Hypervisor Manager Translates Configuration Profiles for VCI High Availability
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Solution Overview
Problem
Deploying virtual computing instances (VCIs) on third-party hypervisors complicates providing support due to different configuration profiles, making cross-platform communication and high availability challenging in heterogeneous environments.
Innovation Solution
A management agent translates communication between a cluster controller and third-party hypervisors to provide high availability to VCIs, using a fault domain manager and hypervisor manager to operate across disparate configuration profiles, ensuring seamless functionality and failover.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If VCIs are deployed on third-party hypervisors with different configuration profiles, then versatility and adaptability are improved, but device complexity and difficulty of providing support increase
Solution Approach 1:
A management agent is introduced as an intermediary component that runs on each third-party hypervisor and translates communication between the cluster controller and the hypervisor. This mediator handles configuration profile differences, allowing VCIs to be managed uniformly across heterogeneous environments without directly exposing the complexity of different hypervisor configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system divides the hypervisor management functionality into separate components: the cluster controller maintains a unified view of VCIs, while individual management agents on each hypervisor handle local configuration specifics. This segmentation isolates complexity to individual hypervisor agents while maintaining overall system simplicity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If cross-platform communication is implemented across different hypervisor configuration profiles, then adaptability is improved, but loss of information and communication reliability worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The management agent serves as a translation intermediary that converts cluster controller communications into hypervisor-specific commands and vice versa. This ensures accurate information transfer across different configuration profiles by handling semantic differences in communication protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The management agent dynamically adjusts communication parameters based on the specific hypervisor configuration profile, translating between different configuration semantics while preserving the intended meaning and information accuracy.
3Reliability
If high availability support is provided in heterogeneous hypervisor environments, then reliability is improved, but device complexity and operational difficulty increase
Solution Approach 1:
The management agent on each hypervisor autonomously monitors the health and status of VCIs deployed on that hypervisor, performing self-diagnosis and reporting to the cluster controller. This self-service capability simplifies operational support by distributing monitoring responsibilities rather than requiring centralized management of all hypervisors.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements continuous feedback loops where management agents monitor VCI status and report to the cluster controller, which coordinates failover actions. This feedback mechanism enables automated high availability responses without requiring manual intervention in heterogeneous environments.
4Adaptability or versatility
If translation layer is added to communicate across different configuration profiles, then adaptability is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The translation functionality is localized to individual management agents on each hypervisor rather than implementing a global translation layer. Each agent handles only the configuration profile of its local hypervisor, reducing overall system complexity by distributing and localizing translation responsibilities.
Data Source
AI summary
The present disclosure is related to systems and methods for protecting virtual computing instances. An example system can include a first virtual computing instance (VCI) deployed on a hypervisor and provisioned with a pool of physical computing resources. The hypervisor and the first VCI can operate according to a first configuration profile. The system can include a fault domain manager (FDM) running on a second VCI that is deployed on the hypervisor and provisioned by the pool of physical computing resources. The FDM can be configured to provide high availability support for the first VCI, and the FDM can operate according to a second configuration profile. The system can further include a hypervisor manager running on the second VCI. The hypervisor manager can be configured to facilitate interaction between the FDM and the hypervisor by translating between the first configuration profile and the second configuration profile.