Path management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12074760-B2
Application number	US-202117477398-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Sep 16, 2021
Priority date	Sep 16, 2021
Publication date	Aug 27, 2024
Grant date	Aug 27, 2024

Abstract

Embodiments relate to methods, systems, and computer program products for path management in a processing system. In a method, in response to receiving a request for adding a target controlling unit into a processing system, a plurality of network nodes in the processing system are divided into a group of subnets based on a topology of the plurality of network nodes, the plurality of network nodes being connected to at least one controlling unit in the processing system. A workload estimation is determined, the workload estimation representing a workload to be caused by the target controlling unit to the processing system. A target subnet is selected from the group of subnets for connecting the target controlling unit into the processing system based on the workload estimation. With these embodiments, the target subnet may be selected in an automatic way such that the performance of the processing system may be increased.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:
receiving a request for adding a target controlling unit into a processing system, the target controlling unit configured to provide physical processing resources to the processing system, and the processing system including at least one processor, a storage area network connected to the at least one processor, and a controller connected to the storage area network that includes at least one controlling unit;
in response to receiving the request, dividing, by one or more processors, a plurality of network nodes in the storage area network into a group of subnets based on a topology of the plurality of network nodes, the plurality of network nodes being connected to the at least one controlling unit in the processing system;
determining, by the one or more processors, a workload estimation for each subnet of the group of subnets that is to be caused by adding the target controlling unit to the processing system; and
removing, by the one or more processors, an unqualified subnet from the group of subnets to form an updated group of subnets, the unqualified subnet including at least one hot node having a traffic estimation above a predefined traffic threshold when the target controlling unit is connected to the unqualified subnet.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein determining the workload estimation comprises:
selecting, by the one or more processors, a controlling unit from the at least one controlling unit based on at least one similarity level between the target controlling unit and the at least one controlling unit; and
determining, by the one or more processors, a workload estimation for the target controlling unit based on a workload for the selected controlling unit.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:
in response to determining that a workload estimation for one of the subnets in the updated group of subnets is below a predefined workload threshold, selecting, by the one or more processors, the one of the subnets in the updated group of subnets as a target subnet for connecting to the target controlling unit.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting a target subnet to connect to the target controlling unit,
wherein selecting the target subnet comprises any of:
in response to a workload estimation for one of the subnets in the updated group of subnets being below a predefined workload threshold, selecting, by the one or more processors, the one of the subnets from the updated group of subnets as the target subnet; and
in response to a workload estimation for one of the subnets in the updated group of subnets being above the predefined workload threshold, selecting, by the one or more processors, the target subnet from the updated group of subnets based on a flow rate for one of the subnets in the updated group of subnets.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether the updated group of subnets includes at least one subnet; and
in response to determining that the updated group of subnets includes at least one subnet, selecting, by the one or more processors, a target subnet from the updated group of subnets for connecting the target controlling unit into the processing system based on the workload estimations of the group of subnets.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether the updated group of subnets includes at least one subnet; and
in response to determining that the updated group of subnets includes at least one subnet, selecting, by the one or more processors, a target subnet for connecting to the target controlling unit based on a traffic estimation for a hot node in the at least one subnet in the updated group of subnets.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
determining whether the updated group of subnets includes at least one subnet; and
in response to determining that the updated group of subnets includes no subnet, selecting, by the one or more processors, a target subnet for connecting to the target controlling unit based on an average traffic for each subnet in the group of subnets.

8. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
selecting a target subnet to connect to the target controlling unit, wherein the target subnet is connected to a switch-out port in a switch device in the processing system; and
assigning, by the one or more processors, a path identification for a path, the path including a switch-in port in the switch device, the switch-out port, the target subnet, and the target controlling unit.

9. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
establishing, by the one or more processors, a connection between the switch device and the target controlling unit based on the path identification.

10. A system comprising:
one or more computer readable storage media with program instructions collectively stored on the one or more computer readable storage media; and
one or more processors configured to execute the program instructions to perform a method comprising:
receiving a request for adding a target controlling unit into a processing system, the target controlling unit configured to provide physical processing resources to the processing system, and the processing system including at least one processor, a storage area network connected to the at least one processor, and a controller connected to the storage area network that includes at least one controlling unit;
in response to receiving the request, dividing a plurality of network nodes in the storage area network into a group of subnets based on a topology of the plurality of network nodes, the plurality of network nodes being connected to the at least one controlling unit in the processing system;
determining a workload estimation for each subnet of the group of subnets that is to be caused by adding the target controlling unit to the processing system; and
removing an unqualified subnet from the group of subnets to form an updated group of subnets, the unqualified subnet including at least one hot node having a traffic estimation above a predefined traffic threshold when the target controlling unit is connected to the unqualified subnet.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein determining the workload estimation comprises:
selecting a controlling unit from the at least one controlling unit based on at least one similarity level between the target controlling unit and the at least one controlling unit; and
determining a workload estimation for the target controlling unit based on a workload for the selected controlling unit.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the method further comprises:
in response to determining that a workload estimation for one of the subnets in the updated group of subnets is below a predefined workload threshold, selecting the one of the subnets in the updated group of subnets as a target subnet for connecting to the target controlling unit.

13. The system of claim 10 , further comprising:
selecting a target subnet to connect to the target controlling unit,
wherein selecting the target subnet comprises any of:
in response to a workload estimation for one of the subnets in the updated group of subnets being below a predefined workload threshold, selecting the one of the subnets from the updated group of subnets as the target subnet; and
in response to a workload estimation for one of the subnets in the updated group of subnets being above the predefined workload threshold, selecting the target subnet from the updated group of subnets based on a flow rate for one of the subnets in the updated group of subnets.

14. The syst

Assignees

• IBM

Inventors

• Huang Yan
• Wang Heng
• Feng Kai
• An Zheng Lei
• Jia Shuang Shuang
• Chen xiao ling
• Sui Guang Han
• Wang Lei

Classifications

• H04L67/1031

  Controlling of the operation of servers by a load balancer, e.g. adding or removing servers that serve requests · CPC title

• H04L41/142

  using statistical or mathematical methods · CPC title

• H04L41/12

  Discovery or management of network topologies · CPC title

• H04L41/0816 Primary

  the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events · CPC title

• H04L67/1089 Primary

  Hierarchical topologies · CPC title