MIGRATING VIRTUAL MACHINES ACROSS NETWORK SEPARATED DATA CENTERS

• US 20120042033A1
• Filed: 08/13/2010
• Published: 02/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Ayala, Richard J. Jr., Butler, Eric K., Chavda, Kavita, Constantinescu, Mihail C., Jain, Reshu, Sarkar, Prasenjit, Singh, Aameek
• Granted Patent: US 9,582,319 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/216
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4856 resumption being on a different machine, e.g. task migration, virtual machine migration G06F9/5088 takes precedence

Abstract

Embodiments of the present invention provide an approach for migrating virtual machines across network (e.g., WAN) separated data centers (e.g., storage clouds). Specifically, under embodiments of the present invention, a first storage system associated with a first data center is synchronized with a second storage system associated with a second data center via a storage system link. Then, a minimal state of a virtual machine is migrated from a first computer in the first data center to a second computer in the second data center via a WAN link. Using the minimal state, the virtual machine is stored in the second computer. Thereafter, the storage system link is terminated. In addition, as updated pages are received in memory of the first computer, they are migrated to the second computer via the WAN link. Once this migration is complete, the WAN link can be terminated. Therefore, embodiments of the present invention provide at least two forms of synchronization: computational synchronization and storage synchronization.

Claims

1. A method for migrating a virtual machine across network separated data centers, comprising:

synchronizing a first storage system associated with a first data center with a second storage system associated with a second data center via a storage system link;

migrating a minimal state of the virtual machine from a first computer in the first data center to a second computer in the second data center via a network link;

starting the virtual machine in the second computer based on the minimal state; and

terminating the storage system link.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising receiving updated pages in memory of the first computer, the updated pages comprising operating system data.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising migrating the updated pages to memory of the second computer via the network link.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising terminating the network link.

5. The method of claim 3, the minimum state and the updated pages being migrated via a set of proxies in the first data center and the second data center.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising maintaining a log on the second storage system, the log identifying which of the updated pages have been received in the memory of the second computer, and which of the updated pages have yet to be migrated to the memory of the second computer.

7. The method of claim 1, the first data center being associated with a first storage cloud and the second data center being associated with a second storage cloud.

8. The method of claim 1, the minimal state comprising central processing unit data and register data.

9. A system for migrating a virtual machine across network separated data centers, comprising:

a bus;

a processor coupled to the bus; and

a memory medium coupled to the bus, the memory medium comprising instructions to;

synchronize a first storage system associated with a first data center with a second storage system associated with a second data center via a storage system link;

migrate a minimal state of the virtual machine from a first computer in the first data center to a second computer in the second data center via a network link;

start the virtual machine in the second computer based on the minimal state; and

terminate the storage system link.

10. The system of claim 9, the memory medium further comprising instructions to receive updated pages in memory of the first computer, the updated pages comprising operating system data.

11. The system of claim 10, the memory medium further comprising instructions to migrate the updated pages to memory of the second computer via the network link.

12. The system of claim 11, the memory medium further comprising instructions to terminate the network link.

13. The system of claim 11, the minimum state and the updated pages being migrated via a set of proxies in the first data center and the second data center.

14. The system of claim 11, the memory medium further comprising instructions to maintain a log on the second storage system, the log identifying which of the updated pages have been received in the memory of the second computer, and which of the updated pages have yet to be migrated to the memory of the second computer.

15. The system of claim 9, the first data center being associated with a first storage cloud and the second data center being associated with a second storage cloud.

16. The system of claim 9, the minimal state comprising central processing unit data and register data.

17. A computer program product for migrating a virtual machine across network separated data centers, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage media, and program instructions stored on the computer readable storage media, to:

synchronize a first storage system associated with a first data center with a second storage system associated with a second data center via a storage system link;

migrate a minimal state of the virtual machine from a first computer in the first data center to a second computer in the second data center via a network link;

start the virtual machine in the second computer based on the minimal state; and

terminate the storage system link.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, further comprising program instructions stored on the computer readable storage media to receive updated pages in memory of the first computer, the updated pages comprising operating computer program product data.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising program instructions stored on the computer readable storage media to migrate the updated pages to memory of the second computer via the network link.

20. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising program instructions stored on the computer readable storage media to terminate the network link.

21. The computer program product of claim 19, the minimum state and the updated pages being migrated via a set of proxies in the first data center and the second data center.

22. The computer program product of claim 19, further comprising program instructions stored on the computer readable storage media to maintain a log on the second storage system, the log identifying which of the updated pages have been received in the memory of the second computer, and which of the updated pages have yet to be migrated to the memory of the second computer.

23. The computer program product of claim 17, the first data center being associated with a first storage cloud and the second data center being associated with a second storage cloud.

24. The computer program product of claim 17, the minimal state comprising central processing unit data and register data.

25. A method for deploying a system for migrating a virtual machine across network separated data centers, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure being operable to;

synchronize a first storage system associated with a first data center with a second storage system associated with a second data center via a storage system link;

migrate a minimal state of the virtual machine from a first computer in the first data center to a second computer in the second data center via a network link;

start the virtual machine in the second computer based on the minimal state; and

terminate the storage system link.