Virtual Address Space Dump via Segmented Memory Capture
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Solution Overview
Problem
Performing a full virtual address space dump in a computer system is resource-intensive and can severely impact system performance, often leading to slow responses, timeouts, and potential system crashes, especially when the system is already operating near peak capacity.
Innovation Solution
A method that suspends system operations to record volatile memory contents and prepares a record of non-volatile memory pages to be dumped, using a monitoring process to trap and write these pages to dump storage incrementally, ensuring data integrity and reducing performance impact by leveraging existing page processing mechanisms.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a full system dump is performed by writing all virtual address space contents to dump storage, then complete diagnostic data is captured, but system performance severely degrades and resources are exhausted
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the dump process into two distinct phases: a quick initial dump of volatile memory contents (registers and physical core memory) that provides immediate diagnostic value, and a subsequent incremental dump of non-volatile memory pages that occurs in the background without blocking system operations. This segmentation allows the system to capture essential diagnostic information rapidly while avoiding the performance degradation associated with dumping the entire address space at once.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary action by capturing the volatile memory contents (registers and physical core memory) immediately upon receiving a dump request, before system operations resume. This preliminary dump provides critical diagnostic information about the system state at the time of the error, while the less time-sensitive non-volatile memory pages are dumped incrementally afterward without impacting system performance.
2Loss of time
If the dump is taken when the system is operating near peak capacity, then diagnostic information is captured timely, but system resources are exhausted and further failures occur
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the dump operation into an urgent initial phase capturing volatile memory contents that are essential for immediate diagnostics, and a non-urgent incremental phase for non-volatile memory pages. This allows the system to capture time-critical diagnostic information quickly while preventing resource exhaustion by spreading the remaining dump operations over time in the background.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial action by performing only the essential initial dump of volatile memory contents immediately, providing sufficient diagnostic information to identify and address the problem. The complete dump of all non-volatile memory pages is performed partially and incrementally in the background, which is sufficient for comprehensive analysis without requiring the system to complete the entire dump operation immediately.
3Productivity
If incoming work is serviced while the dump is being performed, then system throughput is maintained, but data integrity is compromised due to concurrent modifications
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the address space into volatile memory (registers and physical core memory) and non-volatile memory pages, applying different dump strategies to each. The volatile memory is dumped exclusively during a brief suspension to ensure data integrity, while the non-volatile memory pages are dumped incrementally with proper synchronization mechanisms that allow concurrent access without compromising the integrity of pages being dumped.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary mechanism (monitoring process or synchronization logic) that tracks which non-volatile memory pages are being dumped and coordinates access to these pages. This intermediary ensures that pages are not modified during their dump operation, maintaining data integrity while allowing the system to continue servicing incoming work through other channels.
Data Source
AI summary
A method, computer system, and computer program product for operating a computer system to carry out a data dump of a data image of memory contents. Computer operations are temporarily suspended to service the dump request in order to dump the volatile memory contents required for the data image and to generate a record of the non-volatile memory pages which need to be dumped. Computer operations are then resumed under supervision of a monitoring process which screens access requests to the non-volatile memory against the dump record. A request relating to a page contained in the dump record is acted upon by writing the contents of that page to the dump storage space, so the page contents is dumped before it is modified. The dump record in continually updated to keep track of what is still outstanding to complete the dump until such time as the dump is complete.