Fault tolerance for hybrid cloud deployments

• US 10,275,328 B2
• Filed: 07/03/2015
• Issued: 04/30/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Antony, Jinto, Gangadharan, Madhusudhanan, P. T., Sudhish, Pillalamarri, Sreekanth
• Primary Examiner(s): Shin, Kyung H
• Application Number:
  US14/791,275
• Publication Number:
  US 20160292053A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,397 Days
• Field of Search: 709220, 709224, 709242
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/14 Error detection or correction of the data by redundancy in operation G06F11/16 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1451 by selection of backup contents
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1658 Data re-synchronization of a redundant component, or initial sync of replacement, additional or spare unit
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/203 using migration
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2038 with a single idle spare processing component
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2048 where the redundant components share neither address space nor persistent storage
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2094 Redundant storage or storage space G06F11/2056 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2097 maintaining the standby controller/processing unit updated initialisation or re-synchronisation thereof G06F11/1658 and subgroups
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/577 Assessing vulnerabilities and evaluating computer system security
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/805 Real-time
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/00 Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units program control for peripheral devices G06F13/10
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/08 Configuration management of networks or network elements address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0895 Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/2582 through control of the NAT server, e.g. using universal plug and play [UPnP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5076 Update or notification mechanisms, e.g. DynDNS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1034 Reaction to server failures by a load balancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1095 Replication or mirroring of data, e.g. scheduling or transport for data synchronisation between network nodes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 : Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 : for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06

Abstract

A technique for providing fault tolerance for virtual machines in a hybrid cloud computing system is discussed. When a primary virtual machine (VM) in a private data center is configured for fault tolerance, a secondary VM is instantiated in a public cloud computing system. Changes to the execution state of the primary VM are recorded and relayed to the secondary VM by way of caching modules, which provide acknowledgements messages back to the primary VM. A technique for failback from the public cloud computing system to the private data center is also discussed.

Claims

1. A method for managing a hybrid cloud computing system, the method comprising:

instantiating a secondary virtual machine in a public cloud computing system by creating and running the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system, the secondary virtual machine having an execution state corresponding to a primary virtual machine in a private data center;

configuring the secondary virtual machine to run in a virtual lockstep with the primary virtual machine;

in response to configuring the secondary virtual machine to run in a virtual lockstep with the primary virtual machine, recording changes to the execution state of the primary virtual machine;

receiving, at the public cloud computing system, the changes to the execution state of the primary virtual machine from a first caching module in the private data center; and

updating state data and a virtual disk of the instantiated secondary virtual machine according to the received changes to the execution state of the primary virtual machine, wherein at least a portion of output activity of the instantiated secondary virtual machine is suppressed.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising initiating a failover operation responsive to failure of the primary virtual machine, the failover operation comprising:

receiving remaining changes that occurred to the execution state of the primary virtual machine from the first caching module until a point of failure of the primary virtual machine;

updating the state data and the virtual disk of the secondary virtual machine according to the remaining changes; and

operating the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system as a new primary virtual machine in place of the prior primary virtual machine.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

updating a network routing entry in a router in the private data center to redirect traffic to the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system.

4. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

dynamically updating a domain name service (DNS) to refer to the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system.

5. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

instantiating a tertiary virtual machine in the private data center, the tertiary virtual machine having an execution state corresponding to the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system; and

initiating a failback operation from the secondary virtual machine to the tertiary virtual machine.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first caching module transmits acknowledgements to the primary virtual machine indicating that changes to the execution state of the primary virtual machine have been logged.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the primary virtual machine updates a virtual disk in the private data center, and the secondary virtual machine updates a second virtual disk stored in the public cloud computing system.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed in a computing device, manage a hybrid cloud computing system, by performing the steps of:

instantiating a secondary virtual machine in a public cloud computing system by creating and running the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system, the secondary virtual machine having an execution state corresponding to a primary virtual machine in a private data center;

configuring the secondary virtual machine to run in a virtual lockstep with the primary virtual machine;

in response to configuring the secondary virtual machine to run in a virtual lockstep with the primary virtual machine, recording changes to the execution state of the primary virtual machine;

receiving, at the public cloud computing system, the changes to the execution state of the primary virtual machine from a first caching module in the private data center; and

updating state data and a virtual disk of the instantiated secondary virtual machine according to the received changes to the execution state of the primary virtual machine wherein at least a portion of output activity of the instantiated secondary virtual machine is suppressed.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, further comprising initiating a failover operation responsive to failure of the primary virtual machine, the failover operation comprising:

receiving remaining changes that occurred to the execution state of the primary virtual machine from the first caching module until a point of failure of the primary virtual machine;

updating the state data and the virtual disk of the secondary virtual machine according to the remaining changes; and

operating the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system as a new primary virtual machine in place of the prior primary virtual machine.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising:

updating a network routing entry in a router in the private data center to redirect traffic to the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising:

dynamically updating a domain name service (DNS) to refer to the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, further comprising:

instantiating a tertiary virtual machine in the private data center, the tertiary virtual machine having an execution state corresponding to the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system; and

initiating a failback operation from the secondary virtual machine to the tertiary virtual machine.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the first caching module transmits acknowledgements to the primary virtual machine indicating that changes to the execution state of the primary virtual machine have been logged.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the primary virtual machine updates a virtual disk in the private data center, and the secondary virtual machine updates a second virtual disk stored in the public cloud computing system.

15. A hybrid cloud computing system comprising:

a private data center comprising a host computer executing a primary virtual machine; and

a public cloud computing system configured to;

instantiate a secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system by creating and running the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system, the secondary virtual machine having an execution state corresponding to the primary virtual machine in the private data center;

configure the secondary virtual machine to run in a virtual lockstep with the primary virtual machine;

in response to configuring the secondary virtual machine to run in a virtual lockstep with the primary virtual machine, record changes to the execution state of the primary virtual machine;

receive, at the public cloud computing system, the changes to the execution state of the primary virtual machine from a first caching module in the private data center; and

update state data and a virtual disk of the instantiated secondary virtual machine according to the received changes to the execution state of the primary virtual machine, wherein at least a portion of output activity of the instantiated secondary virtual machine is suppressed.

16. The hybrid cloud computing system of claim 15, wherein the public cloud computing system is further configured to initiate a failover operation responsive to failure of the primary virtual machine, the failover operation comprising:

receiving remaining changes that occurred to the execution state of the primary virtual machine from the first caching module until a point of failure of the primary virtual machine;

updating the state data and the virtual disk of the secondary virtual machine according to the remaining changes; and

operating the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system as a new primary virtual machine in place of the prior primary virtual machine.

17. The hybrid cloud computing system of claim 16, wherein the public cloud computing system is further configured to:

update a network routing entry in a router in the private data center to redirect traffic to the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system; and

dynamically update a domain name service (DNS) to refer to the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system.

18. The hybrid cloud computing system of claim 16, wherein the public cloud computing system is further configured to:

instantiate a tertiary virtual machine in the private data center, the tertiary virtual machine having an execution state corresponding to the secondary virtual machine in the public cloud computing system; and

initiate a failback operation from the secondary virtual machine to the tertiary virtual machine.

19. The hybrid cloud computing system of claim 15, wherein the first caching module transmits acknowledgements to the primary virtual machine indicating that changes to the execution state of the primary virtual machine have been logged.

20. The hybrid cloud computing system of claim 15, wherein the primary virtual machine updates a virtual disk in the private data center, and the secondary virtual machine updates a second virtual disk stored in the public cloud computing system.