HCI Operation Predictor for Storage Management Simulation
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Solution Overview
Problem
In hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) deployments, storage management operations involving large data movements often take a long time to complete and can fail due to insufficient storage resources, wasting compute cycles and I/O bandwidth, and users are unclear on how to address resource deficiencies to ensure operation success.
Innovation Solution
An HCI operation predictor simulates storage management operations in-memory, predicting outcomes and providing reports on resource requirements to ensure successful execution, including indicating needed storage resources and potential compliance issues, allowing users to add resources proactively.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If storage management operations are executed in HCI deployment, then data movement between disks/host systems is performed, but the operations take a long time to complete and may fail due to insufficient storage resources
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs a pre-execution simulation of the storage management operation to predict resource requirements and potential failures before actually executing the operation. This preliminary action allows users to add necessary storage resources in advance, ensuring operation success while avoiding wasted time from mid-execution failures.
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates a simulated environment that replicates the HCI deployment's storage architecture and data distribution. By copying the essential characteristics of the real system into a virtual model, the predictor can accurately forecast operation outcomes without consuming actual I/O bandwidth or compute cycles during the prediction phase.
2Reliability
If storage management operations are executed without prior resource assessment, then operations may complete successfully, but compute cycles and I/O bandwidth are wasted when operations fail due to insufficient resources
Solution Approach 1:
The simulation predictor performs resource requirement assessment before actual operation execution, allowing users to provision necessary storage resources in advance. This prevents wasted compute cycles and I/O bandwidth by ensuring operations only execute when sufficient resources are available.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides detailed feedback about predicted operation outcomes, including specific storage resource deficiencies and their impact on operation success. This feedback loop enables users to make informed decisions about resource provisioning before committing computational resources to actual operation execution.
3Reliability
If storage management operations are executed without resource prediction, then operations may fail, but users have no information on what storage resources should be added to ensure success
Solution Approach 1:
The simulation predictor provides detailed feedback reports that identify specific storage resource types and quantities needed for operation success. This actionable feedback enables users to easily address resource deficiencies by adding the exact resources required, rather than guessing what might be needed.
Solution Approach 2:
The system replaces the trial-and-error approach of manually adding storage resources with an automated simulation-based prediction system. The predictor substitutes complex manual resource planning with an automated analysis that accurately forecasts requirements and provides clear guidance for resource provisioning.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for predicting the outcome of a storage management operation on a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) deployment are provided. In one set of embodiments, a computer system can retrieve a current storage resource state of the HCI deployment. The computer system can then execute a simulation of the storage management operation in view of the current storage resource state, where the executing includes performing one or more simulated data movements between one or more host systems in the HCI deployment. Upon completing the simulation, the computer system can generate a report including, among other things, a predicted result status of the storage management operation based on the simulation.