to a more powerful server.

8. The computer implemented method of claim 4, wherein a ‘

scale out’

event migrates the virtualized process collection to a dedicated server.

9. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the target logical partitions are identified for the virtualized process collection when an average performance state of all virtualized process collections on the stack tier exceeds the maximum or minimum thresholds in the stack tier policy.

10. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the target logical partitions are ranked based on requirements of the virtualized process collection.

11. A data processing system for determining a target logical partition for a migration event of a virtualized process collection at runtime, the data processing system comprising:

a bus;

a storage device connected to the bus, wherein the storage device contains computer usable code;

at least one managed device connected to the bus;

a communications unit connected to the bus; and

a processing unit connected to the bus, wherein the processing unit executes the computer usable code to examine, in response to detecting a violation of a stack tier policy for the virtualized process collection in a source logical partition, a stack tier comprising the virtualized process collection to determine a scalability of the stack tier;

examine a set of logical partitions to identify target logical partitions for the migration event, wherein the target logical partitions are compatible for migrating the virtualized process collection based on the scalability of the stack tier;

analyze a performance state of the virtualized process collection; and

rank the target logical partitions for selection in the migration event based on the performance states of the virtualized process collection and the stack tier policy.

12. A computer program product for determining a target logical partition for a migration event of a virtualized process collection at runtime, the computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer usable program code tangibly embodied thereon, the computer usable program code comprising;

computer usable program code for examining, in response to detecting a violation of a stack tier policy for the virtualized process collection in a source logical partition, a stack tier comprising the virtualized process collection to determine a scalability of the stack tier;

computer usable program code for examining a set of logical partitions to identify target logical partitions for the migration event, wherein the target logical partitions are compatible for migrating the virtualized process collection based on the scalability of the stack tier;

computer usable program code for analyzing a performance state of the virtualized process collection; and

computer usable program code for ranking the target logical partitions for selection in the migration event based on the performance states of the virtualized process collection and the stack tier policy.

13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein a violation of the stack tier policy occurs when performance metrics of the virtualized process collection exceed a maximum or minimum threshold specified in the stack tier policy.

14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein a violation of the stack tier policy occurs when performance metrics of the virtualized process collection exceed a maximum or minimum threshold specified in the stack tier policy a predefined number of times.

15. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the computer usable program code for identifying target logical partitions for the migration event further comprises:

computer usable program code for identifying target logical partitions for a ‘

scale up’

or ‘

scale out’

migration event if the performance metrics of the virtualized process collection exceed a maximum threshold in the stack tier policy; and

computer usable program code for identifying target logical partitions for a ‘

scale down’

or ‘

scale in’

migration event if the performance metrics of the virtualized process collection exceed a minimum threshold in the stack tier policy.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the ‘

scale down’

migration event migrates the virtualized process collection to a less powerful server.

17. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the ‘

scale in’

migration event consolidates the virtualized process collection to a single server.

18. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the ‘

scale up’

migration event migrates the virtualized process collection to a more powerful server.

19. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the ‘

scale out’

migration event migrates the virtualized process collection to a dedicated server.

20. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein the target logical partitions are identified for the virtualized process collection when an average performance state of all virtualized process collections on the stack tier exceeds the maximum or minimum thresholds in the stack tier policy.