IP Library Granted Patent US 7,434,104
Granted Patent B1
US 7,434,104 · App. 11/094,918 · Granted Oct 7, 2008

Method and system for efficiently testing core functionality of clustered configurations

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 7,434,104
App. No.
11/094,918
Granted
Oct 7, 2008
Kind
B1
Abstract

An embodiment of the present invention is a technique for testing core functionality of a clustered system having a plurality of nodes. A cluster population test that includes populating the clustered system with cluster-aware applications is performed. A crash reboot test is performed to stress core operations running within the clustered system; the crash reboot test includes executing a series of crashes or reboots on a subset of the nodes. A move test that includes moving resources to a selected node of the clustered system and verifying that the resources remain on-line at the selected node is performed. A stop test that includes stopping cluster service on a selected subset of nodes of the clustered system and restarting the cluster service on the selected subset of nodes is performed. A Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD) test that includes crashing in BSOD mode one of the nodes of the clustered system and testing reservation release on the crashed node is performed.

Claims (111)

1. A method for testing core functionality of a clustered system having a plurality of nodes, the method comprising the operations of:

(a) performing a cluster population test including populating the clustered system with cluster-aware applications;

(b) performing a crash and reboot test to stress core operations running within the clustered system including executing a series of crashes or reboots on a subset of the nodes;

(c) performing a move test including moving resources to a selected node of the clustered system and verifying that the resources remain on-line at the selected node;

(d) performing a stop test including stopping cluster service on a selected subset of nodes of the clustered system within a timeout threshold and restarting the cluster service on the selected subset of nodes; and

(e) performing a Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD) test including crashing in BSOD mode one of the nodes of the clustered system and testing reservation release on the crashed node.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising at least one of the following operations:

performing a network stress test including generating and increasing network traffic;

performing a disk stress test including maximizing activity on local disk drives of one of the nodes;

performing a memory stress test; and

performing a processor stress test.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein operation (a) comprises:

creating a plurality of generic applications and generic services in existing disk groups of the clustered system;

creating a set of empty cluster groups;

creating the generic applications and generic services inside the empty cluster groups; and

starting the generic applications and generic services on one of the nodes that currently owns the created cluster groups.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein operation (b) comprises:

(1) randomly selecting the subset of nodes; and

(2) performing one of the following:

crashing in power failure simulation mode the selected subset of nodes, so that cluster resources on the selected subset of nodes are failed over to one or more nodes not included in the selected subset; and

rebooting the selected subset of nodes, so that cluster resources on the selected subset of nodes are failed over to one or more nodes not included in the selected subset.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein operation (c) comprises:

(1) selecting anode from the nodes in the clustered system;

(2) selecting a set of resources from a list of resources;

(3) moving the selected set of resources to the selected node; and

(4) verifying that the selected set of resources remains on-line at the selected node.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein operation (d) comprises:

(1) selecting a subset of nodes from the nodes of the clustered system, each of the nodes in the subset of nodes controlling corresponding cluster resources;

(2) stopping cluster service on the selected subset of nodes;

(3) verifying that cluster resources corresponding to the selected subset of nodes properly fail over to one or more nodes of the nodes of the clustered system; and

(4) restarting the cluster service on each node of the selected subset of nodes.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein operation (e) comprises:

receiving a user input specifying a node to be crashed in BSOD mode, the specified node being one of the nodes of the clustered system;

preparing the specified node for crashing in BSOD mode by copying crash files to the specified node and by registering the crash files as a service;

crashing in BSOD mode the specified node; and

monitoring operation of the clustered system to verify that the clustered system remains functional.

8. An article of manufacture comprising:

a machine-accessible storage medium including data that, when accessed by a machine, causes the machine to perform operations comprising:

(a) performing a cluster population test including populating the clustered system with cluster-aware applications;

(b) performing a crash and reboot test to stress core operations running within the clustered system including executing a series of crashes or reboots on a subset of the nodes;

(c) performing a move test including moving resources to a selected node of the clustered system and verifying that the resources remain on-line at the selected node;

(d) performing a stop test including stopping cluster service on a selected subset of nodes of the clustered system within a timeout threshold and restarting the cluster service on the selected subset of nodes; and

(e) performing a Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD) test including crashing in BSOD mode one of the nodes of the clustered system and testing reservation release on the crashed node.

9. The article of manufacture of claim 8 wherein the machine-accessible medium further comprises data that, when accessed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

performing a network stress test including generating and increasing network traffic;

performing a disk stress test including maximizing activity on local disk drives of one of the nodes;

performing a memory stress test; and

performing a processor stress test.

10. The article of manufacture of claim 8 wherein the data causing the machine to perform the operation of performing a cluster population test comprise data that, when accessed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

creating a plurality of generic applications and generic services in existing disk groups of the clustered system;

creating a set of empty cluster groups;

creating the generic applications and generic services inside the empty cluster groups; and

starting the generic applications and generic services on one of the nodes that currently owns the created cluster groups.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 8 wherein the data causing the machine to perform the operation of performing a crash and reboot test comprise data that, when accessed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

(1) randomly selecting the subset of nodes; and

(2) performing one of the following:

crashing in power failure simulation mode the selected subset of nodes, so that cluster resources on the selected subset of nodes are failed over to one or more nodes not included in the selected subset; and

rebooting the selected subset of nodes, so that cluster resources on the selected subset of nodes are failed over to one or more nodes not included in the selected subset.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 8 wherein the data causing the machine to perform the operation of performing a move test comprise data that, when accessed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

(1) selecting a node from the nodes in the clustered system;

(2) selecting a set of resources from a list of resources;

