JP2013109556A - Monitoring controller - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To prevent an increased amount of memory in use from exerting influence on system performance.SOLUTION: There is provided a monitoring controller comprising: a measurement section which measures the amount of memory resources in use in a given block of a virtual machine at certain time intervals; and a control section which makes a change to increase the amount of physical memory allocated to the given block of the virtual machine when the measurement section detects a predetermined number of times that the amount of memory resources in use in the given block of the virtual machine exceeds a threshold. The virtual machine has a paging processing section which accesses an auxiliary storage area available as a memory area, and is connected to the auxiliary storage area via the paging processing section. The measurement section may measure the amount of memory resources in use by measuring a number of accesses of the memory resources allocated to the given block to the auxiliary storage area.

Description

  The present invention relates to a monitoring control device that monitors memory usage of software logical partitions sharing resources and controls memory allocation.

  A virtualization technology is known that virtualizes a computer and operates a software logical partition corresponding to the virtualized computer (see, for example, Patent Documents 1-4). In such a virtualization technology, a plurality of virtualized computers are operated on a computer that is one piece of hardware, and the system is operated as a software logical partition corresponding to each virtualized computer. Is possible.

  As a result, the system can be operated independently as if the system were operated by a computer as individual hardware, and the influence of unauthorized intrusion on one system can be prevented from spreading to other systems. . In addition, while operating the system independently, what was originally required to install a plurality of hardware according to the number of systems can be installed with a smaller number of hardware.

US Pat. No. 4,564,903 JP 2002-182934 A Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 09-08401 JP 2004-199561 A

  When operating more systems than the number of hardware, it is necessary to consider the allocation of hardware resources to each system. For example, when the memory usage of a certain system increases and the memory usage exceeds the physical memory, a slower external storage or the like is used as the paging space, and the performance is significantly reduced. Therefore, it is necessary to secure a sufficient amount of physical memory. However, if a physical memory amount prepared for the maximum load is prepared, the cost increases, and normally, there is always a surplus in the physical memory amount. Therefore, in recent years, a technique has been developed that can share a pool of physical memory in a plurality of logical partitions. This technology can reduce the physical memory capacity, but if the amount of memory used exceeds a certain amount, the paging space will still be used and the performance will be significantly reduced.

  As one embodiment of the present invention, a measurement unit that measures a memory resource usage amount in a predetermined partition of a virtual computer every predetermined period, and a memory resource usage amount in a predetermined partition of the virtual computer by measurement in the measurement unit And a controller that performs a change to increase the amount of physical memory allocated to a predetermined partition of the virtual machine when it is detected a predetermined number of times that the threshold is exceeded.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided a computer system including a monitoring control device and a computer, wherein the computer has a partition management program for controlling allocation of memory resources to a predetermined partition of a virtual computer operating on the computer. The monitoring and control apparatus includes: a measuring unit that measures a usage amount of a virtual machine memory resource in the computer every predetermined period; and a memory resource usage amount in a predetermined partition of the virtual computer by the measurement in the measuring unit And a control unit that performs a change to increase the amount of physical memory allocated to a predetermined partition of the virtual machine when it is detected a predetermined number of times that the threshold value is exceeded.

  According to an embodiment of the present invention, there is provided an operation method of a computer system for controlling a memory resource usage of a virtual machine operating on a computer, the memory resource usage of the virtual machine is measured every predetermined period, and the measurement Provides a method for operating a computer system, including a change that increases the amount of physical memory allocated to the virtual machine when it is detected a predetermined number of times that the amount of memory resources used by the virtual machine exceeds a threshold. To do.

  According to the present invention, an increase in the amount of memory used is automatically detected, and the amount of physical memory is increased accordingly. Therefore, the increase in the amount of memory used affects the operation of the system as compared with the conventional case. It can be avoided.

It is a functional block diagram of a computer system concerning one embodiment of the present invention. It is a figure for demonstrating the method of memory monitoring in one Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the modification of the computer system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a functional block diagram of the modification of the computer system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of a process of the monitoring control apparatus of the computer system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of a process of the monitoring control apparatus of the computer system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention. It is a flowchart of the process of the modification of the monitoring control apparatus of the computer system which concerns on one Embodiment of this invention.

  Hereinafter, modes for carrying out the present invention will be described. Note that the present invention is not limited to the following description, and can be implemented with various modifications.

