US 9,286,104 B1Granted

Selecting virtual machines to be relocated based on memory volatility

AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation

InventorsRahul Ghosh, Ivan M. Heninger, Saju Mathew, Aaron J. Quirk

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Abstract

A method, system and computer program product for selecting virtual machines to be migrated. The page consumption is monitored and recorded for each virtual machine running on a physical machine in a cloud computing node. Those virtual machines with a positive gradient of page consumption that is less than a threshold are placed in a list of virtual machines to be ranked. The virtual machines in the list are ranked based on an increasing order of the relative page consumption value at each sample interval within an observation window of time. A final rank for each virtual machine in the list is computed based on averaging its ranking across each sample interval within the observation window of time. One or more virtual machines are then selected to be migrated to another physical machine that have the lowest final ranking (i.e., with the lowest relative page consumption values).

Claims17

Dependent claims

A method for selecting virtual machines to be migrated, the method comprising:

monitoring page consumption by each virtual machine running on a physical machine as a function of time, wherein said page consumption comprises an amount of virtual memory accessed;
recording said page consumption by each virtual machine running on said physical machine at sample points in time within an observation window of time;
computing a gradient of page consumption for each virtual machine running on said physical machine at each sample interval within said observation window of time, wherein each said sample interval is a time duration between two consecutive sample points in time within said observation window of time;
identifying those virtual machines with a positive computed gradient of page consumption that is less than a threshold to be placed in a list of virtual machines to be ranked, wherein said threshold comprises a percentage of sample intervals within said observation window of time that have a positive gradient of page consumption;
computing a relative page consumption value for each virtual machine in said list of virtual machines to be ranked for each said sample interval within said observation window of time, wherein said relative page consumption value indicates a change in a rate of said page consumption;
ranking said virtual machines in said list of virtual machines based on an increasing order of said relative page consumption value at each said sample interval within said observation window of time;
computing, by a processor, a final rank for each virtual machine in said list of virtual machines based on averaging its ranking across each said sample interval within said observation window of time;
and
selecting one or more virtual machines to be migrated from said list of virtual machines that have a lowest final ranking.

6 more elements

A computer program product for selecting virtual machines to be migrated, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having program code embodied therewith, the program code comprising the programming instructions for:

monitoring page consumption by each virtual machine running on a physical machine as a function of time, wherein said page consumption comprises an amount of virtual memory accessed;
recording said page consumption by each virtual machine running on said physical machine at sample points in time within an observation window of time;
computing a gradient of page consumption for each virtual machine running on said physical machine at each sample interval within said observation window of time, wherein each said sample interval is a time duration between two consecutive sample points in time within said observation window of time;
identifying those virtual machines with a positive computed gradient of page consumption that is less than a threshold to be placed in a list of virtual machines to be ranked, wherein said threshold comprises a percentage of sample intervals within said observation window of time that have a positive gradient of page consumption;
computing a relative page consumption value for each virtual machine in said list of virtual machines to be ranked for each said sample interval within said observation window of time, wherein said relative page consumption value indicates a change in a rate of said page consumption;
ranking said virtual machines in said list of virtual machines based on an increasing order of said relative page consumption value at each said sample interval within said observation window of time;
computing a final rank for each virtual machine in said list of virtual machines based on averaging its ranking across each said sample interval within said observation window of time;
and
selecting one or more virtual machines to be migrated from said list of virtual machines that have a lowest final ranking.

6 more elements

A system, comprising:

a memory unit for storing a computer program for selecting virtual machines to be migrated;
and
a processor coupled to the memory unit, wherein the processor is configured to execute the program instructions of the computer program comprising:
monitoring page consumption by each virtual machine running on a physical machine as a function of time, wherein said page consumption comprises an amount of virtual memory accessed;
recording said page consumption by each virtual machine running on said physical machine at sample points in time within an observation window of time;
computing a gradient of page consumption for each virtual machine running on said physical machine at each sample interval within said observation window of time, wherein each said sample interval is a time duration between two consecutive sample points in time within said observation window of time;
identifying those virtual machines with a positive computed gradient of page consumption that is less than a threshold to be placed in a list of virtual machines to be ranked, wherein said threshold comprises a percentage of sample intervals within said observation window of time that have a positive gradient of page consumption;
computing a relative page consumption value for each virtual machine in said list of virtual machines to be ranked for each said sample interval within said observation window of time, wherein said relative page consumption value indicates a change in a rate of said page consumption;
ranking said virtual machines in said list of virtual machines based on an increasing order of said relative page consumption value at each said sample interval within said observation window of time;
computing a final rank for each virtual machine in said list of virtual machines based on averaging its ranking across each said sample interval within said observation window of time;
and
selecting one or more virtual machines to be migrated from said list of virtual machines that have a lowest final ranking.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.