# US 2020/0401671 A1 · Hyper-Converged Infrastructure (HCI) Operation Predictor

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- Number: US 2020/0401671 A1
- Document ID: US20200401671A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 16/446,146
- Filed: 2019-06-19
- Published: 2020-12-24
- Earliest claimed: 2019-06-19
- Assignees: VMware, Inc.
- Applicants: VMware, Inc.
- Inventors: Yi Yang; Mansi Shah; Vishnu Rajula; Ojan Thornycroft
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20200401671A1

## CPC

- G06F 30/20: Design optimisation, verification or simulation (optimisation, verification or simulation of circuit designs G06F30/30)
- G06F 3/0604: {Improving or facilitating administration, e.g. storage management}
- G06F 3/0605: {by facilitating the interaction with a user or administrator}
- G06F 3/0653: {Monitoring storage devices or systems}
- G06F 3/0659: {Command handling arrangements, e.g. command buffers, queues, command scheduling}
- G06F 3/0673: {Single storage device}
- G06F 16/27: Replication, distribution or synchronisation of data between databases or within a distributed database system; Distributed database system architectures therefor
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

Techniques for predicting the outcome of a storage management operation on a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) deployment are provided. In one set of embodiments, a computer system can retrieve a current storage resource state of the HCI deployment. The computer system can then execute a simulation of the storage management operation in view of the current storage resource state, where the executing includes performing one or more simulated data movements between one or more host systems in the HCI deployment. Upon completing the simulation, the computer system can generate a report including, among other things, a predicted result status of the storage management operation based on the simulation.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for predicting an outcome of a storage management operation on a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) deployment, the method comprising:
retrieving, by a computer system, a current storage resource state of the HCI deployment;
executing, by the computer system, a simulation of the storage management operation in view of the current storage resource state, the executing including performing one or more simulated data movements between one or more host systems in the HCI deployment; and
generating, by the computer system, a report including a predicted result status of the storage management operation based on the simulation.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the retrieving comprises:
creating, in a system memory of the computer system, a cloned copy of a cluster resource database maintained by the HCI deployment.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the current storage resource state includes:
a current number of host systems in the HCI deployment;
a current number of disks residing in each host system;
a storage capacity of each disk;
a current usage level of each disk;
a current number of objects stored in the HCI deployment;
a component layout for each object; and
storage policy information for each object.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2 wherein executing the simulation comprises:
determining, from the cloned copy of the cluster resource database, a list of objects affected by the storage management operation; and
for each object in the list:
determining a reconfiguration for the object;
if the reconfiguration can be successfully applied to the cloned copy, updating the cloned copy to reflect the reconfiguration; and
if the reconfiguration cannot be successfully applied to the cloned copy, identifying a storage resource needed for the reconfiguration and adding an amount of the storage resource to the cloned copy.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the predicted result status indicates that the storage management operation will be successful or the storage management operation will fail due to a deficiency of one or more storage resources.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The method of claim 5 wherein if the predicted result status indicates that the storage management operation will fail due to a deficiency of one or more storage resources, the report further includes an indication of a type and amount of the one or more storage resources needed in order for the storage management operation to be successful.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 wherein the report further includes:
a resource state map comparing a post-operation storage resource state of the HCI deployment with the current storage resource state; and
a list of objects determined to become inaccessible or non-compliant with a storage policy due to the storage management operation.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1 further comprising:
triggering, by the computer system, one or more actions based on the predicted result status.

### Claim 9

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having stored thereon program code executable by a computer system, the program code embodying a method for predicting an outcome of a storage management operation on a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) deployment, the method comprising:
retrieving a current storage resource state of the HCI deployment;
executing a simulation of the storage management operation in view of the current storage resource state, the executing including performing one or more simulated data movements between one or more host systems in the HCI deployment; and
generating a report including a predicted result status of the storage management operation based on the simulation.

