JP7476481B2 - Information processing system, physical machine, information processing method, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present invention relates to an information processing system, a virtual machine, a physical machine, an information processing method, and a program.

In a virtual machine environment in which a virtual machine is executed on a physical machine, the state of the physical machine is important. Therefore, depending on the state of the physical machine, the physical machine that executes the virtual machine may be changed to another physical machine. For example, when the load of the physical machine on which the virtual machine is executed increases, the virtual machine can be moved to another physical machine and its operation can be continued. Even if the physical machine cannot continue its operation due to a failure or the like, the virtual machine can be restarted on the other physical machine to achieve continuity of operation.
One method for realizing such a virtual machine environment is to store information about the virtual disks that configure the virtual machines in a shared disk device. In this method, the shared disk device is shared among multiple physical machines. Another method is to not use a shared disk device. In this method, writing to the virtual disk is sequentially transferred to other physical machines by communication over a network, and the changes are shared among the multiple physical machines.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-133693 discloses a related technique for transmitting a difference in execution state to a receiving virtual machine when writing to the sending virtual machine occurs.

JP 2012-164075 A

In the above method, changes to the virtual disk must be shared among multiple physical machines. However, some changes to the virtual disk do not need to be reflected. Therefore, sharing such information can reduce the efficiency and responsiveness of the virtual machine.

The present invention aims to provide an information processing system, a virtual machine, a physical machine, an information processing method, and a program that solve the above problems.

According to one aspect of the present invention, in an information processing system having virtual machines running on different physical machines, in which storage information of the virtual machines is shared between a first virtual machine running on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine running on a second physical machine, the information processing system includes a determination unit that determines the storage information requiring synchronization as synchronous information and the storage information not requiring synchronization as asynchronous information based on the storage information and necessity information indicating the necessity of synchronization between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine, and a first processing unit that executes synchronization processing between the multiple virtual machines for the synchronization information.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a virtual machine in an information processing system includes virtual machines that operate on different physical machines, and in which storage information of the virtual machines is shared between a first virtual machine that operates on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine that operates on a second physical machine, and includes a determination unit that determines the storage information that requires synchronization as synchronous information and determines the storage information that does not require synchronization as asynchronous information based on the storage information and necessity information that indicates whether synchronization is necessary between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a physical machine that operates a virtual machine in an information processing system that includes virtual machines that operate on different physical machines and in which storage information of the virtual machines is shared between a first virtual machine that operates on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine that operates on a second physical machine, the physical machine includes a first processing unit that determines, based on the storage information and necessity information indicating the necessity of synchronization between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine, that the storage information that requires synchronization is synchronous information, and when the virtual machine determines that the storage information that does not require synchronization is asynchronous information, performs a synchronization process on the synchronization information with another physical machine that operates the virtual machine.

According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing method in an information processing system that includes virtual machines operating on different physical machines, and in which storage information of the virtual machines is shared between a first virtual machine operating on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine operating on a second physical machine, the information processing method including a determination step of determining the storage information requiring synchronization as synchronous information and determining the storage information not requiring synchronization as asynchronous information based on the storage information and necessity information indicating the necessity of synchronization between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine, and a first processing step of executing synchronization processing between the multiple virtual machines for the synchronization information.

According to one aspect of the present invention, a program is provided for causing a computer of an information processing system, which includes virtual machines running on different physical machines and shares storage information of the virtual machines between a first virtual machine running on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine running on a second physical machine, to execute a determination step of determining that the storage information requiring synchronization is synchronous information and that the storage information not requiring synchronization is asynchronous information based on the storage information and necessity information indicating the necessity of synchronization between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine, and a first processing step of executing synchronization processing between the multiple virtual machines for the synchronization information.

The present invention makes it possible to suppress deterioration in the efficiency and responsiveness of virtual machines.

1 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of a configuration of an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing a detailed example of a configuration of an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of stored identification information according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 11 is a diagram showing an example of handling information according to an embodiment of the present invention. 11 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for updating information stored in a virtual machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation when starting a virtual machine on another physical machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. 10 is a flowchart illustrating another example of an operation when starting a virtual machine on another physical machine according to an embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of a minimum configuration of an information processing system according to an embodiment of the present invention.

One embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail below with reference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram showing an example of the configuration of an information processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.
The information processing system 1 includes a large number of physical machines 10 (10A, 10B, ...). The physical machines 10 (10A, 10B, ...) are connected via a network NW. The network NW is, for example, an information and communication network such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or the Internet. The information and communication network may be a wired or wireless network, or may be a network that combines various networks.

In this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, an example in which there are two physical machines 10 will be described, but the physical machines 10 may include multiple physical machines 10 (10A, 10B, ...). Furthermore, in this embodiment, the physical machines 10 (10A, 10B, ...) will be described as physical machines 10 when referring to any physical machine included in the information processing system 1, or when no particular distinction is made.

