Live Partition Mobility with Physical I/O Adapter Migration
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Solution Overview
Problem
Live partition mobility in data centers, which involves migrating a logical partition from one host to another without rebooting, is challenging due to difficulties in maintaining I/O and network connections, especially when dealing with physical I/O adapters, as existing technologies are restricted to virtualized I/O migration.
Innovation Solution
The method involves pausing the logical partition on the source system, copying configuration information and the partition to the target system, placing the target system's I/O adapter into an error state, mapping the partition to the adapter, and resuming it, allowing for physical I/O migration without modifying I/O parameters, thus enabling seamless transition of logical partitions with physical I/O connections.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If live partition mobility is implemented with virtualized I/O, then partition migration is enabled, but physical I/O adapter support is lost
Solution Approach 1:
The patent copies the source I/O adapter configuration to create a target I/O adapter on the destination system. This includes copying adapter attributes, device tree nodes, and mapping relationships, enabling the partition to bind to a copied adapter instance rather than requiring direct physical adapter access during migration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a migration management module as an intermediary that coordinates the I/O adapter migration process. This module manages the error state transitions, coordinates configuration copying, and handles the binding/unbinding operations, acting as a mediator between the partition and the physical I/O adapters.
2Productivity
If partition migration is performed without pausing, then service continuity is maintained, but I/O adapter mapping conflicts occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary actions by placing the I/O adapter in an error state before copying the partition configuration. This preliminary error state placement prevents the partition from accessing the source adapter during migration, ensuring mapping accuracy without requiring full partition pause, thus maintaining productivity while ensuring reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent dynamically transitions the I/O adapter through different states (error state, error recovery state) during the migration process. This dynamic state management allows the system to temporarily disconnect the partition from the source adapter, perform the mapping copy, and then restore connectivity, balancing migration speed with mapping accuracy.
3Reliability
If I/O adapter configuration is copied during migration, then adapter functionality is preserved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the I/O adapter configuration into distinct copyable components including adapter attributes, device tree nodes, and mapping relationships. This segmentation allows each component to be copied and restored independently, preserving I/O functionality while managing the complexity through structured, modular configuration handling.
4Reliability
If error state is placed on target adapter before mapping, then mapping conflicts are avoided, but additional operation steps are required
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs the preliminary action of placing the target I/O adapter in an error state before attempting to map the partition. This preliminary error state placement prevents mapping conflicts by ensuring the target adapter is not actively bound to any partition during the configuration copy, thereby preventing conflicts without requiring additional complex coordination steps.
Data Source
AI summary
Live partition mobility in a computing environment that includes a source system and a target system may be carried out by: pausing a logical partition on the source system, wherein the logical partition is mapped to an I/O adapter of the source system; copying, to the target system, configuration information describing the mapping of the logical partition to the I/O adapter; copying, to the target system, the logical partition of the source system; placing an I/O adapter of the target system into an error state; mapping, in dependence upon the configuration information, the logical partition of the target system to the I/O adapter of the target system; placing the I/O adapter of the target system into an error recovery state; and resuming the logical partition on the target system.