MANAGING ALLOCATION OF HARDWARE RESOURCES IN A VIRTUALIZED ENVIRONMENT

• US 20140245297A1
• Filed: 02/27/2013
• Published: 08/28/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 02/27/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hackett, Joseph E., Jones, Michael S., Rice, Andrew D.
• Granted Patent: US 9,336,031 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45583 Memory management, e.g. access or allocation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• 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

Hardware resources in a virtualized environment are managed. Via at least one processor external to a physical host that hosts a plurality of virtual machines, resource statistics are received pertaining to hardware resources of the physical host that are allocated to each of the plurality of virtual machines. External to the physical host and in real time, the resource statistics are analyzed to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized. When the allocation of the hardware resources to at least one of the virtual machines is not optimized, in real time, at least one resource allocation message is communicated to the physical host, the resource allocation message indicating at least one hardware resource that is to be allocated to, or de-allocated from, the at least one virtual machine.

Claims

1. A method of managing allocation of hardware resources in a virtualized environment, the method comprising:

receiving, via at least one processor external to a physical host that hosts a plurality of virtual machines, resource statistics pertaining to hardware resources of the physical host that are allocated to each of the plurality of virtual machines;

analyzing, external to the physical host and in real time, the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized; and

when the allocation of the hardware resources to at least one of the virtual machines is not optimized, in real time, communicating at least one resource allocation message to the physical host, the resource allocation message indicating at least one hardware resource that is to be allocated to, or de-allocated from, the at least one virtual machine.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises:

determining whether the frequency at which the hardware resources are allocated to, or de-allocated from, each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving resource statistics pertaining to hardware resources of the physical host that are allocated to each of the plurality of virtual machines comprises:

receiving from each of a plurality of virtual machine agents, each of which is executed in a respective one of the virtual machines, respective resource statistics.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein communicating at least one resource allocation message to the physical host comprises:

communicating the at least one resource allocation message to a resource allocation service executing on the physical host.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises:

identifying trending data in the resource statistics indicating a trend in actual resource usage by at least one of the plurality of virtual machines;

wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises;

analyzing the trending data to generate a prediction of near future resource usage by the at least one of the plurality of virtual machines; and

determining whether a frequency of allocation of hardware resources to the at least one of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized for the predicted near future resource usage.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises:

identifying, for at least one of the plurality of virtual machines, a particular category of virtual machine to which the virtual machine belongs;

wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises;

determining whether allocation of hardware resources to at least one of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized for the category of virtual machine to which the virtual machine belongs.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein determining whether allocation of hardware resources to the at least one of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized for the category of virtual machine to which the virtual machine belongs comprises:

analyzing resource statistics corresponding to other virtual machines that belong to the same category to which the at least one of the plurality of virtual machines belongs.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein:

the resource allocation message indicating at least one hardware resource that is to be allocated to, or de-allocated from, the at least one virtual machine indicates a plurality of hardware resources that are to be allocated to the at least one virtual machine during startup of the at least one virtual machine;

the method further comprising;

when startup of the at least one virtual machine is complete, communicating at least a second resource allocation message to the physical host, the second resource allocation message indicating at least one hardware resource that is to be de-allocated from the at least one virtual machine.

9. A system comprising:

at least one processor external to a physical host that hosts a plurality of virtual machines, the at least one processor programmed to initiate executable operations comprising;

receiving resource statistics pertaining to hardware resources of the physical host that are allocated to each of the plurality of virtual machines;

analyzing, external to the physical host and in real time, the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized; and

when the allocation of the hardware resources to at least one of the virtual machines is not optimized, in real time, communicating at least one resource allocation message to the physical host, the resource allocation message indicating at least one hardware resource that is to be allocated to, or de-allocated from, the at least one virtual machine.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises:

determining whether the frequency at which the hardware resources are allocated to, or de-allocated from, each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein receiving resource statistics pertaining to hardware resources of the physical host that are allocated to each of the plurality of virtual machines comprises:

receiving from each of a plurality of virtual machine agents, each of which is executed in a respective one of the virtual machines, respective resource statistics.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein communicating at least one resource allocation message to the physical host comprises:

communicating the at least one resource allocation message to a resource allocation service executing on the physical host.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises:

identifying trending data in the resource statistics indicating a trend in actual resource usage by at least one of the plurality of virtual machines;

wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises;

analyzing the trending data to generate a prediction of near future resource usage by the at least one of the plurality of virtual machines; and

determining whether a frequency of allocation of hardware resources to the at least one of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized for the predicted near future resource usage.

14. The system of claim 9, wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises:

identifying, for at least one of the plurality of virtual machines, a particular category of virtual machine to which the virtual machine belongs;

wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises;

determining whether allocation of hardware resources to the at least one of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized for the category of virtual machine to which the virtual machine belongs.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein determining whether allocation of hardware resources to the at least one of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized for the category of virtual machine to which the virtual machine belongs comprises:

analyzing resource statistics corresponding to other virtual machines that belong to the same category to which the at least one of the plurality of virtual machines belongs.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein:

the resource allocation message indicating at least one hardware resource that is to be allocated to, or de-allocated from, the at least one virtual machine indicates at least one hardware resource that is to be allocated to the at least one virtual machine during startup of the at least one virtual machine;

the method further comprising;

when startup of the at least one virtual machine is complete, communicating at least a second resource allocation message to the physical host, the second resource allocation message indicating at least one hardware resource that is to be de-allocated from the at least one virtual machine.

17. A computer program product for managing allocation of hardware resources in a virtualized environment, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program code stored thereon, the program code executable by at least one processor, external to a physical host that hosts a plurality of virtual machines, to perform a method comprising:

receiving, via the at least one processor external to the physical host that hosts the plurality of virtual machines, resource statistics pertaining to hardware resources of the physical host that are allocated to each of the plurality of virtual machines;

analyzing, via the at least one processor external to the physical host and in real time, the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized; and

when the allocation of the hardware resources to at least one of the virtual machines is not optimized, via the at least one processor external to the physical host and in real time, communicating at least one resource allocation message to the physical host, the resource allocation message indicating at least one hardware resource that is to be allocated to, or de-allocated from, the at least one virtual machine.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises:

determining whether the frequency at which the hardware resources are allocated to, or de-allocated from, each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized.

19. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises:

identifying trending data in the resource statistics indicating a trend in actual resource usage by at least one of the plurality of virtual machines;

wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises;

analyzing the trending data to generate a prediction of near future resource usage by the at least one of the plurality of virtual machines; and

determining whether a frequency of allocation of hardware resources to the at least one of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized for the predicted near future resource usage.

20. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises:

identifying, for at least one of the plurality of virtual machines, a particular category of virtual machine to which the virtual machine belongs;

wherein analyzing the resource statistics to determine whether allocation of the hardware resources to each of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized comprises;

determining whether allocation of hardware resources to the at least one of the plurality of virtual machines is optimized for the category of virtual machine to which the virtual machine belongs.