1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to resource provisioning of components in computer networks and more particularly to a system and method for resource provisioning using virtual machine multiplexing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a computing cloud based on virtualization technology, consolidating multiple virtual machines (VM) onto a set of physical hosts is a common practice for saving cost. VM consolidation (also referred to as virtualization capacity planning) effectively improves the utilization of computing resources including CPU, memory, I/O, storage, etc. A component in VM consolidation is VM sizing, which refers to estimating the future resource demand by VMs. A VM sizing method must ensure the Service-Level-Agreement (SLA) of applications is not violated and unnecessary resource usage is avoided.
Most of the existing VM sizing methods solve the problem by separate-VM sizing, which means that VM sizing is done on an individual VM basis. This leads to low overall resource utilization. While conventional tools provide detailed forecasting techniques and efficiency measures for capacity planning, all the effective resource allocations focus on individual VM scenarios. Some methods also consider inter-VM interaction and compatibility for better resource consolidation. Other methods consider resourcing VMs based on their CPU, I/O boundedness, and co-locate VMs with higher potential of memory sharing.