Specifying a disaggregated compute system

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11153223-B2
Application number	US-201615093082-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 7, 2016
Priority date	Apr 7, 2016
Publication date	Oct 19, 2021
Grant date	Oct 19, 2021

Abstract

Server resources in a data center are disaggregated into shared server resource pools. Servers are constructed dynamically, on-demand and based on workload requirements, by allocating from these resource pools. A disaggregated compute system of this type keeps track of resources that are available in the shared server resource pools, and it manages those resources based on that information. Each server entity built is assigned with a unique server ID, and each resource that comprises a component thereof is tagged with the identifier. As a workload is processed by the server entity, its composition may change, e.g. by allocating more resources to the server entity, or by de-allocating resources from the server entity. Workload requests are associated with the unique server ID for the server entity. When a workload request is received at a resource, it matches its unique server ID to that of the request before servicing the request.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A method for assigning resources in a compute environment, comprising
providing a set of server resource pools, wherein a server resource pool comprises a set of resources of a common type;
responsive to receipt of a request, defining a server entity composed of one or more resources selected from two or more of the server resource pools, the server resource pools being a compute pool, and a memory pool, wherein the one or more resources are selected from the two or more of the server resource pools based on a workload associated with the request;
associating a unique server identifier to the server entity and to the request;
providing the unique server identifier to each of the one or more resources in the server entity, thereby allocating the one or more resources to the server entity;
at a resource of the one or more resources that receives the request, acting on the request upon verifying that the unique server identifier associated to the request matches the unique server identifier of the server entity to which the resource is allocated;
receiving information collected from monitoring the one or more resources as the workload is processed; and
based on the monitoring, adjusting a composition of the server entity based on a change in the workload.

2. The method as described in claim 1 further including:
cross-referencing a resource-specific identifier for each resource with the unique server identifier; and
updating the unique server identifier and a set of resource-specific identifiers cross-referenced thereto to reflect adjustment of the composition of the server entity.

3. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the composition of the server entity is adjusted by adding to the server entity one or more resources of a server resource pool.

4. The method as described in claim 3 wherein the one or more resources added to the server entity are selected based on network locality relative to others of the resources already present in the server entity.

5. The method as described in claim 1 wherein the composition of the server entity is adjusted by removing from the server entity one or more resources of a server resource pool.

6. The method as described in claim 5 further including returning to the resource server pools the one or more resources that are removed from the server entity.

7. Apparatus for assigning resources in a compute environment, comprising:
one or more hardware processors;
computer memory holding computer program instructions executed by the one or more hardware processors and configured to:
manage a set of server resource pools, wherein a server resource pool comprises a set of resources of a common type;
responsive to receipt of a request, define a server entity composed of one or more resources selected from two or more of the server resource pools, the server resource pools being a compute pool, and a memory pool, wherein the one or more resources are selected from the two or more of the server resource pools based on a workload associated with the request;
associate a unique server identifier to the server entity and to the request;
provide the unique server identifier to each of the one or more resources in the server entity, thereby allocating the one or more resources to the server entity;
at a resource of the one or more resources that receives the request, act on the request upon verifying that the unique server identifier associated to the request matches the unique server identifier of the server entity to which the resource is allocated;
receive information collected from monitoring the one or more resources as the workload is processed; and
based on the monitoring, adjust a composition of the server entity based on a change in the workload.

8. The apparatus as described in claim 7 wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to:
cross-reference a resource-specific identifier for each resource with the unique server identifier; and
update the unique server identifier and a set of resource-specific identifiers cross-referenced thereto to reflect adjustment of the composition of the server entity.

9. The apparatus as described in claim 7 wherein the composition of the server entity is adjusted by adding to the server entity one or more resources of a server resource pool.

10. The apparatus as described in claim 9 wherein the one or more resources added to the server entity are selected based on network locality relative to others of the resources already present in the server entity.

11. The apparatus as described in claim 7 wherein the composition of the server entity is adjusting by removing from the server entity one or more resources of a server resource pool.

12. The apparatus as described in claim 11 wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to return to the resource server pools the one or more resources that are removed from the server entity.

13. A computer program product in a non-transitory computer readable medium for use in a data processing system for assigning resources in a compute environment, the computer program product holding computer program instructions executed in the data processing system and configured to:
manage a set of server resource pools, wherein a server resource pool comprises a set of resources of a common type;
responsive to receipt of a request, define a server entity composed of one or more resources selected from two or more of the server resource pools, the server resource pools being a compute pool, and a memory pool, wherein the one or more resources are selected from the two or more of the server resource pools based on a workload associated with the request;
associate a unique server identifier to the server entity and to the request;
provide the unique server identifier to each of the one or more resources in the server entity, thereby allocating the one or more resources to the server entity;
at a resource of the one or more resources that receives the request, act on the request upon verifying that the unique server identifier associated to the request matches the unique server identifier of the server entity to which the resource is allocated;
receive information collected from monitoring the one or more resources as the workload is processed; and
based on the monitoring, adjust a composition of the server entity based on a change in the workload.

14. The computer program product as described in claim 13 wherein the computer program instructions are further configured to:
cross-reference a resource-specific identifier for each resource with the unique server identifier; and
update the unique server identifier and a set of resource-specific identifiers cross-referenced thereto to reflect adjustment of the composition of the server entity.

15. The computer program product as described in claim 13 wherein the composition of the server entity is adjusted by adding to the server entity one or more resources of a server resource pool.

16. The computer program product as described in claim 15 wherein the one or more resources added to the server entity are selected based on network locality relative to others of the resources already present in the server entity.

17. The computer program product as described in claim 13 wherein the composition of the server entity is adjusting by removing from the server entity one or more resources of a server resource pool.

18. The computer program product as described in claim 17 wherein the computer program instructions are

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Salapura Valentina
• Bivens John Alan
• Das Koushik K
• Li Min
• Mahindru Ruchi
• Ramasamy Harigovind V
• Ruan Yaoping
• Schenfeld Eugen

Classifications

• H04L41/0897

  by horizontal or vertical scaling of resources, or by migrating entities, e.g. virtual resources or entities · CPC title

• H04L47/83

  based on usage prediction · CPC title

• G06F9/5083 Primary

  Techniques for rebalancing the load in a distributed system · CPC title

• H04L47/70 Primary

  Admission control; Resource allocation · CPC title

• H04L41/5025

  by proactively reacting to service quality change, e.g. by reconfiguration after service quality degradation or upgrade · CPC title