System and method for virtual machine management

• US 8,578,217 B2
• Filed: 06/29/2010
• Issued: 11/05/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Lenovo International Limited (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Chen, Wei, Lan, Long Wen, Meng, Xian Dong, Xu, Jian
• Primary Examiner(s): TRUONG, LOAN
• Application Number:
  US12/825,911
• Publication Number:
  US 20100332890A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,225 Days
• Field of Search: 714/48, 714/2, 714/57
• US Class Current: 714/48
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0654 using network fault recovery ring fault isolation or reconfiguration in loop networks without recovery actions by a network management system H04L12/437
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities

Abstract

A system and method are provided for virtual machine management. The system comprises a virtual machine manager, a blade server management module, at least one blade server, and a virtual machine manager. The virtual machine manager comprises an abnormal event receiving module for receiving information about a blade server having a hardware problem directly from the blade server management module and additionally a virtual machine management module for sending a processing command to a virtual machine hypervisor on the blade server having the hardware problem. The virtual machine management module receives the information about the hardware problem from the abnormal event receiving module. The processing command is determined in accordance with the information about the hardware problem and strategies for handling predefined hardware problems.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a virtual machine manager;

a blade server management module;

at least one blade server; and

a virtual machine manager comprising an abnormal event receiving module for receiving information about a hardware problem of a blade server directly from said blade server management module and a virtual machine management module for sending a processing command to a virtual machine hypervisor on said blade server having said hardware problem, wherein said processing command is determined in accordance with said information about said hardware problem and strategies for handling predefined hardware problems, and wherein said virtual machine management module comprises a strategy checker for determining any issue with respect to said strategies for handling said predefined hardware problems.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein said virtual machine management module receives said information about said hardware problem from said abnormal event receiving module.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein said virtual machine manager manages resources of said at least one blade server as a virtual machine host, and wherein said virtual machine manager manages at least one virtual machine operating on said at least one blade server.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein said virtual machine manager is integrated into said blade server management module.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein said virtual machine management module further comprises a storage module for storing a mapping relationship between said predefined hardware problems and said strategies for handling said predefined hardware problems.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein said virtual machine management module further comprises:

an external service interface module for receiving a managing command and for returning an execution result with respect to said managing command;

a command processing module for processing said managing command;

a resource pool for storing properties with respect to resources of said system; and

a resource pool management module for updating one or more of said properties stored in said resource pool in response to one or more corresponding changes to said resources of said system.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein said properties with respect to said resources of said system comprise a number of resources and a number of available resources of said system, a number of resources and a number of available resources of said at least one blade server, and a number of resources, a configuration, and a state of said at least one virtual machine.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein in response to said managing command received by said external service interface module being from an external virtual machine manager, said external virtual machine manager manages said virtual machine manager as a virtual machine host, wherein said external virtual machine manager has a capability to inquire about said number of all resources and said number of available resources of said system, and said number of resources, said configuration, and said state of said at least one virtual machine, but does not have a capability to inquire about said number of resources and said number of available resources of said at least one blade server.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein in response to said managing command received by said external service interface module being from a client of said virtual machine manager, said virtual machine manager manages said at least one blade server as a virtual machine host, wherein said client has a capability to inquire about said number of resources and said number of available resources of said at least one blade server as well as said number of all resources and said number of available resources of said system, and said number of resources, said configuration, and said state of said at least one virtual machine.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein in response to an association between said managing command and said resources of said system as indicated in said resource pool, said command processing module processes said managing command in accordance with said managing command and said resources of said at least one blade server.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein in response to an association between said managing command and said resources of said system as indicated in said resource pool, said command processing module processes said managing command in accordance with said managing command and said resources of said at least one blade server.

12. A method for processing with respect to a system including a virtual machine manager, a blade server management module, and at least one blade server, said method comprising:

receiving information about a hardware problem of a blade server directly from said blade server management module;

determining a processing command in accordance with said information about said hardware problem and strategies for handling predefined hardware problems;

determining any issue with respect to said strategies for handling said predefined hardware problems; and

sending said processing command to a virtual machine hypervisor on said blade server having said hardware problem.

13. The method of claim 12, said method further comprising:

managing resources of said at least one blade server as a virtual machine host; and

operating at least one virtual machine on said at least one blade server.

14. The method of claim 12, said method further comprising storing a mapping relationship between said predefined hardware problems and said strategies for handling said predefined hardware problems.

15. The method of claim 13, said method further comprising:

receiving a managing command;

processing said managing command; and

returning an execution result of said managing command.

16. The method of claim 15, said method further comprising:

storing properties with respect to resources of said system; and

updating one or more of said properties in response to one or more corresponding changes to said resources of said system.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein said properties with respect to said resources of said system comprise a number of resources and a number of available resources of said system, a number of resources and a number of available resources of said at least one blade server, and a number of resources, a configuration, and a state of said at least one virtual machine.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein in response to said managing command being from an external virtual machine manager, said method further comprises managing said virtual machine manager as a virtual machine host via said external virtual machine manager, wherein said external virtual machine manager has a capability to inquire about said number of all resources and said number of available resources of said system, and said number of resources, said configuration, and said state of said at least one virtual machine, but does not have a capability to inquire about said number of resources and said number of available resources of said at least one blade server.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein in response to said managing command being from a client of said virtual machine manager, said method further comprises managing said at least one blade server as a virtual machine host via said virtual machine manager, wherein said client has a capability to inquire about said number of resources and said number of available resources of said at least one blade server as well as said number of all resources and said number of available resources of said system, and said number of resources, said configuration, and said state of said at least one virtual machine.

20. A virtual machine management apparatus comprising:

an abnormal event receiving module for receiving information about a hardware problem of a blade server directly from a blade server management module; and

a virtual machine management module for sending a processing command to a virtual machine hypervisor on said blade server having said hardware problem, wherein said processing command is determined in accordance with said information about said hardware problem and strategies for handling predefined hardware problems, and wherein said virtual machine management module comprises a strategy checking module for determining any issue with respect to said strategies for handling said predefined hardware problems.

21. The virtual machine management apparatus of claim 20, wherein said virtual machine management module receives said information about said hardware problem from said abnormal event receiving module.

22. The virtual machine management apparatus of claim 20, wherein said virtual machine management module further comprises a storage module for storing a mapping relationship between said predefined hardware problems and said strategies for handling said predefined hardware problems.