Communications Between Virtual Machines That Have Been Migrated

• US 20120180044A1
• Filed: 01/07/2011
• Published: 07/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Donnellan, Sean, Dorai, Chitra, Shaikh, Anees A., Sripanidkulchai, Kunwadee
• Granted Patent: US 8,448,171 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 Internet protocol [IP] addresses

Abstract

A method, apparatus, and computer program product for managing communications between a plurality of applications are presented. A determination is made as to whether an address in a message is a prior address for a second application in the plurality of applications in response to receiving a message from a first application in the plurality of applications. The message is sent onto a virtual network configured to handle prior addresses for the plurality of applications in response to the address in the message being the prior address for the second application being located on another virtual machine from the first application.

Claims

1. A method for managing communications between a plurality of applications, the method comprising:

responsive to receiving a message from a first application in the plurality of applications, determining whether an address in the message is a prior address for a second application in the plurality of applications; and

responsive to the address in the message being the prior address for the second application being located on another virtual machine from the first application, sending the message onto a virtual network configured to handle prior addresses for the plurality of applications.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining step and the sending step are performed by a virtual adapter.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

responsive to the address in the message being the prior address for the second application being located on a same virtual machine as the first application, sending the message to the second application without sending the message onto the virtual network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual network is a first virtual network in a plurality of virtual networks and further comprising:

responsive to the address in the message being a current address for the second application, sending the message onto a second virtual network in the plurality of virtual networks, wherein the second virtual network is configured to handle current addresses for the plurality of applications.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the second application is located on a current set of data processing systems in a cloud computing environment, wherein the prior address for the second application includes a set of bits corresponding to a prior set of data processing systems in the cloud computing environment that the second application is no longer located on, and further comprising:

responsive to identifying the set of bits in the address in the message, determining that the address is the prior address for the second application.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the virtual network is a first virtual network in a plurality of virtual networks, wherein the set of bits is a first set of bits, wherein the current set of data processing systems correspond to a second set of bits, and further comprising:

responsive to identifying the second set of bits in the address in the message, determining that the address in the message is a current address for the second application and sending the message onto a second virtual network in the plurality of virtual networks, wherein the second virtual network is configured to handle current addresses for the plurality of applications.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

creating a virtual network interface for the plurality of applications; and

receiving only messages including a set of addresses for a prior location of at least one of the plurality of applications at the virtual network interface.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the second application is located on a current set of data processing systems in a cloud computing environment, wherein the prior address for the second application includes a set of bits corresponding to a computer system in a local area network outside the cloud computing environment that the second application is no longer located on, and further comprising:

responsive to identifying the set of bits in the address in the message, determining that the address is the prior address for the second application.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the virtual network is a virtual local area network.

10. An apparatus comprising:

a computer system configured to run a plurality of virtual machines;

a virtual network configured to handle prior addresses for a plurality of applications; and

a plurality of virtual adapters, wherein a virtual adapter in the plurality of virtual adapters is configured to determine whether an address in a message received from a first application in the plurality of applications is a prior address for a second application in the plurality of applications and send the message onto the virtual network configured to handle prior addresses for the plurality of applications in response to the address in the message being the prior address for the second application being located on another virtual machine in the plurality of virtual machines from the first application.

11. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the virtual adapter is further configured to send the message to the second application without sending the message onto the virtual network in response to the address in the message being the prior address for the second application being located on a same virtual machine as the first application.

12. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the virtual network is a first virtual network in a plurality of virtual networks and wherein the virtual adapter is configured to send the message onto a second virtual network in the plurality of virtual networks in response to the address in the message being a current address for the second application, wherein the second virtual network is configured to handle current addresses for the plurality of applications.

13. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the second application is located on a current set of data processing systems in a cloud computing environment, wherein the prior address for the second application includes a set of bits corresponding to a prior set of data processing systems in the cloud computing environment that the second application is no longer located on, and wherein the virtual adapter is configured to determine that the address is the prior address for the second application in response to identifying the set of bits in the address in the message.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, wherein the virtual network is a first virtual network in a plurality of virtual networks, wherein the set of bits is a first set of bits, wherein the current set of data processing systems correspond to a second set of bits, and wherein the virtual adapter is configured to determine that the address in the message is a current address for the second application and sending the message onto a second virtual network in the plurality of virtual networks in response to identifying the second set of bits in the address in the message, wherein the second virtual network is configured to handle current addresses for the plurality of applications.

15. The apparatus of claim 10 further comprising:

a virtual network interface for the plurality of applications, wherein the virtual network interface is configured to receive only messages that include a set of addresses for a prior location of at least one of the plurality of applications.

16. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the virtual network is a virtual local area network.

17. The apparatus of claim 10, wherein the virtual adapter and the virtual network are located on the computer system.

18. A computer program product for managing communications between a plurality of applications and the computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium;

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for determining whether an address in a message is a prior address for a second application in the plurality of applications in response to receiving the message from a first application in the plurality of applications; and

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for sending the message onto a virtual network configured to handle prior addresses for the plurality of applications in response to the address in the message being the prior address for the second application being located on another virtual machine from the first application.

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the program code for determining whether the address in the message is the prior address for the second application in the plurality of applications in response to receiving the message from the first application in the plurality of applications and the program code for sending the message onto the virtual network configured to handle prior addresses for the plurality of applications in response to the address in the message being the prior address for the second application being located on the other virtual machine from the first application are program code for a virtual adapter.

20. The computer program product of claim 18 further comprising:

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for sending the message to the second application without sending the message onto the virtual network in response to the address in the message being the prior address for the second application being located on a same virtual machine as the first application.

21. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the virtual network is a first virtual network in a plurality of virtual networks and further comprising:

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for sending the message onto a second virtual network in the plurality of virtual networks in response to the address in the message being a current address for the second application, wherein the second virtual network is configured to handle current addresses for the plurality of applications.

22. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the second application is located on a current set of data processing systems in a cloud computing environment, wherein the prior address for the second application includes a set of bits corresponding to a prior set of data processing systems in the cloud computing environment that the second application is no longer located on, and further comprising:

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for determining that the address is the prior address for the second application in response to identifying the set of bits in the address in the message.

23. The computer program product of claim 22, wherein the virtual network is a first virtual network in a plurality of virtual networks, wherein the set of bits is a first set of bits, wherein the current set of data processing systems correspond to a second set of bits, and further comprising:

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for determining that the address in the message is a current address for the second application and sending the message onto a second virtual network in the plurality of virtual network in response to identifying the second set of bits in the address in the message, wherein the second virtual network is configured to handle current addresses for the plurality of applications.

24. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising:

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for creating a virtual network interface for the plurality of applications; and

program code, stored on the computer readable storage medium, for receiving only messages that include a set of addresses for a prior location of at least one of the plurality of applications at the virtual network interface.

25. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the virtual network is a virtual local area network.