International Business Machines Corporation

Wesley Michael Felter

Eric Rozner

John Bruce Carter

Kanak Behari Agarwal

Yu Gu

Karthick Rajamani

Keqiang He

Charles Robert Lefurgy

Malcolm Scott Ware

Juan C Rubio

Cong Xu

Thomas M Brey

Colin Kimm Dixon

Junaid Khalid

Sumeet Kochar

Freeman Leigh Rawson, Iii

Thomas W Keller, Jr

Anthony N Hylick

Ryuji Orita

Tyler K Bletsch

Ramakrishnan Rajamony

Dayavanti G Kamath

Patrick Kevin Egan

Orran Yaakov Krieger

Anees Abdul Shaikh

Abhijit Prabhakar Kumbhare

Sriharsha Jayanarayana

Cosmin Rusu

Ankit Singla

Wenzhi Cui

Madhusudan K Iyengar

Claude Basso

Ajay Dholakia

Lixin Zhang

Elmootazbellah Nabil Elnozahy

William Evan Speight

Wael R El-Essawy

John Michael Tracey

Christopher Landon Wood

Bengi Karacali-Akyamac

Peter Altevogt

Alexandre Peixoto Ferreira

Paul Gregory Crumley

Soraya Ghiasi

Hans Boettiger

Neven A Gazala

Tibor Horvath

Lutz Stiege

Brent E Stephens

Anees A Shaikh

Dayavanti Gopal Kamath

Tyler Bletsch

Techniques for network performance assessment are described. Techniques may include collecting initial measurements relating to transmission of probe traffic between endpoints of endpoint pairs in a plurality of endpoint pairs and clustering the plurality of endpoints into a plurality of endpoint groups. The method may also include determining a plurality of endpoint group pairs and generating a network performance assessment, based on measuring performance metrics pertaining to traffic between endpoints within the endpoint groups in the plurality of endpoint group pairs.

Network performance assessment without topological information

Dynamically allocating cache in a multi-tenant infrastructure includes monitoring cache usage for multiple workloads in a multi-tenant processing infrastructure to determine a workload phase. A baseline performance level per workload is determined. The baseline performance level is dependent upon the workload phase. The workloads for each tenant are categorized based on cache utilization and the cache is allocated to each workload based on the baseline performance level, cache utilization, and system wide cache capacity.

Dynamically allocating cache in a multi-tenant processing infrastructure

At an application executing in conjunction with a vSwitch in a host system, using a processor assigned to the vSwitch in the host system, a flow of a number of packets is received from a VM. At the application, a set of CWND values is computed using a corresponding set of congestion control algorithms. At the application, a determination is made whether any of the CWND values in the set of CWND values match the number of packets in the flow within a tolerance value. In response to a CWND value in the set of CWND matching the number of packets in the flow within the tolerance value, a conclusion is drawn that a type of the congestion control algorithm which computed the matching CWND value is the type of a local congestion control algorithm implemented within the VM.

Identifying a local congestion control algorithm of a virtual machine

Utilizing a computing device to determine and enforce limits on cloud computing containers receiving data over a network. A determination is made of total container time remaining available for a first container to execute in a computing environment. Processor packet receipt time is determined for receiving and processing of a packet or a batch of packets via a network stack associated with the computing device. An updated total container time remaining is calculated for the first container accounting for the processor packet receipt time. The updated total container time remaining is enforced by dropping a subsequent packet or batch of packets received at the network stack if the updated total container time remaining is insufficient.

Accounting and enforcing non-process execution by container-based software receiving data over a network

A type of a request that is currently being processed at a system is determined. A distribution is selected from a set of processing time distributions, the distribution forming a model that is applicable to the type. A threshold point is computed for the model. A processing time that exceeds a threshold point processing time is regarded as exhibiting tail latency. Tail latency includes a delay in processing of the request due to a reason other than a utilization of a resource of the system exceeding a threshold utilization and a size of a queue in the system exceeding a threshold size. An evaluation is made that the request will experience tail latency during processing at the system and the processing of the request at the system is aborted. The request is offloaded for processing at a peer system in a load-balanced group of systems.

