Server-storage virtualization: integration and load balancing in data centers

Abstract

We describe the design of an agile data center with integrated server and storage virtualization technologies. Such data centers form a key building block for new cloud computing architectures. We also show how to leverage this integrated agility for non-disruptive load balancing in data centers across multiple resource layers - servers, switches, and storage. We propose a novel load balancing algorithm called VectorDot for handling the hierarchical and multi-dimensional resource constraints in such systems. The algorithm, inspired by the successful Toyoda method for multi-dimensional knapsacks, is the first of its kind.We evaluate our system on a range of synthetic and real data center testbeds comprising of VMware ESX servers, IBM SAN Volume Controller, Cisco and Brocade switches. Experiments under varied conditions demonstrate the end-to-end validity of our system and the ability of VectorDot to efficiently remove overloads on server, switch and storage nodes.