System and method for detecting and recovering virtual machine failure in network environment

Abstract

A system and a method for detecting and recovering a virtual machine failure in a network environment are disclosed. According to one disclosed embodiment, the system for detecting and recovering a virtual machine failure in a network environment comprises: a virtual machine monitor connected to a virtual machine network through a network switch and configured to monitor a packet in the virtual machine network to determine whether a failure has occurred in a virtual machine; and a virtual machine management server configured to identify the virtual machine in which the failure has occurred and replace the identified virtual machine.

Description

Virtual Machine Failure Detection and Recovery System and Method in a Network Environment

[0001] The disclosed embodiment relates to a virtual machine failure detection and recovery technology in a network environment.

[0002] Networks built in cyberspace consist of individual nodes and virtual machines. Just like physical machines, virtual machines have their network layer configured by software and operate by being assigned addresses. In this network operation, since the entire network cannot function normally if a virtual machine fails, monitoring and recovery from failures are critical, and various technical methods are being attempted to address this.

[0003] Conventional fault detection methods include installing an agent on a virtual machine to periodically send "alive" packets from the virtual machine to a management server, and periodically sending packets from the management server to the virtual machine to evaluate its health status. These methods require the installation of an agent on the virtual machine and generate unnecessary load on the network due to the periodic transmission and reception of packets.

[0004] An embodiment of the present invention is intended to provide a virtual machine failure detection and recovery system and method in a network environment that can determine a failure of a virtual machine within a virtual machine network and rapidly recover it.

[0005] A system according to one disclosed embodiment is a virtual machine failure detection and recovery system in a network environment, comprising: a virtual machine monitor connected to a virtual machine network via a network switch to monitor packets within the virtual machine network and determine whether a virtual machine has a failure; and a virtual machine management server configured to identify a virtual machine that has failed and to replace the identified virtual machine.

[0006] The virtual machine monitor can determine whether the virtual machine is faulty by extracting packets of a pre-configured protocol from packets within the virtual machine network, extracting an IP from the extracted packet, and comparing it with an IP stored in the virtual machine address management DB.

[0007] The protocol configured above is the ARP protocol, and the virtual machine monitor can use the ARP cache expiration period as a period for determining whether there is a failure.

[0008] The above system may further include a virtual machine distribution server that stores templates for a plurality of virtual machines and, upon a request from the virtual machine management server, selects a specific virtual machine from the virtual machine pool and distributes it to the virtual machine network.

[0009] A method for detecting and recovering a virtual machine failure in a network environment according to one disclosed embodiment includes: a step of determining whether a virtual machine has a failure by monitoring packets within the virtual machine network in a virtual machine monitor; and a step of identifying a virtual machine that has failed and replacing the identified virtual machine in a virtual machine management server.

[0010] According to the disclosed embodiment, it is possible to determine whether a virtual machine operating on a network has failed without using additional devices or additional packets within the virtual machine, and to recover the failed virtual machine through a distribution server by transmitting information about the failed virtual machine to a management server.

[0011] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a virtual machine failure detection and recovery system in a network environment according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0012] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a communication packet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0013] FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the header structure of an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet according to an embodiment of the present invention.

[0014] FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating the process of detecting and recovering failures in a virtual machine in one embodiment of the present invention.

[0015] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a computing environment including a computing device suitable for use in exemplary embodiments.

[0016] Hereinafter, specific embodiments of the present invention will be described with reference to the drawings. The following detailed description is provided to facilitate a comprehensive understanding of the methods, apparatus, and / or systems described herein. However, this is merely illustrative and the present invention is not limited thereto.

