U.S. patent application number 16/174109 was filed with the patent office on 2020-04-30 for input/output (i/o) performance of hosts through bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization.
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 Akshat MITHAL, Subhojit ROY.
Application Number | 20200136913 16/174109 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 70285099 |
Filed Date | 2020-04-30 |
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United States Patent
Application |
20200136913 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
MITHAL; Akshat ; et
al. |
April 30, 2020 |
INPUT/OUTPUT (I/O) PERFORMANCE OF HOSTS THROUGH BI-DIRECTIONAL
BANDWIDTH FEEDBACK OPTIMIZATION
Abstract
Embodiments for improving Input/Output (I/O) performance through
bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization in a distributed
computing environment. Resource allocation information from a host
is retrieved by an application plugin. Bandwidth allocation
information is retrieved from a network switch using Enhanced
Transmission Selection (ETS) by the application plugin. A bandwidth
optimization operation is performed on the host and/or on the
network switch according to the resource allocation information
received from the host and the bandwidth allocation information
received from the network switch by the application plugin.
Inventors: |
MITHAL; Akshat; (Pune,
IN) ; ROY; Subhojit; (Pune, IN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION |
Armonk |
NY |
US |
|
|
Assignee: |
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
CORPORATION
Armonk
NY
|
Family ID: |
70285099 |
Appl. No.: |
16/174109 |
Filed: |
October 29, 2018 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H04L 41/0896 20130101;
H04L 67/10 20130101 |
International
Class: |
H04L 12/24 20060101
H04L012/24; H04L 29/08 20060101 H04L029/08 |
Claims
1. A method for improving Input/Output (I/O) performance through
bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization, by a processor,
comprising: retrieving resource allocation information from a host
by an application plugin; retrieving bandwidth allocation
information from a network switch using Enhanced Transmission
Selection (ETS) by the application plugin; and performing a
bandwidth optimization operation on at least one of the host and
the network switch according to the resource allocation information
received from the host and the bandwidth allocation information
received from the network switch by the application plugin.
2. The method of claim 1, further including determining, using the
application plugin, whether the bandwidth allocation information of
bandwidth allocated to a particular protocol of a plurality of
protocols used by the network switch ETS is commensurate with
respect to the resource allocation information of a set of
resources currently used by the host which are dedicated to I/O
traffic using the particular protocol.
3. The method of claim 2, further including: when it is determined
the bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol used by the
network switch ETS is higher than required by the set of resources
currently used by the host, reducing the bandwidth allocated to the
particular protocol in the network switch EFS; and when it is
determined the bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol used
by the network switch ETS is lower than required by the set of
resources currently used by the host, increasing the bandwidth
allocated to the particular protocol in the network switch EFS.
4. The method of claim 3, further including: upon receiving a
negative indication from the network switch ETS associated with
decreasing the bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol,
providing feedback, by the application plugin to the host, to
allocate additional resources to the set of resources; and upon
receiving a negative indication from the network switch ETS
associated with increasing the bandwidth allocated to the
particular protocol, providing feedback, by the application plugin
to the host, to de-allocate resources of the set of resources.
5. The method of claim 2, further including monitoring, using a
monitoring agent, the I/O traffic used by the particular protocol;
wherein: when a peak bandwidth usage of the particular protocol is
below an allocated threshold for a predetermined time period, the
monitoring agent creates a warning to the network switch ETS to
increase the bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol; and
when the peak bandwidth usage of the particular protocol is above
the allocated threshold for the predetermined time period, the
monitoring agent creates a warning to the network switch ETS to
decrease the bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol.
6. The method of claim 2, further including adjusting the bandwidth
allocated to the particular protocol in the network switch ETS
according to a frequency of pause frames and amount of the I/O
traffic detected.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein: the host comprises a Virtual
Machine (VM) and the resource allocation information is retrieved
from a hypervisor executing the VM; and the application plugin is
executing within a Software Defined Networking (SDN)
controller.
8. A system for improving Input/Output (I/O) performance through
bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization, comprising: a
processor executing instructions stored in a memory device; wherein
the processor: retrieves resource allocation information from a
host by an application plugin; retrieves bandwidth allocation
information from a network switch using Enhanced Transmission
Selection (ETS) by the application plugin; and performs a bandwidth
optimization operation on at least one of the host and the network
switch according to the resource allocation information received
from the host and the bandwidth allocation information received
from the network switch by the application plugin.
9. The system of claim 8, wherein the processor determines, using
the application plugin, whether the bandwidth allocation
information of bandwidth allocated to a particular protocol of a
plurality of protocols used by the network switch ETS is
commensurate with respect to the resource allocation information of
a set of resources currently used by the host which are dedicated
to I/O traffic using the particular protocol.
10. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor: when it is
determined the bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol used
by the network switch ETS is higher than required by the set of
resources currently used by the host, reduces the bandwidth
allocated to the particular protocol in the network switch EFS; and
when it is determined the bandwidth allocated to the particular
protocol used by the network switch ETS is lower than required by
the set of resources currently used by the host, increases the
bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol in the network
switch EFS.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor: upon receiving a
negative indication from the network switch ETS associated with
decreasing the bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol,
provides feedback, by the application plugin to the host, to
allocate additional resources to the set of resources; and upon
receiving a negative indication from the network switch ETS
associated with increasing the bandwidth allocated to the
particular protocol, provides feedback, by the application plugin
to the host, to de-allocate resources of the set of resources.
12. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor monitors, using a
monitoring agent, the I/O traffic used by the particular protocol;
wherein: when a peak bandwidth usage of the particular protocol is
below an allocated threshold for a predetermined time period, the
monitoring agent creates a warning to the network switch ETS to
increase the bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol; and
when the peak bandwidth usage of the particular protocol is above
the allocated threshold for the predetermined time period, the
monitoring agent creates a warning to the network switch ETS to
decrease the bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol.
13. The system of claim 9, wherein the processor adjusts the
bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol in the network
switch ETS according to a frequency of pause frames and amount of
the I/O traffic detected.
14. The system of claim 8, wherein: the host comprises a Virtual
Machine (VM) and the resource allocation information is retrieved
from a hypervisor executing the VM; and the application plugin is
executing within a Software Defined Networking (SDN)
controller.
15. A computer program product for improving Input/Output (I/O)
performance through bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization,
by a processor, the computer program product embodied on a
non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having
computer-readable program code portions stored therein, the
computer-readable program code portions comprising: an executable
portion that retrieves resource allocation information from a host
by an application plugin; an executable portion that retrieves
bandwidth allocation information from a network switch using
Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS) by the application plugin;
and an executable portion that performs a bandwidth optimization
operation on at least one of the host and the network switch
according to the resource allocation information received from the
host and the bandwidth allocation information received from the
network switch by the application plugin.
