U.S. patent application number 13/676714 was filed with the patent office on 2013-03-21 for copying segments of a virtual resource definition.
This patent application is currently assigned to INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. The applicant listed for this patent is International Business Machines Corporation. Invention is credited to Michael J. Branson, Gregory R. Hintermeister.
Application Number | 20130073824 13/676714 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42993257 |
Filed Date | 2013-03-21 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130073824 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Branson; Michael J. ; et
al. |
March 21, 2013 |
COPYING SEGMENTS OF A VIRTUAL RESOURCE DEFINITION
Abstract
Segments of a virtual resource definition are copied from an
existing virtual resource to create a new virtual resource
definition or modifying an existing one to simplify virtualization
management. The virtualization manager divides a virtual resource
definition into a number of reusable segments. A user may then
select one or more segments and place them into a new or existing
virtual resource definition. The user can choose to mix and match
segments to quickly create or modify a virtual resource definition
such as a virtual server, virtual printer or virtual data storage.
Any default information in the new virtual resource or old
information in the existing resource is replaced by the information
in the copied segment. Any dependencies in the existing virtual
resource are resolved with user input to break the dependencies or
copy dependent data.
Inventors: |
Branson; Michael J.;
(Rochester, MN) ; Hintermeister; Gregory R.;
(Rochester, MN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
International Business Machines Corporation; |
Armonk |
NY |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
CORPORATION
Armonk
NY
|
Family ID: |
42993257 |
Appl. No.: |
13/676714 |
Filed: |
November 14, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
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12428655 |
Apr 23, 2009 |
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13676714 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
711/162 ;
711/E12.103; 718/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 9/5077
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
711/162 ; 718/1;
711/E12.103 |
International
Class: |
G06F 9/455 20060101
G06F009/455; G06F 12/16 20060101 G06F012/16 |
Claims
1. An apparatus comprising: at least one processor; a memory
coupled to the at least one processor; a repository in the memory
containing a plurality of virtual resource definitions that define
a virtual resource to allow the virtual resource to be created and
deployed on a physical resource; a virtualization manager residing
in the memory that divides the virtual resource definitions into a
plurality of segments and provides a user interface; wherein the
user interface allows a user to select and copy a segment from a
first virtual resource definition and paste the selected segment
into a second virtual resource definition; and wherein the
virtualization manager uses the second virtual resource definition
to deploy a virtual resource on a physical resource.
2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the second virtual resource
definition is a new virtual resource definition.
3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the second virtual resource
definition is an existing virtual resource definition.
4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the plurality of segments are
further divided into sub-segments that may be selected and copied
into the second virtual resource definition.
5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the virtualization manager
further allows the user to determine how to resolve dependencies
between segments when copying the selected segment into the second
virtual resource definition.
6. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein virtualization manager resolves
a dependency by copying a dependent element with the selected
segment into the second virtual resource definition.
7. The apparatus of claim 5 wherein the virtualization manager
resolves a dependency by removing a dependent element from the
selected segment to be copied into the second virtual resource
definition.
8. An article of manufacture comprising: a virtualization manager
stored on a computer recordable media that when executed by a
computer processor performs the steps of: displaying an existing
virtual resource definition as a plurality of segments, where the
virtual resource definitions define a virtual resource to allow the
virtual resource to be created and deployed on a physical resource;
allowing a user to select and copy a segment from the plurality of
segments; pasting the selected segment into a second virtual
resource definition; and using the second virtual resource
definition to deploy a virtual resource on a physical resource.
9. The article of manufacture of claim 8 wherein the second virtual
resource definition is a new virtual resource definition.
10. The article of manufacture of claim 8 wherein the second
virtual resource definition is an existing virtual resource
definition.
11. The article of manufacture of claim 8 wherein the plurality of
segments are further divided into sub-segments that may be selected
and copied into the second virtual resource definition.
12. The article of manufacture of claim 8 further comprising the
step of allowing the user to determine how to resolve dependencies
between segments when copying the selected segment into the second
virtual resource definition.
13. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein the
virtualization manager resolves the dependency by copying a
referenced element in the selected segment with the selected
segment into the second virtual resource definition.
14. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein the
virtualization manager resolves the dependency by removing a
dependent element from the selected segment to be copied into the
second virtual resource definition.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] This disclosure generally relates to virtualization of
computer resources and virtual resource managers, and more
specifically relates to copying segments of an existing virtual
resource to another virtual resource definition to simplify
virtualization management.
