Server Memory Data Migration via Agent Mirror Relationship
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Current memory hot-swap technologies in servers face challenges in efficient data migration, particularly when frequently accessed user data needs to be migrated, as the operating system must gain control of memory pages, leading to prolonged migration times.
Innovation Solution
A data migration method that establishes a mirror relationship between two memory modules, allowing a processor to instruct agent apparatuses to perform data migration without OS participation, ensuring quick and convenient data transfer by switching the roles of memory modules after migration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the OS migrates memory pages by gaining control of each page, then data migration can be completed, but migration time increases significantly when user data is frequently accessed
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the data migration function from the operating system and implements it at the hardware level through agent apparatuses. The agent apparatus directly accesses memory modules and migrates data without requiring OS intervention, thereby eliminating the time-consuming page control operations that occur when the OS handles frequent user data access.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces agent apparatuses as intermediary components between the processor and memory modules. These agents handle data migration operations independently, acting as mediators that transfer data between memory modules without involving the operating system, thus resolving the contradiction between reliable migration completion and reduced migration time.
2Reliability
If the OS controls data migration process, then data can be migrated between memory modules, but the process becomes complex and dependent on OS capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the data migration functionality from the operating system software layer and implements it in the hardware layer through dedicated agent apparatuses. This extraction simplifies the overall system by removing the complex OS-dependent migration process and replacing it with straightforward hardware-level data transfer operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The agent apparatuses are equipped with self-service capabilities to perform data migration autonomously without OS involvement. Each agent can independently access its associated memory module, transfer data to another agent's memory module, and manage the migration process itself, thereby reducing device complexity and eliminating dependency on OS data distribution capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments of the present invention disclose a data migration method for memory modules in a server and a server. By establishing a mirror relationship between agent apparatuses of two memory modules, a processor in the present invention instructs the agent apparatuses to perform data migration between the two memory modules, to complete migration of data from one memory module to the other memory module. The entire data migration process requires no participation of an operating system, and consumes a short period of time, thereby implementing convenient data migration for memory modules in a server.