SYSTEMS, METHODS AND DEVICES FOR MANAGEMENT OF VIRTUAL MEMORY SYSTEMS

• US 20130282994A1
• Filed: 03/14/2013
• Published: 10/24/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 03/14/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: Convergent.io Technologies, Inc. (Coho Data, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wires, Jacob Taylor, Fraser, Keir, Warfield, Andrew, Stodden, Daniel, Meyer, Dutch, Guyader, Jean Maurice Guy, Deegan, Timothy John, Cully, Brendan Anthony, Clark, Christopher, Abdul-Amir, Mohammad
• Granted Patent: US 10,019,159 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/158
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45583 Memory management, e.g. access or allocation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0604 Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

Systems, methods and devices for management of instances of virtual memory components for storing computer readable information for use by at least one first computing device, the system comprising at least one physical computing device, each physical computing device being communicatively coupled over a network and comprising: a physical memory component, a computing processor component, an operating system, a virtual machine monitor, and virtual memory storage appliances; at least one of the virtual memory storage appliances being configured to (a) accept memory instructions from the at least one first computing device, (b) instantiate instances of at least one virtual memory component, (c) allocate memory resources from at least one physical memory component for use by any one of the least one virtual memory components, optionally according to a pre-defined policy; and (d) implement memory instructions on the at least one physical memory component.

Claims

1. A system for managing, storing and accessing information stored in at least one instance of a virtual memory component for use by at least one first computing device, the system comprising at least one physical computing device, each of the at least one physical computing device being communicatively coupled over a network and comprising access to at least one physical memory component, an operating system, a virtual machine monitor, and at least one virtual memory storage appliance;

the virtual memory storage appliance on each of the least one physical computing device being configured to communicate with the operating system and the virtual machine monitor, being configured to communicate with other virtual memory storage appliances on other physical computing devices, and being configured to associate physical memory resources of the at least one physical memory component with an instance of at least one virtual memory component accessible to one of the at least one first computing device.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one virtual memory storage appliance is configured to (a) accept memory instructions from the at least one first computing device, (b) instantiate the instance of the at least one virtual memory component, (c) allocate memory resources from the at least one physical memory component for use by any of the at least one virtual memory component;

and (d) implement memory instructions on the at least one physical memory component.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one virtual memory storage appliance is configured to prioritize memory resources from the at least one physical memory component for use by any of the at least one virtual memory component.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the at least one virtual memory storage appliance is configured to prioritize memory resources according to a selection from a group consisting of:

at least one pre-determined policy, at least one user setting, and in a manner that optimizes at least one operational objective.

5. The system of claim 2, wherein the allocation of memory resources in (c) is according to a pre-defined policy.

6. The system of claim 5, wherein the pre-defined policy applies to a pre-determined number of at the least one first computing device.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one virtual memory component is instantiated on a selection from a group consisting of:

the at least one first computing device and any other computing device communicatively coupled to the at least one first computing device.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one first computing device is selected from a group consisting of:

a virtual computing device and a physical computing device.

9. The system of claim 2, wherein the allocation of the memory resources is configured to be a selection of a group consisting of:

dynamic, fixed, indexed, optimal for the utilization of available resources, optimal for security, optimal to minimize memory failure, optimal to maximize reliability of memory resources, optimal for the speed of implementation of memory instructions, and optimal for multi-user access.

10. The system of claim 2, wherein the memory resources are preferentially allocated to physical memory components having operational characteristics that assist in achieving at least one operational and policy objective.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the physical memory resources are managed according to distributed disk management methodologies.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the distributed disk management methodologies are selected from a group consisting of:

erasure coding, redundant array of independent disks, and mirroring.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one virtual memory component is directly exposed to at least one of the physical memory resource that has been associated therewith by the virtual memory storage appliance, wherein the virtual memory storage appliance arbitrates memory instructions to the exposed at least one of the physical memory resources.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein direct exposure is via an input/output virtualization of a physical interface.

29. A use of the system of claim 1 for the management of physical memory resources associated with the at least one instance of the virtual memory component.

15. A method of managing of at least one instance of a virtual memory component for use by at least one first computing device, the method comprising steps of:

providing a plurality of physical computing devices, each of the physical computing devices being communicatively coupled over a network, having access to at least one physical memory component, having an operating system, and a virtual machine monitor;

instantiating on each physical computing device a virtual memory storage appliance, the virtual memory storage appliance being configured to communicate with the operating system and the virtual machine monitor and being communicatively coupled with at least one virtual memory storage appliance in other physical computing devices; and

managing, by the virtual memory storage appliance, memory instructions between any first computing device and the at least one instance of the virtual memory component by associating memory resources on any physical memory components with the at least one instance of the virtual memory components.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the managing step further comprises that the at least one virtual memory storage appliance (a) accepts memory instructions from at least one first computing device, (b) instantiates the at least one instance of the virtual memory component, (c) allocates memory resources from the at least one physical memory component for use by the at least one instance of the virtual memory component;

and (d) implements memory instructions on the at least one physical memory component.

