Method and apparatus for dynamically altering configurations of clustered computer systems
AssigneeSun Microsystems, Inc.
InventorsKrishna Kumar, Declan J. Murphy, Andrew L. Hisgen
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Improved techniques for dynamically altering configurations of clustered computing systems are disclosed. The improved techniques can be implemented to allow alteration of an existing configuration of a clustered computing system without having to completely shutdown the clustered computing system. As a result, the clustered computing system can provide uninterrupted services while the configuration of the clustered computing system is being dynamically altered, yet also safeguard against unwanted partitions in time or space.
Claims28
A method for altering a configuration of a clustered computing system, the clustered computing system including at least one component, said method comprising:
- storing component vote information for at least one active component of the clustered computing system, wherein the component vote information includes votes assigned to components that are configured in the clustered computing system;
- receiving a configuration alteration request, the configuration alteration request requesting addition or removal of one or more components to or from the existing configuration of the clustered computing system;
- selecting one of the components associated with the configuration alteration request as a selected component;
- obtaining a vote for the selected component;
- and
- updating the component vote information stored for the at least one active component of the clustered computing system while the at least one active component remains active to reflect the vote for the selected component.
A method for altering a configuration of a clustered computing system including at least one component, the configuration of the clustered computing system having at least one active component, the active component having associated configuration vote information stored therein, said method comprising:
- (a) receiving a configuration alteration request, the configuration alteration request requesting addition or removal of one or more components to or from the existing configuration of the clustered computing system;
- (b) selecting one of the components associated with the configuration alteration request as a selected component;
- (c) obtaining a vote for the selected component;
- (d) updating the configuration vote information of the active component in accordance with the vote while the at least one active component remains active;
- (e) determining whether said updating (d) was successful;
- (f) determining whether there is another component associated with the configuration alteration request to be selected;
- and
- (g) repeating said selecting (b) through said determining (e) for the another component when said determining (f) determines that there is another component to be selected.
A clustered computing system, comprising:
- a computing cluster including at least one computing node;
- and
- a configuration manager provided for the at least one computing node, the configuration manager updating component vote information associated with at least one active component of the clustered computing system while the at least one active component remains active;
- wherein the component vote information includes votes assigned to components that are configured in the clustered computing system, and
- wherein the component vote information is stored for the at least one active component.
A computer readable medium including computer program code for altering a configuration of a clustered computing system including at least one component, the configuration of the clustered computing system having at least one active component, the active component having associated configuration vote information stored therein, the computer readable medium comprising:
- (a) computer program code for receiving a configuration alteration request, the configuration alteration request requesting addition or removal of one or more components to or from the existing configuration of the clustered computing system;
- (b) computer program code for selecting one of the components associated with the configuration alteration request as a selected component;
- (c) computer program code for obtaining a vote for the selected component;
- (d) computer program code for updating the configuration vote information of the active component while the at least one active component remains active;
- (e) computer program code for determining whether the computer program code (d) has successfully updated the configuration vote information;
- and
- (f) computer program code for determining whether there is another component associated with the configuration alteration request to be selected.
A computer readable medium including computer program code for altering configuration of a clustered computing system including at least one component, said computer readable medium comprising:
- “computer program code for storing component vote information for at least one active component of the clustered computing system, wherein the component vote information includes votes assigned to components that are configured in the clustered computing system;
- computer program code for receiving a configuration alteration request, the configuration alteration request requesting addition or removal of one or more components to or from the existing configuration of the clustered computing system;
- computer program code for selecting one of the components associated with the configuration alteration request as a selected component, obtaining a vote for the selected component, and
- computer program code for updating the component vote information stored for the at least one active component of the clustered computing system while the at least one active component remains active to reflect the vote for the selected component.”
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.