16. The computer program product of claim 15, further including an
executable portion that determines, using the application plugin,
whether the bandwidth allocation information of bandwidth allocated
to a particular protocol of a plurality of protocols used by the
network switch ETS is commensurate with respect to the resource
allocation information of a set of resources currently used by the
host which are dedicated to I/O traffic using the particular
protocol.
17. The computer program product of claim 16, further including an
executable portion that: when it is determined the bandwidth
allocated to the particular protocol used by the network switch ETS
is higher than required by the set of resources currently used by
the host, reduces the bandwidth allocated to the particular
protocol in the network switch EFS; and when it is determined the
bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol used by the network
switch ETS is lower than required by the set of resources currently
used by the host, increases the bandwidth allocated to the
particular protocol in the network switch EFS.
18. The computer program product of claim 17, further including an
executable portion that: upon receiving a negative indication from
the network switch ETS associated with decreasing the bandwidth
allocated to the particular protocol, provides feedback, by the
application plugin to the host, to allocate additional resources to
the set of resources; and upon receiving a negative indication from
the network switch ETS associated with increasing the bandwidth
allocated to the particular protocol, provides feedback, by the
application plugin to the host, to de-allocate resources of the set
of resources.
19. The computer program product of claim 16, further including an
executable portion that monitors, using a monitoring agent, the I/O
traffic used by the particular protocol; wherein: when a peak
bandwidth usage of the particular protocol is below an allocated
threshold for a predetermined time period, the monitoring agent
creates a warning to the network switch ETS to increase the
bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol; and when the peak
bandwidth usage of the particular protocol is above the allocated
threshold for the predetermined time period, the monitoring agent
creates a warning to the network switch ETS to decrease the
bandwidth allocated to the particular protocol.
20. The computer program product of claim 16, further including an
executable portion that adjusts the bandwidth allocated to the
particular protocol in the network switch ETS according to a
frequency of pause frames and amount of the I/O traffic
detected.
21. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein: the host
comprises a Virtual Machine (VM) and the resource allocation
information is retrieved from a hypervisor executing the VM; and
the application plugin is executing within a Software Defined
Networking (SDN) controller.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Field of the Invention
[0001] The present invention relates in general computing systems,
and more particularly to, various embodiments for optimizing
resource and bandwidth usage within and/or between distributed
computing components.
Description of the Related Art
[0002] In today's society, computer systems are commonplace.
Computer systems may be found in the workplace, at home, or at
school. As computer systems become increasingly relied upon,
convenient, and portable, the Internet has grown exponentially.
Now, more than ever before, individuals and businesses rely upon
distributed storage systems (commonly referred to as "the cloud")
to store information and data. As wide strides in technological
advancement relating to data access devices have been accomplished,
there is an ever-growing demand for growth and development within
the back end supporting systems that provide and store the data
content.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0003] Various embodiments are disclosed herein for improving
Input/Output (I/O) performance through bi-directional bandwidth
feedback optimization, by a processor. In one embodiment, by way of
example only, a method comprises retrieving resource allocation
information from a host by an application plugin; retrieving
bandwidth allocation information from a network switch using
Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS) by the application plugin;
and performing a bandwidth optimization operation on at least one
of the host and the network switch according to the resource
allocation information received from the host and the bandwidth
allocation information received from the network switch by the
application plugin.
[0004] In addition to the foregoing exemplary embodiment, various
other system and computer program product embodiments are provided
and supply related advantages. The foregoing summary has been
provided to introduce a selection of concepts in a simplified form
that are further described below in the Detailed Description. This
Summary is not intended to identify key features or essential
features of the claimed subject matter, nor is it intended to be
used as an aid in determining the scope of the claimed subject
matter.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] In order that the advantages of the invention will be
readily understood, a more particular description of the invention
briefly described above will be rendered by reference to specific
embodiments that are illustrated in the appended drawings.
Understanding that these drawings depict only typical embodiments
of the invention and are not therefore to be considered to be
limiting of its scope, the invention will be described and
explained with additional specificity and detail through the use of
the accompanying drawings, in which:
[0006] FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a computer storage environment,
according to embodiments of the present invention;
[0007] FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a hardware structure of a data
storage system, according to embodiments of the present
invention;
[0008] FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary cloud computing
environment, according to embodiments of the present invention;
[0009] FIG. 4 is a block diagram depicting abstraction model
layers, according to embodiments of the present invention;
[0010] FIG. 5A is a block diagram of a network switch implementing
Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS) functionality, according to
embodiments of the present invention;
[0011] FIG. 5B is a block diagram of a Software Defined Network
(SDN) architecture, according to embodiments of the present
invention;
[0012] FIG. 6 is a flow chart diagram illustrating an exemplary
method for improving Input/Output (I/O) performance through
bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization, according to
embodiments of the present invention;
[0013] FIG. 7A is a block diagram of functional components for
improving I/O performance through bi-directional bandwidth feedback
optimization, according to embodiments of the present
invention;
[0014] FIG. 7B is an additional block diagram of functional
components for improving I/O performance through bi-directional
bandwidth feedback optimization, according to embodiments of the
present invention;
[0015] FIG. 8 is an additional flow chart diagram illustrating an
exemplary method for improving I/O performance through
bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization, according to
embodiments of the present invention;
[0016] FIG. 9 is an additional flow chart diagram illustrating an
exemplary method for improving I/O performance through
bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization, according to
embodiments of the present invention; and
[0017] FIG. 10 is still an additional flow chart diagram
illustrating an exemplary method for improving I/O performance
through bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization, according
to embodiments of the present invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0018] Ethernet networks are typically employed in local area
networks (LANs) that include a plurality of network switches. A
number of communication protocols have been developed and continue
to evolve to enhance Ethernet network performance for various
environments. For example, an enhancement to Ethernet, called data
center bridging (DCB), converged enhanced Ethernet (CEE) or data
center Ethernet (DCE), supports the convergence of LANs with
storage area networks (SANs). Other protocols that can be used in a
data center environment in conjunction with Ethernet include, for
instance, Fibre Channel over Ethernet (FCoE), Internet Wide Area
Remote Memory Access Protocol (iWARP), Remote Direct Memory Access
over Converged Ethernet (RoCE), and Internet Small Computer Systems
Interface (iSCSI) connections.
[0019] In traditional network architectures, there is no
centralized network control. Routing tables located locally in
network devices, such as switches, bridges, gateways, routers, or
firewalls, are individually configured to direct network traffic to
neighboring nodes of the network. The network devices may make
control decisions and forward network traffic accordingly. In
software-defined networking (SDN), network traffic routing
decisions are centrally controlled and made by a controller that
creates tables to define flow paths through the network. The
controller decouples control decisions about where traffic is sent
from network devices that forward traffic to a selected
destination.
