Virtual Storage Pool Aggregation in Virtualized Environments
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Solution Overview
Problem
Virtualized environments face limitations in storage locality and capacity, which cannot be alleviated without external storage mechanisms, hindering application portability and scalability.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for implementing a virtual storage pool within a virtual environment, utilizing a network of virtualization servers and storage virtual machines to aggregate and share available data resources, providing scalable and redundant storage without external network-based storage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If network-based storage is used to alleviate storage locality and capacity limitations, then storage capacity and shared access are improved, but system complexity increases due to additional external components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges storage resources directly into the virtualization servers, combining computing and storage resources within the same system boundary. This eliminates the need for separate network-based storage infrastructure while providing shared storage capabilities through virtualization, thereby improving storage capacity without increasing system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The virtualization servers are designed to perform multiple functions - both computing tasks and storage operations. By making storage resources universally accessible through the virtualization layer, the system provides shared storage capabilities without requiring dedicated external storage infrastructure, thus avoiding additional complexity.
2Adaptability or versatility
If network-based storage is implemented to enable application migration, then application portability is improved, but storage locality is lost and external dependencies increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges storage and computing resources within the virtualization servers, eliminating external storage dependencies. This integration enables application migration between virtualization servers while maintaining storage locality, as storage resources remain within the same system boundary and are managed through the virtualization layer.
3Quantity of substance
If storage resources are localized to individual virtualization servers, then storage capacity is sufficient for each server, but shared storage capability is limited and application migration is hindered
Solution Approach 1:
The virtualization layer provides universal access to storage resources across multiple virtualization servers. Storage resources maintain their physical locality while becoming virtually shared, enabling any virtualization server to access any storage resource through the virtualization interface, thus providing shared storage capability without losing storage capacity.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for implementing distributed data storage. In particular, the system includes a plurality of virtualization servers, each of which is associated with available data resources. Each virtualization server supports one or more application virtual machines through a virtualization layer. In addition, a plurality of storage virtual machines is included in the system. Each storage virtual machine is associated with a corresponding and participating virtualization server. A virtual storage pool is included in the system, wherein each storage virtual machine allows the export and aggregation of available data resources within a corresponding virtualization server into the virtual storage pool.