U.S. patent application number 13/932448 was filed with the patent office on 2013-10-31 for virtual machine manufacturing methods and media.
The applicant listed for this patent is Matthew L. Domsch, James Craig Lowery, Brent Alan Schroeder. Invention is credited to Matthew L. Domsch, James Craig Lowery, Brent Alan Schroeder.
Application Number | 20130290951 13/932448 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 42038919 |
Filed Date | 2013-10-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130290951 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Domsch; Matthew L. ; et
al. |
October 31, 2013 |
Virtual Machine Manufacturing Methods and Media
Abstract
A method for manufacturing an information handling system is
disclosed wherein the method includes receiving an order for an
information handling system (IHS), wherein the IHS comprises at
least one virtual machine (VM) and determining a number of physical
systems and an amount of storage required for the IHS. The method
may also include providing the number of physical systems and the
amount of storage and providing virtualization software for the
number of physical systems, wherein the virtualization software is
utilized to create the at least one virtual machine. The method
further includes pre-configuring a plurality of parameters for the
at least one VM.
Inventors: |
Domsch; Matthew L.; (Austin,
TX) ; Schroeder; Brent Alan; (Austin, TX) ;
Lowery; James Craig; (Austin, TX) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Domsch; Matthew L.
Schroeder; Brent Alan
Lowery; James Craig |
Austin
Austin
Austin |
TX
TX
TX |
US
US
US |
|
|
Family ID: |
42038919 |
Appl. No.: |
13/932448 |
Filed: |
July 1, 2013 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
12237347 |
Sep 24, 2008 |
8495498 |
|
|
13932448 |
|
|
|
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
717/178 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 8/61 20130101; G06F
2009/45562 20130101; G06F 9/45541 20130101; G06F 9/45558
20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
717/178 |
International
Class: |
G06F 9/445 20060101
G06F009/445 |
Claims
1-20. (canceled)
21. A method for manufacturing an information handling system prior
to delivery to a customer, the method comprising: receiving an
order for an information handling system (IHS), the IHS including a
virtual machine (VM) and a set of requirements for the VM; in
response to receiving the order, determining a number of physical
systems and an amount of storage required for the IHS to meet the
set of requirements for the VM; providing the number of physical
systems and the amount of storage; providing virtualization
software for the number of physical systems, the virtualization
software operable to create the VM; and prior to delivery to the
customer: installing the virtualization software on the number of
physical systems to run on the number of physical systems without
an operating system (OS); and configuring the VM to comply with the
set of requirements for the VM.
22. The method of claim 21, wherein the set of requirements are
selected from the group consisting of an amount of memory, a
central processing unit (CPU) speed, an OS type, a software type, a
network interface card (NIC) type and a combination thereof.
23. The method of claim 21, further comprising, prior to delivery
to the customer, installing internet small computer system
interface (iSCSI) software on the number of physical systems, the
iSCSI software operable to provide shared storage for the number of
physical systems.
24. The method of claim 23, further comprising, prior to delivery
to the customer: creating an initiator for the VM operable to send
iSCSI commands over an internet protocol (IP) network; creating an
iSCSI target for the VM; and creating an iSCSI logical unit number
(LUN) on the shared storage to be provided to the iSCSI target.
25. The method of claim 24 further comprising, prior to delivery to
the customer, associating the iSCSI target with the initiator, the
iSCSI target operable for use by the VM as a virtual disk.
26. The method of claim 21 further comprising, prior to delivery to
the customer, creating the VM on the number of physical systems,
the VM operable to simulate a physical system with a plurality of
components selected from the group consisting of a random access
memory (RAM), a central processing unit (CPU), a network interface
card (NIC), a storage device and any combination thereof.
27. The method of claim 21 further comprising, prior to delivery to
the customer, promoting the VM to a clustered resource state, the
VM hosted by a first physical system of the number of physical
systems or a second physical system of the number of physical
systems if the first physical system becomes unavailable.
28. The method of claim 27 further comprising, prior to delivery to
the customer, installing failover clustering software for the VM on
the number of physical system, the failover clustering software
operable to configure the IHS to perform failover clustering.