[0020] In some SDN architectures, networking hardware, such as
network switches, may implement Data Center Bridging Capability
Exchange protocol (DCBX) functionality. DCBX comprises a discovery
and exchange protocol for communicating configuration and parameter
information among neighboring nodes to ensure a consistent
configuration of each device across the data center network.
Enhanced Transmission Selection (ETS) is a Quality of Service (QoS)
feature implemented via DCBX in switches. With ETS, bandwidth can
be allocated to different network traffic classes (e.g., FCoE and
iSCSI protocols) when both types of traffic are handled by the same
switch.
[0021] Consider now a scenario of a datacenter having a hypervisor
hosting two guest virtual machines (VM1 and VM2), where VM1 handles
FCoE I/O traffic and VM2 handles iSCSI I/O traffic through a
network switch that supports ETS. Consider also that the switch has
bandwidth allocation specified at 50% for FCoE traffic and 50% for
iSCSI traffic, and both the VM's are handling an amount of I/O such
that each of their respective 50% bandwidth quota is completely
consumed.
[0022] At this point, even were Central Processing Unit (CPU),
Random Access Memory (RAM) and network resources of one of the VMs
increased, with the goal of enabling the VM to drive more
Input/Output Operations per Second (IOPs) and bandwidth, the
network switch is not made aware of this allocation; and hence an
increase in resources at the VM-level cannot be utilized to drive
higher I/O rates through the switch at times of congestion.
[0023] Similarly, when CPU allocation for one (or each) VM is
reduced, the switch is unaware that this VM is not capable of
utilizing the entire bandwidth allocated to its traffic class; and
hence the switch prevents other traffic classes from consuming the
available additional bandwidth for other traffic classes at times
of congestion.
[0024] In short, there is a disconnect between resource allocation
information on the server (to drive higher I/O
throughput/performance) vs bandwidth allocation information at the
switch(es) (to adjust QoS parameters according to the desired
capability at the server-level). This gap must be bridged in order
to prevent unbalanced allocation of resources at server and network
levels.
[0025] In another scenario, in datacenters where a large number of
servers are connected to the same network switch such that only 10%
of the servers are using one protocol (e.g., FCoE) and the
remaining 90% are connected via another protocol (e.g., iSCSI)--if
the network switch is maintaining a bandwidth allocation for FCoE
and iSCSI as 50% each, in times of congestion, there is a high
likelihood that this would be an inappropriate allocation because
iSCSI usage would most likely be much higher than the 10% of
servers using FCoE. This would cause large latencies to iSCSI
servers, and there exists no mechanism within the switch to know
that this gap exists.
[0026] In yet another scenario, if the bandwidth allocation is set
by the ETS functionality within the switch in such a way that a
particular protocol consistently uses more than the defined
bandwidth allocation, the switch is again unaware of this imbalance
and has no monitoring mechanism to make decisions on how to more
appropriately balance the I/O traffic.
[0027] In still another scenario, if the bandwidth is
inappropriately allocated such that it, even in times of
congestion, it never reaches to the maximum threshold set by ETS,
then there is no mechanism used by switch to create a warning
indicating that bandwidth allocations may need to be adjusted nor
even monitoring to detect that such a problem exists.
[0028] Accordingly, the present invention considers various
embodiments to improve virtual and physical machine I/O performance
by using dynamic bandwidth optimization of ETS enabled switches
according to a bidirectional feedback mechanism. These mechanisms
include such functionality as using an application plugin to
retrieve resource allocation and bandwidth information from both
the hosts (e.g., physical machines or a hypervisor hosting VM(s))
and the ETS enabled network switch, compare the information to
determine whether the resource allocation information of the host
is commensurate with the bandwidth allocation information of the
network switch, and perform one of a plurality of
resource/bandwidth optimization operations on the hosts and/or on
the network switch to increase the I/O throughput thereof. This
functionality creates an awareness between the hosts and the
network switch(es) of I/O traffic exchanged therebetween to better
optimize both host resources and switch resources, while serving
applications demanding high IOPs to be served well with reduced
latency. Further, a reverse feedback mechanism is created whereby
an administrator of a physical machine/hypervisor hosting a VM (or
automatically via the hardware itself) may make more accurate
decisions as to what resources should be dedicated to certain I/O
traffic within that server according to information received from
the networking equipment such as to better optimize usage of those
resources within the server.
[0029] As will be discussed, in some embodiments, the
resource/bandwidth optimization operation may comprise providing a
suggestion to the network switch to adjust the bandwidth allocation
of a particular class (protocol) of I/O traffic based upon resource
allocation information received from the host which is dedicated to
that class of I/O traffic. In other embodiments, the
resource/bandwidth optimization operation may comprise providing a
suggestion to the host(s) to adjust the resource allocations
dedicated to the particular class of I/O traffic based upon the
bandwidth allocation information received from the network switch
which is dedicated to the same. In yet other embodiments, the
resource/bandwidth optimization operation may comprise monitoring
the network switch to determine whether a peak bandwidth usage used
by the particular class of I/O traffic is consistently above or
below its allocated threshold, and create a warning to the network
switch to adjust the bandwidth allocation for the particular class
of I/O traffic accordingly. In still other embodiments, the
bandwidth allocation at the network switch may be adjusted
according to a frequency count of a number of pause frames and an
overall amount of the particular class of I/O traffic. These and
additional aspects of the present invention and attendant benefits
will be further described, following.
[0030] It should be noted that the instant disclosure, for brevity,
frequents the language of "resources". In an actual implementation
of the present invention, the resources termed herein may be
comprised of CPUs, graphical processing units (GPUs), memory,
storage devices, network devices, accelerator devices, or even
entire computing nodes. Indeed, any hardware and/or software
resources as commonly known in the art are to be construed
interchangeably with "resources" or "resource types" as described
herein, as one practicing the art would appreciate.
[0031] Turning now to FIG. 1, a schematic pictorial illustration of
a data processing storage subsystem 20 is shown, in accordance with
a disclosed embodiment of the invention. The particular subsystem
shown in FIG. 1 is presented to facilitate an explanation of the
invention. However, as the skilled artisan will appreciate, the
invention can be practiced using other computing environments, such
as other storage subsystems with diverse architectures and
capabilities.
[0032] Storage subsystem 20 receives, from one or more host
computers 22, input/output (I/O) requests, which are commands to
read or write data at logical addresses on logical volumes. Any
number of host computers 22 are coupled to storage subsystem 20 by
any means known in the art, for example, using a network. Herein,
by way of example, host computers 22 and storage subsystem 20 are
assumed to be coupled by a Storage Area Network (SAN) 26
incorporating data connections 24 and Host Bus Adapters (HBAs) 28.