FIG. 1 is a functional block diagram of a computer system including a monitoring control device according to an embodiment of the present invention. The computer system 100 includes a computer 101 and a monitoring control device 102. The computer 101 has a partition ₁ (103-1), a partition ₂ (103-2), ..., a partition _M (103-M), and a partition _N (103-N) as a plurality of partitions. The computer 101 also has a shared memory 104a and a dedicated memory 104b.

A partition means a virtual computer. That is, each partition is realized as a process that operates on the computer 101. In each process, a virtualized operating system operates, and a virtualized operating system process operates on the virtualized operating system. Can be made. The partitions are classified into a shared memory partition and a dedicated memory partition. The shared memory partition is a logical partition configured to use the shared memory 104a, and shares the shared memory 104a with other shared memory partitions. The dedicated memory partition is a logical partition configured to use the dedicated memory 104b independently. In FIG. 1, partition ₁ to partition _M are shared memory partitions, and partition N is a dedicated memory partition.

  In the computer 101, the shared memory 104a and the dedicated memory 104b are memory areas each secured in a memory pool, that is, a physical memory. The shared memory 104a is a memory pool used in the shared memory partition, and is configured such that a plurality of partitions share the same pool. The dedicated memory 104b is a memory pool used solely by the dedicated memory partition. In the physical memory, an unused area that is not used by either the shared memory 104a or the dedicated memory 104b is referred to as an unused memory area 104c. The physical memory is a so-called main storage device.

  The computer 101 also has a partition management program 105. The partition management program 105 manages the shared memory 104a and determines the amount of memory to be allocated to each partition. Allocate shared memory to each partition. The partition management program 105 determines the amount of memory allocated to each shared memory partition from the shared memory 104a based on the workload of each partition and the memory configuration of each shared memory partition.

  The total amount of memory allocated to each shared memory partition may be greater than the amount of memory in shared memory 104a. The partition management program 105 virtualizes and manages the shared memory 104a, and can allocate memory pages that are not actively used by each shared memory partition to other shared memory partitions. During normal operation, the computer 101 has a memory pool of physical memory sufficient to cover the total amount of memory used at each temporary point where each shared memory partition is located.

  However, an unexpected load may occur in each shared memory partition, and a physical overcommitted state may occur in which the total amount of memory used by each shared memory partition exceeds the amount of memory in the physical memory pool. . In this case, the partition management program 105 accesses the auxiliary storage area 300 via the paging processing unit 106, and uses the auxiliary storage area 300 as a logical memory of the shared memory partition together with the memory pool of the physical memory. The auxiliary storage area is, for example, an external storage or a paging space, and is a storage device that assists the main storage device. The physical memory and auxiliary storage area which are main storage devices are collectively referred to herein as memory resources. The paging processing unit 106 is, for example, a logical partition and is a virtualized input / output interface. When a physically overcommitted state occurs, the computer 101 performs page-out to the auxiliary storage area 300 of the shared memory 104a via the paging processing unit 106. The paging processing unit 106 may be configured by two logical partitions, and may be made redundant by this.

  In FIG. 1, a plurality of sections are shown, but there may be one section. There may be a plurality of shared memories and dedicated memories.

  In response to a request from the monitoring control device 102, the partition management program 105 or the paging processing unit 106 transmits the memory usage status by the partition to the monitoring control device 102. For example, when a request is received from the measurement unit 108 of the monitoring control device 102, the occurrence of access to the auxiliary storage area 300 such as page-out as the memory usage status from the partition management program 105 or the paging processing unit 106. May be communicated to.

  The monitoring control device 102 has a parameter storage unit 107. The parameter storage unit 107 stores an allocation amount to the shared memory 104a or the dedicated memory 104b of the memory pool of the physical memory. The parameter storage unit 107 also stores the timing for transmitting a command for confirming the amount of memory resources used from the measurement unit 108, which will be described later, to the computer 101, and the memory allocation control unit 109 and the display unit 111 from the measurement unit 108. The memory usage threshold value that is the starting point of the process of notifying the memory is also stored.

  The monitoring control apparatus 102 also includes a measurement unit 108, a memory allocation control unit 109, and a memory allocation unit 110. The measurement unit 108 transmits a command for confirming the usage amount of the memory resource to the computer 101, and measures the usage amount of the memory resource every predetermined period. More specifically, an instruction for confirming the memory usage status of the shared memory 104a in the computer 101 is transmitted to the partition management program 105 and the paging processing unit 106 of the computer 101, and the memory usage status is measured. For example, measurement is performed by transmitting a command for confirming the number of occurrences of page-out and receiving the number of occurrences of page-out from the paging processing unit 106. The measurement of the memory usage status may be performed continuously or at intervals of time. For example, the measurement may be performed every minute. The timing for measurement is in accordance with the timing for transmitting a command for confirming the memory usage status stored in the parameter storage unit 107. The command to be transmitted to the computer 101 for confirming the memory usage status may differ depending on the type of operating system of the computer 101.

