Failure Notifier for Virtualized Hardware Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
In network function virtualization (NFV), it is challenging for virtual machines to directly detect hardware failures due to hardware being masked, making it difficult to ascertain failures in virtualized hardware configurations.
Innovation Solution
A failure notification system comprising a logical configuration provider, a processor, and a failure notifier that stores hardware configuration data associating hardware IDs with logical configuration IDs, allowing the notifier to identify failed hardware and notify the processor of failures, including details of influence on logical configurations and redundancy types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If hardware is virtualized and masked for virtual machines, then hardware abstraction and flexibility are improved, but the ability to directly detect hardware failures deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a failure notifier as an intermediary component that sits between the virtualized hardware and the virtual machine. This mediator maintains hardware configuration data mapping hardware IDs to logical configuration IDs, and when hardware failures occur, the failure notifier translates hardware-level failure information into logical configuration failure notifications that the virtual machine can understand and act upon, thus resolving the detection difficulty caused by hardware masking
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements a feedback mechanism where the failure notifier continuously monitors hardware status and provides feedback to the virtual machine about hardware failures. The failure notifier detects hardware failures, identifies the affected logical configurations using the stored mapping data, and notifies the virtual machine, creating a closed-loop feedback system that enables the virtual machine to respond to hardware issues despite hardware abstraction
2Ease of operation
If hardware configuration is abstracted away, then system flexibility and ease of operation are improved, but the precision of failure identification deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The failure notifier pre-stores hardware configuration data that maps hardware IDs to logical configuration IDs before hardware failures occur. This preliminary preparation of mapping information enables rapid and precise identification of affected logical configurations when hardware failures happen, maintaining measurement precision while preserving hardware abstraction benefits
Data Source
AI summary
A failure notification system includes a logical configuration provider which provides logical configurations in which a plurality of types of hardware are virtualized, a processor using logical configurations provided from the logical configuration provider, and a failure notifier which notifies the processor 3 of a failure in the logical configuration provider. A notifier includes a storage device 10 which stores hardware configuration data in which an ID of the hardware is associated with an ID of a logical configuration corresponding to the hardware, a logical configuration identifier which identifies a logical configuration corresponding to hardware from which a failure is detected from the hardware configuration data when a failure in the hardware is detected, and a notifier which notifies the processor of occurrence of a failure in the logical configuration identified by the logical configuration identifier.