The logical addresses specify a range of data blocks within a
logical volume, each block herein being assumed by way of example
to contain 512 bytes. For example, a 10 KB data record used in a
data processing application on a given host computer 22 would
require 20 blocks, which the given host computer might specify as
being stored at a logical address comprising blocks 1,000 through
1,019 of a logical volume. Storage subsystem 20 may operate in, or
as, a SAN system.
[0033] Storage subsystem 20 comprises a clustered storage
controller 34 coupled between SAN 26 and a private network 46 using
data connections 30 and 44, respectively, and incorporating
adapters 32 and 42, again respectively. In some configurations,
adapters 32 and 42 may comprise host SAN adapters (HSAs). Clustered
storage controller 34 implements clusters of storage modules 36,
each of which includes an interface 38 (in communication between
adapters 32 and 42), and a cache 40. Each storage module 36 is
responsible for a number of storage devices 50 by way of a data
connection 48 as shown.
[0034] As described previously, each storage module 36 further
comprises a given cache 40. However, it will be appreciated that
the number of caches 40 used in storage subsystem 20 and in
conjunction with clustered storage controller 34 may be any
convenient number. While all caches 40 in storage subsystem 20 may
operate in substantially the same manner and comprise substantially
similar elements, this is not a requirement. Each of the caches 40
may be approximately equal in size and is assumed to be coupled, by
way of example, in a one-to-one correspondence with a set of
physical storage devices 50, which may comprise disks. In one
embodiment, physical storage devices may comprise such disks. Those
skilled in the art will be able to adapt the description herein to
caches of different sizes.
[0035] Each set of storage devices 50 comprises multiple slow
and/or fast access time mass storage devices, herein below assumed
to be multiple hard disks. FIG. 1 shows caches 40 coupled to
respective sets of storage devices 50. In some configurations, the
sets of storage devices 50 comprise one or more hard disks, which
can have different performance characteristics. In response to an
I/O command, a given cache 40, by way of example, may read or write
data at addressable physical locations of a given storage device
50. In the embodiment shown in FIG. 1, caches 40 are able to
exercise certain control functions over storage devices 50. These
control functions may alternatively be realized by hardware devices
such as disk controllers (not shown), which are linked to caches
40.
[0036] Each storage module 36 is operative to monitor its state,
including the states of associated caches 40, and to transmit
configuration information to other components of storage subsystem
20 for example, configuration changes that result in blocking
intervals, or limit the rate at which I/O requests for the sets of
physical storage are accepted.
[0037] Routing of commands and data from HBAs 28 to clustered
storage controller 34 and to each cache 40 may be performed over a
network and/or a network switch. Herein, by way of example, HBAs 28
may be coupled to storage modules 36 by at least one switch (not
shown in FIG. 1) of SAN 26, which can be of any known type having a
digital cross-connect function. Additionally, or alternatively,
HBAs 28 may be coupled to storage modules 36.
[0038] In some embodiments, data having contiguous logical
addresses can be distributed among modules 36, and within the
storage devices in each of the modules. Alternatively, the data can
be distributed using other algorithms, e.g., byte or block
interleaving. In general, this increases bandwidth, for instance,
by allowing a volume in a SAN or a file in network attached storage
to be read from or written to more than one given storage device 50
at a time.
[0039] However, this technique requires coordination among the
various storage devices, and in practice may require complex
provisions for any failure of the storage devices, and a strategy
for dealing with error checking information, e.g., a technique for
storing parity information relating to distributed data. Indeed,
when logical unit partitions are distributed in sufficiently small
granularity, data associated with a single logical unit may span
all of the storage devices 50.
[0040] While not explicitly shown for purposes of illustrative
simplicity, the skilled artisan will appreciate that in some
embodiments, clustered storage controller 34 may be adapted for
implementation in conjunction with certain hardware, such as a rack
mount system, a midplane, and/or a backplane. Indeed, private
network 46 in one embodiment may be implemented using a backplane.
Additional hardware such as the aforementioned switches,
processors, controllers, memory devices, and the like may also be
incorporated into clustered storage controller 34 and elsewhere
within storage subsystem 20, again as the skilled artisan will
appreciate. Further, a variety of software components, operating
systems, firmware, and the like may be integrated into one storage
subsystem 20.
[0041] FIG. 2 is a schematic pictorial illustration of facility 100
configured to perform host computer monitoring, in accordance with
an embodiment of the present invention. In the description herein,
host computers 22, storage controllers 34 and their respective
components may be differentiated by appending a letter to the
identifying numeral, so that facility 100 comprises a first host
computer 22A (also referred to herein as a primary host computer)
coupled to a clustered storage controller 34A via a SAN 26A, and a
second host computer 22B (also referred to herein as a secondary
host computer) coupled to a clustered storage controller 34B via a
SAN 26B. In the configuration shown in FIG. 2 storage controllers
34A and 34B are coupled via a facility SAN 102. In other
embodiments, as will be described herein, the first host computer
22A may be directly connected to the clustered storage controller
34B, and the second host computer 22B may be directly connected to
the clustered storage controller 34A via a SAN similar to SAN 102,
a virtualized networking connection, or any other computer
implemented medium.
[0042] Host computer 22A comprises a processor 64A, a memory 66A,
and an adapter 68A. Adapter 68A is coupled to SAN 26A via a data
connection 24A.
[0043] As described supra, module 36A is coupled to storage devices
50A via data connections 48A, and comprises adapters 32A and 42A, a
cache 40A, and an interface 38A. Module 36A also comprises a
processor 70A and a memory 72A. As explained in detail hereinbelow,
processor 70A is configured to establish metrics 114 that indicate
a connectivity status of host computer 22A, and store the metrics
to memory 72A. In some embodiments, processor 70A may store metrics
74 to storage devices 50A.
[0044] Host computer 22B comprises a processor 64B, a memory 66B,
and an adapter 68B. Adapter 68B is coupled to SAN 26B via a data
connection 24B.
[0045] As described supra, module 36B is coupled to storage devices
50B via data connections 48B, and comprises adapters 32B and 42B, a
cache 40B, and an interface 38B. Module 36B also comprises a
processor 70A and a memory 72B.
[0046] Processors 64A, 64B, 70A and 70B typically comprise
general-purpose computers, which are programmed in software to
carry out the functions described herein. The software may be
downloaded to host computers 22A and 22B and modules 36A and 36B in
electronic form, over a network, for example, or it may be provided
on non-transitory tangible media, such as optical, magnetic or
electronic memory media. Alternatively, some or all of the
functions of the processors may be carried out by dedicated or
programmable digital hardware components, or using a combination of
hardware and software elements.
[0047] Examples of adapters 32A, 32B, 42A, 42B, 68A and 68B,
include switched fabric adapters such as Fibre Channel (FC)
adapters, iSCSI adapters, FCoE adapters and Infiniband.TM.
adapters.
