Systems and methods for improving virtual machine performance
View Patent ↗Virtual machine optimization and/or storage reclamation solutions are disclosed that manage virtual machine sprawl and/or growing enterprise storage costs. For instance, certain solutions receive recommendations based on one or more rules, policies and/or user preferences that identify storage and/or alignment criteria for virtual machine disk (VMDK) partition(s). In certain examples, a resize tool that operates within a host operating system of a host server dynamically resizes and/or aligns one or more VMDK partitions of a powered-down virtual machine. For instance, the resize tool can be injected to the host server from a remote management server and can resize and/or align the VMDK partitions without requiring contents of the VMDK to be copied to another VMDK. By reallocating storage and/or aligning the VMDK partitions, embodiments of the invention can increase virtual machine performance and improve storage management.
1. A method for improving virtual machine performance within a computing environment, the method comprising:
for each of a plurality of virtual machines executing on at least one host server:
obtaining a lock on the virtual machine associated with a virtual machine disk having a plurality of partitions,
determining a target size of one or more of the plurality of partitions of the virtual machine disk,
issuing a first instruction to power off the virtual machine,
while the virtual machine is powered off, performing at least one of resizing and aligning the one or more partitions without copying contents of the virtual machine disk to another virtual machine disk,
issuing a second instruction to power on the virtual machine, and
removing the lock from the virtual machine.
2. The method of claim 1 , additionally comprising automatically resizing and aligning the one or more partitions of the virtual machine disk.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein said aligning comprises aligning a start offset of each of the one or more partitions with a 64 kilobyte boundary of a physical disk storing the virtual machine disk.
4. The method of claim 3 , wherein said resizing comprises increasing a size of each of the one or more partitions such that an end offset of each of the one or more partitions aligns with another 64 KB boundary of the physical disk.
5. The method of claim 2 , wherein said resizing comprises reducing a size of each of the one or more partitions to the target size.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein said performing at least one of resizing and aligning the one or more partitions comprises moving each of the one or more partitions by changing addresses of sectors of the one or more partitions.
7. The method of claim 1 , additionally comprising receiving with a host operating system of each of the at least one host server a resize module from a remote management server to perform the at least one of resizing and aligning.
8. The method of claim 7 , further comprising removing the resize module following said removing the lock from the virtual machine.
9. The method of claim 1 , wherein said determining the target size comprises receiving user input indicative of at least one of a requested size and a new address for at least one of the one or more partitions.
10. The method of claim 1 , additionally comprising:
obtaining a second lock on the virtual machine following said issuing the first instruction to power off the virtual machine; and
releasing the second lock following said performing at least one of resizing and aligning and prior to issuing the second instruction to power on the virtual machine.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein obtaining the second lock comprises renaming the virtual machine disk from a first name to a second name and said releasing the second lock comprises renaming the virtual machine disk with the first name.
12. The method of claim 1 , additionally comprising, prior to said issuing the second instruction to power on the virtual machine:
detaching the virtual machine disk from the virtual machine; and
re-attaching the virtual machine disk to the virtual machine.
13. A system for improving virtual machine performance within a computing environment, the system comprising:
a host server comprising a host operating system and a plurality of virtual machines each having a guest operating system;
a datastore comprising a plurality of virtual machine disks associated with each of the plurality of virtual machines, wherein a first virtual machine disk of the plurality of virtual machine disks is associated with the first virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines; and
a management server in network communication with the host server, the management server being configured to inject a resize module into the host operating system of the host server, the resize module being further configured to:
determine a target size of one or more of a plurality of partitions of the first virtual machine disk,
issue a first instruction to power off the first virtual machine,
while the first virtual machine is powered off, perform at least one of resizing and aligning the one or more partitions without copying contents of the first virtual machine disk to another virtual machine disk, and
afterwards, issue a second instruction to power on the first virtual machine.
14. The system of claim 13 , wherein the resize module is further configured to:
determine a target size of one or more of a plurality of partitions of a second virtual machine disk of the plurality of virtual machine disks associated with the second virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines;
issue a third instruction to power off the second virtual machine,
while the second virtual machine is powered off, perform at least one of resizing and aligning the one or more partitions of the second virtual machine disk without copying contents of the second virtual machine disk to another virtual machine disk, and
afterwards, issue a fourth instruction to power on the second virtual machine.
15. The system of claim 13 , wherein the management server is further configured to remove the resize module following said issuing of the second instruction to power on the first virtual machine.
16. The system of claim 13 , wherein the management server further comprises a user interface configured to receive user input indicative the target size of the one or more partitions of the first virtual machine disk.
17. The system of claim 13 , wherein the resize module is further configured to automatically resize each of the one or more partitions such that both a beginning offset and an end offset of each of the one or more partitions is aligned with a 64 kilobyte boundary of the datastore.
18. A system for improving virtual machine performance within a computing environment, the system comprising:
means for obtaining a lock on a virtual machine associated with a virtual machine disk having a plurality of partitions;
means for determining a target size of one or more of the plurality of partitions of the virtual machine disk means for powering off the virtual machine;
means for automatically resizing and aligning the one or more partitions, while the virtual machine is powered off, without copying contents of the virtual machine disk to another virtual machine disk;
means for powering on the virtual machine following said performing; and
means for removing the lock from the virtual machine.