MULTIPROCESSOR COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE WITH MULTIPLE OPERATING SYSTEM INSTANCES AND SOFTWARE CONTROLLED RESOURCE ALLOCATION

• US 20020016892A1
• Filed: 06/10/1998
• Published: 02/07/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 11/04/1997
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: KLEINSORGE, FREDERICK G., NOEL, KAREN L., ZALEWSKI, STEPHEN H., KAUFFMAN, JAMES R., MASON, ANDREW H., SHIRRON, STEPHEN F., JORDAN, GREGORY H., HARTER, PAUL K. Jr.
• Granted Patent: US 6,647,508 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 711/153
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5077 Logical partitioning of resources; Management or configuration of virtualized resources specific details on emulation or internal functioning of virtual machines G06F9/455

Abstract

Multiple instances of operating systems execute cooperatively in a single multiprocessor computer wherein all processors and resources are electrically connected together. The single physical machine with multiple physical processors and resources is subdivided by software into multiple partitions, each with the ability to run a distinct copy, or instance, of an operating system. At different times, different operating system instances may be loaded on a given partition. Resources, such as CPUs and memory, can be dynamically assigned to different partitions and used by instances of operating systems running within the machine by modifying the configuration. The partitions themselves can also be changed without rebooting the system by modifying the configuration tree.

Claims

1. A computer system having a plurality of system resources including processors, memory and I/O circuitry, the computer system comprising:

an interconnection mechanism for electrically interconnecting the processors, memory and I/O circuitry so that each processor has electrical access to all of the memory and at least some of the I/O circuitry;

a software mechanism for dividing the system resources into a plurality of partitions; and

at least one operating system instance running in a plurality of the partitions.

2. A computer system according to claim 1 wherein at least two of the operating system instances are different operating systems.

3. A computer system according to claim 1 wherein at least some of the memory is exclusively assigned to each of the partitions.

4. A computer system according to claim 1 wherein the plurality of processors is physically divided between partitions and wherein each partition comprises a console program which controls the processors in the partition.

5. A computer system according to claim 4 wherein each operating system instance runs on a primary processor in one of the partitions and wherein the operating system instance communicates with the console program for the partition.

6. A computer system according to claim 1 wherein the computer system comprises means for maintaining configuration information indicating which of the plurality of system resources is assigned to each partition.

7. A computer system according to claim 6 wherein the configuration information is organized as a tree structure.

8. A computer system according to claim 6 wherein one of the processors runs a master console program which generates the configuration information.

9. A computer system according to claim 8 wherein the master console program comprises means for creating the configuration information during a power up sequence of the computer system.

10. A computer system according to claim 8 wherein each partition comprises a console program which controls the processors in the partition and wherein the computer system further comprises a mechanism for sending the configuration information from the master console program to each of the other console programs.

11. A computer system according to claim 10 wherein the console program in each partition comprises means for communicating with the master console program to exchange configuration information.

12. A computer system according to claim 6 wherein the configuration information indicates memory and I/O circuitry which is assigned to each partition.

13. A computer system according to claim 1 wherein the interconnection mechanism comprises a switch.

14. A computer system according to claim 1 wherein the computer system comprises a configuration database containing information concerning which of the partitions are part of the computer system.

15. A computer system according to claim 14 wherein a master console comprises means for creating the configuration database during a power up sequence of the computer system.

16. A computer system according to claim 14 wherein the configuration database includes information indicating whether each operating system instance is active.

17. A computer system according to claim 16 wherein the operating system instances comprise means for continually monitoring each other for activity to detect a malfunction in a operating instance.

18. A computer system according to claim 17 wherein each operating system instance comprises means for monitoring another operating system instance by means of a heartbeat mechanism.

19. A computer system according to claim 18 wherein an operating system instance comprises means for joining the computer system by entering information in the configuration database.

20. A method for constructing a computer system having a plurality of system resources including processors, memory and I/O circuitry, the computer system comprising the steps of:

(a) electrically interconnecting the processors, memory and I/O circuitry so that each processor has electrical access to all of the memory and at least some of the I/O circuitry;

(b) dividing the system resources into a plurality of partitions; and

(c) running at least one operating system instance in a plurality of the partitions.