[0003] 2. Background Art
[0004] Many companies and organizations must maintain a substantial
information technology (IT) infrastructure that comprises a large
number of computer resources including data servers integrated
together. The data servers and other computer resources are often
maintained using server management software such as the Systems
Director 6.1 by International Business Machines Corporation (IBM).
Using server management tools such as IBM's Systems Director 6.1,
systems administrators can manage a large number of physical and
virtual resources on multiple platforms and operating systems.
[0005] A virtual resource is a resource such as a virtual server,
virtual disk drive or virtual printer. These virtual resources are
deployed on a physical resource. Virtualization of these resources
is used to improve the efficiency and availability of the physical
resources. Multiple virtual machines with different operating
systems can be run on a single physical machine. Thus a virtual
server is simply a server that is deployed in virtual environment.
The virtual server may be deployed with other virtual servers on a
single physical machine.
[0006] Server management tools, such as that described above,
typically employ a virtualization manager to create and manage
images and virtual system definitions (or templates) to expedite
the process of creating and deploying virtual servers. The
virtualization manager allows system administrators to manage
system definitions that meet specific hardware and software
requirements. They can copy and customize existing images of
virtual servers to create new virtual servers based on an existing
virtual server definition (or template).
[0007] Even with the new tools for managing resources,
virtualization management is complex and can be time consuming. New
ways for simplifying virtualization management and making the task
more intuitive is extremely helpful for the system administrator.
Without a way to more efficiently and simply create and manage
virtualization tasks of creating virtual resources, system
administrators will continue to suffer from inefficient management
of virtual resources using virtualization management tools.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0008] The disclosure and claims herein are directed to copying
segments of a virtual resource definition from an existing virtual
resource to create a new virtual resource definition or modifying
an existing one to simplify virtualization management. The
virtualization manager divides a virtual resource definition into a
number of reusable segments. A user may then select one or more
segments and place them into a new or existing virtual resource
definition. The user can choose to mix and match segments to
quickly create or modify a virtual resource definition such as a
virtual server, virtual printer or virtual data storage. Any
default information in the new virtual resource or old information
in the existing resource is replaced by the information in the
copied segment.
[0009] Any dependencies in the existing virtual resource are
resolved with user input to break the dependencies or copy
dependent data.
[0010] The foregoing and other features and advantages will be
apparent from the following more particular description, as
illustrated in the accompanying drawings.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWING(S)
[0011] The disclosure will be described in conjunction with the
appended drawings, where like designations denote like elements,
and:
[0012] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer system with a
virtualization manager to simplify creating virtual resource
definitions as described herein;
[0013] FIG. 2 is a more detailed block diagram of the
virtualization manager in the computer system in conjunction with
the related physical and virtual resources described by the virtual
resource definitions;
[0014] FIG. 3 illustrates a virtual resource definition divided
into segments;
[0015] FIG. 4 illustrates an example of creating a virtual resource
definition using segments from an existing virtual resource
definition;
[0016] FIG. 5 illustrates an example of creating a virtual resource
definition by copying a sub-segment from an existing virtual
resource definition; and
[0017] FIG. 6 is a method flow diagram for creating a virtual
resource definition using segments from an existing virtual
resource definition.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0018] The disclosure and claims herein are directed to copying
segments of a virtual resource definition from an existing virtual
resource to create a new virtual resource definition or modifying
an existing one to simplify virtualization management. The
virtualization manager divides a virtual resource definition into a
number of reusable segments. A user may then select one or more
segments and place them into a new or existing virtual resource
definition. Any default information in the new virtual resource or
old information in the existing resource is replaced by the
information in the copied segment. Any dependencies in the existing
virtual resource are resolved with user input to break the
dependencies or copy dependent data.
[0019] Referring to FIG. 1, a computer system 100 is one suitable
implementation of a computer system that includes a virtualization
manager as described herein. Computer system 100 is an IBM iSeries
computer system. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate
that the disclosure herein applies equally to any computer system,
regardless of whether the computer system is a complicated
multi-user computing apparatus, a single user workstation, or an
embedded control system. As shown in FIG. 1, computer system 100
comprises one or more processors 110, a main memory 120, a mass
storage interface 130, a display interface 140, and a network
interface 150. These system components are interconnected through
the use of a system bus 160. Mass storage interface 130 is used to
connect mass storage devices, such as direct access storage devices
155, to computer system 100. One specific type of direct access
storage device 155 is a readable and writable CD-RW drive, which
may store data to and read data from a CD-RW 195.
[0020] Main memory 120 preferably contains an operating system 121.
