SOFTWARE APPLICATION PLACEMENT BASED ON FAILURE CORRELATION

• US 20130097464A1
• Filed: 10/13/2011
• Published: 04/18/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: AHMAD, Irfan, HOLLER, Anne Marie, UYSAL, Mustafa
• Granted Patent: US 8,880,930 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/47.1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0712 in a virtual computing platform, e.g. logically partitioned systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0751 Error or fault detection not based on redundancy power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45587 Isolation or security of virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• 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

Embodiments associate software applications with computing resources based on failure correlation information and an anti-affinity rule. An anti-affinity rule indicates that a first software application is to be separated from a second software application during execution. A management device determines failure correlations between a first computing resource that is associated with the first software application and a plurality of computing resources other than the first computing resource. The management device selects the computing resource that corresponds to the lowest failure correlation and associates the second software application with the selected computing resource based on the anti-affinity rule.

Claims

1. A system for associating a virtual machine (VM) with a computing resource, the system comprising:

a memory for storing;

an anti-affinity rule indicating that a first VM is to be separated from a second VM during execution of the first and second VMs, wherein the first VM is associated with a first computing resource of a plurality of computing resources; and

a first failure correlation between the first computing resource and a second computing resource of the plurality of computing resources; and

a processor coupled to the memory and programmed to;

determine a second failure correlation between the first computing resource and a third computing resource of the plurality of computing resources, wherein the second failure correlation is less than the first failure correlation; and

associate the second VM with the third computing resource based on the anti-affinity rule and the second failure correlation being less than the first failure correlation.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to determine the second failure correlation by receiving the second failure correlation from one or more of the following:

a user and a resource manager associated with the first computing resource and the third computing resource.

3. The system of claim 1, further comprising an input interface coupled to the processor and configured to receive a configuration hierarchy indicating hardware associated with the first computing resource and the third computing resource, wherein the processor is programmed to determine the second failure correlation based on the received configuration hierarchy.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to determine the second failure correlation by calculating the second failure correlation based on performance metrics associated with the first computing resource and performance metrics associated with the third computing resource.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising an input interface coupled to the processor and configured to receive the anti-affinity rule from a user, wherein the memory stores the received anti-affinity rule.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to associate the second VM with the third computing resource by migrating the second VM from the second computing resource to the third computing resource.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to associate the second VM with the third computing resource by associating the second VM with a datastore.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is programmed to associate the second VM with the third computing resource by associating the second VM with a host.

9. A method comprising:

receiving by a management device an anti-affinity rule indicating that a first software application is to be separated from a second software application during execution of the first and second software applications, wherein the first software application is associated with a first computing resource of a plurality of available computing resources;

determining by the management device a failure correlation between the first computing resource and each available computing resource other than the first computing resource to create a plurality of failure correlations, each failure correlation corresponding to an available computing resource of the plurality of available computing resources;

selecting by the management device the available computing resource that corresponds to a lowest failure correlation among the plurality of failure correlations; and

associating by the management device the second software application with the selected available computing resource based on the anti-affinity rule.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining a failure correlation between the first computing resource and a second computing resource of the plurality of available computing resources comprises receiving the failure correlation from one or more of the following:

a user and a resource manager associated with the first computing resource and the second computing resource.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein determining a failure correlation between the first computing resource and a second computing resource of the plurality of available computing resources comprises:

determining a configuration hierarchy indicating hardware associated with the first computing resource and the third computing resource; and

determining the failure correlation based on the received configuration hierarchy.

12. The method of claim 9, wherein determining a failure correlation between the first computing resource and a second computing resource of the plurality of available computing resources comprises calculating the failure correlation based on performance metrics associated with the first computing resource and performance metrics associated with the second computing resource.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein associating the second software application with the selected computing resource comprises migrating the second software application from a second computing resource of the plurality of computing resources to the selected computing resource.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein associating the second software application with the selected computing resource comprises associating the second software application with a datastore.

15. The method of claim 9, wherein associating the second software application with the selected computing resource comprises associating the second software application with a host.

16. One or more computer-readable storage media having computer-executable components comprising:

a correlation component that when executed causes at least one processor to determine a plurality of failure correlations between a plurality of computing resources, wherein each failure correlation corresponds to a pair of computing resources and is determined based on one or more of the following;

a failure correlation from a user, a failure correlation from a resource manager associated with the pair of computing resources, a configuration hierarchy indicating hardware associated with the pair of computing resources, and performance metrics associated with the pair of computing resources; and

a rule component that when executed causes at least one processor to;

receive via an input interface an anti-affinity rule indicating that a first software application is to be separated from a second software application during execution of the first and second software applications, wherein the first software application is associated with a first computing resource of the plurality of computing resources;

select the failure correlations corresponding to the first computing resource; and

select one of the plurality of computing resources other than the first computing resource that corresponds to a lowest failure correlation among the selected failure correlations; and

a placement component that when executed causes at least one processor to associate the second software application with the selected computing resource based on the anti-affinity rule.

17. The computer-readable storage media of claim 16, wherein the first computing resource is associated with first performance metrics, a second computing resource of the plurality of computing resources is associated with second performance metrics, and the correlation component causes the processor to determine a failure correlation corresponding to the first computing resource and the second computing resource by calculating a performance correlation based on the first performance metrics and the second performance metrics.

18. The computer-readable storage media of claim 17, wherein the correlation component causes the processor to calculate the performance correlation corresponding to the first computing resource and the second computing resource at least in part by creating a parallel time series of the first and second performance metrics.

19. The computer-readable storage media of claim 16, wherein the correlation component causes the processor to determine a failure correlation corresponding to the first computing resource and a second computing resource of the plurality of computing resources by:

when a failure correlation corresponding to the first and second computing resources is indicated by a user, determining the failure correlation based on the failure correlation indicated by the user;

when no failure correlation corresponding to the first and second computing resources is indicated by a user, and a failure correlation is indicated by a resource manager associated with the first and second computing resources, determining the failure correlation based on the failure correlation indicated by the resource manager; and

when no failure correlation corresponding to the first and second computing resources is indicated by a user or by a resource manager, determining the failure correlation based on performance metrics associated with the first and second computing resources.

20. The computer-readable storage media of claim 16, wherein the placement component causes the processor to associate the second software application with the selected computing resource by migrating the second software application from a second computing resource of the plurality of computing resources to the selected computing resource.

21. The computer-readable storage media of claim 16, wherein the rule component causes the processor to select the computing resource based further on determining that a rule other than the anti-affinity rule will not be violated by associating the second software application with the selected computing resource.

22. The computer-readable storage media of claim 16, wherein the rule component further causes the processor to:

receive a separation level associated with the anti-affinity rule, wherein the separation level indicates a level in a configuration hierarchy below which the first software application and the second application are to be separated; and

select the computing resource based further on determining that the selected computing resource is separate from the first computing resource at or above the separation level.