[0017] In describing the embodiments of the present invention, detailed descriptions of known technologies related to the present invention are omitted if it is determined that such detailed descriptions may unnecessarily obscure the essence of the present invention. Furthermore, the terms described below are defined in consideration of their functions within the present invention, and these may vary depending on the intentions or practices of the user or operator. Therefore, such definitions should be based on the content throughout this specification. Terms used in the detailed description are intended merely to describe the embodiments of the present invention and should not be limiting in any way. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, expressions in the singular form include the meaning of the plural form. In this description, expressions such as "include" or "comprise" are intended to refer to certain characteristics, numbers, steps, actions, elements, parts thereof, or combinations thereof, and should not be interpreted to exclude the existence or possibility of one or more other characteristics, numbers, steps, actions, elements, parts thereof, or combinations thereof other than those described.

[0018] In the following description, terms such as "transmission," "communication," "transmission," "reception," and other terms of similar meaning regarding signals or information include not only the direct transfer of signals or information from one component to another but also the transfer through other components. In particular, "transmission" or "transmitting" a signal or information to one component refers to the final destination of the signal or information and does not mean a direct destination. The same applies to the "reception" of signals or information. Furthermore, in this specification, two or more data or information are "related" means that if one data (or information) is obtained, at least a portion of another data (or information) can be obtained based thereon.

[0019] FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a virtual machine failure detection and recovery system in a network environment according to one embodiment of the present invention.

[0020] Referring to FIG. 1, the virtual machine failure detection and recovery system may include a target virtual machine network and switch, a virtual machine monitor, a virtual machine management server, and a virtual machine distribution server.

[0021] The Virtual Machine Monitor is connected to the virtual machine network subject to monitoring and recovery via a network switch, enabling it to monitor all packets within the virtual machine network. The Virtual Machine Monitor is connected to the management server (Virtual Machine Management Server) that manages the virtual machines, and in the event of a failure, it notifies the management server of the information regarding the failed virtual machine. The Virtual Machine Management Server searches the management database for the failed virtual machine to identify it, and then replaces the corresponding virtual machine through the Virtual Machine Distribution Server.

[0022] A virtual machine network is a network that contains virtual machines and serves as the recovery target in the event of a failure. A switch is a device connected to monitor packets of the virtual machine network by the virtual machine monitor. The virtual machine monitor is a device that determines whether there is a failure in a virtual machine on the virtual machine network. The virtual machine management server is a server that manages virtual machines deployed on the virtual machine network. The virtual machine deployment server is a server that deploys virtual machines on the virtual machine network.

[0023] The virtual machine monitor is connected to the target network via a network switch and monitors network packets. The virtual machine monitor consists of a packet collection unit, a packet splitting unit, an IP extraction unit, a monitoring management unit, and a virtual machine address information database. It analyzes network packets, and if there is an address in the address information database that is missing from the collected packets, it transmits that address to the virtual machine management server.

[0024] The network switch is the network switch of the target network. The virtual machine monitor is a device connected to the network switch that monitors packets. The packet collection unit can collect packets mirrored by the network switch. The packet separation unit can separate only packets of a specific protocol from network packets. The IP extraction unit can extract IPs from the protocol data extracted by the packet separation unit. The virtual machine address information database is a database containing address information of virtual machines configured on the network. The monitoring management unit can compare the IPs in the IP extraction unit with those in the virtual machine address information database and transmit IPs that exist in the database but were not delivered by the IP extraction unit to the virtual machine management server.

[0025] To deploy and manage virtual machines on a network, a virtual machine deployment server and a virtual machine management server are required. The virtual machine deployment server consists of a virtual machine pool and a virtual machine deployment device. The virtual machine pool is a repository containing various virtual machine templates, and the virtual machine deployment device selects a specific virtual machine from the pool and deploys it to the target network upon a request from the virtual machine management server. The virtual machine management server consists of a virtual machine management unit and a virtual machine management information database. The virtual machine management information database holds information on virtual machines operating on the network, and the virtual machine management unit performs the deployment and management of virtual machines operating on the target network based on the information in the database.