17. The method of claim 15, wherein the managing step further comprises that the at least one virtual memory storage appliance prioritizes memory resources from the at least one physical memory components for use by the at least one instance of the virtual memory component.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the prioritization of the memory resources occurs according to a selection from a group consisting of:

at least one pre-determined policy, at least one user setting, and that optimizes at least one operational objective.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the allocation of the physical memory resources is according to a pre-defined policy.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the pre-defined policy applies across all of a selection from a group consisting of:

the at least one physical computing device, and users thereof that are part of an organization.

21. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one instance of the virtual memory component are instantiated on a selection from a group consisting of:

the at least one first computing device, and any other computing device communicatively coupled to the at least one first computing device.

22. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one first computing device is selected from a group consisting of:

a virtual computing device and a physical computing device.

23. The method of claim 16, wherein the allocation of the memory resources is configured to be a selection of a group consisting of:

dynamic, fixed, indexed, optimal for the utilization of available resources, optimal for security, optimal to minimize memory failure, optimal to maximize reliability of memory resources, optimal for speed of implementation of memory instructions, and optimal for multi-user access.

24. The method of claim 16, wherein the memory resources are preferentially allocated to physical memory components having operational characteristics that assist in achieving at least one operational and policy objective.

25. The method of claim 15, wherein the physical memory resources are managed according to distributed disk management methodologies.

26. The method of claim 25, wherein the distributed disk management methodologies are selected from a group consisting of:

erasure coding, redundant array of independent disks, and mirroring.

27. The method of claim 15, wherein the at least one instance of the virtual memory component is directly exposed to at least one of the physical memory resource that has been associated therewith by the virtual memory storage appliance, wherein the virtual memory storage appliance arbitrates memory instructions to the exposed at least one physical memory resource.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the direct exposure is via an input/output virtualization of a physical interface.

46. The method of claim 15, wherein the associating of memory resources is configured to allocate at least one first memory resource from at least one physical memory component of the at least one physical computing device for at least one first data type, the at least one first memory resource sharing at least one pre-determined memory characteristic and the at least one first data type sharing at least one pre-determined data type characteristic.

47. The method of claim 46, wherein the association is dynamic.

52. The method claim 15, wherein managing the memory instructions includes transforming the composition of data between a first mode and a second mode, wherein the first mode is any composition that facilitates storage on a particular of the at least one physical memory component on which the data is stored, and the second mode is any mode that facilitates use of the data by the at least one first computing devices.

30. A device for managing at least one instance of a virtual memory component using at least one virtual memory storage appliance, the device comprising:

access to at least one virtual computing machine;

a virtual machine monitor for managing the at least one virtual computing machine; and

an instance of the least one virtual memory storage appliance for virtualizing at least one storage resource on at least one physical computing device that are communicatively coupled to the device and have instantiated on another of the at least one virtual memory storage appliance;

wherein the instance of the least one virtual memory storage appliance is interposed between the virtual machine monitor and an operating system running on the device.

31. A device as defined in claim 30, further comprising an interface for allowing a user to set at least one policy for allocating memory resources by the instance of at least one virtual memory storage appliance.

32. A device as defined in claim 30, wherein said virtual memory storage appliance instance consolidates the at least one storage resource on the at least one physical computing device that is communicatively coupled over a network into a unified virtual storage resource.

33. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon an image of the device of claim 30.

34. A virtual memory storage appliance for managing at least one virtual memory component instance, the virtual memory storage appliance being configured to be interposed between an operating system of a computing device and an application layer of the computing device and being communicatively coupled to at least one other virtual memory storage appliance, wherein the virtual memory storage appliance is further configured to perform steps selected from a group consisting of:

(a) accept memory instructions from at least one first computing device, (b) instantiate at least one virtual memory component instance, (c) allocate memory resources from at least one physical memory component for use by at least one virtual memory component;

(d) implement memory instructions on the at least one physical memory component; and

(e) arbitrate memory instructions directed to physical memory components.

35. A virtual memory storage appliance as defined in claim 34, wherein the at least one virtual memory storage appliance instance consolidates at least one storage resource on a local computing device into a unified virtual storage resource.

