Multi-Disk Virtual Machine Migration via Disk Tree Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing virtual machine migration technologies face low resource utilization and efficiency due to the need to migrate all disks as a whole, which can be hindered by insufficient storage resources in target environments, and lack of suitable storage pools, leading to inefficient resource allocation and potential safety hazards.
Innovation Solution
The method involves constructing disk trees using active and snapshot disks to record generation time sequences, allowing for the migration of disks into different target storage pools based on these sequences, with snapshot disks ensuring data consistency and independent migration of disk trees, enabling flexible resource allocation and high fault tolerance.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If all disks of a virtual machine are migrated as a whole, then data consistency is maintained, but migration flexibility and resource utilization are reduced due to insufficient storage resources in target environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the virtual machine's disk system into multiple independent disk trees, each representing a separate migration unit. This allows selective migration of individual disk trees to different storage pools based on storage resource availability, while maintaining data consistency within each tree through snapshot mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces snapshot disks as intermediary objects that capture the state of active disks at specific points in time. These snapshots serve as mediators that enable independent migration of disk trees while ensuring data consistency, allowing the system to overcome the limitation of migrating all disks together.
2Reliability
If all disks are migrated together to ensure consistency, then data integrity is maintained, but migration efficiency and resource allocation are reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the disk system into multiple independent disk trees that can be migrated separately and in parallel. This segmentation enables multiple migration operations to proceed simultaneously to different storage pools, significantly improving migration efficiency while maintaining data integrity within each tree through snapshot-based consistency mechanisms.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent allows migration of only the necessary disk trees rather than requiring migration of all disks. This partial action approach enables selective migration based on storage resource availability and migration priorities, improving overall system productivity by avoiding unnecessary migration overhead.
3Quantity of substance
If the virtual machine occupies too many storage resources, then current storage capacity is utilized, but migration becomes impossible when no suitable storage pool is available in the target environment
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the large storage occupation into multiple smaller, independent disk trees that can be migrated separately. This allows the virtual machine's storage resources to be distributed across multiple target storage pools, enabling migration even when individual storage pools have limited capacity but collectively sufficient resources.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces the dimension of multiple target storage pools, transforming the single-pool migration limitation into a multi-pool migration capability. By distributing disk trees across different storage pools, the system overcomes the capacity constraints of any single pool while maintaining the virtual machine's functional integrity.
4Productivity
If disk migration is performed online, then service continuity is maintained, but complex coordination of multiple disks increases system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex multi-disk migration into independent disk tree migrations, each with its own snapshot and migration process. This segmentation simplifies the coordination complexity by allowing each disk tree to be managed independently, while still achieving online migration and service continuity through the snapshot-based approach.
Data Source
AI summary
A method and apparatus for online migration of a multi-disk virtual machine into different storage pools are provided. The method includes: constructing disk trees by using each active disk to be migrated of a virtual machine and a plurality of snapshot disks that are correspondingly generated based on each active disk to be migrated, so as to record a generation time sequence of a plurality of disks in the disk tree; migrating a memory snapshot file; and determining a target storage pool corresponding to each active disk to be migrated, and migrating a plurality of disk trees into corresponding target storage pools respectively according to the generation time sequence of the disk to be migrated in the disk tree.