[0026] The virtual machine management server is a server that manages virtual machines running on a network. The virtual machine management unit can manage the status and deployment status of virtual machines running on the network. The virtual machine management information database is a database of information on virtual machines deployed on the network. The virtual machine deployment server is a server that deploys virtual machines to the network. The virtual machine deployment device is a device that replicates virtual machines from the virtual machine repository on the network and deploys them to the network. The virtual machine pool is a virtual machine repository.

[0027] FIG. 2 is a diagram showing a communication packet according to an embodiment of the present invention, FIG. 3 is a diagram showing the header structure of an Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) packet according to an embodiment of the present invention, and FIG. 4 is a flowchart showing a process of detecting and recovering a failure of a virtual machine in an embodiment of the present invention. Although the method is described in the illustrated flowchart by dividing it into a plurality of steps, at least some of the steps may be performed in a different order, combined with other steps and performed together, omitted, divided into detailed steps, or performed with one or more steps not illustrated added.

[0028] Referring to FIGS. 1 through 4, individual virtual machines on a virtual machine network composed of virtual machines perform transmission and reception operations with the network through their respective IPs. The network is configured to communicate with an external network through a switch. A virtual machine monitor is connected to a network switch and mirrors all communication packets within the network.

[0029] In communication between terminals in a network, both terminals specify the destination address via IP, but MAC addresses are also used for the actual data to move. The Address Resolution Protocol (ARP) is a protocol for obtaining the MAC address corresponding to an IP address; it is stored in the router's ARP table and is called periodically according to the cache period of the ARP table. In the present invention, the characteristics of this ARP protocol are used to determine whether a virtual machine on the network is faulty.

[0030] The monitoring management section of the virtual machine monitor communicates with the virtual machine management server to retrieve information about virtual machines deployed on the network and updates the virtual machine address information database.

[0031] The virtual machine address information DB consists of virtual machine IDs and IP addresses deployed on the network. The monitoring management unit of the virtual machine monitor communicates with the virtual machine management server to obtain information on the network's ARP table update cycle and sets it as the IP comparison cycle.

[0032] The packet collection unit within the virtual machine monitor is directly connected to the network switch, collects all packets mirrored by the switch, and transmits them to the packet separation unit.

[0033] The packet separation unit classifies packets transmitted in the ARP packet protocol format from all packets transmitted from the packet collection and extracts only ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) packets. The extracted ARP packets are transmitted to the IP extraction unit of the virtual machine monitor.

[0034] The IP extraction unit breaks down the APR protocol packets transmitted from the packet splitting unit to extract IPs. The extracted IPs are transmitted to the monitoring management unit of the virtual machine monitor. The monitoring management unit stores the extracted IPs in an internal extracted IP management table and ignores duplicate IPs.

[0035] The monitoring management unit uses the ARP cache expiration period as the cycle for determining failures. The ARP cache is a mechanism that stores mapping information between IP addresses and MAC addresses for a certain period to improve network performance; it expires after this time, and the information must be updated again through a new ARP request. Each operating system sets a default ARP cache expiration time (or TTL: Time to Live), which can be adjusted to suit the network environment. The monitoring management unit can determine the ARP cache expiration time by requesting it from the operating system through the interface provided by that operating system.

[0036] When the ARP cache time expires, the monitoring management unit compares the extracted IP management table, which stores the IPs extracted during that time, with the IPs in the virtual machine address information DB received from the virtual machine management server. At this time, it is possible to identify IPs in the virtual machine address information DB that have not received an ARP protocol response, and virtual machines with IPs that have not received an ARP protocol response can be determined to be faulty.

[0037] The virtual machine at the corresponding address is determined to be faulty, and the ID of the faulty virtual machine is transmitted to the virtual machine management server. The virtual machine management server queries the virtual machine management information database within the server using the ID to identify the corresponding virtual machine. The ID of the faulty virtual machine is transmitted to the virtual machine distribution server to request a virtual machine replacement. The virtual machine distribution server identifies the faulty virtual machine from the virtual machine pool, which is the virtual machine image repository, and replaces the corresponding virtual machine on the virtual machine network through the virtual machine distribution device.