  In addition, when the measured memory usage state and the memory usage threshold stored in the parameter storage unit 107 are exceeded, the measurement unit 108 notifies the memory allocation control unit 109 to control the operation. . For example, when the number of page-out occurrences in a predetermined period exceeds a predetermined number of times, the measurement unit 108 determines that the physical memory overcommit state continues, and transfers the memory allocation control unit 109 to the memory allocation control unit 109. Notification for controlling the operation may be performed. The number of page-outs is an example of the number of accesses to the auxiliary storage area 300, and the number of accesses to other auxiliary storage areas 300 such as the number of page-ins may be measured. Notification for controlling the operation may be performed depending on whether the number of times has been exceeded.

  The memory allocation control unit 109 controls the amount of memory allocated to each of the shared memory 104a or the dedicated memory 104b according to the consumption amount measured by the measurement unit 108 and the parameter value stored in the parameter storage unit 107. As the control of the memory amount, for example, the memory amount of the memory pool of the physical memory allocated to each of the shared memory 104a or the dedicated memory 104b is increased or decreased. In the computer 101, an unused memory area 104c that is not used in either the shared memory 104a or the dedicated memory 104b is secured in advance for the physical memory, and a memory pool assigned to each of the shared memory 104a or the dedicated memory 104b. It should be possible to cope with an increase or decrease in the amount of memory.

  The memory allocation unit 110 controls the amount of memory allocated to each of the shared memory 104a or the dedicated memory 104b in accordance with the control of the memory allocation control unit 109. Specifically, the control signal is transmitted to the computer 101 through the communication path between the monitoring control apparatus 102 and the computer 101, and the unused memory area 104c of the physical memory is newly allocated to the shared memory 104a, and the memory amount of the shared memory 104a Or the allocation of a part of the memory pool to the shared memory 104a is stopped, the amount of unused memory area 104c is increased, and the memory usage is controlled.

  For example, the measurement unit 108 measures the number of page-outs per second for the past one second for the shared memory 104a every minute. The number of page-out occurrences per second is set to 100 as a threshold value. Then, for example, a case where the threshold value is continuously exceeded for 5 minutes, that is, in five measurements, is used as a reference for notification to the memory allocation control unit 109, with reference to FIG. In the period a, the number of page-out occurrences exceeded the threshold value once, but the threshold value was not exceeded in the measurement after 1 minute. Therefore, the measurement unit 108 does not notify the memory allocation control unit 109 during the period a. In the period b, the number of page-out occurrences continuously exceeds the threshold in the measurement for 5 minutes. Therefore, the measurement unit 108 notifies the memory allocation control unit 109 that the physical memory amount is insufficient at the time when it is measured that the threshold value has been exceeded for the fifth consecutive time. The memory allocation control unit 109 that has received the notification instructs the memory allocation unit 110 to increase the amount of memory allocated to the shared memory 104a. The memory allocation unit 110 that has received the instruction transmits a control signal to the computer 101 so that a part or all of the unused memory area 104c is used as a memory pool of the shared memory 104a. In the computer 101, the unused memory area 104c of the physical memory is allocated to the shared memory 104a to increase the memory amount of the shared memory 104a. After confirming the increase in the memory amount, the parameter storage unit 107 stores the increased memory amount and the used memory area. Since the allocated amount of memory is increased, at the time point c, a sufficient amount of memory is allocated as the shared memory 104a, and therefore no page-out occurs.

  When a predetermined period elapses after the increase in the memory allocation amount, the increase in the allocation amount of the physical memory to the shared memory 104a is cancelled. For example, after the memory allocation amount is increased, the measurement unit 108 measures the number of page-outs every predetermined period, and when the state where the threshold value is not exceeded continues and a predetermined period elapses after that, the measurement unit 108 The memory allocation control unit 109 is notified that the number of page-outs does not exceed the threshold value. The memory allocation control unit 109 that has received the notification instructs the memory allocation unit 110 to return the memory allocation amount to the shared memory 104a to a predetermined amount. The memory allocation unit 110 that has received the instruction transmits a control signal to the computer 101 so as to return a part of the memory pool of the shared memory 104a to the unused memory area 104c. In the computer 101, a part of the memory pool of the shared memory 104a is changed to the unused memory area 104c of the physical memory, and the memory amount of the shared memory 104a is changed to a predetermined amount. After confirming the change in the memory amount, the parameter storage unit 107 stores the changed memory amount and the area that has become the unused memory area 104c.