29. The method of claim 27, wherein system management software
insures that the VM is configured, prior to delivery to the
customer, to maintain the clustered resource state in an automated
fashion.
30. A computer-readable medium having instructions for
manufacturing an information handling system that, when executed by
a processor, are configured to: receive an order for an information
handling system (IHS), the IHS including a virtual machine (VM) and
a set of requirements for the VM; in response to receiving the
order, determine a number of physical systems and an amount of
storage required for the IHS to meet the set of requirements for
the VM; provide the number of physical systems and the amount of
storage; provide virtualization software for the number of physical
systems, the virtualization software operable to create the VM; and
prior to delivery to the customer: install the virtualization
software on the number of physical systems to run on the number of
physical systems without an operating system (OS); and configure
the VM to comply with the set of requirements for the VM.
31. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, wherein the set of
requirements are selected from the group consisting of an amount of
memory, a CPU processor speed, an OS type, a software type, a
network interface card (NIC) type and a combination thereof.
32. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, the instructions
further configured to, prior to delivery to the customer, install
internet small computer system interface (iSCSI) software on the
number of physical systems, the iSCSI software operable to provide
shared storage for the number of physical systems.
33. The computer-readable medium of claim 32, the instructions
further configured to, prior to delivery to the customer, create an
initiator for the VM operable to send iSCSI commands over an
internet protocol (IP) network; create an iSCSI target for the VM;
create an iSCSI logical unit number (LUN) on the shared storage to
be provided to the iSCSI target; and associate the iSCSI target
with the initiator, wherein the VM utilizes the iSCSI target as a
virtual disk.
34. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, the instructions
further configured to, prior to delivery to the customer, create
the VM on the number of physical systems, the VM operable to
simulate a physical system with a plurality of components selected
from the group consisting of a random access memory (RAM), a
central processing unit (CPU), a network interface card (NIC), a
storage device and a combination thereof.
35. The computer-readable medium of claim 30, the instructions
further configured to, prior to delivery to the customer: install
failover clustering software for the VM on the number of physical
systems, wherein the failover clustering software is operable to
configure the IHS to perform failover clustering; and promote the
VM to a clustered resource state, the VM hosted by a first physical
system of the number of physical systems, and the VM hosted by a
second physical system of the number of physical systems if the
first physical system becomes unavailable; wherein system
management software insures the VM is configured, prior to delivery
to the customer, to maintain the clustered resource state in an
automated fashion.
36. A system for manufacturing an information handling system prior
to delivery to a customer, comprising: a processor; and a
computer-readable medium communicatively coupled to the processor,
the computer-readable medium having instructions that, when
executed by the processor, are configured to: receive an order for
an information handling system (IHS), the IHS including a virtual
machine (VM) and a set of requirements for the VM; in response to
receiving the order, determine a number of physical systems and an
amount of storage required for the IHS to meet the set of
requirements for the VM; provide the number of physical systems and
the amount of storage; provide virtualization software for the
number of physical systems, the virtualization software operable to
create the VM; and prior to delivery to the customer: install the
virtualization software on the number of physical systems to run on
the number of physical systems without an operating system (OS);
and configure the VM to comply with the set of requirements for the
VM.
37. The system of claim 36, wherein the set of requirements are
selected from the group consisting of an amount of memory, a CPU
processor speed, an OS type, a software type, a network interface
card (NIC) type and a combination thereof.
38. The system of claim 36, the instructions further configured to,
prior to delivery to the customer, install internet small computer
system interface (iSCSI) software on the number of physical
systems, wherein the iSCSI software is utilized to provide shared
storage for the number of physical systems.
39. The system of claim 38, the instructions further configured to,
prior to delivery to the customer, create an initiator for the VM
operable to send iSCSI commands over an internet protocol (IP)
network; create an iSCSI target for the VM; create an iSCSI logical
unit number (LUN) on the shared storage to be provided to the iSCSI
target; and associate the iSCSI target with the initiator, wherein
the VM utilizes the iSCSI target as a virtual disk.
