Managing entities in virtual computing environments

• US 8,346,891 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2008
• Issued: 01/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/19/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Kubisys, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Kubisys, Inc.
• Inventors: Safari, Tigran, Acharya, Soubir, Urano, Shinichi
• Primary Examiner(s): Truong, Camquy
• Application Number:
  US12/138,574
• Publication Number:
  US 20090106256A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,663 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/218
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1433 during software upgrading
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1471 involving logging of persistent data for recovery
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/302 where the computing system component is a software system
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3664 Environments for testing or debugging software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3684 for test design, e.g. generating new test cases
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3688 for test execution, e.g. scheduling of test suites
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3692 for test results analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3696 Methods or tools to render software testable
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/80 of semi-structured data, e.g. markup language structured data such as SGML, XML or HTML content-based retrieval of web data G06F16/95
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45583 Memory management, e.g. access or allocation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45591 Monitoring or debugging support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/815 Virtual middleware or OS functionality using virtual machines to implement generic software techniques for error detection or fault masking G06F11/1484
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/84 Using snapshots, i.e. a logical point-in-time copy of the data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/455 Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/14 Network analysis or design
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/50 : Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 : Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 : for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services

Abstract

Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer program products, for discovering entities in a first portion of a data center network, examining information associated with the discovered entities to determine relationships that exist between pairs of entities in the first portion of the data center network, and generating a specification of the relationships that exist between pairs of entities in the first portion of the data center network based on results of the examining.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

discovering entities in a first portion of a data center network, the discovered entities including at least one storage end point, at least one server end point, and at least one server application instance, wherein discovering the entities comprises;

determining a presence of a first end point in the first portion of the data center network through a query of one or more name services;

establishing a connection with the first end point to obtain a signature of the first end point; and

identifying the first end point by type based on an examination of the signature of the first end point, wherein the type comprises a server type and a storage type;

examining information associated with the discovered entities to determine relationships that exist between pairs of entities in the first portion of the data center network, wherein examining the information comprises;

examining meta information of a storage end point to identify a plurality of logical disks located in storage associated with the storage end point, and

examining data within each logical disk of the plurality to identify one or more server end points having access to that logical disk and one or more server application instances as storing data within that logical disk; and

generating a specification of the relationships that exist between pairs of entities in the first portion of the data center network based on results of the examining.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein discovering the entities comprises:

determining a presence of a server application instance on a first end point in the first portion of the data center network through an examination of one or more sub-entities of the first end point.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein discovering the entities comprises:

confirming the presence of the server application instance on the first end point through one or more server application handshakes.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the discovered entities further include one or more of the following:

an authentication end point and a hypervisor platform.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing the specification in a persistent storage portion of the data center network.

6. A machine-readable storage device that stores executable instructions to cause a machine to:

discover entities in a first portion of a data center network, the discovered entities including at least one storage end point, at least one server end point, and at least one server application instance, wherein discovering the entities comprises;

determining a presence of a first end point in the first portion of the data center network through a query of one or more name services;

establishing a connection with the first end point to obtain a signature of the first end point; and

identifying the first end point by type based on an examination of the signature of the first end point, wherein the type comprises a server type and a storage type;

examine information associated with the discovered entities to determine relationships that exist between pairs of entities in the first portion of the data center network, wherein examining the information comprises;

examine meta information of a storage end point to identify a plurality of logical disks located in storage associated with the storage end point, and

examine data within each logical disk of the plurality to identify one or more server end points having access to that logical disk and one or more server application instances as storing data within that logical disk; and

generate a specification of the relationships that exist between pairs of entities in the first portion of the data center network based on results of the examining.

7. The machine-readable storage device of claim 6, wherein the instructions to cause the machine to discover the entities comprises instructions to:

determine a presence of a server application instance on a first end point in the first portion of the data center network through an examination of one or more sub-entities of the first end point.

8. The machine-readable storage device of claim 7, wherein the instructions to cause the machine to discover the entities comprises instructions to:

confirm the presence of the server application instance on the first end point through one or more server application handshakes.

9. The machine-readable storage device of claim 6, wherein the discovered entities further include one or more of the following:

an authentication end point and a hypervisor platform.

10. The machine-readable storage device of claim 6, wherein the stored executable instructions further comprise executable instructions to cause a machine to:

store the specification in a persistent storage portion of the data center network.