The physical machine 10 is, for example, a processing device such as a server that is connected to a desktop personal computer, a notebook computer, a tablet terminal, a smartphone, or the like owned by a user via a network NW.
The physical machine 10 controls a plurality of virtual machines 20 (20A-1, 20A-2, ... 20A-N, 20B-1, 20B-2, ... 20B-N) provided therein. The physical machine 10 can execute a plurality of virtual machines 20 simultaneously. The physical machine 10 also performs processes such as synchronization and sharing of stored information of the plurality of virtual machines 20. In this embodiment, for convenience of explanation, an example in which one virtual machine 20 is provided for each physical machine 10 will be described. However, a plurality of virtual machines 20 may be provided for one physical machine 10. In this embodiment, the virtual machines 20 (20A-1, 20A-2, ... 20A-N, 20B-1, 20B-2, ... 20B-N) will be described as virtual machines 20 when indicating any virtual machine provided in the information processing system 1 or when no particular distinction is made. Furthermore, when referring to any of the virtual machines 20 (20A-1, 20A-2, ... 20A-N) of the physical machine 10A, or when no particular distinction is made, the virtual machines will be described as virtual machines 20A. Similarly, when referring to any of the virtual machines included in the physical machine 10B, or when no particular distinction is made, the virtual machines will be described as virtual machines 20B.

In this embodiment, a process is described in which a user first uses a virtual machine 20A (an example of a first virtual machine) on a physical machine 10A (an example of a first physical machine), and then uses a virtual machine 20B (an example of a second virtual machine) on another physical machine, physical machine 10B (an example of a second physical machine); however, the embodiment of the present invention is not limited to this.

For example, the physical machine 10A stores the memory information stored in the virtual machine 20A, dividing it into synchronous information and asynchronous information. Here, the asynchronous information is information that does not affect the operation of the virtual machine 20 even if it is lost without being synchronized. Information that does not affect the operation is, for example, information for temporary use by the virtual machine 20A or information that can be generated from pre-update information. The means for generating post-update information from pre-update information (hereinafter, generating post-update information from pre-update information is also referred to as "restoring") will be described in detail later. Information related to the restoration means is included in information shared in advance between the physical machine 10A and the physical machine 10B.
Synchronous information is information other than asynchronous information.

When the stored information stored in the virtual machine 20A is updated, the physical machine 10A receives from the virtual machine 20A updated asynchronous information that does not require synchronization with other virtual machines 20, and updated synchronous information that requires synchronization. The updated asynchronous information is information that is updated among the asynchronous information. The updated synchronous information is information that is updated after the synchronous information. The updated synchronous information includes information indicating that the asynchronous information has been updated (hereinafter also referred to as "asynchronous information update information"). The asynchronous information update information will be described in detail later.
The physical machine 10A stores the received update asynchronous information and update synchronous information, and also transmits the update synchronous information to the physical machine 10B.

The physical machine 10B updates the synchronization information based on the received update synchronization information and the synchronization information stored in the physical machine 10B. In addition, the physical machine 10B updates the asynchronous information based on the shared information, the asynchronous information update information included in the update synchronization information, and the asynchronous information stored in the physical machine 10B. This allows the physical machine 10A and the physical machine 10B to have the same stored information regarding the virtual machines 20A and 20B.

This enables the information processing system 1 to share stored information related to virtual machines without synchronizing all of the update information between the physical machines 10A and 10B. This reduces the amount of information sent and received over the network NW, thereby reducing the impact on other information sent and received over the network NW. This makes it possible to suppress a decrease in responsiveness. In addition, because less information is synchronized, the resources required for synchronization processing can be reduced, and the efficiency of other processing can be improved. This makes it possible to suppress a decrease in efficiency.

The physical machines 10 (10A, 10B) include a communication control unit 11 (11A, 11B), a control unit 12 (12A, 12B), a disk control unit 13 (13A, 13B), a storage unit 14 (14A, 14B), and a plurality of virtual machines 20 (20A, 20B). The functions of the communication control unit 11A, the control unit 12A, the disk control unit 13A, and the storage unit 14A of the physical machine 10A are basically the same as those of the communication control unit 11B, the control unit 12B, the disk control unit 13B, and the storage unit 14B of the physical machine 10B. In other words, the functions of the physical machine 10A described below and the functions of the physical machine 10B can be interchanged.
The following describes each function of the physical machine 10A.

The communication control unit 11A is a communication module that performs various communications via the network NW. The communication control unit 11A performs various communications with, for example, the communication control unit 11B.
The control unit 12A (an example of a first processing unit) controls the physical machine 10A. The control unit 12A controls the virtual machine 20A based on, for example, input information input from the communication control unit 11A and input information input from a disk control unit 13A described below. The control unit 12A also transmits output information corresponding to the input information input from the virtual machine 20A to another physical machine (physical machine 10B) via the communication control unit 11A. The control unit 12A also outputs output information corresponding to the input information input from the virtual machine 20A to the disk control unit 13A.

The disk control unit 13A controls reading and writing to the storage unit 14A. For example, the disk control unit 13A stores information corresponding to input information input from the communication control unit 11A or the control unit 12A in the storage unit 14A. The disk control unit 13A also acquires information corresponding to the input information input from the communication control unit 11A or the control unit 12A from the storage unit 14A and outputs it to the communication control unit 11A or the control unit 12A.
The storage unit 14A is, for example, a storage device such as a hard disk drive, a memory, etc. The storage unit 14A stores various programs to be executed by the control unit 12A, such as firmware and application programs, and results of processing executed by the control unit 12A. The storage unit 14A also stores information necessary to execute the virtual machine 20A.
The virtual machine 20A is a virtual machine that runs on the physical machine 10A. Details of the virtual machine 20A will be described later.

Next, a detailed configuration of the physical machine 10 including the virtual machine will be described with reference to FIG.
FIG. 2 is a schematic block diagram showing a detailed example of the configuration of the information processing system 1 according to an embodiment of the present invention.

