Visualizing Disaster Recovery Plan Execution for the Cloud

• US 20150121122A1
• Filed: 10/31/2013
• Published: 04/30/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/31/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Cunningham, Helen Ann, Partridge, Brian, Towstopiat, Olga, Sullivan, Robert
• Granted Patent: US 9,098,457 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 714/4.11
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1471 involving logging of persistent data for recovery
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2023 Failover techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/32 with visual or acoustical indication of the functioning of the machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/321 Display for diagnostics, e.g. diagnostic result display, self-test user interface
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/324 Display of status information
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/326 for error or online/offline status
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/328 Computer systems status display G06F11/327 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/4557 Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

Embodiments visualize the execution of a disaster recovery plan. During a transfer of computing nodes from a source site to a target site, a map user interface (UI) is displayed. The map UI includes a first region corresponding to the geographic location of the source site and a second region corresponding to the geographic location of the target site. An animated progress indicator representing termination of computing nodes at the source site is displayed in the first region. Simultaneously, another animated progress indicator representing initiation of computing nodes at the target site, and further representing a reverse animation of the other animated progress indicator, is displayed in the second region.

Claims

1. A computing device for monitoring and troubleshooting disaster recovery for a datacenter, said computing device comprising:

a display;

a memory area storing a master recovery plan, the master recovery plan identifying a plurality of business units in the datacenter, each of the business units executing a plurality of virtual machines (VMs); and

a processor programmed to generate a map user interface (UI) on the display during performance of the master recovery plan stored in the memory area, the map UI including;

a first region for displaying a first animated progress indicator representing termination of each of the plurality of business units at a source site, the first region corresponding to a geographic location of the source site in the map UI; and

a second region for displaying, simultaneous to the display of the first animated progress indicator, a second animated progress indicator representing initiation of each of the plurality of business units at a target site, the second region corresponding to a geographic location of the target site in the map UI, the second animated progress indicator further representing a reverse animation of the first animated progress indicator.

2. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to generate the map UI by animating the first progress indicator to display termination of the VMs associated with each of the plurality of business units.

3. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to generate the map UI by animating the second progress indicator to display initiation of the VMs associated with each of the business units.

4. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the master recovery plan identifies dependencies among the plurality of business units and further defines a priority associated with each of the plurality of business units, and wherein a termination sequence is defined based on the dependencies and the priorities associated with the business units, and wherein the processor is further programmed to generate the map UI by:

animating the first progress indicator to display termination of each of the plurality of business units according to the termination sequence; and

animating the second progress indicator to display initiation of each of the plurality of business units according to a reversal of the termination sequence.

5. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the master recovery plan includes a plurality of individual recovery plans, and wherein the processor is further programmed to generate the map UI by animating the first progress indicator to display performance of at least two of the individual recovery plans in parallel.

6. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the master recovery plan includes an ordered plurality of individual recovery plans, and wherein the processor is further programmed to generate the map UI by animating the first progress indicator to display performance of at least two of the individual recovery plans in sequence.

7. The computing device of claim 1, wherein the processor is further programmed to:

determine a criticality of each of the business units based on one or more performance metrics associated with the business units; and

generate the map UI by graphically distinguishing the business units based on the determined criticalities.

8. A method comprising:

detecting transfer of a plurality of VMs in a datacenter from a source site to a target site, each VM associated with a business unit of a plurality of business units; and

generating a map user interface (UI), the map UI comprising;

a first region having a first animated progress indicator illustrating termination of each of the plurality of business units at the source site, the first region corresponding to a geographic location of the source site in the map UI, and

a second region having a second animated progress indicator illustrating initiation of each of the plurality of business units at the target site, the second region corresponding to a geographic location of the target site in the map UI, the second animated progress indicator further representing a reverse animation of the first animated progress indicator,

wherein the second animated progress indicator is displayed simultaneous to display of the first animated progress indicator.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

displaying, in the map UI, a directional arrow from the source site to the target site;

detecting a reversed transfer of the VMs from the target site to the source site resulting from a failover operation or a failback operation; and

reversing the direction of the directional arrow in response to the reversed transfer.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving user input requesting the transfer of the VMs from the source site to the target site; and

initiating the transfer based on the received user input.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving user input requesting detailed information regarding the detected transfer; and

displaying, in the map UI, the requested detailed information.

12. The method of claim 8, wherein generating the map UI comprises:

animating the first progress indicator to display termination of the VMs associated with each of the plurality of business units; and

animating the second progress indicator to display initiation of the VMs associated with each of the plurality of business units.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein generating the map UI further comprises grouping the VMs by business unit within the first progress indicator and within the second progress indicator.

14. The method of claim 8, wherein a termination sequence is defined based on dependencies and priorities associated with the business units, and wherein generating the map UI comprises:

animating the first progress indicator to display termination of each of the plurality of business units according to the termination sequence; and

animating the second progress indicator to display initiation of each of the plurality of business units according to a reversal of the termination sequence.

15. One or more computer-readable storage media including computer-executable instructions that, when executed during transfer of a plurality of business units in a datacenter from a source site to a target site, cause at least one processor to:

display, in a first region of a map UI, a first animated progress indicator representing termination of each of the business units at the source site, the first region corresponding to a geographic location of the source site in the map UI, each of the plurality of business units including one or more computing nodes of a plurality of computing nodes;

display, in a second region of the map UI and simultaneous to the display of the first animated progress indicator, a second animated progress indicator representing initiation of each of the plurality of business units at the target site, the second region corresponding to a geographic location of the target site in the map UI, the second animated progress indicator further representing a reverse animation of the first animated progress indicator;

receive, from the user via a search UI element associated with the map UI, a search term representing at least a portion of an identifier of a matching computing node of the plurality of computing nodes; and

in response to the received request, display, in a third region of the map UI, a current status of the matching computing node, the third region corresponding to a geographic location associated with the matching computing node.

16. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to graphically emphasize the matching computing node in the map UI.

17. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein receiving at least a portion of the identifier comprises receiving at least a portion of a name of the matching computing node.

18. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein receiving at least a portion of the identifier comprises receiving map coordinates or a street address.

19. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to display one or more weather conditions in the map UI.

20. The computer-readable storage media of claim 15, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the processor to display, in the map UI, a time of day corresponding to each of the first region and the second region.