[0048] While the configuration shown in FIG. 2 shows storage host
computers 22A and 22B coupled to storage controllers 34A and 34B
via SANs 26A and 26B, other configurations are to be considered
within the spirit and scope of the present invention. For example,
host computers 22A and 22B can be coupled to a single storage
controller 34 via a single SAN 26.
[0049] It is further understood in advance that although this
disclosure includes a detailed description on cloud computing,
following, that implementation of the teachings recited herein are
not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather, embodiments
of the present invention are capable of being implemented in
conjunction with any other type of computing environment now known
or later developed.
[0050] Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling
convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of
configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth,
servers, processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual
machines, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and
released with minimal management effort or interaction with a
provider of the service. This cloud model may include at least five
characteristics, at least three service models, and at least four
deployment models.
[0051] Characteristics are as follows:
[0052] On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally
provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network
storage, as needed automatically without requiring human
interaction with the service's provider.
[0053] Broad network access: capabilities are available over a
network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use
by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile
phones, laptops, and PDAs).
[0054] Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are
pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with
different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and
reassigned according to demand. There is a sense of location
independence in that the consumer generally has no control or
knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but may
be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g.,
country, state, or datacenter).
[0055] Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and
elastically provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly
scale out and rapidly released to quickly scale in. To the
consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear
to be unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any
time.
[0056] Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and
optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some
level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g.,
storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource
usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported providing
transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized
service.
[0057] Service Models are as follows:
[0058] Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the
consumer is to use the provider's applications running on a cloud
infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client
devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser
(e.g., web-based e-mail). The consumer does not manage or control
the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers,
operating systems, storage, or even individual application
capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific
application configuration settings.
[0059] Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the
consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure
consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming
languages and tools supported by the provider. The consumer does
not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including
networks, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control
over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting
environment configurations.
[0060] Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided
to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and
other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to
deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating
systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control
the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating
systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited
control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).
[0061] Deployment Models are as follows:
[0062] Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely
for an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a
third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises.
[0063] Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by
several organizations and supports a specific community that has
shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and
compliance considerations). It may be managed by the organizations
or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises.
[0064] Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to
the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an
organization selling cloud services.
[0065] Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of
two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain
unique entities but are bound together by standardized or
proprietary technology that enables data and application
portability (e.g., cloud bursting for load-balancing between
clouds).
[0066] A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a
focus on statelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic
interoperability. At the heart of cloud computing is an
infrastructure comprising a network of interconnected nodes and
storage systems (e.g. storage subsystem 20).
[0067] Referring now to FIG. 3, illustrative cloud computing
environment 52 is depicted. As shown, cloud computing environment
52 comprises one or more storage subsystems 20 and cloud computing
nodes with which local computing devices used by cloud consumers,
such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA) or cellular
telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C, and/or
automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Storage systems 20
and the cloud nodes may communicate with one another. They may be
grouped (not shown) physically or virtually, in one or more
networks, such as Private, Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as
described hereinabove, or a combination thereof. This allows cloud
computing environment 52 to offer infrastructure, platforms and/or
software as services for which a cloud consumer does not need to
maintain resources on a local computing device. It is understood
that the types of computing devices 54A-N shown in FIG. 3 are
intended to be illustrative only and that storage subsystems 20,
cloud computing nodes and cloud computing environment 52 can
communicate with any type of computerized device over any type of
network and/or network addressable connection (e.g., using a web
browser).
[0068] Referring now to FIG. 4, a set of functional abstraction
layers provided by cloud computing environment 52 (FIG. 3) is
shown. It should be understood in advance that the components,
layers, and functions shown in FIG. 4 are intended to be
illustrative only and embodiments of the invention are not limited
thereto. As depicted, the following layers and corresponding
functions are provided:
[0069] Hardware and software layer 80 includes hardware and
software components. Examples of hardware components include:
mainframes 81; RISC (Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture
based servers 82; servers 83; blade servers 84; storage devices 85;
and networks and networking components 86. In some embodiments,
software components include network application server software 87
and database software 88.
[0070] Virtualization layer 90 provides an abstraction layer from
which the following examples of virtual entities may be provided:
virtual servers 91; virtual storage 92; virtual networks 93,
including virtual private networks; virtual applications and
operating systems 94; and virtual clients 95.
[0071] In one example, management layer 100 may provide the
functions described below. Resource provisioning 101 provides
dynamic procurement of computing resources and other resources that
are utilized to perform tasks within the cloud computing
environment. Metering and Pricing 102 provide cost tracking as
resources are utilized within the cloud computing environment, and
billing or invoicing for consumption of these resources. In one
example, these resources may comprise application software
licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloud
consumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other
resources. User portal 103 provides access to the cloud computing
environment for consumers and system administrators. Service level
management 104 provides cloud computing resource allocation and
management such that required service levels are met. Service Level
Agreement (SLA) planning and fulfillment 105 provide
pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloud computing resources
for which a future requirement is anticipated in accordance with an
SLA.
[0072] Workloads layer 110 provides examples of functionality for
which the cloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of
workloads and functions which may be provided from this layer
include: mapping and navigation 111; software development and
lifecycle management 112; virtual classroom education delivery 113;
data analytics processing 114; transaction processing 115; and, in
the context of the illustrated embodiments of the present
invention, various network analytical and resource allocation
functions 116. One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate
that the network analytical and resource allocation functions 116
may also work in conjunction with other portions of the various
abstractions layers, such as those in hardware and software 80,
virtualization 90, management 100, and other workloads 110 (such as
data analytics processing 114, for example) to accomplish the
various purposes of the illustrated embodiments of the present
invention.
Bi-Directional Bandwidth and Resource Feedback Optimization
[0073] As aforementioned, some network switches have the capability
to support the ETS feature, which allocates bandwidth within the
switch for different classes of service (i.e., using different
protocols). ETS ensures a minimum bandwidth is guaranteed (as per
the allocation) for that particular class of service. FIG. 5A is a
block diagram of a network architecture 500 implementing ETS
functionality. Architecture 500 depicts VM1 (block 502)
communicating with an ETS-enabled network switch 506 through a FCoE
protocol and VM2 (block 504) communicating with the network switch
506 through an iSCSI protocol. The ETS feature reserves a bandwidth
allocation for each class of I/O traffic from both protocols (e.g.,
50% bandwidth for FCoE and 50% bandwidth for iSCSI) within the same
switch resource. However, currently, ETS currently does not take
into account modifications in resource allocations occurring on the
host side (i.e., resource allocation modifications within either
VM1 502 or VM2 504), and only relies on a switch administrator to
modify policies or allocation thereof.