The virtual machine 20 provided in the physical machine 10 is a virtualized processing device. The virtual machine 20 is a processing device obtained by virtualizing, for example, a desktop personal computer, a notebook computer, a tablet terminal, a smartphone, a server, or the like.
The virtual machines 20 (20A, 20B) include a virtual machine control unit 21 (21A, 21B), a virtual disk control unit 22 (22A, 22B), and a virtual memory unit 23 (23A, 23B). The functions of the virtual machine control unit 21A, the virtual disk control unit 22A, and the virtual memory unit 23A included in the virtual machine 20A are basically the same as those of the virtual machine control unit 21B, the virtual disk control unit 22B, and the virtual memory unit 23B included in the virtual machine 20B. In other words, the functions of the virtual machine 20A described below can be interchanged with the functions of the virtual machine 20B.
The following describes each function of the virtual machine 20A.

The virtual machine control unit 21A controls the virtual machine 20A.
The virtual machine 20A is controlled based on input information input from a virtual disk control unit 22A, which will be described later. The virtual machine 20A also outputs output information corresponding to the input information input from the virtual machine 20A to the virtual disk control unit 22A.

The virtual disk control unit 22A (an example of a determination unit) controls the virtual memory unit 23A. For example, the virtual disk control unit 22A stores information corresponding to input information input from the virtual machine control unit 21A in the virtual memory unit 23A. In addition, the virtual machine control unit 21A obtains output information corresponding to the input information input from the virtual machine control unit 21A from the virtual memory unit 23A and outputs it to the virtual machine control unit 21A.
The virtual disk control unit 22A also transmits and receives information that requires communication with the outside of the virtual machine 20A. The virtual disk control unit 22A outputs information that requires communication with the outside of the virtual machine 20A, among the input information input from the virtual machine control unit 21A, to the control unit 12A. The virtual disk control unit 22A also outputs the information received from the control unit 12A to the virtual machine control unit 21A, or stores it in the virtual storage unit 23A.

The virtual memory unit 23A is a virtualized storage device such as a hard disk drive or memory. The virtual memory unit 23A stores various programs to be executed by the virtual machine control unit 21A, such as firmware and application programs, as well as the results of processing executed by the virtual machine control unit 21A.

The virtual memory unit 23A is a virtual memory unit, and the actual information stored in the virtual memory unit 23A is stored in the memory unit 14A. Therefore, reading or writing to the virtual memory unit 23A is actually realized as reading or writing to the memory unit 14 via the control unit 12A.
For example, when the virtual disk control unit 22A writes information to the virtual memory unit 23A, in reality, first the virtual disk control unit 22A outputs the information to be written to the control unit 12A. Based on the information input from the virtual disk control unit 22A, the control unit 12A writes the information to the memory unit 14A via the disk control unit 13A. The control unit 12A outputs the information after writing to the virtual disk control unit 22A. Details of the writing process will be described later.
Furthermore, when the virtual disk control unit 22A reads information from the virtual storage unit 23A, in practice, the virtual disk control unit 22A first outputs the information to be read to the control unit 12A. The control unit 12A reads the information from the storage unit 14A via the disk control unit 13A based on the information input from the virtual disk control unit 22A. The control unit 12A outputs the read information to the virtual disk control unit 22A.

The memory unit 14A stores information related to the virtual memory unit 23A in a shared information memory unit 141A, a synchronous information memory unit 142A, and an asynchronous information memory unit 143A. Each memory unit is described below.

The shared information storage unit 141A stores shared information shared by multiple physical machines 10. The shared information includes storage identification information and handling information. The storage identification information is information that associates information of the virtual memory unit 23A with information indicating whether the information is to be stored in the synchronous information storage unit 142A or the asynchronous information storage unit 143A. The handling information is information that associates the information stored in the asynchronous information storage unit 143A with information on restoration means for restoring the information in another physical machine 10B (hereinafter also referred to as "restoration method information").
An example of information stored in the shared information storage unit 141A will be described below with reference to FIGS.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of stored identification information in the shared information storage unit 141A according to an embodiment of the present invention.
3, the storage identification information (an example of necessity information) is information in which virtual storage information is associated with identification information. The virtual storage information is information indicating the location of files and folders stored in the virtual storage unit 23A. The identification information is an identifier for identifying the restoration method information.
In the example shown in FIG. 3, the "virtual memory information" indicated by "/.../temp/*" indicates that the "identification information" is "identifier 101". Note that in this embodiment, there is no need to restore the synchronization information. Therefore, the information in the virtual memory unit 23A that corresponds to the synchronization information does not have memory identification information. In other words, all information indicated by the virtual memory information is information stored in the memory unit 14A as asynchronous information.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of handling information in the shared information storage unit 141A according to an embodiment of the present invention.
In the example shown in FIG. 4, the handling information is information in which identification information and restoration method information are associated with each other. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the "restoration method information" corresponding to the information identified by the "identifier 101" as "identification information" is "delete". This indicates that the information identified by the "identifier 101" is, for example, information for temporary use by the virtual machine 20A, and that deleting the information does not affect the operation. In the example shown in FIG. 4, the "restoration method information" corresponding to the information identified by the "identifier 102" as "replace with shared storage information A". This indicates that the information identified by the "identifier 102" is, for example, information that can be restored based on the asynchronous information before the update of the virtual machine 20A and the shared storage information A. In this case, the shared information storage unit 141A stores the shared storage information A in advance.

