Live Process Migration Through Remote Memory-Page Transfer
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current container live migration technologies suffer from high overheads in reading and writing memory pages from a file system, leading to prolonged suspension of service processing and a stalling phenomenon, which negatively impacts user experience.
Innovation Solution
A process migration method that involves copying memory pages of a to-be-migrated process to a storage space on a remote host using a remote access module, allowing direct storage in the destination host's cache without the need for temporary file system storage, thereby reducing migration time and suspension duration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If memory pages are read from and written to a file system during container migration, then the migration can be implemented using existing CRIU technology, but the overhead is high and service processing suspends for a long time
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a memory file system as an intermediary layer between the source host and destination host. Instead of directly writing memory pages to the destination host's file system (which causes high overhead), the source host writes to a temporary memory file system, and the destination host reads from this intermediary system. This mediator enables efficient memory page transfer while avoiding direct file system operations that cause long suspension times.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by pre-creating a memory file system on the destination host before migration begins. The destination host prepares a temporary memory file system in advance, so when migration starts, memory pages can be directly written to this pre-prepared system without waiting for file system creation or initialization, thereby reducing service suspension time.
2Ease of manufacture
If memory pages are temporarily stored in a memory file system on the destination host, then the migration process can be simplified, but the destination host needs to spend large amounts of time reading and writing memory pages
Solution Approach 1:
The memory file system acts as an intermediary that simplifies the migration process by providing a standardized interface for memory page transfer. Both source and destination hosts interact with this intermediary system using standard read/write operations, making the migration process simple while the intermediary efficiently handles the actual data transfer to maintain high migration speed.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying operations to transfer memory pages from the source host to the intermediary memory file system, and then from the intermediary system to the destination host. This multi-step copying approach allows each step to be optimized independently, maintaining simplicity in the overall process while improving transfer speed through efficient memory-to-memory copying.
3Reliability
If the destination host reads memory pages from a memory file system, then the migration can be completed, but the container suspends service processing for a long time causing stalling
Solution Approach 1:
The destination host performs preliminary actions by pre-creating and preparing the memory file system before migration begins. All necessary read operations for restoring the container can be performed from this pre-prepared system, eliminating the need to suspend service processing during the actual migration and restoration operations, thereby improving user experience.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables continuous service processing by using the intermediary memory file system to transfer memory pages during container suspension. The useful action of memory page transfer continues in the background without requiring the container to suspend its own service processing, maintaining continuous operation and improving ease of operation from the user's perspective.
Data Source
AI summary
A process migration method includes a source host that copies a memory page of the to-be-migrated process to storage space of a first component of the source host in response to a received first migration indication; the source host sends the memory page of the to-be-migrated process to the destination host via a remote access system of the first component; and the destination host restores the to-be-migrated process based on the received memory page of the to-be-migrated process, to implement live migration of the to-be-migrated process. The remote access system is configured to perform data access on a remote host.