[0074] For example, there could be changes occurring at the VM
resource allocation-level such that VM CPU, RAM and network
resource shares are increased for driving more I/O through the VM,
however due to bandwidth constraints on the ETS-enabled switch, the
switch is unable to produce higher throughput rates due to a
bottleneck in its allocation for a particular class of I/O traffic.
In such a case, feedback from the hypervisor (or physical host)
indicating such a change in resource allocation may allow the
switch to intelligently increase or decrease its bandwidth
allocation for the specific protocol which the host is using for
performing these I/O operations.
TABLE-US-00001 TABLE 1 New Protocol Resource Resource Suggestion
I/O allocated allocation to Switch Virtual and BW originally in %
in % by Plug-in Machine allocation in (CPU/RAM/ (CPU/RAM/ to change
Name switch Network) Network) BW allocation VM1 FCoE, 50% 10 80
FCoE, 80% VM2 iSCSI, 50% 20 20 iSCSI, 20%
[0075] Thus, if the switch has bandwidth allocation performed by
ETS such that, one of the used protocols is allocated bandwidth
which is defined to an amount much lesser than what it consistently
uses in times of congestion, the switch may use a monitoring agent
comprising an application plugin to monitor this imbalance between
the VM and the switch, and create a suggestion to the administrator
(or automatically without user input) to increase the bandwidth
allocation to improve on latencies for I/O traffic using this
protocol. Referring back to network architecture 500 and to Table
1, upon an additional resource allocation in VM1 502 (such as
additional CPU, RAM, and/or networking resources, etc. being
provisioned to the VM), a suggestion may be created and transmitted
to the switch 506 to re-allocate additional bandwidth to the FCoE
protocol (the protocol of I/O VM1 502 is using). In Table 1, an
example is shown at which the switch 506 is splitting bandwidth
between FCoE and iSCSI protocols at 50% each. Accordingly, when VM1
502 is allocated an additional 80% of resources (which percentage
may be granularly defined per individual resource and/or
aggregately defined over a sum of all resources of the VM), the
suggestion to the switch 506 is to re-allocate 80% of its bandwidth
to FCoE and 20% of its bandwidth to iSCSI (the protocol VM2 504 is
using, which resources were originally defined lower at 20%).
[0076] Similarly, there may be scenarios of bandwidth allocation
where ETS allocates bandwidth to a particular protocol in the
switch 506, which even in times of congestion, never reaches the
defined allocation threshold. In such cases, the monitoring
agent/application plugin (which may be implemented within the
switch 506 or within a given host/VM) may monitor the traffic of
the particular protocol over a period of time and create a
suggestion to reduce the bandwidth allocation to this class of I/O
traffic within the switch 506.
[0077] Notably, if the switch 506 maintains a bandwidth allocation,
such that, in spite of increasing VM resources at the
hypervisor-level, the switch 506 is unable to increase allocation
for the protocol further (and therefore the switch 506 will become
a bottleneck), the switch 506 may provide feedback to the
hypervisor of the VM (via the plug-in) to reduce VM resources of
CPU, RAM, network shares, etc. Here, increased allocation of
resources of the host or VM is not justified, as the switch 506 is
unable to provide any further throughput, and by means of feedback
these resources of the given VM/physical host would optimized.
[0078] It should be also be noted that the present disclosure is
applicable not only to traditional SAN environments but also to
Software Defined Networking (SDN) configurations, as described in
the network architecture 550 in FIG. 5B. Architecture 550
illustrates an SDN configuration having an SDN controller 552
controlling given hosts 22A and 22B, switch 506, and clustered
storage controller 34A. Architecture 550 includes a control plane
and a data plane, where control plane communication is achieved via
a southbound Application Programming Interface (API), or any other
medium, to fetch data from various network devices to make an
intelligent decisions as to the alteration of bandwidth allocations
used by various protocols in the switch 506. Communication between
various network entities (i.e., clustered storage controller 34A,
hosts 22A and 22B, and the switch 506) is achieved via the data
plane.
[0079] Turning now, to FIG. 6, FIG. 6 illustrates this
functionality by describing an exemplary method 600 for an
exemplary method for improving I/O performance through
bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization, in accordance with
one embodiment of the present invention. The method 600 (and any
subsequent methods) may be performed in accordance with the present
invention in any of the environments depicted in FIGS. 1-5B, among
others, in various embodiments. Of course, more or less operations
than those specifically described in FIG. 6 may be included in
method 600, as would be understood by one of skill in the art upon
reading the present descriptions.
[0080] Each of the steps of the method 600 (and any subsequent
methods) may be performed by any suitable component of the
operating environment. For example, in various embodiments, the
method 600 may be partially or entirely performed by a processor,
or some other device having one or more processors therein. The
processor, e.g., processing circuit(s), chip(s), and/or module(s)
implemented in hardware and/or software, and preferably having at
least one hardware component may be utilized in any device to
perform one or more steps of the method 600. Illustrative
processors include, but are not limited to, a CPU, an application
specific integrated circuit (ASIC), a field programmable gate array
(FPGA), etc., combinations thereof, or any other suitable computing
device known in the art.
[0081] The method 600 begins (step 602) by retrieving resource
allocation information from a host by an application plugin (step
604). Bandwidth allocation information is retrieved from a network
switch using ETS by the application plugin (step 606). A bandwidth
optimization operation is performed on at least one of the host and
the network switch according to the resource allocation information
received from the host and the bandwidth allocation information
received from the network switch by the application plugin (step
608). The method 600 ends (step 610).
[0082] Continuing, FIGS. 7A and 7B are a block diagrams depicting
exemplary functional components 700 and 750, respectively,
according to various mechanisms of the illustrated embodiments, is
shown. As shown, the various functionality, or "modules" of
functionality, hardware devices, and/or other components in the
same descriptive sense as has been previously described in FIGS.
1-5B may be included in FIGS. 7A and 7B.
[0083] Beginning with functional components 700, an application
plugin 702 receives feedback from a hypervisor or physical machine
704 regarding the increase or decrease of resource allocations
allotted thereto. The application plugin uses this information to
then provide feedback to the switch 506 to commensurately increase
or decrease bandwidth allocation for I/O traffic of the protocol
used by the hypervisor or physical machine 704. Functional
components 750 then illustrate a management agent 752 which
monitors the switch 506 to detect whether the current bandwidth
allocations of each protocol used by the switch 506 are
consistently (i.e., over a predefined timeframe) underutilizing or
overutilizing their allocated bandwidth. If so, the management
agent 752 creates a warning to the switch 506 that the bandwidth
allocation is imbalanced based upon the actual usage of the
protocol-specific I/O traffic. It should again be noted that the
switch 506 may pass this warning indication on to an administrator
who then may re-allocate bandwidth to certain protocol classes
within the ETS, or the warning indication may be received and
implemented by the switch 506 such that the switch 506
automatically re-allocates and re-balances the bandwidth between
the protocol classes without user input.