  Note that the increase in the allocation amount of the physical memory to the shared memory 104a may be canceled on the condition that the predetermined number of times that the page-out count does not exceed the threshold is confirmed.

  According to the present embodiment, an increase in memory usage is automatically detected, and the allocation amount of physical memory is increased accordingly. Therefore, an increase in memory usage affects the operation of the system as compared with the prior art. You can avoid that. In addition, since the memory usage is automatically restored thereafter, it is possible to perform resource management with excellent cost performance without allocating more memory than necessary.

  Note that the monitoring and control apparatus according to the present embodiment can be realized using a computer. The computer has a CPU, a memory, a secondary storage device, an input / output device, and the like. Therefore, the parameter storage unit 107 corresponds to a memory or a secondary storage device, and the measurement unit 108 corresponds to the CPU executing a program that receives resource consumption from the computer 101 via the input / output device. Can do. The memory allocation control unit 109 can correspond to the CPU executing a program that acquires information representing the measurement result from the program corresponding to the measurement unit 108. Further, the memory allocation unit 110 obtains control information from a program corresponding to the memory allocation control unit 109, and causes the CPU to execute a program that transmits a control command for controlling the memory allocation amount via the input / output device. Can be matched.

  As a modification of the monitoring control apparatus according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 3, a display unit 111 that displays an alert to a user of the monitoring control apparatus 102 such as a computer system administrator may be provided. When the number of page-out occurrences exceeds a predetermined number of times, the measuring unit 108 determines that the physical memory overcommit state continues and notifies the display unit 111 to control the operation. . Upon receiving the notification, the display unit 111 displays an alert and notifies the user of the monitoring control apparatus 102 that the physical memory overcommitment state continues. The display unit 111 may display the alert by displaying it on the monitor monitor, or may generate a warning sound.

  Furthermore, as another modification example of the monitoring control apparatus according to the present embodiment, as shown in FIG. 4, the memory allocation control unit 109 and the memory allocation unit 110 may not be provided, and a simple configuration including the display unit 111 may be employed. .

  Next, an operation method of the computer system according to the embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to FIGS.

  FIG. 5 is a flowchart of processing of the monitoring control device of the computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention. With reference to FIG. 5, the process of increasing the memory allocation amount to the shared memory 104a among the processes of the monitoring control apparatus 102 will be described.

  First, when a predetermined period elapses (S101), for example, when monitoring is set to be performed at intervals of 1 minute, when 1 minute elapses, the measurement unit 108 sends a command to the computer 101 to check the memory usage status. Then, the number of page-outs in the shared memory 104a per second, for example, per second is measured (S102).

  Next, the measurement unit 108 determines whether the number of page-outs exceeds a preset threshold value (S103). For example, when the threshold is 100, the measurement unit 108 determines whether the number of page-outs exceeds 100. If the threshold is not exceeded, the process is repeated from step S101 again.

  If the page-out number exceeds the threshold, it is determined whether the page-out number exceeds a predetermined number (S104). Here, the predetermined number of times may be simply the number of times the page-out exceeds the threshold, the number of times that the threshold has been exceeded continuously, or the number of times that the threshold has been exceeded within a predetermined period. If the predetermined number of times has not been exceeded, the process is repeated again from step S101.

  When the number of times exceeding the threshold reaches the predetermined number, the measurement unit 108 notifies the memory allocation control unit 109 as described above, and the memory allocation control unit 109 refers to the parameter storage unit 107 to determine the memory allocation amount. Is sent to the memory allocation unit 110, and a control signal for increasing the memory allocation amount to the shared memory 104a is transmitted from the memory allocation unit 110 to the computer 101. This increases the amount of memory allocated to the shared memory 104a (S105).

  As shown in FIG. 7, as a modification of the embodiment shown in FIG. 5, instead of step S <b> 105 in which the memory allocation amount is automatically increased, an alert indicating that the number of page-outs has exceeded a predetermined number of times is a system. You may display to the user of monitoring control apparatuses, such as an administrator (S106). Further, step S105 for increasing the memory allocation amount and step S106 for displaying an alert may be performed.