Operating system 121 is a multitasking operating system known in
the industry as i5/OS; however, those skilled in the art will
appreciate that the spirit and scope of this disclosure is not
limited to any one operating system. The memory further includes a
virtualization manager 122 that preferably includes a user
interface 123. The memory further contains a virtual resource
definition (VRD) repository 124. The VRD depository 124 includes
one or more virtual resource definitions 125a, 125b. Each of the
virtual resource definitions 125 include one or more VRD segments
126 a-126d. Each of these entities in memory is described further
below.
[0021] Computer system 100 utilizes well known virtual addressing
mechanisms that allow the programs of computer system 100 to behave
as if they only have access to a large, single storage entity
instead of access to multiple, smaller storage entities such as
main memory 120 and DASD device 155. Therefore, while operating
system 121, virtualization manager 122, user interface 123, VRD
depository 124, and virtual resource definitions 125a, 125b are
shown to reside in main memory 120, those skilled in the art will
recognize that these items are not necessarily all completely
contained in main memory 120 at the same time. It should also be
noted that the term "memory" is used herein generically to refer to
the entire virtual memory of computer system 100, and may include
the virtual memory of other computer systems coupled to computer
system 100.
[0022] Processor 110 may be constructed from one or more
microprocessors and/or integrated circuits. Processor 110 executes
program instructions stored in main memory 120. Main memory 120
stores programs and data that processor 110 may access. When
computer system 100 starts up, processor 110 initially executes the
program instructions that make up operating system 121 and later
executes the program instructions that make up the virtualization
manager 122.
[0023] Although computer system 100 is shown to contain only a
single processor and a single system bus, those skilled in the art
will appreciate that a virtualization manager may be practiced
using a computer system that has multiple processors and/or
multiple buses. In addition, the interfaces that are used
preferably each include separate, fully programmed microprocessors
that are used to off-load compute-intensive processing from
processor 110. However, those skilled in the art will appreciate
that these functions may be performed using I/O adapters as
well.
[0024] Display interface 140 is used to directly connect one or
more displays 165 to computer system 100. These displays 165, which
may be non-intelligent (i.e., dumb) terminals or fully programmable
workstations, are used to provide system administrators and users
the ability to communicate with computer system 100. Note, however,
that while display interface 140 is provided to support
communication with one or more displays 165, computer system 100
does not necessarily require a display 165, because all needed
interaction with users and other processes may occur via network
interface 150.
[0025] Network interface 150 is used to connect computer system 100
to other computer systems or workstations 175 via network 170.
Network interface 150 broadly represents any suitable way to
interconnect electronic devices, regardless of whether the network
170 comprises present-day analog and/or digital techniques or via
some networking mechanism of the future. In addition, many
different network protocols can be used to implement a network.
These protocols are specialized computer programs that allow
computers to communicate across a network. TCP/IP (Transmission
Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) is an example of a suitable
network protocol.
[0026] At this point, it is important to note that while the
description above is in the context of a fully functional computer
system, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the journal
mechanism described herein may be distributed as an article of
manufacture in a variety of forms, and the claims extend to all
suitable types of computer-readable media used to actually carry
out the distribution, including recordable media such as floppy
disks and CD-RW (e.g., 195 of FIG. 1).
[0027] Embodiments herein may also be delivered as part of a
service engagement with a client corporation, nonprofit
organization, government entity, internal organizational structure,
or the like. These embodiments may include configuring a computer
system to perform some or all of the methods described herein, and
deploying software, hardware, and web services that implement some
or all of the methods described herein.
[0028] The claims and disclosure herein are directed to a
virtualization manager that allows a systems administrator to
simplify virtualization management. The virtualization manager
allows the system administrator to create or modify a virtual
resource definition using one or more segments of an existing
virtual resource definition. As used herein, the term virtual
resource may apply to any virtual computer system resource such as
a virtual server, virtual data storage device, virtual printer,
etc. A virtual resource definition (VRD) is used to describe a
virtual resource instance on a physical resource. A virtual
resource definition has one or more elements that are parameters or
properties that define the virtual resource depending on the type
of virtual resource. As used herein, the term VRD segment refers to
one or more of these virtual resource elements associated with a
virtual resource. The virtualization manager logically divides the
virtual resources into a number of segments such that the segments
contain a number of related parameters or properties of the
physical resource. Thus, where the segment contains more than one
virtual resource element, the multiple resource elements are
logically related to each other and are used in combination to
define the physical resource. A sub-segment is one or more of these
segment elements that can be copied as a unit as described
below.
