Active Virtual Machine Upgrade in NFV Service Chains
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Existing methods for upgrading active virtual machines in NFV service chains often disrupt networking and require significant resources, as they do not efficiently manage port associations and resource allocation during the upgrade process.
Innovation Solution
A method that pauses the original virtual machine, disassociates its ports, and associates them with an upgraded virtual machine based on current port information, allowing for minimal disruption and resource usage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If the virtual machine is upgraded by changing images and re-wiring data paths, then the virtual machine can be updated with new functionality, but networking disruption occurs and resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by creating a snapshot of the virtual machine's state before the upgrade process begins. This snapshot captures the current disk, memory, and port associations, allowing the system to restore networking continuity if issues arise during upgrade. The snapshot is taken while the VM is still running, enabling the upgrade to proceed without interrupting service.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses an intermediary approach by introducing a snapshot as a buffer between the original and upgraded virtual machine states. The snapshot acts as a mediator that preserves the original networking configuration while the new VM is being initialized and port associations are being transferred, thus maintaining networking reliability during the transition.
2Reliability
If the virtual machine is paused and ports are disassociated during upgrade, then networking disruption is minimized, but the upgrade process requires careful resource management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by dividing the virtual machine upgrade process into distinct, manageable components: snapshot creation, VM pausing, port association disconnection, new VM initialization, port reassociation, and snapshot deletion. Each segment can be executed and verified independently, reducing overall process complexity while maintaining networking reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the discarding and recovering principle by creating a snapshot of the original VM state, performing the upgrade, and then deleting the snapshot once the new VM is successfully initialized and port associations are restored. The snapshot is discarded as a temporary resource that enabled the upgrade but is no longer needed, freeing up storage resources.
3Reliability
If port associations are maintained during virtual machine upgrade, then networking continuity is preserved, but resource consumption increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-capturing port association information in a snapshot before the upgrade process. This allows the system to efficiently restore port associations with the new VM without maintaining duplicate active connections during the transition, reducing resource consumption while preserving networking continuity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by creating a snapshot copy of the original VM's state including port associations. This copy is then used to initialize the new VM with the correct port connections, avoiding the need to maintain both old and new VM instances simultaneously with full resource allocation, thus reducing overall resource consumption.
Data Source
AI summary
The invention provides a computing device and a computer-implemented method for upgrading an active original virtual machine, OVM, within a Network Function Virtualization, NFV, service chain implemented by a set of computing nodes, to an active upgraded virtual machine, UVM, the method comprising at least steps of: setting the original virtual machine, OVM, to a paused state;obtaining currently used port information, CUPI, of the active original virtual machine, OVM, to be upgraded;disassociating all ports from the original virtual machine, OVM, in the paused state;associating the disassociated ports with the upgraded virtual machine, UVM, based on the obtained currently used port information, CUPI; andlaunching the upgraded virtual machine, UVM.