Virtual Volume Database Association for Reliable Storage

Solution Overview

Problem

Data storage systems face challenges in maintaining accurate associations between virtual volumes (vVols) and virtual machines (VMs), leading to unreliable communication and delayed inventory updates, which can result in failed storage activities such as migration, replication, and snapshotting due to inconsistent and non-instantaneous communication between VM management and storage management components.

Innovation Solution

A technique that involves receiving instructions to create virtual volumes with metadata identifying assigned virtual machines, associating these volumes with VMs in a database, and performing storage activities on identified volumes as a group, thereby maintaining reliable inventory information and avoiding reliance on conventional communication paths.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional communication paths between VM management and storage management components are used, then system complexity is reduced, but reliability of vVol-VM association deteriorates due to network errors and communication delays

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvereliability of vVol-VM associationVSAvoidsystem complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts the vVol-VM association information from the external communication channel (vCenter API) and embeds it directly into the storage system's database during vVol creation. This removes the dependency on continuous external communication for maintaining association reliability, as the storage system now has its own authoritative source of truth for vVol-VM mappings.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent performs the association registration in advance during the vVol creation process itself, rather than relying on subsequent communication cycles. By establishing the vVol-VM association upfront in the storage system's database, the system ensures immediate and reliable tracking of associations without waiting for communication cycles or external updates.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

2Speed

If real-time communication between VM management and storage management is implemented, then inventory update speed is improved, but system reliability deteriorates due to network errors and communication failures

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinventory update speedVSAvoidcommunication reliability

Core Design Contradiction:

SpeedVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs the association registration in advance during the vVol creation process itself, rather than relying on subsequent communication cycles. By establishing the vVol-VM association upfront in the storage system's database, the system ensures immediate and reliable tracking of associations without waiting for communication cycles or external updates.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Productivity

If storage systems rely on external communication for vVol inventory information, then ease of operation is improved, but productivity deteriorates due to delayed access to correct information

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvestorage activity execution speedVSAvoidease of vVol management

Core Design Contradiction:

ProductivityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent performs the association registration in advance during the vVol creation process itself, rather than relying on subsequent communication cycles. By establishing the vVol-VM association upfront in the storage system's database, the system ensures immediate and reliable tracking of associations without waiting for communication cycles or external updates.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentUS11663233B2Reliable virtual machine discovery and storage association

Publication Date: 2023.05.30 EMC IP HLDG CO LLC

AI summary

A technique of managing virtual volumes includes receiving, by a storage system, instructions to create specified virtual volumes in the storage system, the instructions including virtual volume metadata that identifies virtual machines to which the specified virtual volumes are assigned, and providing a database that associates such virtual volumes with the virtual machines identified by the virtual volume metadata. The technique further includes performing a storage activity on a virtual machine by identifying, from the database, multiple virtual volumes that the database associates with the virtual machine and performing the storage activity on all of the identified virtual volumes together as a group.