40. The system of claim 36, the instructions further configured to,
prior to delivery to the customer: install failover clustering
software for the VM on the number of physical systems, wherein the
failover clustering software is operable to configure the IHS to
perform failover clustering; and promote the VM to a clustered
resource state, the VM hosted by a first physical system of the
number of physical systems, and the VM hosted by a second physical
system of the number of physical systems if the first physical
system becomes unavailable; wherein system management software
insures the VM is configured, prior to delivery to the customer, to
maintain the clustered resource state in an automated fashion.
Description
BACKGROUND
[0001] 1. Technical Field
[0002] The present disclosure relates generally to the field of
information handling systems, and, more specifically, the
disclosure relates to manufacturing information handling systems
and virtual machines.
[0003] 2. Background Information
[0004] As the value and use of information continues to increase,
individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and
store information. One option available to users is an information
handling system. An information handling system generally
processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or
data for business, personal, or other purposes thereby allowing
users to take advantage of the value of the information. Because
technology and information handling needs and requirements vary
between different users or applications, information handling
systems may also vary regarding what information is handled, how
the information is handled, how much information is processed,
stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the
information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The
variations in information handling systems allow for such systems
to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use
such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations,
enterprise data storage, or global communications. In addition,
information handling systems may include a variety of hardware and
software components that may be configured to process, store, and
communicate information and may include one or more computer
systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
[0005] An IHS may be configured in a specific manner to meet a
customer's needs. Some customers, such as businesses or companies,
may desire one or more IHSs that are set up to provide several
virtual machines (VMs). VMs may simulate a physical machine or
device including several components or resources, such as a central
processing unit (CPU), random access memory (RAM), a network card,
and any other suitable components, that may be utilized by the
device. A bare metal virtual machine may be a VM that has been
pre-configured with memory, CPU, and other resources, but has no
operating system installed on its virtual disk. A manufacturer may
provide one or more physical systems and storage to a customer, but
the customer may need to rack and wire the physical systems and
storage, as well as set up the VMs and other desired features to
create a bare metal VM from the physical systems. Features, such as
failover clustering to provide high availability, fibre channel
storage to provide storage networking, and internet small computer
system interface (iSCSI) to provide shared storage, may be desired
by a customer, but may increase the complexity of configuring the
VMs and features on the physical systems. In some cases,
determining the number of physical systems and amount of storage
needed to set up VMs and other desired features may be a
complicated process that makes it difficult for some customers to
determine the products that may be needed from a manufacturer.
Further, configuring VMs and setting up other features on the
physical systems may be difficult as well, which may also lead to
customer dissatisfaction.
[0006] Thus, a need exists for methods and media for manufacturing
bare metal virtual machines that may be pre-configured prior to
delivery to a customer. Any of the configurable settings for the
bare metal VMs may be configured prior to delivery to a
customer.
SUMMARY
[0007] The following presents a general summary of several aspects
of the disclosure in order to provide a basic understanding of at
least some aspects of the disclosure. This summary is not an
extensive overview of the disclosure. It is not intended to
identify key or critical elements of the disclosure or to delineate
the scope of the claims. The following summary merely presents some
concepts of the disclosure in a general form as a prelude to the
more detailed description that follows.
[0008] One aspect of the disclosure provides a method for
manufacturing an information handling system whereby the method
includes receiving an order for an information handling system
(IHS), wherein the IHS comprises at least one virtual machine (VM)
and determining a number of physical systems and an amount of
storage required for the IHS. The method may also include providing
the number of physical systems and the amount of storage and
providing virtualization software for the number of physical
systems, wherein the virtualization software is utilized to create
the at least one virtual machine. The method further includes
pre-configuring a plurality of parameters for the at least one
VM.
