Reliable one-click cluster shutdown

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-12511145-B2
Application number	US-202217719154-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Apr 12, 2022
Priority date	Mar 22, 2022
Publication date	Dec 30, 2025
Grant date	Dec 30, 2025

Abstract

An information handling system may include at least one processor and a memory. The information handling system may be a node of an information handling system cluster that comprises a plurality of nodes, and the information handling system is configured to: receive a shutdown instruction from a user, the shutdown instruction indicating that the cluster is to be powered down; and without further user input: cause virtual machines (VMs) that are executing on the cluster to be migrated to a particular node of the cluster that has been designated as a primary node; store metadata at the primary node, the metadata being usable to reestablish communication among the nodes after the shutdown; and cause the plurality of nodes to power down.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . An information handling system comprising:
at least one processor; and a memory; wherein the information handling system is a node of an information handling system cluster that comprises a plurality of nodes linked by a cluster network, wherein the cluster is configured to execute a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) management system as a plurality of management virtual machines (VMs), and wherein the information handling system is configured to: receive a shutdown instruction from a user, the shutdown instruction indicating that the cluster is to be powered down; and without further user input:
select a particular node of the cluster as a primary node;
cause the management VMs that are executing on nodes of the cluster other than the primary node to be migrated to the primary node;
shut down all except one of the management VMs;
store metadata at the primary node, the metadata being usable to reestablish communication among the nodes after the shutdown;
cause the plurality of nodes to be concurrently disconnected from the cluster network;
cause the plurality of nodes to be concurrently transitioned to a maintenance mode, wherein a node in maintenance mode is unable to execute any new management VMs; and
cause the plurality of nodes to concurrently power down.

2 . The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the shutdown instruction is based on a single interaction from the user with a management interface.

3 . The information handling system of claim 2 , wherein the single interaction is a single click of a pointing device.

4 . The information handling system of claim 2 , wherein the single interaction is an interaction with a keyboard.

5 . The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the causing the management VMs to be migrated, the storing metadata at the primary node, and the causing the plurality of nodes to power down are carried out by a VM executing on a hypervisor of the information handling system.

6 . The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the cluster is a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) cluster.

7 . A computer-implemented method executable by an information handling system that is a node of an information handling system cluster that comprises a plurality of nodes linked by a cluster network, wherein the cluster is configured to execute a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) management system as a plurality of management virtual machines (VMs), the method comprising:
receiving a shutdown instruction from a user, the shutdown instruction indicating that the cluster is to be powered down; and without further user input:
selecting a particular node of the cluster as a primary node;
causing the management VMs that are executing on nodes of the cluster other than the primary node to be migrated to the primary node;
shutting down all except one of the management VMs;
storing metadata at the primary node, the metadata being usable to reestablish communication among the nodes after the shutdown;
causing the plurality of nodes to be concurrently disconnected from the cluster network;
causing the plurality of nodes to be concurrently transitioned to a maintenance mode, wherein a node in maintenance mode is unable to execute any new management VMs; and
causing the plurality of nodes to concurrently power down.

8 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the shutdown instruction is based on a single interaction from the user with a management interface.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the single interaction is a single click of a pointing device.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the single interaction is an interaction with a keyboard.

11 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the causing the management VMs to be migrated, the storing metadata at the primary node, and the causing the plurality of nodes to power down are carried out by a VM executing on a hypervisor of the information handling system.

12 . The method of claim 7 , wherein the cluster is a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) cluster.

13 . An article of manufacture comprising a non-transitory, computer-readable medium having computer-executable instructions thereon that are executable by a processor of an information handling system that is a node of an information handling system cluster that comprises a plurality of nodes linked by a cluster network, wherein the cluster is configured to execute a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) management system as a plurality of management virtual machines (VMs), for:
receiving a shutdown instruction from a user, the shutdown instruction indicating that the cluster is to be powered down; and without further user input:
selecting a particular node of the cluster as a primary node;
causing the management VMs that are executing on nodes of the cluster other than the primary node to be migrated to the primary node;
shutting down all except one of the management VMs;
storing metadata at the primary node, the metadata being usable to reestablish communication among the nodes after the shutdown;
causing the plurality of nodes to be concurrently disconnected from the cluster network;
causing the plurality of nodes to be concurrently transitioned to a maintenance mode, wherein a node in maintenance mode is unable to execute any new management VMs; and
causing the plurality of nodes to concurrently power down.

14 . The article of claim 13 , wherein the shutdown instruction is based on a single interaction from the user with a management interface.

15 . The article of claim 14 , wherein the single interaction is a single click of a pointing device.

16 . The article of claim 14 , wherein the single interaction is an interaction with a keyboard.

17 . The article of claim 13 , wherein the causing the managment VMs to be migrated, the storing metadata at the primary node, and the causing the plurality of nodes to power down are carried out by a VM executing on a hypervisor of the information handling system.

18 . The article of claim 13 , wherein the cluster is a hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) cluster.

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Wang Bo
• Yu Xing
• Tan Sheng
• Chen Yena
• Cai Xiling

Classifications

• G06F2009/4557

  Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing · CPC title

• G06F2009/45575

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

• G06F9/442

  Shutdown · CPC title

• G06F9/5072

  Grid computing · CPC title

• G06F9/4893

  taking into account power or heat criteria (power management in computers in general G06F1/3203; thermal management in computers in general G06F1/206) · CPC title