MECHANISM FOR MANAGING QUOTAS IN A DISTRIBUTED VIRTUALZIATION ENVIRONMENT

• US 20120272237A1
• Filed: 04/20/2011
• Published: 10/25/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 04/20/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat Israel Ltd. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat Israel Ltd. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Baron, Ayal
• Granted Patent: US 8,832,687 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/4557 Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/504 Resource capping
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5011 the resources being hardware resources other than CPUs, Servers and Terminals
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A computing device assigns a quota to a entity, the quota specifying a total amount of a low level resource that the entity is permitted to use. The computing device divides the quota into quota portions, and assigns each of the quota portions to one of a plurality of high level resources assigned to the entity. Each of the plurality of high level resources may use low level resources of a plurality of targets. The computing device automatically adjusts quota portions for one or more of the plurality of high level resources in response to changes in utilization requirements of the plurality of high level resources.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

assigning a quota to an entity, the quota specifying a total amount of a low level resource that the entity is permitted to use for a plurality of targets;

dividing the quota into quota portions;

assigning each of the quota portions to one of a plurality of high level resources assigned to the entity, wherein each of the plurality of high level resources uses low level resources of at least one of the plurality of targets; and

automatically adjusting quota portions for one or more of the plurality of high level resources in response to changes in utilization requirements of the plurality of high level resources.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a command to start a specified high level resource of the plurality of high level resources;

determining whether to change a size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion before starting the specified high level resource; and

upon determining to change the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion, determining a new size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion, and setting the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion to the determined size.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining the size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion comprises:

reviewing historical low level resource usage data for the specified high level resource;

determining that the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion will be filled up based on the historical low level resource usage data; and

increasing the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein determining the size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion further comprises:

reviewing additional historical low level resource usage data for one or more additional high level resources of the plurality of high level resources;

identifying that the one or more additional high level resources have excess capacity based on the additional historical low level resource usage data; and

reassigning the excess capacity from the one or more additional high level resources to the specified high level resource.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein adjusting a size of a specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion to a new size comprises:

calculating, for an unassigned portion of the quota, the unassigned portion'"'"'s size, wherein the new size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion is between an amount of the low level resource actually used by the specified high level resource and a combination of a previous size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion plus the unassigned portion'"'"'s size.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein determining the new size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion further comprises:

determining that the combination of the previous size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion plus the unassigned portion'"'"'s size is insufficient for the specified high level resource;

reducing quota portion sizes for one or more inactive high level resources of the plurality of high level resources; and

increasing the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion based on an amount that the quota portion sizes for the one or more inactive high level resources were reduced.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising:

determining that the increased size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion is insufficient for the specified high level resource;

reducing quota portion sizes for one or more active high level resources of the plurality of high level resources; and

further increasing the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion based on an amount that the quota portion sizes for the one or more active high level resources were reduced.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the low level resource is storage, the quota is a storage quota, the plurality of quota portions are a plurality of storage quota portions, the plurality of targets are a plurality of storage targets, and the plurality of high level resources is a plurality of virtual machines.

9. A computer readable medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing device, cause the processing device to perform a method comprising:

assigning a storage quota to an entity, the storage quota specifying a total amount of storage space that the entity is permitted to use for a plurality of storage targets;

dividing the storage quota into storage quota portions;

assigning each of the storage quota portions to one of a plurality of high level resources assigned to the entity, wherein each of the plurality of high level resources has data stored in at least one of the plurality of storage targets; and

automatically adjusting storage quota portions for one or more of the plurality of high level resources in response to changes in utilization requirements of the plurality of high level resources.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 9, the method further comprising:

receiving a command to start a specified high level resource of the plurality of high level resources;

determining whether to change a size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion before starting the specified high level resource; and

upon determining to change the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion, determining a new size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion, and setting the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion to the determined size.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 10, wherein determining the size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion comprises:

reviewing historical storage usage data for the specified high level resource;

determining that the specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion will be filled up based on the historical storage usage data; and

increasing the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein adjusting a size of a specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion to a new size comprises:

calculating, for an unassigned portion of the storage quota, the unassigned portion'"'"'s size, wherein the new size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion is between an amount of storage space actually used by the specified high level resource and a combination of a previous size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion plus the unassigned portion'"'"'s size.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 12, wherein determining the new size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion further comprises:

determining that the combination of the previous size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion plus the unassigned portion'"'"'s size is insufficient for the specified high level resource;

reducing storage quota portion sizes for one or more inactive high level resources of the plurality of high level resources; and

increasing the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s storage quota portion based on an amount that the storage quota portion sizes for the one or more inactive high level resources were reduced.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 9, wherein the plurality of high level resources is a plurality of virtual machines.

15. A computing device comprising:

a memory; and

a processing device connected to the memory, the processing device configured to;

assign a quota to an entity, the quota specifying a total amount of a low level resource that the entity is permitted to use for a plurality of targets;

divide the quota into quota portions;

assign each of the quota portions to one of a plurality of high level resources assigned to the entity, wherein each of the plurality of high level resources uses low level resources of at least one of the plurality of targets; and

automatically adjust quota portions for one or more of the plurality of high level resources in response to changes in utilization requirements of the plurality of high level resources.

16. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the processing device is further configured to:

receive a command to start a specified high level resource of the plurality of high level resources;

determine whether to change a size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion before starting the specified high level resource; and

upon determining to change the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion, determine a new size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion, and set the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion to the determined size.

17. The computing device of claim 16, wherein determining the size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion comprises:

reviewing historical low level resource usage data for the specified high level resource;

determining that the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion will be filled up based on the historical low level resource usage data; and

increasing the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion.

18. The computing device of claim 17, wherein determining the size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion further comprises:

reviewing additional historical low level resource usage data for one or more additional high level resources of the plurality of high level resources;

identifying that the one or more additional high level resources have excess capacity based on the additional historical low level resource usage data; and

reassigning the excess capacity from the one or more additional high level resources to the specified high level resource.

19. The computing device of claim 15, wherein adjusting a size of a specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion to a new size comprises:

calculating, for an unassigned portion of the quota, the unassigned portion'"'"'s size, wherein the new size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion is between an amount of the low level resource actually used by the specified high level resource and a combination of a previous size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion plus the unassigned portion'"'"'s size.

20. The computing device of claim 19, wherein determining the new size for the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion further comprises:

determining that the combination of the previous size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion plus the unassigned portion'"'"'s size is insufficient for the specified high level resource;

reducing quota portion sizes for one or more additional high level resources of the plurality of high level resources; and

increasing the size of the specified high level resource'"'"'s quota portion based on an amount that the quota portion sizes for the one or more additional high level resources were reduced.

21. The computing device of claim 15, wherein the low level resource is storage, the quota is a storage quota, the plurality of quota portions are a plurality of storage quota portions, the plurality of targets are a plurality of storage targets, and the plurality of high level resources is a plurality of virtual machines.