[0009] Another aspect of the disclosure provides a
computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions
for performing a method for manufacturing a virtual machine whereby
the method includes receiving an order for an information handling
system (IHS), wherein the IHS comprises at least one virtual
machine (VM) and determining a number of physical systems and an
amount of storage required for the IHS. The method may also include
providing the number of physical systems and the amount of storage
and providing virtualization software for the number of physical
systems, wherein the virtualization software is utilized to create
the at least one virtual machine. The method further includes
pre-configuring a plurality of parameters for the at least one
VM.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0010] For detailed understanding of the present disclosure,
references should be made to the following detailed description of
the several aspects, taken in conjunction with the accompanying
drawings, in which like elements have been given like numerals and
wherein:
[0011] FIG. 1 represents an illustrative schematic of an
information handling system (IHS) in accordance with one aspect of
the present disclosure;
[0012] FIG. 2 represents an illustrative flow diagram for a virtual
machine (VM) manufacturing process in accordance with another
aspect of the present disclosure;
[0013] FIG. 3 represents an illustrative schematic of a customer
order entry in accordance with another aspect of the present
disclosure;
[0014] FIG. 4 represents an illustrative schematic of physical
systems corresponding to a customer order in accordance with yet
another aspect of the present disclosure; and
[0015] FIG. 5 represents an illustrative schematic of a failover
state in accordance with still another aspect of the present
disclosure.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0016] Before the present apparatus, systems and methods are
described, it is to be understood that this disclosure is not
limited to the particular apparatus, systems and methods described,
as such may vary. One of ordinary skill in the art should
understand that the terminology used herein is for the purpose of
describing possible aspects, embodiments and/or implementations
only, and is not intended to limit the scope of the present
disclosure which will be limited only by the appended claims.
[0017] It must also be noted that as used herein and in the
appended claims, the singular forms "a," "and," and "the" may
include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates
otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a device" refers to one
or several devices, and reference to "a method of processing"
includes reference to equivalent steps and methods known to those
skilled in the art, and so forth.
[0018] For purposes of this disclosure, an embodiment of an
Information Handling System (IHS) may include any instrumentality
or aggregate of instrumentalities operable to compute, classify,
process, transmit, receive, retrieve, originate, switch, store,
display, manifest, detect, record, reproduce, handle, or utilize
any form of information, intelligence, or data for business,
scientific, control, or other purposes. For example, an IHS may be
a personal computer, a storage device, or any other suitable device
and may vary in size, shape, performance, functionality, and price.
The IHS may include random access memory (RAM), one or more
processing resources such as a central processing unit (CPU) or
hardware or software control logic, ROM, and/or other types of
nonvolatile memory. Additional components of the IHS may include
one or more disk drives, one or more network ports for
communicating with external devices as well as various input and
output (I/O) devices, such as a keyboard, a mouse, and a video
display. The IHS may also include one or more buses operable to
transmit data communications between the various hardware
components.
[0019] FIG. 1 illustrates one possible implementation of an IHS 5
comprising a CPU 10. It should be understood that the present
disclosure has applicability to IHSs as broadly described above,
and is not intended to be limited to the IHS 5 as specifically
described. The CPU 10 or controller may comprise a processor, a
microprocessor, minicomputer, or any other suitable device,
including combinations and/or a plurality thereof, for executing
programmed instructions. It is appreciated that execution of the
algorithm to be described below occurs in the processor or the CPU
10. The CPU 10 may be in data communication over a local interface
bus 30 with components including memory 15 and input/output
interfaces 40. The memory 15, as illustrated, may include
non-volatile memory 25. The non-volatile memory 25 may include, but
is not limited to, flash memory, non-volatile random access memory
(NVRAM), and electrically erasable programmable read-only memory
(EEPROM). The non-volatile memory 25 may contain a firmware program
(not shown) which may contain programming and/or executable
instructions required to control a keyboard 60, mouse 65, video
display 55 and/or other input/output devices not shown here. This
type of firmware may be known as a basic input/output system
(BIOS). The memory may also comprise random access memory (RAM) 20.
The operating system and application programs (e.g., graphical user
interfaces) may be loaded into the RAM 20 for execution.
[0020] The IHS 5 may be implemented with a network port 45 to
permit communication over a network 70 such as a local area network
(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), such as the Internet. As
understood by those skilled in the art, IHS 5 implementations may
also include an assortment of ports and interfaces for different
peripherals and components, such as video display adapters 35, disk
drives port 50, and input/output interfaces 40 (e.g., keyboard 60,
mouse 65).