Returning to FIG. 2, the synchronization information storage unit 142A stores synchronization information. Furthermore, the synchronization information storage unit 142A is synchronized with the synchronization information storage unit 142B of the physical machine 10B via the communication control unit 11A and the communication control unit 11B. The shared information storage unit 141A and the synchronization information storage unit 142A have the same contents as the shared information storage unit 141B and the synchronization information storage unit 142B, but while the shared information storage unit 141A and the shared information storage unit 141B are shared in advance, the synchronization information storage unit 142A and the synchronization information storage unit 142B are synchronized when the virtual machine 20A updates the virtual memory unit 23A.

The asynchronous information storage unit 143A stores asynchronous information. The asynchronous information is not synchronized between the physical machine 10A and the physical machine 10B. Therefore, the contents of the asynchronous information storage unit 143A and the asynchronous information storage unit 143B may not be the same. Furthermore, if there is no asynchronous information, then there is no asynchronous information storage unit 143B.

Next, we will explain the process when the virtual machine control unit 21A outputs information indicating an update (such as writing) to the virtual memory unit 23A to the virtual disk control unit 22A.

Figure 5 is a flowchart showing an example of a process for updating stored information of a virtual machine in one embodiment of the present invention.

When an update is to be made to the virtual memory unit 23A, the virtual machine control unit 21A outputs information indicating that an update is to be made to the virtual disk control unit 22A (step S100). At this time, the virtual machine control unit 21A also outputs information indicating the update target and update content (hereinafter also referred to as "update content information") to the virtual disk control unit 22A. When the virtual disk control unit 22A accepts the information, the process proceeds to step S101.

The virtual disk control unit 22A reads the memory identification information and determines whether the update target is synchronization information (step S101). Specifically, the virtual disk control unit 22A outputs information requesting the memory identification information to the control unit 12A. The control unit 12A acquires the memory identification information from the shared information storage unit 141A via the disk control unit 13A. The control unit 12A outputs the acquired information to the virtual disk control unit 22A. The virtual disk control unit 22A determines whether the update target exists in the virtual memory information of the memory identification information based on the acquired memory identification information and update content information.
If the update target does not exist in the virtual storage information of the storage identification information, the virtual disk control unit 22A determines that the update target is synchronization information (step S101: YES), In this case, the virtual disk control unit 22A advances the process to step S102.
If the update target exists in the virtual storage information of the storage identification information, the virtual disk control unit 22A determines that the update target is not synchronous information (is asynchronous information) (step S101: NO). In this case, the virtual disk control unit 22A proceeds to step S107.

The virtual disk control unit 22A outputs information to the control unit 12A requesting that the synchronization information be updated using the update content information (step S102). Specifically, the virtual disk control unit 22A outputs the update content information without the identification information to the control unit 12A. When the control unit 12A accepts the information input from the virtual disk control unit 22A, the process proceeds to step S103.

The control unit 12A and the disk control unit 13A update the synchronization information storage unit 142A based on the update content information (step S103). Specifically, first, the control unit 12A determines to the disk control unit 13A that the update target is information to be stored in the synchronization information storage unit 142A based on the fact that identification information has not been added to the received update content information. Based on the determination result, the control unit 12A outputs the update content information and information indicating that the information is to be stored in the synchronization information storage unit 142A. Based on the input information, the disk control unit 13A updates the information to be updated in the synchronization information storage unit 142A based on the update content. When the update is completed, the disk control unit 13A outputs information indicating the completion to the control unit 12A. When the control unit 12A accepts the input information, the process proceeds to step S104.

The control unit 12A requests synchronization processing of the shared information storage unit 141B (step S104). Specifically, the control unit 12A outputs update content information without identification information to the communication control unit 11A. The communication control unit 11A transmits the accepted information to another physical machine (physical machine 10B) via the network NW. The communication control unit 11B outputs the received information to the control unit 12B. When the control unit 12B accepts the input information, the process proceeds to step S105.

The control unit 12B (an example of a second processing unit) determines that the update target is information to be stored in the synchronization information storage unit 142B based on the fact that no identification information has been added to the received update content information. Based on the determination result, the control unit 12B outputs the update content information and information indicating that the information is to be stored in the synchronization information storage unit 142B to the disk control unit 13B. Based on the input information, the disk control unit 13B updates the information to be updated in the synchronization information storage unit 142B based on the update content. When the update is completed, the disk control unit 13B outputs information indicating the completion to the control unit 12B. When the control unit 12B accepts the input information, the process proceeds to step S106.

The control unit 12B sends information indicating that the synchronization process has been completed to the physical machine 10A (step S106). Specifically, the control unit 12B sends information indicating that the synchronization process has been completed to the physical machine 10A via the communication control unit 11B. The control unit 12A receives the information indicating that the synchronization process of the physical machine 10B has been completed via the communication control unit 11A. When the synchronization process of all other physical machines 10 has been completed, the control unit 12A sends information indicating that the update has been completed to the virtual disk control unit 22A and ends the update process.

The virtual disk control unit 22A outputs information to the control unit 12A requesting that the asynchronous information be updated using the update content information (step S107). Specifically, the virtual disk control unit 22A adds identification information to the update content information based on the storage identification information and the update target. The virtual disk control unit 22A outputs the update content information with the identification information added to the control unit 12A. When the control unit 12A accepts the information input from the virtual disk control unit 22A, the process proceeds to step S108.