[0084] Turning now to FIG. 8, an additional flow chart diagram
illustrating an exemplary method 800 for improving I/O performance
through bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization is
illustrated. It should be appreciated that, although the
functionality described in the method 800 is illustrated in the
context of a hypervisor/VM environment, the same functionality may
apply to operating systems of physical hosts. The method 800 begins
(step 802) by using the application plugin to pull (retrieve)
resource allocation information for each VM from the hypervisor
(step 804). The application plugin then pulls bandwidth allocation
information from ETS in the switch 506 (step 806). The application
plugin then monitors whether the bandwidth allocated by ETS in the
switch 506 is appropriate (commensurate) with respect to the
resources allocated by the hypervisor to each VM (step 808). At
step 810, a determination is made whether ETS in the switch 506 has
allocated more bandwidth than required for the particular class of
I/O traffic according to the allocated resources of the VM (which
are dedicated to that particular class of I/O traffic). If, at step
810 it is determined ETS in the switch 506 has allocated more
bandwidth than required for the particular class of I/O traffic,
the application plugin transmits a suggestion (to the
administrator) and/or an instruction (to the operating software) to
ETS of the switch 506 to reduce the bandwidth allocation for the
particular class of I/O traffic (step 812); and the method 800 ends
(step 818).
[0085] Returning to step 810, if it is determined ETS in the switch
506 does not have allocated more bandwidth than required for the
particular class of I/O traffic, a determination is then made at
step 814 as to whether the bandwidth allocation in ETS is currently
balanced and/or less than required for the particular class of I/O
traffic. If, at step 814, the bandwidth allocation in ETS is
balanced for both the particular class of I/O traffic and for the
currently allocated resources of the VM, the method 800 ends (step
818). Returning to step 814, if the bandwidth allocation within the
ETS of the switch 506 continues to be imbalanced or is less than
required with regard to both the class of I/O traffic and the
resources allocated to the VM, the application plugin transmits a
suggestion/instruction to ETS of the switch 506 to increase
bandwidth for that particular class of I/O traffic (step 816), and
the method 800 ends (step 818).
[0086] FIG. 9 illustrates an additional flow chart diagram of an
exemplary method 900 for improving I/O performance through
bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization. The method 900
begins (step 902) by using the application plugin to pull bandwidth
allocation information by ETS in the switch 506 (step 904). A
monitoring agent then monitors I/O traffic throughput and the
current bandwidth allocations of each class (protocol) usage per
switch 506 (step 906). A determination is then made at step 908 as
to whether a peak bandwidth usage by one particular class of I/O
traffic consistently (i.e., at a certain time of day, for a
predetermined timeframe, and/or as expressed as a percentage over a
predetermined timeframe) below the allocated bandwidth threshold
for the particular class of I/O traffic. If the peak bandwidth
usage of one particular class of I/O traffic is consistently below
the allocated bandwidth threshold set by ETS in the switch 506, the
monitoring agent creates a warning/indication to the switch 506 to
increase bandwidth allocation for this particular class (protocol)
of I/O traffic (step 910), and the method 900 ends (step 916).
[0087] Returning to step 908, if the peak bandwidth usage of the
particular class of I/O traffic is not consistently below the
allocated bandwidth threshold set by ETS in the switch 506, another
determination is made at step 912 as to whether the peak bandwidth
usage of the particular class of I/O traffic is consistently above
the allocated bandwidth threshold set by ETS in the switch 506. If
at step 912, the peak usage of the particular class of I/O traffic
is not consistently above the allocated bandwidth threshold, the
method 900 ends (step 916). Returning to step 912, if the peak
usage of the particular class of I/O traffic is consistently above
the allocated bandwidth threshold, the monitoring agent creates a
warning/indication to the switch 506 to decrease bandwidth
allocation for this particular class of I/O traffic (step 914); and
the method 900 ends (step 916).
[0088] FIG. 10 illustrates still an additional flow chart diagram
of an exemplary method 1000 for improving I/O performance through
bi-directional bandwidth feedback optimization. The method 1000
begins (step 1002) by using the application plugin to pull
(retrieve) resource allocation information for each VM from the
hypervisor (step 1004). The application plugin then pulls bandwidth
allocation information from ETS in the switch 506 (step 1006). The
application plugin then monitors whether the bandwidth allocated by
ETS in the switch 506 is appropriate (commensurate) with respect to
the resources allocated by the hypervisor to each VM (step
1008).
[0089] At step 1010, a determination is made whether ETS in the
switch 506 has allocated more bandwidth than required for the
particular class of I/O traffic according to the allocated
resources of the VM (which are dedicated to that particular class
of I/O traffic). If, at step 1010 it is determined ETS in the
switch 506 has allocated more bandwidth than required for the
particular class of I/O traffic, the application plugin transmits a
suggestion (to the administrator) and/or an instruction (to the
operating software) to ETS of the switch 506 to reduce the
bandwidth allocation for the particular class of I/O traffic (step
1012). The method 1000 then continues by determining whether the
ETS of the switch 506 accepts this suggestion to alter the
bandwidth allocation (step 1014). If the ETS accepts the suggestion
at step 1014, the ETS then modifies the bandwidth allocation for
the particular class of I/O traffic in the switch 506 as suggested
by the application plugin (step 1018), and the method 1000 ends
(step 1028). If, at step 1014, the ETS provides a negative
indication and does not accept the suggestion to modify the
bandwidth allocation and/or is unable to do so, the application
plugin provides a suggestion to the hypervisor hosting the VM to
increase resources to the VM utilizing the particular class of I/O
traffic through an increased resource allocation operation (step
1016); and the method 1000 ends (step 1028). Again, this indication
to modify resources of the VM may be indicated to an administrator
and/or automatically applied by the hypervisor as suggested by the
application plugin with no user input.
[0090] Returning to step 1010, if it is determined ETS in the
switch 506 does not have allocated more bandwidth than required for
the particular class of I/O traffic, a determination is then made
at step 1020 as to whether the bandwidth allocation in ETS is
currently balanced and/or less than required for the particular
class of I/O traffic. If, at step 1020, the bandwidth allocation in
ETS is balanced for both the particular class of I/O traffic and
for the currently allocated resources of the VM, the method 1000
ends (step 1028). Returning to step 1020, if the bandwidth
allocation within the ETS of the switch 506 continues to be
imbalanced or is less than required with regard to both the class
of I/O traffic and the resources allocated to the VM, the
application plugin transmits a suggestion/instruction to ETS of the
switch 506 to increase bandwidth for that particular class of I/O
traffic (step 1022).
