Graph transformations to correct violations of service level objectives in a data center

• US 8,484,249 B1
• Filed: 09/16/2011
• Issued: 07/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Original Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Inventors: Soundararajan, Gokul, Bairavasundaram, Lakshmi Narayanan, Mathur, Vipul, Voruganti, Kaladhar, Talwadker, Rukma Ameet
• Primary Examiner(s): Woo, Isaac M
• Application Number:
  US13/235,043
• Time in Patent Office: 662 Days
• Field of Search: 707600-899
• US Class Current: 707/791
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/22 Indexing; Data structures therefor; Storage structures
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/10 Requirements analysis; Specification techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/00 Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units program control for peripheral devices G06F13/10

Abstract

Graph transformations are used by a data management system to correct violations of service-level objectives (SLOs) in a data center. In one aspect, a process is provided to manage a data center by receiving an indication of a violation of a service-level objective associated with the data center from a server in the data center. A graph representation and a transformations data container are retrieved by the data management system from data storage accessible to the data management system. The transformations data container includes one or more transformations. The transformation is processed to create a mutated graph from a data center representation from the graph representation. An option for managing the data center is determined as a result of evaluating the mutated graphs.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing a data center, the computer-implemented method comprising:

receiving, by a data management system including a data server, an indication of a violation of a service-level objective associated with the data center;

retrieving, by the data management system, a graph representation and a transformations data container from data storage accessible to the data management system, the transformations data container including one or more transformations;

for each transformation in the transformations data container, processing, by the data management system, the transformation to create a mutated graph from the graph representation; and

determining, by the data management system, an option for managing the data center as a result of evaluating the mutated graphs.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising creating the graph representation for the data center, wherein creating the graph representation for the data center comprises:

evaluating, by the data management system, the data center to determine a plurality of entities in the data center;

for each of the plurality of entities in the data center, generating, by the data management system, an entity representation;

for each of the plurality of entity representations, analyzing, by the data management system, the entity representation to determine a connection thr the entity representation and another entity representation of the plurality of entity representations; and

connecting, by the data management system, the entity representation to the another entity representation using the determined connection.

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

automatically selecting, by the data management system, an option for managing the data center based on a cost associated with the option.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the graph representation represents a flow of data between the plurality of entities in the data center.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein each transformation is in accordance with the service-level objective.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein each transformation comprises a name, a type, a predicate defining a scope of the transformation, a mutation defining a set of graph changes to correct a violation of a service level objective, and a cost of the transformation.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein processing a transformation to create a mutated graph comprises:

accessing a predicate associated with the transformation;

determining if an entity in the data center graph representation is in accordance with the predicate;

if an entity in the data center graph representation is in accordance with the predicate,

retrieving a imitation associated with the transformation, and

performing an action associated with the mutation to update the mutated graph.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium embodied with executable instructions that cause a processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by a data management system including a data server, an indication of a violation of a service-level objective associated with the data center;

retrieving, by the data management system, a transformations data container including one or more transformations from data storage accessible to the data management system;

for each transformation in the transformations data container, processing, by the data management system, a transformation to create a mutated graph from the a graph representation; and

determining, by the data management system, an option for managing the data center as a result of evaluating the mutated graphs.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions further comprise creating the graph representation for the data center, wherein creating the graph representation for the data center comprises:

evaluating, by the data management system, the data center to determine a plurality of entities in the data center;

for each of the plurality of entities in the data center, generating, by the data management system, an entity representation;

for each of the plurality of entity representations,

analyzing, by the data management system, the entity representation to determine a connection for the entity representation and another entity representation of the plurality of entity representations; and

connecting, by the data management system, the entity representation to the another entity representation using the determined connection.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions further comprise:

automatically selecting, by the data management system, an option for managing the data center based on a cost associated with the option.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the graph representation represents a flow of data between the plurality of entities in the data center.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein each transformation is in accordance with the service-level objective.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein each transformation comprises a name, a type, a predicate defining a scope of the transformation, a mutation defining a set of graph changes to correct a violation of a service level objective, and a cost of the transformation.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein processing a transformation to create a mutated graph comprises:

accessing a predicate associated with the transformation;

determining if an entity in the data center graph representation is in accordance with the predicate;

if an entity in the data center graph representation is in accordance with the predicate,

retrieving a mutation associated with the transformation, and

performing an action associated with the mutation to update the mutated graph.

15. A computerized system comprising:

a processor coupled to a memory through a bus; and

instructions executed from the memory by the processor to cause the processor to

receive an indication of a violation of a service-level objective associated with the data center;

retrieve a transformations data container including one or more transformations from data storage accessible to the data management system;

for each transformation in the transformations data container, process a transformation to create a mutated graph from the a graph representation; and

determine an option for managing the data center as a result of evaluating the mutated graphs.

16. A computerized system comprising:

a storage server coupled to a storage device, the storage server operative to;

receive an indication of a violation of a service-level objective associated with the data center;

retrieve a transformations data container including one or more transformations from data storage accessible to the data management system;

for each transformation in the transformations data container, process a transformation to create a mutated graph from the a graph representation; and

determine an option for managing the data center as a result of evaluating the mutated graphs.