Computer system backup performance optimization through performance analytics

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10061233-B2
Application number	US-201414564147-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Dec 9, 2014
Priority date	Dec 9, 2014
Publication date	Aug 28, 2018
Grant date	Aug 28, 2018

Abstract

Embodiments in accordance with the present invention disclose a method, computer program product, and system for optimizing performance of a computer backup solution that includes at least two data movers. The automated method includes measuring data mover performance during operation of a backup cycle, and optimizing the performance of data movers by increasing or decreasing the number of threads operating concurrently in the data movers. The method further includes computation of performance rankings of the data movers and shifting workload among the data movers in accordance with their respective performance rankings, such that the computer backup solution converges toward an optimized configuration.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for optimizing performance of a computer backup solution that includes at least a first data mover and a second data mover, the method comprising:
measuring, by one or more processors, performance of the first data mover and the second data mover, respectively, during operation of a backup cycle, to produce performance statistics of the first data mover and performance statistics of the second data mover;
operating, by one or more processors, a performance model operationally coupled with the first and second data movers wherein the performance model includes at least performance statistics of the first data mover that pertain to the performance of logical processes of the first data mover in transferring backup data from source virtual machine(s) to backup server(s) and performance statistics of the second data mover that pertain to the performance of logical processes of the second data mover in transferring backup data from source virtual machine(s) to backup server(s);
initiating, by one or more processors, communications between the first data mover and the second data mover during at least a backup cycle, to exchange at least performance statistics between the first data mover and the second data mover;
computing, by one or more processors, performance rankings with respect to virtual machine class, of a first data mover and a second data mover, based at least in part on performance statistics of the first data mover and performance statistics of the second data mover; and
shifting, by one or more processors, workload from a first data mover to a second data mover, in accordance with their respective performance rankings, with respect to virtual machine class, such that the computer backup solution converges toward an optimized configuration.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein measuring, by one or more processors, performance of the first data mover and the second data mover, respectively, during operation of a backup cycle, to produce performance statistics of the first data mover and performance statistics of the second data mover, comprises:
measuring performance statistics of the first data mover with respect to at least one virtual machine class processed by the first data mover, to produce performance statistics, by virtual machine class, of the first data mover; and
measuring performance statistics of the second data mover with respect to at least one virtual machine class processed by the second data mover, to produce performance statistics, by virtual machine class, of the second data mover.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein optimizing, by one or more processors, performance of a data mover comprises:
operating concurrently, one or more producer threads in the data mover;
operating concurrently, one or more consumer threads in the data mover;
changing the number of producer threads or consumer threads operating concurrently in the data mover; and
measuring a change of performance of the data mover, in response to changing the number of producer threads or consumer threads operating concurrently in the data mover, to produce performance statistics on which to base, at least in part, a subsequent change in the number of producer threads or consumer threads operating concurrently in the data mover, such that the data mover converges toward an optimized performance state.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein operating, by one or more processors, a performance model operationally coupled with a data mover wherein the performance model includes at least performance statistics of the first data mover and performance statistics of the second data mover further comprises:
storing at least performance statistics relative to a first data mover, in the performance model associated with the first data mover;
storing at least performance statistics relative to a first data mover, in the performance model associated with the second data mover;
storing at least performance statistics relative to a second data mover, in the performance model associated with the first data mover; and
storing at least performance statistics relative to a second data mover, in the performance model associated with the second data mover.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein initiating, by one or more processors, communications between the first data mover and the second data mover, during at least a backup cycle, to exchange at least performance statistics between the first data mover and the second data mover, comprises a peer-to-peer model wherein the first data mover has access to the performance model of the second data mover and the second data mover has access to the performance model of the first data mover.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein computing, by one or more processors, performance rankings with respect to virtual machine class, of a first data mover and a second data mover, based at least in part on performance statistics of the first data mover and performance statistics of the second data mover comprises:
analyzing respective performance statistics of the first data mover and the second data mover, with respect to virtual machine class, to produce performance rankings, by virtual machine class, of the first data mover and the second data mover.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein shifting, by one or more processors, workload from a first data mover to a second data mover, in accordance with their respective performance rankings, such that the computer backup solution converges toward an optimized configuration comprises:
shifting some workload from virtual machines of a class, from the first data mover to the second data mover, based at least in part, on the performance rankings of the first data mover and the second data mover with respect to workload from virtual machines of the class.

8. A computer program product for optimizing performance of a computer backup solution that includes at least a first data mover and a second data mover, the computer program product comprising:
one or more non-transitory computer readable tangible storage media; and
program instructions stored on at least one of the one or more storage media, the program instructions comprising:
program instructions to measure, by one or more processors, performance of the first data mover and the second data mover, respectively, during operation of a backup cycle, to produce performance statistics of the first data mover and performance statistics of the second data mover;
program instructions to operate, by one or more processors, a performance model operationally coupled with the first and second data movers wherein the performance model includes at least performance statistics of the first data mover that pertain to the performance of logical processes of the first data mover in transferring backup data from source virtual machine(s) to backup server(s) and performance statistics of the second data mover that pertain to the performance of logical processes of the second data mover in transferring backup data from source virtual machine(s) to backup server(s);
program instructions to initiate, by one or more processors, communications between the first data mover and the second data mover during at least a backup cycle, to exchange at least performance statistics between the first data mover and the second data mover;
program instructions to compute, by one or more processors, performance rankings with respect to virtual machine class, of a first data mover and a second data mover, based at least in part on performance statistics of the first data mover and performance statistics of the second data mover; and
program instructions to shift, by one or more processors, workload from a first data mover to a second data mover, in accordance with the

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Damgar James E
• Wolfe Daniel C

Classifications

• G06F2201/875

  Monitoring of systems including the internet · CPC title

• G06F11/1451

  by selection of backup contents · CPC title

• G06F11/1456

  Hardware arrangements for backup · CPC title

• G06F2201/805

  Real-time · CPC title

• G06F2009/45575

  Starting, stopping, suspending or resuming virtual machine instances · CPC title