  Next, processing for canceling the increase in the memory allocation amount of the shared memory 104a will be described with reference to FIG. FIG. 6 is a flowchart of processing of the monitoring control device of the computer system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

  The measurement unit 108 transmits a command for checking the memory usage status to the computer 101, and measures the number of page-outs per predetermined unit in the predetermined period of the shared memory 104a (S201). The measurement unit 108 determines whether the number of page-outs is equal to or less than a predetermined threshold (S202). The threshold value may be set to a different value, for example, a value lower than the threshold value when increasing the allocated amount of memory. If the number of page-outs exceeds the threshold, the process is repeated from S201 after a predetermined period.

  When the number of page-outs is equal to or smaller than the threshold value, the measurement unit 108 determines whether a predetermined period has elapsed (S203). For example, when a period of one hour has been determined after the memory allocation increase process, it is determined whether one hour has elapsed since the memory allocation increase process. If the number of page-outs exceeds the threshold, the process is repeated from S201 after a predetermined period.

  When it is determined that the predetermined period has elapsed, the measurement unit 108 notifies the memory allocation control unit 109 as described above, and the memory allocation control unit 109 refers to the parameter storage unit 107 to determine the memory allocation. A control signal for returning the amount to the predetermined amount is sent to the memory allocation unit 110, and a control signal for returning the memory allocation amount to the shared memory 104a to the predetermined amount is transmitted from the memory allocation unit 110 to the computer 101. To do. Thereby, the memory allocation amount to the shared memory 104a returns to a predetermined amount (S204).

  According to the present embodiment, an increase in memory usage is automatically detected, and the allocation amount of physical memory is increased accordingly. Therefore, an increase in memory usage affects the operation of the system as compared with the prior art. You can avoid that. In addition, since the memory usage is automatically restored thereafter, it is possible to perform resource management with excellent cost performance without allocating more memory than necessary.

Claims (8)

A measurement unit that measures memory resource usage in a predetermined partition of the virtual machine for each predetermined period;
When it is detected a predetermined number of times that the amount of memory resources used in a predetermined partition of the virtual computer exceeds a threshold by measurement in the measurement unit, the amount of physical memory allocated to the predetermined partition of the virtual computer is increased. A monitoring control device having a control unit for making a change. The virtual machine has a paging processing unit that accesses an auxiliary storage area that can be used as a memory area, and is connected to the auxiliary storage area via the paging processing unit,
2. The measurement unit according to claim 1, wherein the measurement unit measures the usage of the memory resource by measuring the number of accesses to the auxiliary storage area of the memory resource allocated to the predetermined partition to the auxiliary storage area. Monitoring and control device.   The control unit cancels the increase in the allocation amount to the physical memory when a predetermined period elapses after the increase in the allocation amount of the physical memory to the predetermined partition of the virtual machine. The monitoring control apparatus according to 1 or 2. After the increase in the amount of physical memory allocated to a predetermined partition of the virtual machine, the control unit confirms a predetermined number of times that the usage amount of the memory resource does not exceed a threshold value. The monitoring control apparatus according to claim 1, wherein an increase in the allocated amount is canceled.   2. The display device according to claim 1, further comprising: a display unit configured to display an alert when it is detected a predetermined number of times that the use amount of the memory resource in a predetermined partition of the virtual machine exceeds a threshold value by measurement in the measurement unit. 5. The monitoring control device according to any one of 4. A measurement unit that measures memory resource usage in a predetermined partition of the virtual machine for each predetermined period;
A monitoring and control apparatus comprising: a display unit that displays an alert when it is detected a predetermined number of times that the use amount of the memory resource in a predetermined partition of the virtual computer exceeds a threshold value by measurement in the measurement unit. A computer system comprising a monitoring control device and a computer,
The calculator is
A partition management program for controlling allocation of memory resources to a predetermined partition of a virtual machine operating on the computer;
The monitoring and control device includes:
A measurement unit that measures the usage of memory resources of the virtual machine in the computer every predetermined period;
When it is detected a predetermined number of times that the amount of memory resources used in a predetermined partition of the virtual computer exceeds a threshold by measurement in the measurement unit, the amount of physical memory allocated to the predetermined partition of the virtual computer is increased. A computer system having a control unit for making changes. An operation method of a computer system that controls the use of memory resources of a virtual computer that operates on a computer,
Measure the memory resource usage of the virtual machine every predetermined period,
A method of operating a computer system, comprising: performing a change to increase an allocation amount of physical memory to the virtual computer when it is detected that the use amount of the memory resource of the virtual computer exceeds a threshold value a predetermined number of times by the measurement .

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