Virtual Machine Memory Error Containment via Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Uncorrectable memory errors in cloud computing environments can lead to abrupt termination of virtual machines, resulting in significant downtime and cost, as existing technologies lack effective containment and recovery mechanisms, especially in large-scale systems where memory errors are more frequent.
Innovation Solution
A method and system that allow for containment and recovery from uncorrectable memory errors by emulating the error, notifying affected virtual machines, and initiating failover processes, using a virtual machine manager to isolate and recover from corrupted memory elements, thereby minimizing impact on other VMs and allowing for graceful shutdown or restart.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If uncorrectable memory errors are detected on a host machine, then the host must be shut down to prevent data corruption, but this causes abrupt termination of all hosted virtual machines and significant downtime
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the host machine into isolated memory regions, each assigned to specific virtual machines. When an uncorrectable memory error is detected, only the affected memory region and its associated virtual machine are isolated and shut down, while other memory regions and their virtual machines continue to operate normally. This segmentation prevents system-wide failures and reduces downtime.
2Reliability
If memory error containment mechanisms are implemented, then the impact of memory errors can be limited to specific virtual machines, but this increases system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a memory management intermediary layer that sits between the physical memory and virtual machines. This intermediary tracks memory error status and manages isolation of affected regions without requiring complex modifications to each virtual machine or the host operating system. The intermediary handles error containment automatically, reducing overall system complexity while maintaining reliability.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed technology provides techniques, systems, and apparatus for containing and recovering from uncorrectable memory errors in distributed computing environment. An aspect of the disclosed technology includes a hypervisor or virtual machine manager that receives signaling of an uncorrectable memory error detected by a host machine. The virtual machine manager then uses information received via the signaling to identify virtual memory addresses or memory pages associated with the corrupted memory element so as to allow for containment and recovery from the error.