[0021] A manufacturer or vendor may deliver one or more IHSs, such
as bare metal virtual machines (VMs), to a customer. Software
provided on a physical IHS may be utilized to create one or more
virtual machines that simulate a physical IHS and its components. A
bare metal VM may include memory, CPU, and other resources, but may
possibly not include an operating system (OS) installed on the
virtual disk. By way of example, a consumer may want to purchase
one or more IHSs from a manufacturer that may be utilized to
provide several VM servers with various components, such as memory,
CPU, network card, and other resources. The customer may also
intend to create a VM farm from the VM servers. A VM farm may
include a collection of VM servers operating jointly in order to
improve performance and availability when compared to a single
server. When the IHSs to be used to create a VM farm are delivered
to the customer, a customer may need to wire and rack the IHSs and
its shared storage to accommodate the desired VMs. Further, the
customer may need to build the clustering environment, which may
include establishing shared storage, installing virtualization
software, establishing cluster services, and configuring the VMs.
If additional features are desired, such as high availability and
storage networking, the user may need to perform additional
configuring and setup tasks for the VMs. For instance, highly
available (HA) and internet small computer system interface (iSCSI)
features may require special tasks to be performed, such as
configuring clusters for HA and creating targets/initiators for
iSCSI. While HA and iSCSI may be discussed throughout to illustrate
various implementations, the scope of the claims is in no way
limited to the particular features discussed herein. A variety of
additional features may be desired by a customer, such as HA,
iSCSI, fibre channel storage networking, and other additional
features. The process of configuring the VMs and additional
features for the VMs may be complex for a typical customer or end
user. Further, the end user may need to determine the number of
IHSs, shared storage, and other components needed to create the
system of VMs, which may also be a complex task. Since a
significant burden may rest on a user when creating a system of
VMs, a manufacturer may greatly improve a customer's satisfaction
by alleviating the burden of creating and configuring a desired
system of VMs.
[0022] In order to improve the manufacturing process, a system of
physical IHSs may be bundled, configured, and installed during
manufacturing to provide bare metal VMs including additional
features (e.g., iSCSI, fibre channel storage network, HA
clustering, etc.) to customers. When a VM is created, several
parameters may be configured, such as the amount of memory,
processor type and speed, an OS, software, the type of network
interface card (NIC), and/or any other suitable parameters. The
responsibility for setting these configurable parameters may be
shifted from the customer to the manufacturer.
[0023] Referring now to FIG. 2, an illustrative implementation of a
virtual machine manufacturing process is indicated generally at
200. The manufacturing process may begin when a customer places an
order in step 205. The customer's order may specify parameters
including, but not limited to, the number of virtual IHSs desired,
resource profiles for the virtual IHSs, and additional sizing
hints. In addition to selecting the number of IHSs, a customer may
also specify the resource profiles for each of the IHSs. As used
herein, the number of IHSs in a customer's order may represent the
number of VMs desired rather than the number of physical IHSs. The
resource profiles may specify several components of an IHS, such as
amount of memory, number of CPUs, CPU speed, an operating system
(OS), a network interface card (NIC), software, and storage
requirements for each of the IHSs. The customer's order may also
include additional sizing hints that provide information regarding
how the customer may utilize the IHSs, thus affecting the number of
IHSs or the shared storage requirements. For instance, the customer
may wish to utilize VMs for a Microsoft Exchange Server workload,
which may increase the resources required for the physical
system.
[0024] Based on information in the order received from a customer,
the number of physical systems and the amount of shared storage
needed may be determined by the manufacturer in step 210. The
physical systems may represent the physical IHSs offered by a
manufacturer or vendor which may include several different models
and selectable components. Shared storage may provide storage to be
utilized by one or more physical systems. The shared storage may
utilize storage area network (SAN) protocols to allow the shared
storage to be remotely connected to the physical systems. Rather
than having each customer determine the physical components and the
number of physical IHSs needed to achieve a desired virtual system,
the manufacturer may take over the responsibility of determining
these requirements. A manufacturer may be more familiar with their
products than the customer and may have more experience than the
customer in determining the number of physical systems needed,
which may reduce the chances of miscalculating the physical
requirements for the VMs.
