Provisioning virtual CPUs using a hardware multithreading parameter in hosts with split core processors

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9304805-B2
Application number	US-201414297724-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jun 6, 2014
Priority date	Jun 6, 2014
Publication date	Apr 5, 2016
Grant date	Apr 5, 2016

Abstract

A cloud manager monitors available resources on host computer systems, including a number of hardware threads supported by CPUs on the host computer systems and whether or not the CPUs have split core enabled. The cloud manager receives a request to provision a virtual machine (VM) that includes a hardware multithreading parameter that specifies whether hardware multithreading is allowed on the host computer system. The cloud manager then selects a host computer system for the VM taking into consideration the hardware multithreading parameter, the hardware threads supported by the CPU, and the split core settings. The VM is then placed on the selected host computer system using the hardware multithreading parameter. The result is more efficient utilization of CPU resources in a host for a virtual machine.

First claim

The invention claimed is:

1. A computer-implemented method executed by at least one processor for placing a plurality of virtual CPUs (vCPUs) on a host computer system, the method comprising:
determining number of CPUs available on a plurality of host computer systems to which virtual machines could be deployed;
determining number of hardware threads supported by each CPU on the plurality of host computer systems;
determining whether each CPU on the plurality of host computer system has split core enabled to split a core of the CPU into multiple subcores, and if so, a number of subcores per core;
receiving a virtual machine (VM) request that includes a number of virtual CPUs, a hardware multithreading parameter that specifies whether hardware multithreading is required; and
selecting one of the plurality of host computer systems that includes a number of CPUs with a number of hardware threads and split core settings that satisfy the number of virtual CPUs and the hardware multithreading parameter in the VM request.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising using the hardware multithreading parameter and the split core settings on the selected host computer system to place a plurality of virtual CPUs (vCPUs) on the selected host computer system.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein a first value of the hardware multithreading parameter indicates hardware multithreading is turned off and is therefore not required on the selected host computer system.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein when the first value of the hardware multithreading parameter indicates hardware multithreading is turned off, placing each vCPU in the VM on a different physical core in the selected host computer system.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein a second value of the hardware multithreading parameter indicates hardware multithreading is required on the selected host computer system with a numerical value for a number of hardware threads on the selected host computer system.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein when the second value of the hardware multithreading indicates a numerical value for a number of hardware threads, placing each vCPU in the VM on a different hardware thread in the selected host computer system.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein a third value of the hardware multithreading parameter indicates the selected host computer system is selected without regard to whether hardware threading is turned on or off on the selected host computer system.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the VM request further includes a memory requirement and a disk requirement.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the host monitor mechanism further determines amount of memory and amount of disk space on each of the plurality of host computer systems.

10. A computer-implemented method executed by at least one processor for placing a plurality of virtual CPUs (vCPUs) on a host computer system, the method comprising:
determining number of CPUs, amount of memory, and amount of disk space available on a plurality of host computer systems to which virtual machines could be deployed;
determining number of hardware threads supported by each CPU on the plurality of host computer systems;
determining whether each CPU on the plurality of host computer systems has split core enabled to split a core of the CPU into multiple subcores;
receiving a virtual machine (VM) request that includes:
a memory requirement that specifies a minimum amount of memory for the VM;
a disk requirement that specifies a minimum amount of disk for the VM; and
a CPU requirement that specifies a number of virtual CPUs for the VM and a hardware multithreading parameter that specifies whether hardware multithreading is required, wherein a first value of the hardware multithreading parameter indicates hardware multithreading is turned off and is therefore not required on the selected host computer system, a second value of the hardware multithreading parameter indicates hardware multithreading is required on the selected host computer system with a numerical value for a number of hardware threads, and a third value of the hardware multithreading parameter indicates the selected host computer system is selected without regard to whether hardware threading is turned on or off on the selected host computer system;

selecting one of the plurality of host computer systems that includes a number of CPUs with a number of hardware threads and split core settings that satisfy the number of virtual CPUs and the hardware multithreading parameter in the VM request; and
using the hardware multithreading parameter and the split core settings of the selected host computer system to place the plurality of vCPUs on the selected host computer system by placing each vCPU in the VM on a different physical core in the selected host computer system when the hardware multithreading parameter indicates hardware multithreading is turned off and by placing each vCPU in the VM on a different hardware thread in a subcore in a CPU in the selected host computer system when the hardware multithreading parameter indicates the number of hardware threads and the split core settings of the selected computer system is enabled.

Assignees

• IBM
• Interinat Business Machines Corp

Inventors

• Cropper Joseph W
• Henderson Kyle L
• Tenner Jeffrey W

Classifications

• G06F2009/4557

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

• G06F9/46

  Multiprogramming arrangements · CPC title

• G06F9/45558 Primary

  Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects · CPC title

• G06F9/5072

  Grid computing · CPC title

• G06F2009/45583

  Memory management, e.g. access or allocation · CPC title