Hibernate mechanism for virtualized java virtual machines

• US 9,183,015 B2
• Filed: 12/19/2012
• Issued: 11/10/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/19/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Corrie, Benjamin J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dao, Tuan
• Application Number:
  US13/720,874
• Publication Number:
  US 20130160011A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,056 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 12/08 in hierarchically structured memory systems, e.g. virtual memory systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45583 Memory management, e.g. access or allocation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2212/401 Compressed 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 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5022 Mechanisms to release resources

Abstract

Methods, systems, and computer programs manage memory of a runtime environment executing on a virtual machine. A controller acts as an intermediary layer between the runtime environment and outside clients. The runtime environment coordinates with the controller to “hibernate” during idle periods to more efficiently utilize memory, and to quickly “refresh” state upon receiving an access attempt. A hypervisor may perform memory page compression on one or more guest “physical” memory pages utilized by an idle runtime environment. While hibernating, the runtime environment may use a listener thread to monitor for refresh requests and awaken the runtime environment when needed.

Claims

1. A method for managing memory of a runtime environment executing in a virtual machine, the method comprising:

receiving an indication of an idle state of a runtime environment executing in a virtual machine;

suspending operation of a plurality of threads associated with the runtime environment, wherein the plurality of threads is configured to run program code within the runtime environment;

determining a plurality of memory pages associated with the runtime environment based on the indication of the idle state;

transmitting, to a virtualization layer, a request to page out and compress the plurality of memory pages into a compression cache; and

executing a listener thread configured to monitor for a refresh request for the runtime environment.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the listener thread is a native internal thread of the runtime environment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the listener thread is a native thread executing in the virtual machine outside of the runtime environment.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining the plurality of memory pages further comprises:

identifying the plurality of memory pages corresponding to heap memory of the runtime environment.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

responsive to receiving an indication to refresh the runtime environment, determining the plurality of memory pages for the runtime environment to be paged in; and

transmitting, to the virtualization layer, a request to decompress and page in the plurality of memory pages from the compression cache.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the determining the plurality of memory pages to be paged in further comprises:

determining the plurality of memory pages to be paged in and decompressed based on a state of the listener thread that tracks the plurality of memory pages that have been compressed.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the idle state of the runtime environment is determined based on a number of access attempts to the runtime environment received during a predetermined period of time.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed in a computing device, manage memory of a runtime environment executing in a virtual machine by performing the steps of:

receiving an indication of an idle state of a runtime environment executing in a virtual machine;

suspending operation of a plurality of threads associated with the runtime environment, wherein the plurality of threads is configured to run program code within the runtime environment;

determining a plurality of memory pages associated with the runtime environment based on the indication of the idle state;

transmitting, to a virtualization layer, a request to page out and compress the plurality of memory pages into a compression cache; and

executing a listener thread configured to monitor for a refresh request for the runtime environment.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the listener thread is a native internal thread of the runtime environment.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the listener thread is a native thread executing in the virtual machine outside of the runtime environment.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions for determining the plurality of memory pages further comprises instructions for:

identifying the plurality of memory pages corresponding to heap memory of the runtime environment.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising instructions for:

responsive to receiving an indication to refresh the runtime environment, determining the plurality of memory pages for the runtime environment to be paged in; and

transmitting, to the virtualization layer, a request to decompress and page in the plurality of memory pages from the compression cache.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the instructions for determining the plurality of memory pages to be paged in further comprises instructions for:

determining the plurality of memory pages to be paged in and decompressed based on a state of the listener thread that tracks the plurality of memory pages that have been compressed.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the idle state of the runtime environment is determined based on a number of access attempts to the runtime environment received during a predetermined period of time.

15. A computer system for executing an application on a host computer executing a plurality of virtual machines therein, comprising:

a system memory comprising a plurality of memory pages;

a virtualization layer, executing on one or more processors, configured to manage sharing of the system memory among a plurality of virtual machines;

a first virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines having a runtime environment and a listener thread executing therein, wherein the runtime environment comprises a plurality of threads configured to run program code within the runtime environment, wherein the listener thread is configured to monitor for hibernate requests and refresh requests for the runtime environment;

a controller configured to determine an idle state of the runtime environment, and transmit a hibernate request to the runtime environment indicating the idle state;

 

wherein the runtime environment configured to;

responsive to receiving the hibernate request, suspend operation of the plurality of threads associated with the runtime environment,

determine a plurality of memory pages associated with the runtime environment based on the hibernate request, and

transmit, to the virtualization layer, a request to page out and compress the plurality of memory pages into a compression cache.

16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the listener thread is a native internal thread of the runtime environment.

17. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the listener thread is a native thread executing in the virtual machine outside of the runtime environment.

18. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the controller is further configured to transmit, to the listener thread, a refresh request to the runtime environment;

wherein in the runtime environment is further configured to determine the plurality of memory pages for the runtime environment to be paged in responsive to receiving the refresh request, and transmit, to the virtualization layer, a request to decompress and page in the plurality of memory pages from the compression cache.

19. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the controller is configured to determine the idle state of the runtime environment based on a number of access attempts to the runtime environment received during a predetermined period of time.

20. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the controller IS a load balancer configured to manage requests to the plurality of virtual machines.

21. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the controller is an inter-process communication proxy for runtime environment configured to manage requests to access the runtime environment via socket.