[0029] FIG. 2 illustrates a block diagram of the virtualization
manager 122 in the computer system 100 as described above with
reference to FIG. 1. The virtualization manager 122 includes a user
interface 123 that allows a systems administrator to create virtual
resource definitions 125a, 125b that are stored in a VRD repository
124. The virtual resource definitions include one or more VRD
segments 126a-d. Each of the virtual resource definitions
corresponds to a related virtual resource 212a,b located on a
physical resource 210. In the illustrated example, virtual resource
definition 125a defines a virtual resource 212a, and virtual
resource definition 125b defines a virtual resource 212b. In this
example we assume that virtual resource definition 125a and 125b
each describe a virtual server 212a and 212b. These virtual servers
212a and 212b are both deployed on a single physical server 210 in
the manner known in the prior art. Similarly, the virtual resources
could be located on different physical resources (not shown).
[0030] FIGS. 3 and 4 together illustrate an example of creating a
virtual resource definition (VRD) using one or more segments of an
existing virtual resource definition. FIG. 3 illustrates a
simplified representation of a graphical user interface 123 of the
virtualization manager (122 in FIG. 2). In FIG. 3, the user
interface 123 displays an existing virtual resource definition 310
and a new virtual resource definition 320 that will be used to
create a new virtual server. The existing virtual resource
definition 310 may define an existing virtual server (not shown) or
be an existing server definition template. In this example, the new
virtual resource definition 320 is simply a shell without any VRD
segments defined. In contrast, the User could also select to copy
an entire existing VRD or a template VRD with some VRD segments
already defined as a starting point for creating a new VRD for a
new virtual resource.
[0031] As shown in FIG. 3, the virtualization manager has divided
the virtual resource definition 310 into a number of VRD segments
312. As used herein, the term VRD segment refers to one or more
elements of a virtual resource definition as discussed above. In
the illustrated example of FIG. 3, VRD segments for Virtual server
Definition 1 include OS Runtime, System Values/Settings, User
Registry, Network Configuration, Printer Definitions, Device
Drivers, File System, and Applications. Other VRD segments could
also be defined. Similarly, VRD segments for a virtual storage
device would include size, write protection type, mirroring on/off,
etc. Similarly, the virtualization manager divides other virtual
resource definitions into appropriate VRD segments.
[0032] As described above, the virtualization manager has divided
the virtual resource definition 310 into a number of VRD segments
312. In contrast, the new virtual server definition 320 does not
yet have any defined VRD segments. The user can select a VRD
segment 312 listed in the Virtual Server Definition 1 310 to
display the elements for the selected VRD segment. In this example,
the user (system administrator) uses a pointing device to select
314 the "System Values/Settings" segment 316 of the virtual server
definition 310. The selection by the user can be accomplished in
any suitable manner. For example, the user may select the desired
VRD segment using a mouse to direct a cursor over the VRD segment
and "clicking" the mouse key to make the selection. The selected
VRD segment can then be viewed and copied into the new virtual
server definition 320 as described below.
[0033] FIG. 4 represents the user interface of the virtualization
manager as shown in FIG. 3 after the user has selected "System
Values/Settings" segment 316 of the virtual server definition 310.
In this example, upon selection of the VRD segment 316 the
virtualization manager expands the selected segment to show each of
the elements 412 in the VRD segment. Each of these elements 412 in
the VRD segment or a combination of these elements can be
considered sub-segments as discussed further below with reference
to FIG. 5. The user is then able to copy the selected VRD segment
316 and paste 416 the copied VRD segment into the new virtual
server definition 320. The support of the copy and paste functions
in the user interface 123 can be made in any suitable manner,
including those know in the prior art.
[0034] FIG. 5 represents the user interface of the virtualization
manager similar to that shown in FIG. 4. In this example, the user
has selected a different existing virtual server definition
(Virtual Server Definition 2) 510. The user can then select
sub-segments from this virtual server definition to copy to the new
virtual server definition 320. In this example, the user selects
and copies 512 the "Max. Sign-on Failures" sub-segment 514 and
pastes 516 this sub-segment to the new virtual server definition
320. The user interface must determine whether to add or replace
when copying the segments or sub-segments. The user interface may
always ask the user whether to add or replace. Or, the user
interface may assume that the user intends to add the copied
segment into the new resource definition if there is not already a
corresponding segment in the new virtual resource definition. Then,
the user interface would ask the user if the user wants to replace
existing segments or sub-segments when the destination resource
already has a corresponding segment or sub-segment.
[0035] In the described example, the user is able to configure a
new virtual resource definition by copying a sub-segment from a
second virtual server definition to combine with the VRD segments
of the first virtual server definition already copied to the new
virtual resource definition. In this way, the user (systems
administrator) can configure a new virtual server definition by
combining any combination of segments or sub-segments from a number
of existing virtual server definitions.
