Virtual Machine Placement Using Host Equivalence Sets
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing virtual machine placement technologies face inefficiencies when trying to place primary and secondary virtual machines on hosts with similar attributes, leading to multiple placement attempts and potential misplacement due to the need to determine compatible hosts after placing the primary virtual machine, which can result in suboptimal resource utilization and misleading error messaging.
Innovation Solution
The method involves determining equivalence sets of hosts prior to placement, using symmetry and transitivity properties to identify similar hosts, and selecting an appropriate set for placing virtual machines, ensuring compatibility and optimizing the placement process.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If the placement engine selects hosts sequentially after placing the primary virtual machine, then the placement process can be simple to implement, but multiple placement attempts are required leading to inefficiency
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by determining equivalence sets of hosts before the actual virtual machine placement occurs. The placement engine pre-processes the host pool to identify groups of similar hosts that can satisfy compatibility constraints, so that when placement is needed, the engine can directly select from pre-validated equivalence sets rather than performing sequential trial-and-error placements.
2Ease of manufacture
If the placement engine determines compatible hosts after placing the primary virtual machine, then the implementation can be straightforward, but this leads to suboptimal resource utilization
Solution Approach 1:
The patent determines equivalence sets of hosts in advance, before virtual machine placement, by evaluating host attributes and compatibility requirements. This pre-computation allows the system to identify all hosts that could potentially satisfy the placement constraints, ensuring that optimal resource utilization is achieved from the start rather than requiring suboptimal sequential adjustments later.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the approach from dynamic post-placement compatibility checking to static pre-placement equivalence set determination. By transforming the host compatibility assessment into a pre-computed parameter (the equivalence sets), the system can optimize resource allocation based on complete information about host capabilities before making placement decisions.
3Ease of manufacture
If sequential host selection is used, then the placement process is simple to implement, but misleading error messaging is produced
Solution Approach 1:
By determining equivalence sets before placement, the system has complete information about which hosts are compatible with the virtual machine requirements. This allows the placement engine to provide accurate error messaging that clearly indicates why certain hosts were not selected, rather than producing misleading messages that result from incomplete sequential evaluation.
Data Source
AI summary
In one embodiment, a method for placing virtual machines in a collection is provided. A plurality of equivalence sets of hosts is determined prior to placing virtual machines in the collection. The hosts in an equivalence set of hosts are considered similar. An equivalence set of hosts in the plurality of equivalence sets is selected to place the virtual machines in the collection. The method then places at least a portion of the virtual machines in the collection on one or more hosts in the selected equivalence set of hosts.