Hypervisor-Agnostic Network Agent for Cloud Storage Access
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current virtual computing systems, particularly those using hypervisor-attached storage, limit flexibility as guest virtual machines on-premises data centers cannot access storage resources on remote clouds, restricting the integration of on-premises data centers and cloud resources.
Innovation Solution
A hypervisor-agnostic interface is introduced, utilizing a virtual switch and a controller virtual machine with a network agent to expose data center compute and storage resources through network protocols, enabling access and management across different hypervisor solutions, facilitating resource location discovery, replication, and address translation between data centers and clouds.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If hypervisor-attached storage is used in on-premises data centers, then storage resources are efficiently managed within the data center, but guest virtual machines cannot access storage resources on remote clouds
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a network agent as an intermediary component that runs inside the virtual machine and can discover and access storage resources through network protocols. This intermediary enables the VM to access both local hypervisor-attached storage and remote cloud storage without requiring changes to the underlying hypervisor architecture, thus resolving the contradiction between maintaining simple hypervisor-attached storage and enabling versatile storage access.
2Speed
If on-premises data centers use dedicated storage resources, then data access speed is improved, but scalability and cost-effectiveness are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic storage access by allowing the network agent to discover and mount storage resources on-demand based on workload requirements. The system can dynamically switch between local high-speed storage and remote cloud storage, adjusting the storage configuration in real-time to balance performance and scalability needs, thus resolving the contradiction between dedicated storage speed and scalability.
3Adaptability or versatility
If multiple hypervisor solutions are supported, then vendor flexibility is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The network agent is designed with universal functionality to work across multiple hypervisor platforms (VMware, Hyper-V, KVM, etc.) through standard network protocols. This multi-functional design allows the same agent to discover and access storage resources regardless of the underlying hypervisor, providing vendor flexibility without requiring separate management systems for each hypervisor type.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method can include requesting, by a network agent in a virtual machine in a hypervisor-attached infrastructure, a first identifier of a first resource device. The method can include comparing the first identifier to a plurality of known identifiers. The method can include determining a first location of the first resource device in response to matching the first identifier to one of the plurality of known identifiers. The method can include requesting a second identifier of a second resource device. The method can include determining a second location of the second resource device in response to the second identifier being different from each of the plurality of known identifiers. The second location can be different than the first location.