(3) moving the selected set of resources to the selected node; and

(4) verifying that the selected set of resources remains on-line at the selected node.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 8 wherein the data causing the machine to perform the operation of performing a stop test further comprise data that, when accessed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

(1) selecting a subset of nodes from the nodes of the clustered system, each of the nodes in the subset of nodes controlling corresponding cluster resources;

(2) stopping cluster service on the selected subset of nodes;

(3) verifying that cluster resources corresponding to the selected subset of nodes properly fail over to one or more nodes of the nodes of the clustered system; and

(4) restarting the cluster service on each node of the selected subset of nodes.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 8 wherein the data causing the machine to perform the operation of performing a Blue Screen of Death test comprise data that, when accessed by the machine, cause the machine to perform operations comprising:

receiving a user input specifying a node to be crashed in BSOD mode, the specified node being one of the nodes of the clustered system;

preparing the specified node for crashing in BSOD mode by copying crash files to the specified node and by registering the crash files as a service;

crashing in BSOD mode the specified node; and

monitoring operation of the clustered system to verify that the clustered system remains functional.

15. A system comprising:

a processor; and

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory containing instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

(a) perform a cluster population test including populating the clustered system with cluster-aware applications;

(b) perform a crash and reboot test to stress core operations running within the clustered system including executing a series of crashes or reboots on a subset of the nodes;

(c) perform a move test including moving resources to a selected node of the clustered system and verifying that the resources remain on-line at the selected node;

(d) perform a stop test including stopping cluster service on a selected subset of nodes of the clustered system within a timeout threshold and restarting the cluster service on the selected subset of nodes; and

(e) perform a Blue Screen Of Death (BSOD) test including crashing in BSOD mode one of the nodes of the clustered system and testing reservation release on the crashed node.

16. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions further comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

perform a network stress test including generating and increasing network traffic;

perform a disk stress test including maximizing activity on local disk drives of one of the nodes;

perform a memory stress test; and

perform a processor stress test.

17. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions causing the processor to perform the operation of performing a cluster population test comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

create a plurality of generic applications and generic services in existing disk groups of the clustered system;

create a set of empty cluster groups;

create the generic applications and generic services inside the empty cluster groups; and

start the generic applications and generic services on one of the nodes that currently owns the created cluster groups.

18. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions causing the processor to perform the operation of performing a crash and reboot test comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

(1) randomly select the subset of nodes; and

(2) perform one of the following:

crashing in power failure simulation mode the selected subset of nodes, so that cluster resources on the selected subset of nodes are failed over to one or more nodes not included in the selected subset; and

rebooting the selected subset of nodes, so that cluster resources on the selected subset of nodes are failed over to one or more nodes not included in the selected subset.

19. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions causing the processor to perform the operation of performing a move test comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

(1) select a node from the nodes in the clustered system;

(2) select a set of resources from a list of resources;

(3) move the selected set of resources to the selected node; and

(4) verify that the selected set of resources remains on-line at the selected node.

20. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions causing the processor to perform the operation of performing a stop test further comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

(1) select a subset of nodes from the nodes of the clustered system, each of the nodes in the subset of nodes controlling corresponding cluster resources;

(2) stop cluster service on the selected subset of nodes;

(3) verify that cluster resources corresponding to the selected subset of nodes properly fail over to one or more nodes of the nodes of the clustered system; and

(4) restart the cluster service on each node of the selected subset of nodes.

21. The system of claim 15 wherein the instructions causing the processor to perform the operation of performing a Blue Screen of Death test comprise instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to:

receive a user input specifying a node to be crashed in BSOD mode, the specified node being one of the nodes of the clustered system;

prepare the specified node for crashing in BSOD mode by copying crash files to the specified node and by registering the crash files as a service;

crash in BSOD mode the specified node; and

monitor operation of the clustered system to verify that the clustered system remains functional.

Assignments (10)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 9, 2017
From: WELLS FARGO BANK, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION (SUCCESSOR TO GENERAL ELECTRIC CAPITAL CORPORATION)
To: UNISYS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 044416/0358 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 26, 2013
From: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS, AS COLLATERAL TRUSTEE
To: UNISYS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 030082/0545 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Mar 15, 2013
From: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY
To: UNISYS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 030004/0619 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 27, 2011
From: UNISYS CORPORATION
To: GENERAL ELECTRIC CAPITAL CORPORATION, AS AGENT
Reel/Frame 026509/0001 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (JUNIOR LIEN) Recorded Oct 13, 2009
From: UNISYS CORPORATION
To: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS, AS COLLATERAL TRUSTEE
Reel/Frame 023364/0098 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (PRIORITY LIEN) Recorded Oct 12, 2009
From: UNISYS CORPORATION
To: DEUTSCHE BANK TRUST COMPANY AMERICAS, AS COLLATERAL TRUSTEE
Reel/Frame 023355/0001 →
RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY Recorded Sep 14, 2009
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: UNISYS CORPORATION; UNISYS HOLDING CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 023263/0631 →
RELEASE BY SECURED PARTY Recorded Jul 31, 2009
From: CITIBANK, N.A.
To: UNISYS CORPORATION; UNISYS HOLDING CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 023312/0044 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 20, 2006
From: UNISYS CORPORATION; UNISYS HOLDING CORPORATION
To: CITIBANK, N.A.
Reel/Frame 018003/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 31, 2005
From: SKEOCH, RONALD LEATON; HOUANG, SHERRIE LE; PHUONG, MATTHEW KY; KANG, JAY HYON
To: UNISYS CORPORATION
Reel/Frame 016474/0852 →