The control unit 12A and the disk control unit 13A update the asynchronous information storage unit 143A based on the information input from the virtual disk control unit 22A (step S108). Specifically, first, the control unit 12A determines that the update target is information to be stored in the asynchronous information storage unit 143A based on the fact that identification information is added to the received update content information. Based on the determination result, the control unit 12A outputs the update content information and information indicating that the information is to be stored in the asynchronous information storage unit 143A to the disk control unit 13A. Based on the input information, the disk control unit 13A updates the information to be updated in the asynchronous information storage unit 143A based on the update content. When the update is completed, the disk control unit 13A outputs information indicating the completion to the control unit 12A. When the control unit 12A accepts the input information, the process proceeds to step S109.

The control unit 12A reflects the asynchronous information update information in the synchronous information storage unit 142A (step S109). Specifically, the control unit 12A first generates asynchronous information update information indicating that an update has been performed in the asynchronous information storage unit 143A based on the update content information, and outputs the information to the disk control unit 13A. Here, the asynchronous information update information includes the identification information added to the update content information and information indicating that the information to be updated is information stored in the asynchronous information storage unit 143A, but does not include the update content.
The disk control unit 13A stores the input information in the synchronization information storage unit 142A. When the disk control unit 13A finishes the process, it outputs information indicating the completion to the control unit 12A. When the control unit 12A accepts the input information, it proceeds to step S110.

The control unit 12A requests synchronization processing of the asynchronous information update information (step S110). Specifically, the control unit 12A outputs the asynchronous information update information to the communication control unit 11A. The communication control unit 11A transmits the accepted information to another physical machine (physical machine 10B) via the network NW. The communication control unit 11B outputs the received information to the control unit 12B. When the control unit 12B accepts the input information, it proceeds to step S111.

The control unit 12B outputs to the disk control unit 13B the accepted asynchronous information update information and information indicating that the information is to be stored in the synchronous information storage unit 142B. The disk control unit 13B reflects the asynchronous information update information in the synchronous information storage unit 142B based on the input information. When the disk control unit 13B finishes the processing, it outputs information indicating the completion to the control unit 12B. When the control unit 12B accepts the input information, it proceeds to step S106.
The control unit 12A performs the same processing as described above, and when all of the other physical machines 10 have finished updating the asynchronous information update information, it sends information indicating completion of the update to the virtual disk control unit 22A and ends the update processing.

Next, a description will be given of the process performed when the control unit 12B starts up the virtual machine 20B. First, a description will be given of the process performed when the physical machine 10B can be connected to the physical machine 10A.
FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating an example of an operation when starting a virtual machine on another physical machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the control unit 12B sends information requesting the asynchronous information storage unit 143A to the physical machine 10A via the communication control unit 11B (step S200), and the information processing system 1 proceeds to step S201.

The control unit 12A transmits the asynchronous information storage unit 143A to the control unit 12B based on the acquired information (step S201). Specifically, first, the control unit 12A acquires information requesting the asynchronous information storage unit 143A from the physical machine 10B via the communication control unit 11A. The control unit 12A outputs the acquired information to the disk control unit 13A. The disk control unit 13A reads out the asynchronous information from the asynchronous information storage unit 143A based on the input information. The disk control unit 13A outputs the read out information to the control unit 12A. The control unit 12A transmits the input information to the physical machine 10B via the communication control unit 11A. After that, the information processing system 1 advances the process to step S202.

The control unit 12B generates an asynchronous information storage unit 143B using the acquired information (step S203). Specifically, the control unit 12B outputs the information received from the physical machine 10A via the communication control unit 11B to the disk control unit 13B. The disk control unit 13B stores the accepted information in the storage unit 14B as an asynchronous information storage unit 143B. When the disk control unit 13B ends the processing, it outputs information indicating that the processing has ended to the control unit 12B. When the control unit 12B accepts the input information, it proceeds to step S203.

The control unit 12B starts the virtual machine 20B (step S203). The control unit 12B starts the startup process of the virtual machine 20B based on the existence of the synchronous information storage unit 142B and the asynchronous information storage unit 143B in the storage unit 14B. Since the synchronous information storage unit 142B and the asynchronous information storage unit 143B have the same contents as the synchronous information storage unit 142A and the asynchronous information storage unit 143A, the virtual machine 20B can start in the same state as when the virtual machine 20A was terminated.
This concludes the description of the process performed when the control unit 12B starts up the virtual machine 20B.

Next, a process will be described in which the control unit 12B starts the virtual machine 20B when it is unable to connect to the physical machine 10A for some reason. In the following process, a case will be described in which there is no asynchronous information stored in advance in the storage unit 14B and the asynchronous information storage unit 143B does not exist, but the present embodiment is not limited to this.
FIG. 7 is a flowchart illustrating another example of the operation when starting a virtual machine on another physical machine according to an embodiment of the present invention.

First, the control unit 12B acquires information related to asynchronous information (step S300). Specifically, first, the control unit 12B outputs information requesting asynchronous information update information to the disk control unit 13B. The disk control unit 13B acquires asynchronous information update information from the synchronous information storage unit 142B based on the received information. The disk control unit 13B outputs the acquired information to the control unit 12B. If the asynchronous information update information does not exist in the synchronous information storage unit 142B, the disk control unit 13B outputs information indicating that it does not exist to the control unit 12B. The control unit 12B accepts the input information and proceeds to step S301.

The control unit 12B determines whether or not there is asynchronous information (step S301). Specifically, if the acquired information is asynchronous information update information, the control unit 12B determines that there is asynchronous information (step S301: YES). In this case, the control unit 12B advances the process to step S302. Furthermore, if the acquired information indicates that there is no asynchronous information update information, the control unit 12B determines that there is no asynchronous information (step S301: NO). In this case, the control unit 12B advances the process to step S305.

