IP Library Granted Patent US 9,886,304
Granted Patent B1
US 9,886,304 · App. 15/332,518 · Granted Feb 6, 2018

Storage device sharing among virtual machines

Inventor: Hari Krishna Vemuri (Pune, IN)
Assignee: Veritas Technologies LLC
G06F9/45558G06F12/10G06F2009/4557G06F2009/45579G06F2212/151G06F2212/65
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,886,304
App. No.
15/332,518
Granted
Feb 6, 2018
Kind
B1
Abstract

Disclosed herein are various systems and methods for sharing a storage device with multiple virtual machines are disclosed. One such method involves creating a pseudo-identity for a storage device and assigning a portion of an address space of the storage device to a virtual machine using the pseudo-identity. The storage device is coupled to a computing device and the pseudo-identity is created by a hypervisor associated with the computing device. The pseudo-identity facilitates access to the storage device by the virtual machine associated with the hypervisor and also facilitates presentation of one or more physical characteristics of the storage device to the virtual machine. The method also assigns a portion of an address space of the storage device to the virtual machine using the pseudo-identity.

Claims (129)

1. A method comprising:

receiving information comprising one or more physical characteristics;

determining whether to perform a migration operation, wherein

the determining is based, at least in part, on an operating condition of a storage device and another operating condition of another storage device, and

the operating condition and the another operating condition are based, at least in part, on the one or more physical characteristics;

in response to a determination that the migration operation should be performed,

creating a pseudo-identity for the storage device, wherein

the storage device is coupled to a computing device,

the pseudo-identity is created by a hypervisor associated with the computing device, and

the pseudo-identity facilitates

access to the storage device by a virtual machine of a plurality of virtual machines associated with the hypervisor, and

presentation of the one or more physical characteristics of the storage device to the virtual machine; and

assigning the pseudo-identity to the another storage device; and

migrating a mapping of the virtual machine from the storage device to the another storage device.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

modifying a response to a read-capacity command issued to the storage device by the virtual machine; and

transmitting the modified response to the virtual machine, wherein the modified responses comprises

a storage capacity and the one or more physical characteristics of the pseudo-identity of the storage device, and

the one or more physical characteristics of the storage device exposed to the virtual machine.

3. A method comprising:

receiving information comprising one or more physical characteristics;

determining whether to perform a migration operation, wherein

the determining is based, at least in part, on an operating condition of a storage device and another operating condition of another storage device, and

the operating condition and the another operating condition are based, at least in part, on the one or more physical characteristics; and

in response to a determination that the migration operation should be performed,

creating a pseudo-identity for the storage device;

assigning the pseudo-identity to the another storage device; and

migrating a mapping of a virtual machine from the storage device to the another storage device.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein

the one or more physical characteristics of the storage device comprise:

an operating temperature of the physical storage device,

a wear-leveling associated with the physical storage device, or

a cleanup activity associated with the physical storage device.

5. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

modifying a response to a command issued to the storage device, wherein

the command is issued by the virtual machine, and

the command identifies a portion of an address space associated with the storage device;

transmitting the modified response to the virtual machine, wherein

the modified response comprises

the pseudo-identity of the storage device, and

the one or more physical characteristics of the storage device; and

assigning the portion of the address space associated with the storage device to the virtual machine.

6. The method of claim 3 , wherein

the determining whether to perform a migration operation further comprises:

calculating the operating condition of the storage device,

calculating the another operating condition of the another storage device,

comparing the operating condition of the storage device and the another operating condition of the another storage device, and

performing the migration if the another operating condition is optimal compared to the operating condition.

7. The method of claim 6 , further comprising:

dynamically increasing or decreasing storage space allocated to the virtual machine in the storage device.

8. The method of claim 3 , wherein

the virtual machine is part of a plurality of virtual machines,

the plurality of virtual machines share a raw device mapping (RDM) device,

access to the RDM device is mapped to one or more virtual disks, and

the RDM device enables a Storage Logical Unit Number (LUN) to be coupled to the virtual machine from a Storage Area Network (SAN).

9. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a memory coupled to the one or more processors, wherein the memory stores program instructions executable by the one or more processors to:

receive information comprising one or more physical characteristics;

determine whether to perform a migration operation, wherein

the determining is based, at least in part, on an operating condition of a storage device and another operating condition of another storage device, and

the operating condition and the another operating condition are based, at least in part, on the one or more physical characteristics; and

in response to a determination that the migration operation should be performed,

create a pseudo-identity for the storage device;

assign the pseudo-identity to the another storage device; and

migrate a mapping of a virtual machine from the storage device to the another storage device.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein

the one or more physical characteristics of the storage device comprise:

an operating temperature of the physical storage device,

a wear-leveling associated with the physical storage device, or

a cleanup activity associated with the physical storage device.

11. The system of claim 9 , further comprising:

modifying a response to a command issued to the storage device, wherein

the command is issued by the virtual machine, and

the command identifies a portion of an address space associated with the storage device;

transmitting the modified response to the virtual machine, wherein

the modified response comprises

the pseudo-identity of the storage device, and

the one or more physical characteristics of the storage device; and

assigning the portion of the address space associated with the storage device to the virtual machine.

12. The system of claim 9 , wherein

the determining whether to perform a migration operation further comprises:

calculating the operating condition of the storage device,

calculating the another operating condition of the another storage device,

comparing the operating condition of the storage device and the another operating condition of the another storage device, and

performing the migration if the another operating condition is optimal compared to the operating condition.

13. The system of claim 12 , further comprising:

dynamically increasing or decreasing storage space allocated to the virtual machine in the storage device.

14. The system of claim 9 , wherein

the virtual machine is part of a plurality of virtual machines,

the plurality of virtual machines share a raw device mapping (RDM) device,

access to the RDM device is mapped to one or more virtual disks, and

the RDM device enables a Storage Logical Unit Number (LUN) to be coupled to the virtual machine from a Storage Area Network (SAN).

15. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising program instructions executable to:

receive information comprising one or more physical characteristics;

determine whether to perform a migration operation, wherein

the determining is based, at least in part, on an operating condition of a storage device and another operating condition of another storage device, and

the operating condition and the another operating condition are based, at least in part, on the one or more physical characteristics; and

in response to a determination that the migration operation should be performed,

create a pseudo-identity for the storage device;

assign the pseudo-identity to the another storage device; and

migrate a mapping of a virtual machine from the storage device to the another storage device.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein

the one or more physical characteristics of the storage device comprise:

an operating temperature of the physical storage device,

a wear-leveling associated with the physical storage device, or

a cleanup activity associated with the physical storage device.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , further comprising:

modifying a response to a command issued to the storage device, wherein

the command is issued by the virtual machine, and

the command identifies a portion of an address space associated with the storage device;

transmitting the modified response to the virtual machine, wherein

the modified response comprises

the pseudo-identity of the storage device, and

the one or more physical characteristics of the storage device; and

assigning the portion of the address space associated with the storage device to the virtual machine.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein

the determining whether to perform a migration operation further comprises:

calculating the operating condition of the storage device,

calculating the another operating condition of the another storage device,

comparing the operating condition of the storage device and the another operating condition of the another storage device, and

performing the migration if the another operating condition is optimal compared to the operating condition.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 18 , further comprising:

dynamically increasing or decreasing storage space allocated to the virtual machine in the storage device.

20. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein

the virtual machine is part of a plurality of virtual machines,

the plurality of virtual machines share a raw device mapping (RDM) device,

access to the RDM device is mapped to one or more virtual disks, and

the RDM device enables a Storage Logical Unit Number (LUN) to be coupled to the virtual machine from a Storage Area Network (SAN).

Assignments (6)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Dec 13, 2024
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: VERITAS TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Reel/Frame 069574/0863 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Dec 13, 2024
From: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: VERITAS TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Reel/Frame 069634/0584 →
TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS AT R/F 052426/0001 Recorded Nov 30, 2020
From: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: VERITAS TECHNOLOGIES LLC
Reel/Frame 054535/0565 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Aug 20, 2020
From: VERITAS TECHNOLOGIES LLC
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 054370/0134 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT SUPPLEMENT Recorded Apr 16, 2020
From: VERITAS TECHNOLOGIES, LLC
To: WILMINGTON TRUST, NATIONAL ASSOCIATION, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 052426/0001 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT SUPPLEMENT Recorded Mar 1, 2017
From: VERITAS TECHNOLOGIES LLC
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 041850/0511 →
Continuity (1)
Continuation 14227081 · Mar 27, 2014