Tail latency-based job offloading in load-balanced groups

A determination is made at an application executing in conjunction with a switch that a request packet sent to a virtualized computing entity (VCE) connected to the switch should be offloaded to a second VCE. A destination of the request packet is changed from the VCE to the second VCE, to form a first modified request packet. An evaluation is made whether a response packet from the second VCE, which is responsive to the request packet, is usable in the data communication with a sender of the request packet. When the evaluating is affirmative, the first modified request packet is caused to be transmitted from the switch to the second VCE.

Offloading at a virtual switch in a load-balanced group

Utilizing a computing device to determine and enforce limits on cloud computing containers transmitting data over a network. A determination is made of total container time remaining available for a first container to execute in a computing environment, the first container utilizing one or more processor threads executing on a computing device. Processor packet transmission time is determined for processing and transmission of a packet or a batch of packets via a network stack associated with the computing device by the one or more processor threads utilized by the first container. An updated total container time remaining for the first container is calculated, accounting for the processor packet transmission time. The updated total container time remaining is enforced by descheduling all processor threads utilized by the first container if the updated total container time remaining is insufficient.

Accounting and enforcing non-process execution by container-based software transmitting data over a network

At an application executing in conjunction with a vSwitch a determination is made that a first flow from a first VM is experiencing congestion. The first flow is selected for throttling. a second flow is also selected for throttling, the second flow using a portion of a network path used by the first flow in a data network. At the application, a total CWND adjustment is distributed between the first flow and the second flow. A first CWND value associated with the first flow is adjusted by a first portion of the total CWND window, and a second CWND value associated with the second flow is adjusted by a second portion of the total CWND window.

Virtual switch-based congestion control for multiple TCP flows

A timer is associated with a packet of a flow from a VM at an application executing in conjunction with a vSwitch in a host system, using a processor assigned to the vSwitch in the host system. At the application, using a counter, a number of packets of the flow that are received and acknowledged in response packets is counted, the response packets being received from a receiver of the flow. At the application, using a period measured by the timer and the number of received packets acknowledged as counted by the counter, a CWND value is computed. The CWND value is applied to the flow at the vSwitch such that the vSwitch transmits, from the flow to a network, only a number of packets up to the CWND value.

Virtual switch-based congestion control for datacenter networks

At an application executing in conjunction with a vSwitch in a host system, a CWND value is computed corresponding to a flow from a VM using a period measured by a timer and a number of packets of the flow received and acknowledged in response packets, the number being counted by a counter, the timer being associated with a packet of the flow. The CWND value is stored in a field in a response packet received from a receiver of the flow, the field being designated for carrying a RWND value, the response packet corresponding to a packet in the flow. The storing forms a modified response packet.

Enforcing datacenter-level congestion control

At an application executing in conjunction with a vSwitch in a host system, using a processor assigned to the vSwitch in the host system, a CWND value corresponding to a flow from a VM is computed using a period measured by a timer and a number of packets of the flow received and acknowledged in response packets, the number being counted by a counter, the timer being associated with a packet of the flow. A set of flow parameters is extracted, at the application, from the flow. At the application, a normalized value corresponding to the flow is computed. At the application, the CWND value is reduced according to the normalized value of the flow to form a reduced CWND value. The reduced CWND value is applied to the flow at the vSwitch such that the vSwitch transmits, from the flow to a network, only a number of packets up to the reduced CWND value.

Normalized flow value-based congestion control

In one embodiment, a system includes a switch controller in communication with a plurality of switches in a switch cluster via a communication protocol. The switch controller includes a processor and logic integrated with and/or executable by the processor. The logic is configured to cause the processor to receive an address resolution protocol (ARP) request packet as a unicast packet from an entry switch in the switch cluster, the entry switch being connected to a first host. The logic is also configured to cause the processor to send an ARP response packet as a unicast packet to the entry switch. The ARP response packet indicates a media access control (MAC) address of the switch controller as a source MAC (SMAC) for the ARP response packet, and an internet protocol (IP) address of a virtual router of the switch controller as being a source of the ARP response packet.

Software defined network (SDN) switch clusters having layer-3 distributed router functionality

Growing community of inventors

Austin, TX, United States of America

Wesley Michael Felter