The control unit 12B acquires the shared information (step S302). Specifically, the control unit 12B acquires the identification information included in the asynchronous information update information. The control unit 12B outputs information requesting handling information that matches the acquired identification information to the disk control unit 13B. The disk control unit 13B accepts the input information and acquires handling information that matches the accepted identification information from the shared information storage unit 141B. The disk control unit 13B outputs the acquired handling information to the control unit 12B. When the control unit 12B acquires the handling information, the process proceeds to step S303.

The control unit 12B generates asynchronous information (step S303). Specifically, the control unit 12B generates asynchronous information based on the acquired handling information and asynchronous information update information. The control unit 12B outputs information for storing the generated asynchronous information to the disk control unit 13B. The disk control unit 13B stores the asynchronous information in the asynchronous information storage unit 143B. When the processing is completed, the disk control unit 13B outputs information indicating completion to the control unit 12B. When the control unit 12B accepts the input information, the processing proceeds to step S304.

The control unit 12B starts the virtual machine 20B (step S304). The control unit 12B starts the startup process of the virtual machine 20B based on the existence of the synchronous information storage unit 142B and the asynchronous information storage unit 143B in the storage unit 14B.

If there is no asynchronous information, the control unit 12B creates empty asynchronous information (step S305). Specifically, the control unit 12B outputs information instructing the disk control unit 13B to create empty asynchronous information. The disk control unit 13B generates information indicating that the asynchronous information storage unit 143B is empty based on the input information. When the disk control unit 13B completes the process, it outputs information indicating the completion to the control unit 12B. When the control unit 12B accepts the input information, it proceeds to step S304.
This concludes the description of the process in which the control unit 12B starts up the virtual machine 20B when a connection cannot be made to the physical machine 10A.

As described above, the information processing system 1 includes virtual machines that operate on different physical machines, and shares storage information of the virtual machines between a first virtual machine (virtual machine 20A) that operates on a first physical machine (physical machine 10A) and a second virtual machine (virtual machine 20B) that operates on a second physical machine (physical machine 10B). The information processing system includes a determination unit (e.g., virtual disk control unit 22A) that determines the storage information that requires synchronization as synchronous information and determines the storage information that does not require synchronization as asynchronous information based on the storage information and necessity information (e.g., storage identification information) that indicates the necessity of synchronization between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine, and a first processing unit (control unit 12A) that performs synchronization processing between the multiple virtual machines for the synchronization information.

This enables the information processing system 1 to share stored information related to virtual machines without synchronizing all of the update information between the physical machines 10A and 10B. This reduces the amount of information sent and received over the network NW, thereby reducing the impact on other information sent and received over the network NW. This makes it possible to suppress a decrease in responsiveness. In addition, because less information is synchronized, the resources required for synchronization processing can be reduced, and the efficiency of other processing can be improved. This makes it possible to suppress a decrease in efficiency.

In addition, when the storage information is updated, the judgment unit of the information processing system 1 judges, based on the storage information and the necessity information, information included in the synchronous information among the storage information to be updated to be updated synchronous information, and judges information included in the asynchronous information among the storage information to be updated to be updated asynchronous information, and the first processing unit executes the synchronization processing on the updated synchronization information.
This allows the information processing system 1 to share stored information related to virtual machines without synchronizing all update information every time an update is made, and without synchronizing all update information between the physical machines 10A and 10B. This reduces the amount of information transmitted and received via the network NW, thereby reducing the impact on other information transmitted and received via the network NW. This makes it possible to suppress deterioration in responsiveness and efficiency.

Furthermore, when there is the updated asynchronous information, the first processing unit generates asynchronous information update information indicating that the asynchronous information is to be updated, and performs the synchronization process on the asynchronous information update information.
In this way, the information processing system 1 can notify whether or not asynchronous information that is not synchronized when updated has been updated. The asynchronous information that has been updated only needs to be acquired when a virtual machine is operated on another physical machine, so that the communication load can be reduced and degradation of responsiveness and efficiency can be suppressed.

In addition, the information processing system 1 further includes handling information that associates the asynchronous information update information with information for updating the asynchronous information, and a second processing unit that updates the asynchronous information based on the asynchronous information update information.
This makes it possible to update asynchronous information on other physical machines as well, and allows storage information of virtual machines running on multiple physical machines to be shared while reducing the communication load, thereby preventing degradation of responsiveness and efficiency.

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing an example of a minimum configuration of an information processing system according to the above embodiment.
As shown in this figure, an information processing system 1 has virtual machines running on different physical machines and shares memory information of the virtual machines between a first virtual machine running on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine running on a second physical machine, and has at least a determination unit 101 and a first processing unit 102.
The determination unit 101 determines that the memory information requiring synchronization is synchronous information and determines that the memory information not requiring synchronization is asynchronous information based on the memory information and necessity information indicating whether synchronization is necessary between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine.
The first processing unit 102 executes synchronization processing among the plurality of virtual machines with respect to the synchronization information.

In the above-described embodiment, an example has been described in which the asynchronous information is not shared between multiple physical machines 10, but this is not limited to the above. For example, difference information of the asynchronous information may be shared periodically between multiple physical machines 10. In this case, only information regarding the asynchronous information updated in the virtual machine 20 started after sharing may be synchronized as asynchronous information update information.

In the above embodiment, the shared information storage unit 141 (141A, 141B) stores the same information in each physical machine 10, but this is not limited to the above. For example, the shared information may exist on a shared disk device or a storage device connected via a network NW, and each physical machine 10 may refer to the shared information.