[0036] The segments of a virtual resource definition may have
elements that reference elements in another segment such that the
segments depend on one another. Where dependencies exist between
segments, these dependencies must be resolved when segments of the
virtual definition are copied as described above. Preferably the
virtualization manager gives the user the option of resolving the
dependencies or breaking up the dependencies. For example, there
may be some dependencies between the User Registry segment of a
virtual server definition and the File System segment shown in FIG.
3. For this example, we assume that the user registry and file
system segments include elements as follows:
TABLE-US-00001 User Registry: User IDs (collection) ID-to-Object(s)
Mapping File System File System Objects (collection)
Object-to-ID(s) Mapping
In this example, the user registry contains a collection of user
IDs and a mapping of what user IDs are allowed to access the
objects. Further, the File system segment specifies a collection of
objects, and a mapping of file system objects that users of the
system are authorized to access. These mappings between the users
and objects are dependencies that need to be removed or replaced
when forming the new virtual resource definition. In this case,
each dependency could be broken, or resolved. If the User Registry
references File System object A then File System object A is a
dependent element of segment. Resolving the dependency would mean
that either File System object A is copied into the new VRD, or
that File System object A is mapped to an object that exists in the
new VRD already. Breaking the dependency would mean that the
reference to File System object A would be removed from the User
Registry, i.e. the authorization information is deleted from the
user registry. Another type of dependency is an element mismatch
between segments. For example, the User Registry may reference File
System objects that do not exist in the new virtual resource
definition that the segment is being copied to (because its File
System segment does not match the one in the virtual resource
definition that the User Registry was copied from). This type of
dependency can be handled in the same way. The virtualization
manager would allow breaking or resolving dependencies as described
herein. In addition to having the capability to work with
dependencies directly, the virtualization manager could allow
software plug-ins to be used for resolving the dependencies.
[0037] In addition to resolving dependencies, the virtualization
manager preferably checks resource definitions to determine if they
are valid or not. First, the validation step would check to ensure
that all the segments compose a complete VRD. A definition is not
valid where the minimum VRD segments are not specified. For
example, a virtual disk segment may require at least one disk
segment. In addition, the validation would check that the VRD
combination makes sense. For example, if a "File System" VRD
segment contains a first file system type, but the "OS Runtime" VRD
segment is of a different type, then the two are incompatible and
the VRD segment would not be valid. Similar checks for other types
of segments can be made to ensure the VRDs are valid.
[0038] FIG. 6 shows a method 600 for creating a new virtual
resource definition by copying segments from an existing virtual
resource definition into the new virtual resource definition. The
steps in method 600 are preferably performed by the virtualization
manager 122 in response to appropriate input from a user via the
user interface 123 shown in FIG. 1 to perform the steps as
described. First, display an existing virtual resource (step 610).
Upon the user selecting a virtual resource, divide the virtual
resource definition into a number of resource segments and display
to the user (step 620). Allow the user to choose whether to create
a new virtual resource definition by selecting segments of an
existing virtual resource or by defining segments of the new
resource from scratch (step 620). If the user selects to define a
segment from scratch (step 620=no) then define the segment from
scratch according to the prior art (step 625) and go to step 640.
If the user selects to use a segment of an existing resource (step
620=yes) then select a segment of an existing virtual resource
definition (step 630). Copy and paste the selected segment from the
existing virtual resource definition into a new resource definition
or template (step 635). The copy can add the new segment or replace
an existing segment. Next, edit the segment definition properties
of the newly added segment (step 640). If not done adding segments
(step 645=no) then return to step 620. If done adding segments
(step 645=yes) then resolve any dependencies (step 650) and check
if the new virtual resource definition is valid (step 655). If the
definition is not valid (step 655=no) then return to step 640 to
edit the definition. If the definition is valid (step 655=yes) then
save the virtual resource definition in the repository where it can
be used to deploy a virtual resource on a physical resource (step
660). The method 600 is then done.
[0039] As described above, a virtualization manager divides a
virtual resource definition into a number of reusable segments and
allows a systems administrator to copy segments of a virtual
resource definition from an existing virtual resource to create a
new virtual resource definition. Further, any dependencies in the
existing virtual resource are resolved with user input to break the
dependencies or copy dependent data. This allows the systems
administrator to more efficiently and simply create and manage
virtual resources.
[0040] One skilled in the art will appreciate that many variations
are possible within the scope of the claims. Thus, while the
disclosure is particularly shown and described above, it will be
understood by those skilled in the art that these and other changes
in form and details may be made therein without departing from the
spirit and scope of the claims.
* * * * *