Virtual Environment Program Upgrade Without Downtime
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Solution Overview
Problem
Major program upgrades in computing environments often require taking the environment offline for extended periods, leading to unavailability and disruption of workloads, especially in large clusters where reinstallation can take several hours to weeks.
Innovation Solution
A program upgrade management engine creates a virtual environment within the computing environment, allowing the installation of a new program version while the existing version continues to execute, using virtual machines and networks to isolate the upgrade process, ensuring continuous operation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a major program upgrade is performed by re-installing the program, then the program version is updated, but the computing environment must be taken offline for extended periods
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the computing environment into multiple isolated virtual environments (VEs), each capable of running independent program versions. This segmentation allows the upgrade process to occur in one VE while other VEs continue operating, eliminating the need to take the entire computing environment offline.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs preliminary actions by creating virtual environments and installing new program versions in advance within these isolated VEs before the upgrade is fully activated. This allows the new version to be prepared and tested without affecting the running system, and the switch to the new version can occur seamlessly.
2Reliability
If the computing environment is taken offline for program re-installation, then the program can be upgraded, but workload execution is disrupted
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting the computing environment into multiple isolated virtual environments, the patent enables different VEs to perform different functions simultaneously - some can undergo upgrades while others continue executing workloads, maintaining overall system productivity throughout the upgrade process.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent ensures continuity of useful action by maintaining multiple active virtual environments where workloads can continue executing on VEs that are not currently undergoing upgrade. This allows the upgrade process to occur without interrupting the overall productive output of the computing environment.
3Loss of time
If a virtual environment is created for upgrade installation, then continuous operation is maintained, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces virtual environments as intermediary layers between the physical computing infrastructure and the program being upgraded. These VEs act as mediators that isolate the upgrade process from the main system, allowing upgrades to proceed without directly impacting system complexity or requiring changes to the underlying hardware architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates virtual copies of the computing environment that can run independently. These copied VEs contain the program in different versions and can be activated or deactivated as needed, allowing the system to maintain operational continuity while managing complexity through replication rather than direct modification of the original system.
Data Source
AI summary
In some examples, a system creates a virtual environment in a computing environment, the virtual environment having a configuration corresponding to a configuration of the computing environment. The system installs, in the virtual environment, a second version of a program while a first version of the program is running in the computing environment, the installing to update the program during a live operation of the computing environment in which the first version of the program is performing a workload.