System and method for assigning memory available for high availability failover to virtual machines

• US 10,002,059 B2
• Filed: 06/13/2013
• Issued: 06/19/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/13/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Antony, Jinto
• Primary Examiner(s): CONTINO, PAUL F
• Application Number:
  US13/916,615
• Publication Number:
  US 20140372790A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,832 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1484 involving virtual machines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2025 using centralised failover control functionality
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2033 switching over of hardware resources
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2035 without idle spare hardware
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2038 with a single idle spare processing component
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2043 where the redundant components share a common memory address space
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2046 where the redundant components share persistent storage G06F11/2043 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/4557 Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing
• 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

Abstract

Techniques for assigning memory available for high availability (HA) failover to virtual machines in a high availability (HA) cluster are described. In one embodiment, the memory available for HA failover is determined in at least one failover host computing system of the HA cluster. Further, the memory available for HA failover is assigned to one or more virtual machines in the HA cluster as input/output (I/O) cache memory.

Claims

1. A method for assigning memory available for high availability (HA) failover, comprising:

determining the memory available for HA failover in at least one failover host computing system of a HA cluster, wherein the memory available for HA failover is memory available on the at least one failover host computing system to accommodate affected virtual machines in an event of HA failover, wherein the HA failover is a failure of at least one host computing system that is different from the at least one failover host computing system, and wherein the at least one failover host computing system is designated to accommodate the affected virtual machines associated with the at least one failed host computing system in the HA cluster; and

assigning, at a first level, the memory available for HA failover to one or more virtual machines running on the at least one host computing system in the HA cluster as input/output (I/O) cache memory when there is no failure of the at least one host computing system, wherein the memory available for HA failover is assigned using a remote connection from the one or more virtual machines running on the at least one host computing system to the at least one failover host computing system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the memory available for HA failover to the one or more virtual machines in the HA cluster as the I/O cache memory comprises:

determining a first virtual machine in the HA cluster requiring the I/O cache memory;

determining whether the memory available for HA failover is sufficient for assigning to the first virtual machine;

if the memory available for HA failover is sufficient, assigning the memory available for HA failover to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory; and

if the memory available for HA failover is not sufficient, notifying that the memory available for HA failover is not sufficient for assigning to the first virtual machine.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

repeating the steps of claim 2 for each virtual machine requiring the I/O cache memory.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein assigning the memory available for HA failover to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory, comprises:

assigning the memory available for HA failover remotely to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory using a connection to the at least one failover host computing system having the memory available for HA failover.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein assigning the memory available for HA failover remotely to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory using the connection to the at least one failover host computing system, comprises:

assigning the memory available for HA failover remotely to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory using a remote direct memory access (RDMA)-enabled network connection or a host bus interconnect hardware.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the memory available for HA failover is assigned to the one or more virtual machines in the HA cluster as the I/O cache memory using a resource scheduling framework.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein assigning the memory available for HA failover to the one or more virtual machines as the I/O cache memory, comprises:

assigning a portion of the memory available for HA failover to each of the one or more virtual machines as the I/O cache memory based on requirements of the one or more virtual machines.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

reclaiming the I/O cache memory assigned from the memory available for HA failover by the at least one failover host computing system in the event of HA failover in the HA cluster.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein reclaiming the I/O cache memory comprises:

discarding the I/O cache memory associated with the one or more virtual machines; and

reclaiming the memory available for HA failover from the one or more virtual machines by the at least one failover host computing system upon discarding the I/O cache memory.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning one or more solid-state drives (SSDs) or a portion of the one or more SSDs to the one or more virtual machines in the HA cluster as the I/O cache memory at a second level.

11. A system comprising:

one or more high availability (HA) clusters, each HA cluster comprising;

a plurality of host computing systems with each host computing system including virtual machines running therein; and

at least one failover host computing system including memory available for HA failover; and

a management server communicative with the one or more clusters, wherein the management server includes a memory management module to;

determine memory available for HA failover in the at least one failover host computing system of a HA cluster of the one or more HA clusters, wherein the memory available for HA failover is memory available on the at least one failover host computing system to accommodate affected virtual machines in an event of HA failover, wherein the HA failover is a failure of at least one host computing system that is different from the at least one failover host computing system, and wherein the at least one failover host computing system is designated to accommodate the affected virtual machines associated with the at least one failed host computing system in the HA cluster; and

assign, at a first level, the memory available for HA failover to one or more virtual machines running on the at least one host computing system in the HA cluster as input/output (I/O) cache memory when there is no failure of the at least one host computing system, wherein the memory available for HA failover is assigned using a remote connection from the one or more virtual machines running on the at least one host computing system to the at least one failover host computing system.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the memory management module is further configured to:

determine a first virtual machine of the one or more virtual machines in the HA cluster requiring the I/O cache memory;

determine whether the memory available for HA failover is sufficient for assigning to the first virtual machine;

assign the memory available for HA failover to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory if the memory available for HA failover is sufficient; and

notify that the memory available for HA failover is not sufficient for assigning to the first virtual machine if the memory available for HA failover is not sufficient.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the memory management module is further configured to:

repeat the steps of claim 12 for each virtual machine requiring the I/O cache memory.