In the above-described embodiment, an example was described in which asynchronous information is generated using asynchronous information update information when it is not possible to connect to the physical machine 10A and therefore not possible to obtain the asynchronous information storage unit 143A, but this is not limited to this. For example, the control unit 12B may invalidate the asynchronous information update information and create an empty asynchronous information storage unit 143B.

In the above-described embodiment, the physical machine 10 is, for example, a processing device such as a server connected to a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet terminal, smartphone, or the like owned by a user via a network NW, but is not limited to this. For example, the physical machine 10 may be a terminal device such as a desktop computer, laptop computer, tablet terminal, smartphone, or the like owned by a user.

In the above embodiment, an example has been described in which identification information is added only to asynchronous information, but this is not limited to this. For example, identification information indicating that the information is synchronous information may be added to synchronous information. At this time, the control unit 12 determines whether the update content information is synchronous information or asynchronous information based on the identification information.

In addition, in each of the above-described embodiments, an example has been described in which the control unit 12A and the disk control unit 13A are included in the same physical machine 10A, but this is not limited to the above. For example, a storage device A including the disk control unit 13A and the storage unit 14A may be provided outside the physical machine 10A. Similarly, a storage device B including the disk control unit 13B and the storage unit 14B may be provided outside the physical machine 10B. Note that storage device A and storage device B are different.

In addition, a part of the physical machine 10 in the above-mentioned embodiment, such as the control unit 12 (12A, 12B), may be realized by a computer. In this case, a program for realizing this function may be recorded on a computer-readable recording medium, and the program recorded on the recording medium may be read into a computer system and executed. Note that the "computer system" referred to here is a computer system built into the physical machine 10, and includes hardware such as the OS (Operating System) and peripheral devices.

Furthermore, "computer-readable recording medium" refers to portable media such as flexible disks, optical magnetic disks, ROMs, and CD-ROMs, as well as storage devices such as hard disks built into computer systems. Furthermore, "computer-readable recording medium" may also include devices that dynamically store a program for a short period of time, such as a communication line when transmitting a program via a network such as the Internet or a communication line such as a telephone line, or devices that store a program for a certain period of time, such as volatile memory within a computer system that serves as a server or client in such cases. Furthermore, the above program may be one that realizes part of the functions described above, or may be one that can realize the functions described above in combination with a program already recorded in the computer system.

In addition, a part or all of the physical machine 10 in the above-described embodiment may be realized as an integrated circuit such as an LSI (Large Scale Integration). Each functional unit of the information processing system 1 may be individually made into a processor, or a part or all of the functional units may be integrated into a processor. The integrated circuit method is not limited to LSI, and may be realized by a dedicated circuit or a general-purpose processor. Furthermore, if an integrated circuit technology that can replace LSI appears due to advances in semiconductor technology, an integrated circuit based on that technology may be used.

Although one embodiment of the present invention has been described in detail above with reference to the drawings, the specific configuration is not limited to the above, and various design changes and the like can be made within the scope of the gist of the present invention. Furthermore, one aspect of the present invention can be modified in various ways within the scope of the claims, and embodiments obtained by appropriately combining the technical means disclosed in different embodiments are also included in the technical scope of the present invention. Also included are configurations in which elements described in the above embodiments and modified examples are substituted with elements that have the same effect.

1: Information processing system, 10, 10A, 10B: Physical machine, 11, 11A, 11B: Communication control unit, 12, 12A, 12B: Control unit, 13, 13A, 13B: Disk control unit, 14, 14A, 14B: Storage unit, 141A, 141B: Shared information storage unit, 142A, 142B: Synchronous information storage unit, 143A, 143B: Asynchronous information storage unit, 20, 20A, 20B: Virtual machine, 21, 21A, 21B: Virtual machine control unit, 22, 22A, 22B: Virtual disk control unit, 23, 23A, 23B: Virtual storage unit

Claims (8)

