IP Library Granted Patent US 11,210,120
Granted Patent B2
US 11,210,120 · App. 14/668,180 · Granted Dec 28, 2021

Location management in a volume action service

Inventors: Matthew Conover (Mountain View, CA); Steven Lawson (Aurora, CO); Jeffrey Paul Ulatoski (Pleasanton, CA)
Assignee: VMware, Inc.
G06F9/45558G06F2009/45562
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,210,120
App. No.
14/668,180
Granted
Dec 28, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems, methods, and software described herein manage volumes and virtual machines using a location database gathered from a hypervisor management system. In one example, a method of operating a volume attachment service to manage volumes and virtual machines includes transferring a location request to a hypervisor management service to identify locations of one or more virtual machines. The method further provides, receiving the locations of the one or more virtual machines and storing the locations in a location database. The method also includes identifying a volume action request for a first virtual machine, and directing the volume action request to a hypervisor of the first virtual machine based on the locations in the location database.

Claims (40)

1. A method of operating a volume action service to manage volumes and virtual machines, the method comprising:

at periodic intervals, transferring location requests to a hypervisor management service to identify locations of one or more virtual machines, wherein the one or more virtual machines execute across a plurality of hypervisors, and wherein the hypervisor management service obtains the locations of the one or more virtual machines in relation to the plurality of hypervisors managed by the hypervisor management service;

receiving, in response to the location requests, the locations of the one or more virtual machines and storing the locations in a location database of the volume action service, wherein the locations comprise one or more virtual machine identifiers associated with respective host and hypervisor identifiers for the one or more virtual machines;

receiving a volume action request to attach one or more volumes to a first virtual machine of the one or more virtual machines; and

in response to the volume action request for the first virtual machine, directing the volume action request from the volume action service to a hypervisor for the first virtual machine based on a virtual machine identifier associated with the first virtual machine and the location database without passing the volume action request to the hypervisor management service, wherein the request directs the hypervisor to attach the one or more volumes to the first virtual machine.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the volume action request comprises a volume attach request to attach one or more volumes to the first virtual machine.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the one or more volumes comprise one or more application volumes containing at least one application.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the volume action request comprises a volume detach request to detach one or more volumes from the first virtual machine.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the one or more volumes comprise one or more application volumes containing at least one application.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

identifying a second volume action request for a second virtual machine; and

directing the second volume action request to a hypervisor for the second virtual machine based on a virtual machine identifier associated with the second virtual machine and the location database.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the hypervisor of the first virtual machine comprises a different hypervisor than the hypervisor of the second virtual machine.

8. An apparatus to manage volumes and virtual machines, the apparatus comprising:

one or more non-transitory computer readable media; and

processing instructions stored on the one or more non-transitory computer readable media that, when executed by processing circuitry, direct the processing circuitry to:

at periodic intervals, transfer location requests to a hypervisor management service to identify locations of one or more virtual machines, wherein the one or more virtual machines execute across a plurality of hypervisors, and wherein the hypervisor management service obtains the locations of the one or more virtual machines in relation to the plurality of hypervisors managed by the hypervisor management service;

receive, in response to the location requests, the locations of the one or more virtual machines and storing the locations in a location database of the volume action service, wherein the locations comprise one or more virtual machine identifiers associated with respective host and hypervisor identifiers for the one or more virtual machines;

receive a volume action request to attach one or more volumes to a first virtual machine of the one or more virtual machines; and

in response to the volume action request for the first virtual machine, direct the volume action request from the volume action service to a hypervisor for the first virtual machine based on a virtual machine identifier associated with the first virtual machine and the location database without passing the volume action request to the hypervisor management service, wherein the request directs the hypervisor to attach the one or more volumes to the first virtual machine.

9. The apparatus of claim 8 further comprising the processing circuitry.

10. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the volume action request comprises a volume attach request to attach one or more volumes to the first virtual machine.

11. The apparatus of claim 10 wherein the one or more volumes comprise one or more application volumes containing at least one application.

12. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the volume action request comprises a volume detach request to detach one or more volumes from the first virtual machine.

13. The apparatus of claim 12 wherein the one or more volumes comprise one or more application volumes containing at least one application.

14. The apparatus of claim 8 wherein the processing instructions further direct the processing circuitry to:

identify a second volume action request for a second virtual machine; and

direct the second volume action request to a hypervisor for the second virtual machine based on a virtual machine identifier associated with the second virtual machine and the location database.

15. The apparatus of claim 14 wherein the hypervisor of the first virtual machine comprises a different hypervisor than the hypervisor of the second virtual machine.

16. A system to manage a plurality of storage volumes and a plurality of virtual machines, the system comprising:

one or more host computing systems executing a plurality of hypervisors;

the plurality of virtual machines executing via the plurality of hypervisors; and

a volume action service with a processing system configured to:

at periodic intervals, transfer location requests to a hypervisor management service to identify locations of the plurality of virtual machines, and wherein the hypervisor management service obtains the locations of the plurality of virtual machines in relation to the plurality of hypervisors managed by the hypervisor management service;

receive, in response to the location requests, the locations of the plurality of virtual machines and store the locations in a location database of the volume action service, wherein the locations comprise a plurality of virtual machine identifiers associated with respective host and hypervisor identifier for the plurality of virtual machines;

receive a volume action request to attach one or more volumes to a first virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines; and

in response to the volume action request for the first virtual machine, direct the volume action request from the volume action service to a hypervisor of the plurality of hypervisors for the first virtual machine based on a virtual machine identifier associated with the first virtual machine and the location database without passing the volume action request to the hypervisor management service, wherein the request directs the hypervisor to attach the one or more volumes to the first virtual machine.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein the volume action request for the first virtual machine comprises one of:

a volume attach request to attach one or more volumes to the first virtual machine; or

a volume detach request to detach one or more volumes from the first virtual machine.

Assignments (5)
PATENT ASSIGNMENT Recorded Aug 5, 2024
From: VMWARE LLC
To: OMNISSA, LLC
Reel/Frame 068327/0365 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jul 3, 2024
From: OMNISSA, LLC
To: UBS AG, STAMFORD BRANCH
Reel/Frame 068118/0004 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Apr 15, 2024
From: VMWARE, INC.
To: VMWARE LLC
Reel/Frame 067102/0395 →
MERGER Recorded Oct 13, 2015
From: CLOUDVOLUMES, INC.
To: VMWARE, INC.
Reel/Frame 036785/0944 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Mar 25, 2015
From: CONOVER, MATTHEW; LAWSON, STEVEN; ULATOSKI, JEFFREY
To: CLOUDVOLUMES, INC.
Reel/Frame 035252/0617 →
Continuity (2)
Provisional Application 62019271 · Jun 30, 2014
Related Publication 20150378768A1 · Dec 31, 2015