Managing access of multiple executing programs to non-local block data storage

• US 9,529,550 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2014
• Issued: 12/27/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/08/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Paterson-Jones, Roland, DeSantis, Peter N., Jorgensen, Atle Normann, Garman, Matthew S., Certain, Tate Andrew
• Primary Examiner(s): Cao, Phuong Thao
• Application Number:
  US14/320,254
• Publication Number:
  US 20140317370A1
• Time in Patent Office: 911 Days
• Field of Search: 707/999.202, 711/100
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2046 where the redundant components share persistent storage G06F11/2043 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/10 File systems; File servers
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0619 in relation to data integrity, e.g. data losses, bit errors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/065 Replication mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0665 at area level, e.g. provisioning of virtual or logical volumes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/067 Distributed or networked storage systems, e.g. storage area networks [SAN], network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

Techniques are described for managing access of executing programs to non-local block data storage. In some situations, a block data storage service uses multiple server storage systems to reliably store network-accessible block data storage volumes that may be used by programs executing on other physical computing systems. A group of multiple server block data storage systems that store block data volumes may in some situations be co-located at a data center, and programs that use volumes stored there may execute on other physical computing systems at that data center. If a program using a volume becomes unavailable, another program (e.g., another copy of the same program) may in some situations obtain access to and continue to use the same volume, such as in an automatic manner in some such situations.

Claims

1. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having stored contents that cause one or more computing systems of a program execution service to perform a method, the method comprising:

executing, by the one or more computing systems and in response to a request from a user of the program execution service, a first program copy of a program on a first computing system provided by the program execution service;

providing, by the one or more computing systems and for the executing first program copy, access to a data storage volume on a storage system provided by a data storage service, including performing one or more first interactions between the program execution service and the data storage service over one or more computer networks and initiating performance of one or more first data access requests by the first program copy to the data storage volume; and

after the first program copy becomes unavailable, providing, by the one or more computing systems and for a second program copy of the program that is executing on a second computing system, access to the data storage volume on the storage system, including performing one or more second interactions between the program execution service and the data storage service over the one or more computer networks and initiating performance of one or more second data access requests by the second program copy to the data storage volume.

2. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the providing of the access to the data storage volume for the first program copy includes attaching the data storage volume to the first computing system and providing a logical representation of the data storage volume on the first computing system, and wherein the providing of the access to the data storage volume for the second program copy includes attaching the data storage volume to the second computing system to replace the attaching of the data storage volume to the first computing system.

3. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the stored contents include software instructions that, when executed, cause the one or more computing systems to, before the providing of the access for the executing first program copy to the data storage volume, perform one or more initial interactions with the data storage service over the one or more computer networks to cause the data storage service to create the data storage volume.

4. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the one or more computing systems include the first computing system and execute a node manager module of the data storage service that performs one or more interactions with the data storage service to send the one or more first data access requests over the one or more computer networks to the storage system.

5. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the data storage service provides an application programming interface (API), and wherein the first and second data access requests are initiated by the first and second program copies via the API.

6. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3 wherein the data storage service provides an application programming interface (API), and wherein the performing of the one or more initial interactions includes sending a request via the API to the data storage service to create the data storage volume.

7. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 3 wherein the data storage service provides an application programming interface (API), and wherein the stored contents include software instructions that, when executed, further configure the one or more computing systems to send a request via the API to the data storage service to obtain information about use of capabilities of the data storage service by at least one of the first program copy or the second program copy.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the user is a customer of the program execution service, and wherein the second program copy is executed for the customer by the program execution service before the first program copy becomes unavailable.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the data storage volume stores block data, and wherein the first and second data access requests for the data storage volume include one or more requests to store block data on the data storage volume and include one or more requests to access block data stored on the data storage volume.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 1 wherein the second computing system is provided by the program execution service, and wherein the program execution service initiates execution of the second program copy in response to the executing first program copy becoming unavailable.

11. A system comprising:

one or more processors of one or more computing systems; and

a memory having stored instructions that, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, configure the one or more computing systems to provide a network-accessible service by;

executing a first program copy of a program on a first computing system provided by the network-accessible service;

providing access of the executing first program copy to a data storage volume on a storage system provided by a data storage service, including performing one or more first interactions between the network-accessible service and the data storage service over one or more computer networks to initiate performance of one or more first data access requests by the executing first program copy to the data storage volume on the storage system; and

after the executing first program copy becomes unavailable, providing, for a second program copy of the program that is executing on a second computing system, access of the executing second program copy to the data storage volume on the storage system, including performing one or more second interactions between the network-accessible service and the data storage service over the one or more computer networks to initiate performance of one or more second data access requests by the executing second program copy to the data storage volume on the storage system.

12. The system of claim 11 wherein the providing of the access of the executing first program copy to the data storage volume includes attaching the data storage volume to the first computing system and providing a logical representation of the data storage volume for the first computing system, and wherein the providing of the access of the executing second program copy to the data storage volume includes attaching the data storage volume to the second computing system in place of the attaching of the data storage volume to the first computing system.

13. The system of claim 11 wherein the data storage service provides an application programming interface (API) to enable the access of the executing first and second program copies to the data storage volume on the storage system, and wherein the performing of the one or more first interactions and the one or more second interactions includes using the API.

14. The system of claim 13 wherein the network-accessible service is a program execution service that executes programs on a plurality of computing systems provided by the program execution service, wherein the first and second computing systems are part of the plurality of computing systems, and wherein the program execution service initiates execution of the second program copy on behalf of a user for whom the first program copy is being executed in response to the executing first program copy becoming unavailable.

15. The system of claim 11 wherein the data storage volume stores block data, and wherein the first and second data access requests for the data storage volume include at least one of a request to store block data on the data storage volume or a request to access block data stored on the data storage volume.

16. A computer-implemented method comprising:

executing, by one or more configured computing systems of a network-accessible service, a first program copy of a program on a first computing system for a user of the network-accessible service;

providing, by the one or more configured computing systems, access of the executing first program copy to a data storage volume on a storage system provided by a data storage service, including performing one or more first interactions between the network-accessible service and the data storage service over one or more computer networks, and initiating performance of one or more first data access requests by the executing first program copy to the data storage volume on the storage system; and

after the executing first program copy becomes unavailable, providing, by the one or more configured computing systems and for a second program copy of the program that is executing for the user on a second computing system, access of the executing second program copy to the data storage volume on the storage system, including performing one or more second interactions between the network-accessible service and the data storage service over the one or more computer networks, and initiating performance of one or more second data access requests by the executing second program copy to the data storage volume on the storage system.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 16 wherein the providing of the access of the executing first program copy to the data storage volume includes attaching the data storage volume to the first computing system and providing a logical representation of the data storage volume for the first computing system, and wherein the providing of the access of the executing second program copy to the data storage volume includes attaching the data storage volume to the second computing system in place of the attaching of the data storage volume to the first computing system.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 16 wherein the network-accessible service is a program execution service that executes programs for users on a plurality of computing systems provided by the program execution service, wherein the first and second computing systems are part of the plurality of computing systems, and wherein the program execution service initiates execution of the second program copy on behalf of the user in response to the executing first program copy becoming unavailable.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18 wherein the data storage service provides an application programming interface (API) used as part of the access of the executing first and second program copies to the data storage volume on the storage system by sending one or more electronic communications over one or more computer networks between the storage system and the first and second computing systems.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 16 wherein the data storage volume stores block data, and wherein the first and second data access requests for the data storage volume include at least one of a request to store block data on the data storage volume or a request to access block data stored on the data storage volume.