[0025] Referring now to FIG. 3, an illustrative implementation of a
customer order entry is provided. A customer 310 may specify the
number of IHSs desired and resource profiles for each of the IHSs.
For instance, the customer's order may specify that seven servers
are desired with resource profiles accompanying each of the seven
servers. As discussed previously, the resource profiles may
indicate the components to be provided a system. For instance, one
of the customer's resource profiles may indicate that a first
server should have two logical processors, 128 GB RAM, a NIC, and
various other suitable, configurable parameters. In the
implementation shown, the resource profiles indicate that two small
servers 320, three medium servers 330, and two large servers 340
are desired.
[0026] FIG. 4 provides an illustrative implementation of physical
systems corresponding to a customer order. A manufacturer or vendor
may determine the number of physical IHSs and amount of storage
required for the customer's order as discussed previously. This
determination may be manufacturer specific because different
manufacturers may provide products that perform differently. As
shown, a manufacturer may determine that three physical IHSs 405,
410, and 415 and an iSCSI storage 460 are required to satisfy a
customer order. A first physical IHS 405 may be utilized for the
three medium servers 330, a second physical IHS 410 may be utilized
to support a large server 340 and a small server 320, and a third
physical IHS 415 may be utilized to support a large server 340 and
a small server 320. Based on the resource profiles for the seven
servers, the amount of shared storage needed in the iSCSI storage
460 may be determined. The iSCSI storage 460 may be utilized to
serve as virtual disks 420-450 for the servers in the customer
order.
[0027] Regarding FIG. 2, in step 215, the physical systems and
storage may be pre-wired, racked, and stacked by the manufacturer.
For instance, as shown in FIG. 4, the physical systems 405-415 may
be racked and wired with the iSCSI storage 460. In step 220,
virtualization software may be installed on each physical IHS
included in the order. Virtualization software, such as hypervisor,
may allow multiple OSs to run on a host, which may run directly on
a given hardware platform. In another implementation,
virtualization software may be installed on shared storage or may
be provided across the network when the physical IHS is booted. In
some cases, the customer may want to utilize iSCSI software to
setup and allow the VMs to utilize remote storage, such as iSCSI
storage. If the customer desires iSCSI storage, then iSCSI
initiator software may be installed in step 220. The iSCSI storage
460 may be configured to associate the virtual disks 420-450 with
the physical IHSs 405-415 providing a corresponding server 320-340.
For example, since the first physical IHS 405 is utilized to
provide the medium servers 330, virtual disk #3 430, virtual disk
#4 435, and virtual disk #5 440 may be associated with the first
physical IHS 405.
[0028] iSCSI is a protocol that may allow initiators to send SCSI
commands to targets on remote servers utilizing a transmission
control protocol/internet protocol suite (TCP/IP). An initiator may
be a client utilizing iSCSI to communicate with a SCSI device.
Further, an initiator may send SCSI commands over an IP network
rather than using a physical cable such as a traditional SCSI
client. A target may be a storage resource located on a remote
device, such as an iSCSI logical unit number (LUN) created on
shared storage. Registration of targets and initiators, which may
be performed by customers after receiving physical systems from a
manufacturer, may be a manual process or may require the use
directory services, such as internet storage name service (iSNS).
The iSNS protocol may allow automated discovery, management, and
configuration of iSCSI and fibre channel devices on a TCP/IP
network. An iSNS server may be bundled with the order if desired by
the customer. In the improved manufacturing process, registration
of iSCSI targets and initiators may be performed during
manufacturing, rather than by the customer. Several iSCSI targets
may be created for each IHS ordered in step 225 and each target may
be registered with each initiator in step 230. By installing iSCSI
initiator software, the number and size of iSCSI targets and the
set of initiators requiring access to the cluster nodes may be
pre-determined and pre-registered by the manufacturer.