14. The system of claim 12, wherein the memory management module assigns the memory available for HA failover remotely to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory using a connection to the at least one failover host computing system having the memory available for HA failover.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the memory management module assigns the memory available for HA failover remotely to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory using a remote direct memory access (RDMA)-enabled network connection or a host bus interconnect hardware.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the memory management module assigns a portion of the memory available for HA failover to each of the one or more virtual machines as the I/O cache memory based on requirements of the one or more virtual machines.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the memory management module is further configured to:

reclaim the I/O cache memory assigned from the memory available for HA failover in the event of HA failover in the HA cluster.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the memory management module is further configured to:

discard the I/O cache memory associated with the one or more virtual machines; and

reclaim the memory available for HA failover from the one or more virtual machines to the at least one failover host computing system upon discarding the I/O cache memory.

19. The system of claim 11, further comprising:

one or more solid-state drives (SSDs), wherein the memory management module assigns the one or more SSDs or a portion of the one or more SSDs to the one or more virtual machines in the HA cluster as the I/O cache memory at a second level.

20. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium including instructions that are configured, when executed by a computing system, to perform a method for assigning memory available for high availability (HA) failover, the method comprising:

determining the memory available for HA failover in at least one failover host computing system of a HA cluster, wherein the memory available for HA failover is memory available on the at least one failover host computing system to accommodate affected virtual machines in an event of HA failover, wherein the HA failover is a failure of at least one host computing system that is different from the at least one failover host computing system, and wherein the at least one failover host computing system is designated to accommodate the affected virtual machines associated with the at least one failed host computing system in the HA cluster; and

assigning, at a first level, the memory available for HA failover to one or more virtual machines running on the at least one host computing system in the HA cluster as input/output (I/O) cache memory when there is no failure of the at least one host computing system failure, wherein the memory available for HA failover is assigned using a remote connection from the one or more virtual machines running on the at least one host computing system to the at least one failover host computing system.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein assigning the memory available for HA failover to the one or more virtual machines in the HA cluster as the I/O cache memory comprises:

determining a first virtual machine in the HA cluster requiring the I/O cache memory;

determining whether the memory available for HA failover is sufficient for assigning to the first virtual machine;

if the memory available for HA failover is sufficient, assigning the memory available for HA failover to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory; and

if the memory available for HA failover is not sufficient, notifying that the memory available for HA failover is not sufficient for assigning to the first virtual machine.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, further comprising instructions for:

repeating the steps of claim 21 for each virtual machine requiring the I/O cache memory.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 21, wherein assigning the memory available for HA failover to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory, comprises:

assigning the memory available for HA failover remotely to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory using a connection to the at least one failover host computing system having the memory available for HA failover.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein assigning the memory available for HA failover remotely to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory using the connection to the at least one failover host computing system, comprises:

assigning the memory available for HA failover remotely to the first virtual machine as the I/O cache memory using a remote direct memory access (RDMA)-enabled network connection or a host bus interconnect hardware.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein the memory available for HA failover is assigned to the one or more virtual machines in the HA cluster as the I/O cache memory using a resource scheduling framework.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, wherein assigning the memory available for HA failover to the one or more virtual machines as the I/O cache memory, comprises:

assigning a portion of the memory available for HA failover to each of the one or more virtual machines as the I/O cache memory based on requirements of the one or more virtual machines.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, further comprising instructions for:

reclaiming the I/O cache memory assigned from the memory available for HA failover by the at least one failover host computing system in the event of HA failover in the HA cluster.

28. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 27, wherein reclaiming the I/O cache memory comprises:

discarding the I/O cache memory associated with the one or more virtual machines; and

reclaiming the memory available for HA failover from the one or more virtual machines by the at least one failover host computing system upon discarding the I/O cache memory.

29. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 20, further comprising instructions for:

assigning one or more solid-state drives (SSDs) or a portion of the one or more SSDs to the one or more virtual machines in the HA cluster as the I/O cache memory at a second level.