Method and apparatus for two-phase storage-aware placement of virtual machines
View Patent ↗Techniques for placement of a virtual machine in a computing system. A first request is sent from a pool management subsystem to a placement subsystem. The first request includes specification of available storage capacities of storage systems in a computer network. The placement subsystem automatically determines a target storage system based, at least in part, on the available storage capacities. An identification of the target storage system is received at the pool management subsystem. At least one disk image of the virtual machine is written to the target storage system. Then, a second request is sent to the placement subsystem. The placement subsystem automatically determines a target computer. The latter determination is based, at least in part, on connectivity between the target computer and the target storage system. The virtual machine is installed at the target computer. The techniques facilitate live migration of virtual machines placed thereby.
1. A method for placement of a virtual machine in a computing system, the method comprising:
sending, from a pool management subsystem, a first request to a placement subsystem, the first request including specification of available storage capacities of a plurality of storage systems in a computer network;
automatically determining, by the placement subsystem, a target storage system of the plurality of storage systems to place at least one disk image of the virtual machine based, at least in part, on the available storage capacities of the plurality of storage systems in the computer network;
receiving, at the pool management subsystem, an identification of the target storage system from the placement subsystem;
writing the at least one disk image of the virtual machine to the target storage system;
sending, from the pool management subsystem, a second request to the placement subsystem;
automatically determining, by the placement subsystem, a target computer in the computer network to install the virtual machine based, at least in part, on connectivity between the target computer and the target storage system;
receiving, at the pool management subsystem, an identification of the target computer from the placement subsystem; and
installing the virtual machine at the target computer.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically determining the target storage system is based, at least in part, on connectivity between a plurality of computers in the computer network and the plurality of storage systems.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first request further includes specification of a required storage space of the virtual machine.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the virtual machine is an isolated operating system instance executing on the target computer.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the virtual machine is an isolated space of an operating system executing on the target computer.
6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting a new computer in the computer network for installing the virtual machine; and
performing a live migration of the virtual machine to the new computer in the computer network.
7. A system for placement of a virtual machine in a computing system, the system comprising:
a placement subsystem configured to automatically determine a target storage system of a plurality of storage systems in a computer network to place at least one disk image of the virtual machine based, at least in part, on available storage capacities of the plurality of storage systems in the computer network;
a pool management subsystem configured to send a first request to the placement subsystem, the first request including specification of the available storage capacities of the plurality of storage systems, to receive an identification of the target storage system from the placement subsystem, and to write the at least one disk image of the virtual machine to the target storage system;
the placement subsystem is further configured to automatically determine a target computer in the computer network to install the virtual machine based, at least in part, on connectivity between the target computer and the target storage system; and
the pool management subsystem is further configured to send a second request to the placement subsystem, to receive an identification of the target computer from the placement subsystem and to install the virtual machine at the target computer.
8. The system of claim 7 , wherein automatically determining the target storage system is based, at least in part, on connectivity between a plurality of computers in the computer network and the plurality of storage systems.
9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the first request further includes specification of a required storage space of the virtual machine.
10. The system of claim 8 , wherein the virtual machine is an isolated operating system instance executing on the target computer.
11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the virtual machine is an isolated space of an operating system executing on the target computer.
12. The system of claim 7 , wherein the placement subsystem is further configured to:
select a new computer in the computer network for installing the virtual machine; and
perform a live migration of the virtual machine to the new computer in the computer network.
13. A computer program product embodied in a computer readable storage medium comprising:
computer readable program codes coupled to the computer readable storage medium, the computer readable program codes configured to cause the program to:
send, from a pool management subsystem, a first request to a placement subsystem, the first request including specification of available storage capacities of a plurality of storage systems in a computer network;
automatically determine, by the placement subsystem, a target storage system of the plurality of storage systems to place at least one disk image of the virtual machine based, at least in part, on the available storage capacities of the plurality of storage systems in the computer network;
receive, at the pool management subsystem, an identification of the target storage system from the placement subsystem;
write the at least one disk image of the virtual machine to the target storage system;
further comprising program code configured to:
send, from the pool management subsystem, a second request to the placement subsystem;
automatically determine, by the placement subsystem, a target computer in the computer network to install the virtual machine based, at least in part, on connectivity between the target computer and the target storage system;
receive, at the pool management subsystem, an identification of the target computer from the placement subsystem; and
install the virtual machine at the target computer.
14. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein automatically determining the target storage system is based, at least in part, on connectivity between a plurality of computers in the computer network and the plurality of storage systems.
15. The computer program product of claim 13 , wherein the first request further includes specification of a required storage space of the virtual machine.
16. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the virtual machine is an isolated operating system instance executing on the target computer.
17. The computer program product of claim 15 , wherein the virtual machine is an isolated space of an operating system executing on the target computer.
18. The computer program product of claim 13 , further comprising program code configured to:
select a new computer in the computer network for installing the virtual machine; and
perform a live migration of the virtual machine to the new computer in the computer network.