21. A method according to claim 20 wherein step (c) comprises the step of:

(c1) running at least two different operating system instances in the plurality of partitions.

22. A method according to claim 20 wherein step (b) comprises the step of:

(b1) assigning at least some of the memory to each of the partitions.

23. A method according to claim 20 wherein step (b) comprises the steps of:

(b2) physically dividing the processors between partitions; and

(b3) running a console program on a processor in each partition which console program controls the processors in the partition.

24. A method according to claim 23 wherein step (b) comprises the step of:

(b4) designating a primary processor in each partition; and

wherein step (c) comprises the steps of;

(c1) running each operating system instance on a primary processor in one of the partitions; and

(c2) controlling each operating system instance to communicate with the console program for the partition.

25. A method according to claim 20 further comprising the step of:

(d) maintaining configuration information indicating which of the plurality of system resources is assigned to each partition.

26. A method according to claim 25 wherein step (d) comprises the step of:

(d1) organizing the configuration information as a tree structure.

27. A method according to claim 25 wherein step (d) comprises the step of:

(d2) running a master console program on one of the processors which master console program generates the configuration information.

28. A method according to claim 27 wherein step (d2) comprises the step of:

(d2a) using the master console program to create the configuration information during a power up sequence of the computer system.

29. A method according to claim 27 wherein step (d) comprises the step of:

(d3) running in each partition a console program which controls the processors in the partition; and

(d4) sending the configuration information from the master console program to each of the other console programs.

30. A method according to claim 29 wherein step (d3) comprises the step of:

(d3a) using the console program in each partition for communicating with the master console program to exchange configuration information.

31. A method according to claim 25 wherein step (d) comprises the step of:

(d5) maintaining configuration information which indicates memory and I/O circuitry which is assigned to each partition.

32. A method according to claim 20 wherein step (a) comprises the step of:

(a1) using a switch to interconnect the processors, memory and I/O circuitry.

33. A method according to claim 20 further comprising the step of:

(e) creating a configuration database containing information concerning which of the partitions are part of the computer system.

34. A method according to claim 33 wherein step (e) comprises the step of:

(e1) creating the configuration database during a power up sequence of the computer system.

35. A method according to claim 33 wherein step (e) comprises the step of:

(e2) creating a configuration database which includes information indicating whether each operating system instance is active.

36. A method according to claim 35 wherein step (c) comprises the step of:

(c3) using the operating system instances to continually monitor each other for activity to detect a malfunction in a operating instance.

37. A method according to claim 36 wherein step (c3) comprises the step of:

(c3a) using the operating system instances to monitor each other by means of a heartbeat mechanism.

38. A method according to claim 37 wherein step (c) comprises the step of:

(c4) controlling an operating system instance to join the computer system by entering information in the configuration database.

40. A computer program product according to claim 39 wherein the program code for running at least one operating system instance comprises program code for running at least two different operating system instances in the plurality of partitions.

41. A computer program product according to claim 39 wherein the program code for dividing the system resources into a plurality of partitions comprises program code for assigning at least some of the memory to each of the partitions.

42. A computer program product according to claim 39 wherein the program code for dividing the system resources into a plurality of partitions comprises:

program code for physically dividing the processors between partitions; and

console program code which can be run on a processor in each partition which console program code controls the processors in the partition.

43. A computer program product according to claim 42 wherein the computer system comprises a mechanism for designating a primary processor in each partition, and wherein the program code for running at least one operating system instance in a plurality of the partitions comprises:

program code for running each operating system instance on a primary processor in one of the partitions; and

program code for controlling each operating system instance to communicate with the console program for the partition.

44. A computer program product according to claim 39 further comprising program code for maintaining configuration information indicating which of the plurality of system resources is assigned to each partition.

45. A computer program product according to claim 44 wherein the program code for maintaining configuration information comprises program code for organizing the configuration information as a tree structure.

39. A computer program product for constructing a computer system having a plurality of system resources including processors, memory and I/O circuitry and hardware for electrically interconnecting the processors, memory and I/O circuitry so that each processor has electrical access to all of the memory and at least some of the I/O circuitry, the computer program product comprising a computer usable medium having computer readable program code thereon including:

(a) program code for dividing the system resources into a plurality of partitions; and

(b) program code for running at least one operating system instance in a plurality of the partitions.