Data Center Configuration Checker for VM Troubleshooting
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Solution Overview
Problem
In data centers, troubleshooting and data protection are challenging due to the difficulty in checking events and configurations across virtual machine managers (VMMs) and virtual machines (VMs), especially when check point creation fails, and there is no comprehensive method to detect deviations from required configurations.
Innovation Solution
A configuration checker module is deployed to collect and analyze configuration information from each node in a cluster, using predetermined best practice rules to detect deviations and generate reports indicating rule violations, allowing for efficient troubleshooting and data protection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If manual checking of events and configurations is performed in each VMM node and VM, then troubleshooting accuracy is improved, but time consumption and operational complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary tool that automatically collects events and configuration information from multiple VMM nodes and VMs, analyzes them against best practice rules, and generates troubleshooting reports. This intermediary automation layer resolves the contradiction by maintaining high troubleshooting accuracy through comprehensive rule-based analysis while eliminating manual checking time consumption.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service troubleshooting by automatically gathering data from the data center infrastructure, applying analysis rules, and generating diagnostic reports without requiring manual intervention. This self-service mechanism achieves both high accuracy through systematic rule application and time efficiency through automation.
2Reliability
If comprehensive configuration checking is performed across all VMM nodes and VMs, then data protection reliability is improved, but system complexity and resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the configuration checking process into modular components: event collection modules for each VMM node, configuration extraction modules for each VM, rule-based analysis engines, and report generation modules. This segmentation maintains high data protection reliability through comprehensive checking while reducing system complexity through modular, manageable components with defined interfaces.
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs universal best practice rules that can be applied across multiple VMM nodes and VMs simultaneously. These multi-functional rules cover various aspects of data protection (checkpoint creation, configuration consistency, resource allocation) and can validate different components using the same analytical framework, thereby improving reliability without proportionally increasing system complexity.
3Productivity
If automated configuration analysis is implemented using best practice rules, then troubleshooting efficiency is improved, but the initial setup complexity and rule configuration requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by pre-configuring best practice rules and analysis templates before deployment. The system comes with pre-loaded rule sets for common data protection scenarios, event correlation patterns, and configuration validation criteria. This preliminary preparation enables high troubleshooting efficiency from day one while reducing setup complexity through reusable, pre-tested rule configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, for each of the nodes forming a cluster that share a cluster shared volume (CSV), a remote connection is established with an operating system (OS) management interface of an operating system of the node to query and to obtain OS configuration information concerning a VMM hosting one or more virtual machine (VMs) within the node. A remote connection is established with a VMM interface of the VMM of the node to query and to obtain VM information concerning each of the VMs hosted by the VMM in the node. An analysis is performed on the OS configuration information and the VM information in view of a set of management rules. A report is generated based on the analysis, the report including information indicating which of the management rules has been violated.