Ensemble having one or more computing systems and a controller thereof

• US 8,984,109 B2
• Filed: 11/02/2010
• Issued: 03/17/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 11/02/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Baitinger, Friedemann, Frey, Jeffrey A., Gdaniec, Joseph M., Yocom, Peter B.
• Primary Examiner(s): Moore, Ian N
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, HIEN M
• Application Number:
  US12/938,332
• Publication Number:
  US 20120110086A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,596 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/249, 726/23
• US Class Current: 709/223
• 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

Abstract

An integrated hybrid system is provided. The hybrid system includes compute components of different types and architectures that are integrated and managed by a single point of control to provide federation and the presentation of the compute components as a single logical computing platform.

Claims

1. A computer program product for providing an ensemble, said computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method comprising;

coupling a first heterogeneous computing system to at least one other heterogeneous computing system as an ensemble of heterogeneous computing systems, wherein the first heterogeneous computing system comprises a first computing system having a first type of system architecture and comprises a second computing system having a second type of system architecture different from the first type of system architecture, the first computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system coupled to the second computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system via a data network, and the first heterogeneous computing system coupled to the at least one other heterogeneous computing system via the data network; and

defining a management domain that provides a boundary for the ensemble, the management domain managing resources across the ensemble of heterogeneous computing systems via a management network, the management network coupling the first computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system to the second computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system, and coupling the first heterogeneous computing system to the at least one other heterogeneous computing system, wherein the management network and the data network are separate networks separately coupling the first computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system to the second computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system, wherein the managing comprises managing at least one of configuration, monitoring, performance or availability of resources within the ensemble, and wherein the resources within the ensemble comprise a workload, the workload comprising a plurality of virtual servers supporting an application.

2. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the boundary for the ensemble defines the resources that are to be managed and one or more management disciplines used to manage the resources.

3. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the method further comprises managing the ensemble of heterogeneous computing systems as a single virtualized pool of server resources.

4. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the management domain comprises a single point of control to provide authoritative control for the ensemble.

5. The computer program product of claim 4, wherein the single point of control is distributed at least partially within the first heterogeneous computing system and the second heterogeneous computing system of the ensemble and exclusively provides management control for the ensemble.

6. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the resources comprise the data network, and wherein the data network provides any-to-any connectivity across the ensemble.

7. The computer program product of claim 6, wherein the management network is one management network of a plurality of management networks of the management domain, and wherein the method further comprises managing the data network across the ensemble using the plurality of management networks.

8. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the second computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system comprises a blade extension and the first computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system comprises a processing system having a support element coupling the first computing system to a management console used in managing the ensemble.

9. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the first computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system and the second computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system are within one computing node, and wherein the first computing system comprises a support element coupling the first computing system to the second computing system.

10. The computer program product of claim 1, wherein the second computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system comprises a blade center chassis and the first computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system comprises a processing system coupled to the blade center chassis via the management network and the separate data network, and wherein the first computing system is a system separate from the blade center chassis.

11. A computer system for providing an ensemble, said computer system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor in communications with the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform a method, said method comprising;

coupling a first heterogeneous computing system to at least one other heterogeneous computing system as an ensemble of heterogeneous computing systems, wherein the first heterogeneous computing system comprises a first computing system having a first type of system architecture and comprises a second computing system having a second type of system architecture different from the first type of system architecture, the first computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system coupled to the second computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system via a data network, and the first heterogeneous computing system coupled to the at least one other heterogeneous computing system via the data network; and

defining a management domain that provides a boundary for the ensemble, the management domain managing resources across the ensemble of heterogeneous computing systems via a management network, the management network coupling the first computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system to the second computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system, and coupling the first heterogeneous computing system to the at least one other heterogeneous computing system, wherein the management network and the data network are separate networks separately coupling the first computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system to the second computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system, wherein the managing comprises managing at least one of configuration, monitoring, performance or availability of resources within the ensemble, and wherein the resources within the ensemble comprise a workload, the workload comprising a plurality of virtual servers supporting an application.

12. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the management domain comprises a single point of control to provide authoritative control for the ensemble, wherein the single point of control is distributed at least partially within the first heterogeneous computing system and the second heterogeneous computing system of the ensemble and exclusively provides management control for the ensemble.

13. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the resources comprise the data network, wherein the data network provides any-to-any connectivity across the ensemble, wherein the management network is one management network of a plurality of management networks of the management domain, and wherein the method further comprises managing the data network across the ensemble using the plurality of management networks.

14. The computer system of claim 11, wherein the second computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system comprises a blade center chassis and the first computing system of the first heterogeneous computing system comprises a processing system coupled to the blade center chassis via the management network and the separate data network, and wherein the first computing system is a system separate from the blade center chassis.