[0038] FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating a computing environment (10) including a computing device suitable for use in exemplary embodiments. In the illustrated embodiments, each component may have different functions and capabilities in addition to those described below, and may include additional components in addition to those described below.

[0039] The illustrated computing environment (10) includes a computing device (12). In one embodiment, the computing device (12) may be a virtual machine monitor. Additionally, the computing device (12) may be a virtual machine distribution server. Additionally, the computing device (12) may be a virtual machine management server.

[0040] The computing device (12) includes at least one processor (14), a computer-readable storage medium (16), and a communication bus (18). The processor (14) can cause the computing device (12) to operate according to the exemplary embodiment described above. For example, the processor (14) can execute one or more programs stored in the computer-readable storage medium (16). The one or more programs may include one or more computer-executable instructions, and the computer-executable instructions may be configured to cause the computing device (12) to perform operations according to the exemplary embodiment when executed by the processor (14).

[0041] A computer-readable storage medium (16) is configured to store computer-executable instructions or program code, program data and / or other suitable forms of information. A program (20) stored in the computer-readable storage medium (16) includes a set of instructions executable by a processor (14). In one embodiment, the computer-readable storage medium (16) may be memory (volatile memory such as random access memory, non-volatile memory, or a suitable combination thereof), one or more magnetic disk storage devices, optical disk storage devices, flash memory devices, or other forms of storage media that are accessed by a computing device (12) and capable of storing desired information, or a suitable combination thereof.

[0042] The communication bus (18) interconnects various other components of the computing device (12), including the processor (14) and the computer-readable storage medium (16).

[0043] The computing device (12) may also include one or more input / output interfaces (22) and one or more network communication interfaces (26) that provide interfaces for one or more input / output devices (24). The input / output interfaces (22) and the network communication interfaces (26) are connected to a communication bus (18). The input / output devices (24) may be connected to other components of the computing device (12) through the input / output interfaces (22). An exemplary input / output device (24) may include an input device such as a pointing device (such as a mouse or trackpad), a keyboard, a touch input device (such as a touchpad or touchscreen), a voice or sound input device, various types of sensor devices and / or imaging devices, and / or an output device such as a display device, a printer, a speaker and / or a network card. An exemplary input / output device (24) may be included inside the computing device (12) as a component constituting the computing device (12), or it may be connected to the computing device (12) as a separate device distinct from the computing device (12).

[0044] Although representative embodiments of the present invention have been described in detail above, those skilled in the art will understand that various modifications can be made to the above-described embodiments without departing from the scope of the present invention. Therefore, the scope of the present invention should not be limited to the described embodiments, but should be defined by the claims set forth below as well as equivalents thereof.

Claims

1. As a virtual machine failure detection and recovery system in a network environment, A virtual machine monitor connected to a virtual machine network via a network switch, which monitors packets within the virtual machine network to determine whether the virtual machine has a failure; and A system including a virtual machine management server configured to identify a failed virtual machine and replace the identified virtual machine.

2. In Claim 1, The above virtual machine monitor is, A system that extracts packets of a pre-configured protocol from packets within the virtual machine network, extracts an IP from the extracted packet, and determines whether the virtual machine is faulty by comparing it with an IP stored in a virtual machine address management DB.

3. In Claim 2, The protocol configured above is the ARP protocol, and The above virtual machine monitor is a system that uses the ARP cache expiration cycle as a cycle to determine whether there is a failure.

4. In Claim 1, The above system is, A system comprising a virtual machine pool storing templates for multiple virtual machines, and further comprising a virtual machine distribution server that selects a specific virtual machine from the virtual machine pool and distributes it to the virtual machine network in response to a request from the virtual machine management server.

5. A step of determining whether the virtual machine has failed by monitoring packets within the virtual machine network in the virtual machine monitor; and A method for detecting and recovering virtual machine failures in a network environment, comprising the step of identifying a failed virtual machine in a virtual machine management server and replacing the identified virtual machine.

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