36. A system for managing, storing and accessing information stored in at least one instance of virtual memory components for use by at least one first computing device, the system comprising at least one physical computing device, each of the at least one physical computing device being communicatively coupled over a network and comprising access to at least one physical memory component, an operating system, a virtual machine monitor, and a virtual memory storage appliance;

the virtual memory storage appliance on the at least one physical computing device being configured to communicate with the operating system and the virtual machine monitor and being further configured to allocate at least one first memory resource from the at least one physical memory component of the at least one physical computing device for at least one first data type, the at least one first memory resource sharing at least one pre-determined memory characteristic and the at least one first data type sharing at least one pre-determined data type characteristic.

37. The system of claim 36, wherein discrete elements of the at least one first memory resource across the at least one physical memory component, having at least one shared pre-determined memory characteristics, are allocated for use for data types having at least one shared pre-determined data types characteristic.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the allocation of discrete elements of the at least one first memory resource is selected from a group consisting of:

a dynamic memory resource, a static memory resource, and an indexed memory resource.

39. The system of claim 37, wherein the allocation is according to a relationship between first memory characteristics and first data type characteristics that facilitates achievement of at least one operational and policy objective.

40. The system of claim 37, wherein a policy is applied across organizations having access to the at least one physical computing devices.

41. The system of claim 40, wherein an organization is characterized by a selection from a group consisting of:

user, user-type, enterprise, and host-type.

42. The system of claim 40, wherein a plurality of different policies are applied to different semantic layers.

43. The system of claim 42, wherein a semantic layer comprises files, file-types, records, and record-types.

44. The system of claim 36, wherein the at least one pre-determined memory characteristic and the at least one pre-determined data type characteristic are selected from a group consisting of:

high-performance storage capability, durable storage capability, level of suitability for encryption, level of replication, level of synchronization, audit suitability, ease of deletion, degree of multi-client access and use, configured for rapid access/read/write, and configured for long-term access/read/write.

45. The system of claim 36, wherein the at least one pre-determined memory characteristic and the at least one pre-determined data type characteristic are selected from a group consisting of:

frequency of access, high sensitivity, low sensitivity, security requirements, accessibility by multiple users for concurrent use, and suitability as configuration-type files.

48. A use of the system of claim 36 for the management of physical memory resources associated with at least one virtual memory component.

49. A system for managing, storing and accessing information stored in at least one instance of virtual memory components for use by at least one first computing device, the system comprising at least one physical computing device, each of the at least one physical computing device being communicatively coupled over a network and comprising access to a physical memory component, an operating system, a virtual machine monitor, and a virtual memory storage appliance;

the virtual memory storage appliance on each of the at least one physical computing device being configured to communicate with the operating system and the virtual machine monitor and being further configured to transform the composition of data between a first mode and a second mode, wherein the first mode is any composition that facilitates storage on the particular at least one physical memory component on which the data is stored, and the second mode is any mode that facilitates use of the data by the at least one first computing device.

50. The system of claim 49, wherein the first mode is selected from a group consisting of:

any mode, composition, and state of data whose characteristics facilitate achieving operational and policy objectives by physical memory resources.

51. The system of claim 49, where the second mode is related to a selection from a group consisting of:

a file format, a data format, a data collection based on a shared predetermined characteristic, and a facility for use with a user-type access point.

53. A use of the system of claim 49, for management of physical memory resources associated with at least one virtual memory component.

54. A method for managing at least one virtual memory component instance using a virtual memory storage appliance, the method comprising:

by the appliance, accepting memory instructions from at least one computing device;

by the appliance, instantiating the at least one virtual memory component instance;

by the appliance, allocating memory resources from the at least one physical memory component for use by the at least one virtual memory component instance; and

by the appliance, implementing memory instructions on the at least one physical memory component.

55. A method of aggregating and managing data objects across a plurality of networked, heterogeneous storage devices using a virtual memory storage appliance, the method comprising:

providing a device driver that redirects memory instructions between an operating system and associated memory resources to the virtual memory storage appliance; and

providing a software module that analyzes at least one object request semantic of a file system transaction, such that the transaction is propagated by the virtual memory storage appliance to at least one virtual memory component instance.

56. A method for managing at least one virtual memory component instance using a virtual memory storage appliance across at least one communicatively coupled physical computing device, the method comprising:

implementing a log-based object store to manage physical memory components on a single computer, including memory instructions provided therefor;

implementing a replication layer that forwards requests between virtual memory storage appliances running on different physical computing devices; and

implementing a clustered, object interface, provided by all virtual appliance instances that make a plurality of virtual memory storage appliances appear as a single storage component.

57. The method of claim 56, wherein the virtual memory storage appliance is a software-based storage stack that consolidates the local physical memory components and enables data to be stored across the at least one communicatively coupled physical computing device.