An information processing system includes virtual machines that run on different physical machines, and in which stored information of the virtual machines is shared between a first virtual machine that runs on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine that runs on a second physical machine,
a determination unit that determines the stored information that requires synchronization as synchronous information and determines the stored information that does not require synchronization as asynchronous information based on the stored information and necessity information indicating whether synchronization is necessary between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine;
A first processing unit that executes a synchronization process among the virtual machines with respect to the synchronization information;
a second processing unit that updates the asynchronous information on the physical machine that starts the virtual machine when a connection cannot be made to either the first physical machine or the second physical machine and a virtual machine is started on the other physical machine;
An information processing system comprising: An information processing system includes virtual machines that run on different physical machines, and in which stored information of the virtual machines is shared between a first virtual machine that runs on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine that runs on a second physical machine,
a determination unit that determines the stored information that requires synchronization as synchronous information and determines the stored information that does not require synchronization as asynchronous information based on the stored information and necessity information indicating whether synchronization is necessary between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine;
a first processing unit that executes synchronization processing among the plurality of virtual machines with respect to the synchronization information;
When the storage information is updated, the determination unit determines, based on the storage information and the necessity information, information included in the synchronous information among the storage information to be updated as updated synchronous information, and determines information included in the asynchronous information among the storage information to be updated as updated asynchronous information;
The first processing unit executes the synchronization process on the update synchronization information,
The first processing unit generates asynchronous information update information indicating that the asynchronous information is to be updated when the updated asynchronous information is present, and performs the synchronization process on the asynchronous information update information;
The information processing system further comprises: a second processing unit that updates the asynchronous information based on the asynchronous information update information and handling information that associates the asynchronous information update information with information for updating the asynchronous information. A physical machine that operates virtual machines in an information processing system, the information processing system including virtual machines that operate on different physical machines, and in which storage information of the virtual machines is shared between a first virtual machine that operates on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine that operates on a second physical machine, the physical machine comprising:
Based on the storage information and necessity information indicating whether synchronization is necessary between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine, when determining that the storage information requiring synchronization is synchronous information and determining that the storage information not requiring synchronization is asynchronous information,
a first processing unit that performs a synchronization process with another physical machine that runs the virtual machine with respect to the synchronization information;
a second processing unit that updates the asynchronous information on the physical machine that starts the virtual machine when a connection cannot be made to either the first physical machine or the second physical machine and a virtual machine is started on the other physical machine;
A physical machine comprising: A physical machine that operates virtual machines in an information processing system, the information processing system including virtual machines that operate on different physical machines, and in which storage information of the virtual machines is shared between a first virtual machine that operates on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine that operates on a second physical machine, the physical machine comprising:
Based on the storage information and necessity information indicating whether synchronization is necessary between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine, when determining that the storage information requiring synchronization is synchronous information and determining that the storage information not requiring synchronization is asynchronous information,
a first processing unit that performs a synchronization process with another physical machine that runs a virtual machine with respect to the synchronization information;
Equipped with
The determination includes, when the stored information is updated, determining, based on the stored information and the necessity information, information included in the synchronous information among the stored information to be updated as updated synchronous information, and determining, based on the stored information and the necessity information, information included in the asynchronous information among the stored information to be updated as updated asynchronous information;
The first processing unit executes the synchronization process on the update synchronization information;
The first processing unit generates asynchronous information update information indicating that the asynchronous information is to be updated when the updated asynchronous information is present, and performs the synchronization process on the asynchronous information update information;
the physical machine further comprising: a second processing unit configured to update the asynchronous information based on the asynchronous information update information and handling information that associates the asynchronous information update information with information for updating the asynchronous information. 1. An information processing method for an information processing system including virtual machines operating on different physical machines, in which stored information of the virtual machines is shared between a first virtual machine operating on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine operating on a second physical machine, the method comprising:
a determining step of determining the stored information requiring synchronization as synchronous information and determining the stored information not requiring synchronization as asynchronous information based on the stored information and necessity information indicating whether synchronization is necessary between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine;
a first processing step of executing a synchronization process among the plurality of virtual machines with respect to the synchronization information;
a second processing step of updating the asynchronous information on the physical machine that starts the virtual machine when the first physical machine or the second physical machine cannot be connected and a virtual machine is started on the other physical machine;
An information processing method comprising: 1. An information processing method for an information processing system including virtual machines operating on different physical machines, in which stored information of the virtual machines is shared between a first virtual machine operating on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine operating on a second physical machine, the method comprising:
a determining step of determining the stored information requiring synchronization as synchronous information and determining the stored information not requiring synchronization as asynchronous information based on the stored information and necessity information indicating whether synchronization is necessary between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine;
a first processing step of executing a synchronization process among the plurality of virtual machines with respect to the synchronization information;
In the determination step, when the stored information is updated, information included in the synchronous information among the stored information to be updated is determined as updated synchronous information, and information included in the asynchronous information among the stored information to be updated is determined as updated asynchronous information, based on the stored information and the necessity information;
The first processing step includes executing the synchronization process on the update synchronization information,
The first processing step includes generating asynchronous information update information indicating that the asynchronous information is to be updated when the updated asynchronous information exists, and performing the synchronous processing on the asynchronous information update information;
The information processing method further comprises a second processing step of updating the asynchronous information based on the asynchronous information update information and handling information that associates the asynchronous information update information with information for updating the asynchronous information. A computer of an information processing system includes virtual machines that operate on different physical machines, and in which storage information of the virtual machines is shared between a first virtual machine that operates on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine that operates on a second physical machine,
a determining step of determining the stored information requiring synchronization as synchronous information and determining the stored information not requiring synchronization as asynchronous information based on the stored information and necessity information indicating whether synchronization is necessary between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine;
a first processing step of executing a synchronization process among the plurality of virtual machines with respect to the synchronization information;
a second processing step of updating the asynchronous information on the physical machine that starts the virtual machine when the first physical machine or the second physical machine cannot be connected and a virtual machine is started on the other physical machine;
A program to execute. A computer of an information processing system includes virtual machines that operate on different physical machines, and in which storage information of the virtual machines is shared between a first virtual machine that operates on a first physical machine and a second virtual machine that operates on a second physical machine,
a determining step of determining the stored information requiring synchronization as synchronous information and determining the stored information not requiring synchronization as asynchronous information based on the stored information and necessity information indicating whether synchronization is necessary between the first virtual machine and the second virtual machine;
a first processing step of executing a synchronization process among the plurality of virtual machines with respect to the synchronization information;
In the determination step, when the stored information is updated, information included in the synchronous information among the stored information to be updated is determined as updated synchronous information, and information included in the asynchronous information among the stored information to be updated is determined as updated asynchronous information, based on the stored information and the necessity information;
The first processing step includes executing the synchronization process on the update synchronization information,
The first processing step includes generating asynchronous information update information indicating that the asynchronous information is to be updated when the updated asynchronous information exists, and performing the synchronous processing on the asynchronous information update information;
A program for further executing a second processing step of updating the asynchronous information based on the asynchronous information update information and handling information that associates the asynchronous information update information with information for updating the asynchronous information.

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