### Claim 10 (depends on 9)

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 wherein the retrieving comprises:
creating, in a system memory of the computer system, a cloned copy of a cluster resource database maintained by the HCI deployment.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 wherein the current storage resource state includes:
a current number of host systems in the HCI deployment;
a current number of disks residing in each host system;
a storage capacity of each disk;
a current usage level of each disk;
a current number of objects stored in the HCI deployment;
a component layout for each object; and
storage policy information for each object.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10 wherein executing the simulation comprises:
determining, from the cloned copy of the cluster resource database, a list of objects affected by the storage management operation; and
for each object in the list:
determining a reconfiguration for the object;
if the reconfiguration can be successfully applied to the cloned copy, updating the cloned copy to reflect the reconfiguration; and
if the reconfiguration cannot be successfully applied to the cloned copy, identifying a storage resource needed for the reconfiguration and adding an amount of the storage resource to the cloned copy.

### Claim 13 (depends on 9)

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 wherein the predicted result status indicates that the storage management operation will be successful or the storage management operation will fail due to a deficiency of one or more storage resources.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 13 wherein if the predicted result status indicates that the storage management operation will fail due to a deficiency of one or more storage resources, the report further includes an indication of a type and amount of the one or more storage resources needed in order for the storage management operation to be successful.

### Claim 15 (depends on 9)

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 wherein the report further includes:
a resource state map comparing a post-operation storage resource state of the HCI deployment with the current storage resource state; and
a list of objects determined to become inaccessible or non-compliant with a storage policy due to the storage management operation.

### Claim 16 (depends on 9)

The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 9 wherein the method further comprises:
triggering one or more actions based on the predicted results status.

### Claim 17

A computer system comprising:
a processor; and
a non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon program code that, when executed, causes the processor to:
retrieve a current storage resource state of a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) deployment;
execute a simulation of the storage management operation in view of the current storage resource state, the executing including performing one or more simulated data movements between one or more host systems in the HCI deployment; and
generate a report including a predicted result status of the storage management operation based on the simulation.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The computer system of claim 17 wherein the code that causes the processor to retrieve the current storage resource state comprises code that causes the processor to:
create, in a system memory of the computer system, a cloned copy of a cluster resource database maintained by the HCI deployment.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The computer system of claim 17 wherein the current storage resource state includes:
a current number of host systems in the HCI deployment;
a current number of disks residing in each host system;
a storage capacity of each disk;
a current usage level of each disk;
a current number of objects stored in the HCI deployment;
a component layout for each object; and
storage policy information for each object.

### Claim 20 (depends on 18)

The computer system of claim 18 wherein the code that causes the processor to execute the simulation comprises code that causes the processor to:
determine, from the cloned copy of the cluster resource database, a list of objects affected by the storage management operation; and
for each object in the list:
determine a reconfiguration for the object;
if the reconfiguration can be successfully applied to the cloned copy, update the cloned copy to reflect the reconfiguration; and
if the reconfiguration cannot be successfully applied to the cloned copy, identify a storage resource needed for the reconfiguration and add an amount of the storage resource to the cloned copy.

### Claim 21 (depends on 17)

The computer system of claim 17 wherein the predicted result status indicates that the storage management operation will be successful or the storage management operation will fail due to a deficiency of one or more storage resources.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The computer system of claim 21 wherein if the predicted result status indicates that the storage management operation will fail due to a deficiency of one or more storage resources, the report further includes an indication of a type and amount of the one or more storage resources needed in order for the storage management operation to be successful.

### Claim 23 (depends on 17)

The computer system of claim 17 wherein the report further includes:
a resource state map comparing a post-operation storage resource state of the HCI deployment with the current storage resource state; and
a list of objects determined to become inaccessible or non-compliant with a storage policy due to the storage management operation.

### Claim 24 (depends on 17)

The computer system of claim 17 wherein the program code further causes the processor to:
trigger one or more actions based on the predicted result status.