[0029] Once the iSCSI configuration is complete, the VMs may be
created for each IHS ordered utilizing the provided resource
profiles in step 235. For instance, the small 320, medium 330, and
large servers 340 corresponding to the resource profiles in the
order may be created on the physical IHSs 405, 410, and 415 and
corresponding virtual disk 420-450 may be created on the shared
storage 460 as shown in FIG. 4. In step 240, the VMs may be
promoted to a clustered resource state to improve performance and
availability. In a cluster resource state, at least two physical
IHSs may be aware of a VM and the VM may be capable of being hosted
by either one of the two physical IHSs as needed. For instance,
hosting of a VM may be shifted from one physical IHS to another if
one of the physical IHSs fails, if one of the physical IHSs needs
to undergo scheduled hardware maintenance, or if one of the
physical IHSs is unavailable for some other reason. A user may also
want to provide HA VMs by utilizing failover clustering. A failover
cluster may include redundant nodes utilized to provide services
when a component fails to increase the availability of applications
and services. Failover clustering software may be utilized to
create and manage the clusters to provide failover clustering.
[0030] FIG. 5 provides an illustrative implementation of a failover
state for the system illustrated in FIG. 4. When iSCSI is utilized
to host the virtual disk 420-450 for VMs 320, 330, and 340, a
target may be created on shared storage, such as iSCSI storage 460.
The targets may be registered with several physical systems 405,
410, and 415 hosting the VMs 320, 330, and 340. In implementations
utilizing HA clustering, targets may be registered as HA resources
across all cluster nodes and may move between nodes when failover
or forced migration occurs. For instance, when one of the cluster
nodes 410 fails, other nodes 405 and 415 may provide services for
the failed node instead, a process referred to as failover. By
utilizing failover clustering, the disruptions in service
experienced by a user may be minimized.
[0031] Once the ordered VMs and desired features are configured,
the physical systems may be shut down and shipped to the customer
in step 245. The VM manufacturing process may allow a manufacturer
to provide a HA bare metal VM to a consumer. The virtualization
software supporting the bare metal VMs may also include additional
software to allow the manufacturer to provide pre-configured VMs
supporting iSCSI, fibre channel storage, high availability, and/or
other additional features desired by a customer prior to delivery.
System management software may be included to manage a cluster
transparently or manage the cluster in an automated fashion so that
the customer may not need to worry about routine and ongoing
actions particular to their maintenance. For example, the system
management software may insure that the VMs are load balanced,
force migration to maintain load balance, send alerts when hardware
fails and needs replacement, and perform any other suitable
management task. This may allow the manufacturer to provide a
customer with a racked and stacked system of IHSs providing HA,
fibre channel storage, iSCSI storage, and/or other features that
may require little to no configuration by the customer. The VM
manufacturing process may allow the manufacturer to take over
building the clustering environment, including tasks such as
installing virtualization software, establishing cluster services,
and configuring the VMs from a customer. The customer may simply
plug in the power supply and install operating systems to begin
using the VMs.
[0032] Various methods are contemplated including all or less than
all of the steps described herein and/or mentioned above, any
number of repeats or any of the steps shown and/or mentioned above,
and performance of the steps in any order.
[0033] Methods of the present disclosure may be presented in terms
of logic, software or software implemented aspects typically
encoded on a variety of media or medium including, but not limited
to, computer-readable medium/media, machine-readable medium/media,
program storage medium/media or computer program product. Such
media, having computer-executable instructions, may be handled,
read, sensed and/or interpreted by an IHS. Generally, a
computer-executable instruction, such as a program module, may
include a routine, program, object, data structures and the like,
which perform particular tasks, carry out particular methods or
implement particular abstract data types. Those skilled in the art
will appreciate that the abovementioned media may take various
forms such as cards, tapes, magnetic disks (e.g., floppy disk or
hard drive), optical disks (e.g., compact disk read only memory
("CD-ROM") or digital versatile disc ("DVD")) or any other
medium/media which can be used to store desired information and
which can accessed by an IHS. It should be understood that the
given implementations are illustrative only and shall not limit the
present disclosure.
[0034] Although the present disclosure has been described with
reference to particular examples, embodiments and/or
implementations, those skilled in the art will recognize that
modifications and variations may be made without departing from the
spirit and scope of the claimed subject matter. Such changes in
form and detail, including use of equivalent functional and/or
structural substitutes for elements described herein, fall within
the scope of the appended claims and are intended to be covered by
this disclosure.
* * * * *