Systems and methods for managing emulation resources

• US 9,965,301 B2
• Filed: 03/28/2014
• Issued: 05/08/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 03/28/2013
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Sphere 3D, Inc. (Sphere 3D Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sphere 3D, Inc. (Sphere 3D Corporation)
• Inventors: Morelli, Jr., Giovanni, Cowen, Brandon, Dan, Marian, Damji, Hussain
• Primary Examiner(s): Alhija, Saif A
• Application Number:
  US14/229,368
• Publication Number:
  US 20140297249A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,502 Days
• Field of Search: 703 27, 703 23, 703 24
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/4557 Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45579 I/O management, e.g. providing access to device drivers or storage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45583 Memory management, e.g. access or allocation
• 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 9/5027 the resource being a machine, e.g. CPUs, Servers, Terminals

Abstract

A method and system for managing an emulation of a computer product. The method and system involve receiving emulation parameters associated with the emulation of the computer product, the emulation parameters defining one or more resources required to provide the emulation; identifying one or more capable emulator servers from a plurality of emulator servers based at least on the one or more resources; retrieving emulator server data for each capable emulator server; determining one or more criteria usable for selecting an emulator server from the one or more capable emulator servers to provide the emulation; and selecting the emulator server from the one or more capable emulator servers to provide the emulation, the emulator server being a capable emulator server from the one or more capable emulators associated with emulator server data satisfying at least some of the one or more criteria.

Claims

1. A method for managing an emulation of a computer product, the method comprising:

receiving emulation parameters associated with the emulation of the computer product, the emulation parameters defining one or more resources required to provide the emulation;

identifying at least two capable emulator servers from a plurality of emulator servers based at least on the one or more resources, the at least two capable emulator servers being operable to provide the at least one or more resources;

retrieving, from at least one database, emulator server data for each capable emulator server, the emulator server data comprising operational characteristics associated with that capable emulator server;

determining, from the at least one database, one or more criteria usable for selecting an emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers to provide the emulation; and

selecting the emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers to provide the emulation, the emulator server being a capable emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers associated with emulator server data satisfying at least some of the one or more criteria, wherein the selection comprises;

determining a plurality of criterion counts, by, for each capable emulator server in the at least two capable emulator servers, determining a criterion count associated with that capable emulator server, the criterion count being based, at least in part, on a number of the criteria satisfied by that capable emulator server; and

based on the plurality of criterion counts, selecting the emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers;

wherein the number of criteria satisfied by that capable emulator server at least partly depends on at least one resource, in the one or more resources, providable via the capable emulator server.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

at least one capable emulator server in the at least two capable emulator servers is operable to provide at least one resource in the at least one or more resources by engaging one or more other emulator servers having the at least one resource.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein:

the one or more criteria comprises a server threshold, the server threshold indicating a maximum number of servers allowable for jointly providing the emulation;

the operational characteristics comprising a server count for each emulator server, the server count indicating a number of other emulator servers required by that emulator server to provide the emulation; and

selecting the emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers to provide the emulation comprises, for each capable emulator server;

comparing the server count with the server threshold; and

indicating the server threshold is satisfied if the server count is less than the server threshold, otherwise, indicating the server threshold is not satisfied.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, for each capable emulator server:

storing the criterion count for that capable emulator server in the at least one database;

determining whether each criterion in the one or more criteria is satisfied based on the emulator server data associated with that capable emulator server; and

for each satisfied criterion, incrementing the criterion count by one.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more criteria comprises a work load threshold, the work load threshold indicating a maximum usage of the emulator server for providing emulations;

the operational characteristics comprising a current work load amount for each capable emulator server, the current work load amount indicating an existing usage of that capable emulator server; and

selecting the emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers to provide the emulation comprises, for each capable emulator server;

comparing the current work load amount with the work load threshold; and

indicating the work load threshold is satisfied if the current work load amount is less than the work load threshold, otherwise, indicating the work load threshold is not satisfied.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein each of the maximum usage and the existing usage is defined by at least one of a number of active emulation sessions being provided by a corresponding emulator server and an amount of memory used by the active emulation sessions.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more criteria comprises a geographic restriction, the geographic restriction defining a geographic boundary for the emulator server;

the operational characteristics comprising a location of each emulator server; and

selecting the emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers to provide the emulation comprises, for each capable emulator server;

comparing the geographic restriction with the location; and

indicating the geographic restriction is satisfied if the location is within the geographic boundary, otherwise, indicating the geographic restriction is not satisfied.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein:

the emulation parameters are provided from a client device at a device location, the client device having a processor and a memory; and

the geographic boundary comprises a proximity range with respect to the device location.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more criteria comprises a state condition, the state condition indicating a status required at the emulator server for providing emulations;

the operational characteristics comprising an emulator state for each emulator server, the emulator state indicating an ability of that emulator server to provide any emulation; and

selecting the emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers to provide the emulation comprises, for each capable emulator server;

comparing the emulator state with the state condition; and

indicating the state condition is satisfied if the emulator state corresponds to the state condition, otherwise, indicating the state condition is not satisfied.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the state condition is an available state and the emulator state is selected from the group consisting of the available state, an error state and an unavailable state.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the one or more criteria comprises a component threshold, the component threshold indicating a maximum number of components usable for providing the at least one or more resources for the emulation;

the operational characteristics comprising a component count for each emulator server, the component count indicating a number of components required by that emulator server to provide the emulation; and

selecting the emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers to provide the emulation comprises, for each capable emulator server;

comparing the component count with the component threshold; and

indicating the component threshold is satisfied if the component count is less than the component threshold, otherwise, indicating the component threshold is not satisfied.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers to provide the emulation comprises initiating the emulator server to provide the emulation of the computer product.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein initiating the emulator server to provide the emulation of the computer product comprises providing at least the emulation parameters to the emulator server.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein initiating the emulator server to provide the emulation of the computer product comprises:

initiating a cache emulator server to concurrently provide the emulation of the computer product with the emulator server.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving, from the emulator server, an error message indicating the emulator server is experiencing an operational problem; and

in response to receiving the error message, switching to the emulation provided by the cache emulator server.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more resources comprises at least one of (i) a hardware component controllable by a server processor and (ii) a software component storable on a storage module in electronic communication with the emulator server.

17. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more criteria is determined based on at least one of the emulator server data and the emulation parameters.

18. A system for managing an emulation of a computer product, the system comprising a processor configured to:

receive emulation parameters associated with the emulation of the computer product, the emulation parameters defining at least one or more resources required to provide the emulation;

identify at least two capable emulator servers from a plurality of emulator servers based at least on the one or more resources, the at least two capable emulator servers being operable to provide the at least one or more resources;

retrieve, from at least one database in electronic communication with the processor, emulator server data for each capable emulator server, the emulator server data comprising operational characteristics associated with that capable emulator server;

determine, from the at least one database, one or more criteria usable for selecting an emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers to provide the emulation; and

select the emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers to provide the emulation, the emulator server being a capable emulator server from the at least two capable emulators associated with emulator server data satisfying at least some of the one or more criteria, wherein the selection comprises;

determining a plurality of criterion counts, by, for each capable emulator server in the at least two capable emulator servers, determining a criterion count associated with that capable emulator server, the criterion count being based, at least in part, on a number of the criteria satisfied by that capable emulator server; and

based on the plurality of criterion counts, selecting the emulator server from the at least two capable emulator servers;

wherein the number of criteria satisfied by that capable emulator server at least partly depends on at least one resource, in the one or more resources, providable via the capable emulator server.