[0091] The method 1000 then continues by determining whether the
ETS of the switch 506 accepts this suggestion to alter the
bandwidth allocation (step 1024). If the ETS accepts the suggestion
at step 1024, the ETS then modifies the bandwidth allocation for
the particular class of I/O traffic in the switch 506 as suggested
by the application plugin (step 1018), and the method 1000 ends
(step 1028). If, at step 1024, the ETS provides a negative
indication and does not accept the suggestion to modify the
bandwidth allocation and/or is unable to do so (e.g., no further
bandwidth is available), the application plugin provides a
suggestion to the hypervisor hosting the VM to reduce resources to
the VM utilizing the particular class of I/O traffic through a
resource de-allocation operation (step 1026); and the method 1000
ends (step 1028).
[0092] In some embodiments, additional information may be used in
determining whether bandwidth should be re-allocated within the ETS
of the switch 506. For example, a modification in number of storage
volumes used by the VM or an amount of I/O and a frequency of
detected pause frames may be utilized to facilitate the
determination.
[0093] Consider two protocols (FCoE and iSCSI) are being configured
on the switch 506, with following configuration in the network:
TABLE-US-00002 TABLE 2 New BW allocation Current New suggestion by
BW No. of Volumes SDN Controller Protocol allocation Volumes Count
to ETS Switch FCoE 50% 160 160 80% iSCSI 50% 160 40 20%
[0094] Table 2 indicates that, upon modifying a number of currently
utilized volumes, a new bandwidth allocation threshold per class of
I/O traffic associated with the volumes may be
suggested/implemented. Thus, the following formula can be used to
determine BW allocation based on change of volumes: New BW
allocation=Volume for that particular protocol/(Total Volumes) x
Total BW. This comprises one example of a heuristic approach to
manage the formula. Similar such formulas can be used to determine
the bandwidth allocations per class of I/O traffic, as would be
appreciated by the skilled artisan.
[0095] Moreover, when bandwidth allocation is defined as 50%, for
example, for each protocol, only one protocol (e.g., FCoE) is
utilizing the network, and over a predetermined number of pause
frames being generated for this protocol whereas usage for other
protocols is minimal, a suggestion may be made by the SDN
controller 552, for example, to increase the bandwidth allocation
of the FCoE protocol such that when iSCSI I/O traffic increases on
the network, the FCoE traffic is not generally affected.
TABLE-US-00003 TABLE 3 Current No. of Pause New BW BW Amount Frames
recorded allocation Protocol allocation of IO in switch suggestion
FCoE 50% High High 80% iSCSI 50% Nil 0 20%
[0096] Accordingly, the bandwidth allocation for each protocol in
the ETS may be adjusted (increased or decreased) according to a
number of pause frames and an amount of I/O traffic associated with
each protocol. As illustrated in the alteration of the bandwidth
allocation in Table 3, when iSCSI I/O traffic rises, the number of
pause frames would not rise substantially for FCoE I/O traffic.
Thus, again, based on pause frames count and amount of I/O traffic
per class, a formula can be determined to make the bandwidth
re-allocation suggestion by the SDN controller 552 to the ETS of
the switch 506.
[0097] The present invention may be a system, a method, and/or a
computer program product. The computer program product may include
a computer readable storage medium (or media) having computer
readable program instructions thereon for causing a processor to
carry out aspects of the present invention.
[0098] The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible
device that can retain and store instructions for use by an
instruction execution device. The computer readable storage medium
may be, for example, but is not limited to, an electronic storage
device, a magnetic storage device, an optical storage device, an
electromagnetic storage device, a semiconductor storage device, or
any suitable combination of the foregoing. A non-exhaustive list of
more specific examples of the computer readable storage medium
includes the following: a portable computer diskette, a hard disk,
a random access memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable
programmable read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), a static
random access memory (SRAM), a portable compact disc read-only
memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD), a memory stick, a
floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such as punch-cards or
raised structures in a groove having instructions recorded thereon,
and any suitable combination of the foregoing. A computer readable
storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construed as being
transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freely
propagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves
propagating through a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g.,
light pulses passing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical
signals transmitted through a wire.
[0099] Computer readable program instructions described herein can
be downloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a
computer readable storage medium or to an external computer or
external storage device via a network, for example, the Internet, a
local area network, a wide area network and/or a wireless network.
The network may comprise copper transmission cables, optical
transmission fibers, wireless transmission, routers, firewalls,
switches, gateway computers and/or edge servers. A network adapter
card or network interface in each computing/processing device
receives computer readable program instructions from the network
and forwards the computer readable program instructions for storage
in a computer readable storage medium within the respective
computing/processing device.
[0100] Computer readable program instructions for carrying out
operations of the present invention may be assembler instructions,
instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine
instructions, machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware
instructions, state-setting data, or either source code or object
code written in any combination of one or more programming
languages, including an object oriented programming language such
as Smalltalk, C++ or the like, and conventional procedural
programming languages, such as the "C" programming language or
similar programming languages. The computer readable program
instructions may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on
the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on
the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on
the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the remote
computer may be connected to the user's computer through any type
of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide area
network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external
computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet
Service Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry
including, for example, programmable logic circuitry,
field-programmable gate arrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays
(PLA) may execute the computer readable program instructions by
utilizing state information of the computer readable program
instructions to personalize the electronic circuitry, in order to
perform aspects of the present invention.
[0101] Aspects of the present invention are described herein with
reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of
methods, apparatus (systems), and computer program products
according to embodiments of the invention. It will be understood
that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block
diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations
and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer readable
program instructions
[0102] These computer readable program instructions may be provided
to a processor of a general purpose computer, special purpose
computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to
produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via
the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing
apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts
specified in the flowcharts and/or block diagram block or blocks.
These computer readable program instructions may also be stored in
a computer readable storage medium that can direct a computer, a
programmable data processing apparatus, and/or other devices to
function in a particular manner, such that the computer readable
storage medium having instructions stored therein comprises an
article of manufacture including instructions which implement
aspects of the function/act specified in the flowcharts and/or
block diagram block or blocks.
[0103] The computer readable program instructions may also be
loaded onto a computer, other programmable data processing
apparatus, or other device to cause a series of operational steps
to be performed on the computer, other programmable apparatus or
other device to produce a computer implemented process, such that
the instructions which execute on the computer, other programmable
apparatus, or other device implement the functions/acts specified
in the flowcharts and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0104] The flowcharts and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate
the architecture, functionality, and operation of possible
implementations of systems, methods, and computer program products
according to various embodiments of the present invention. In this
regard, each block in the flowcharts or block diagrams may
represent a module, segment, or portion of instructions, which
comprises one or more executable instructions for implementing the
specified logical function(s). In some alternative implementations,
the functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted
in the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in
fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may
sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the
functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of
the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, and combinations
of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustrations, can
be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that
perform the specified functions or acts or carry out combinations
of special purpose hardware and computer instructions.
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