Patent ID: 7743375
Filing Date: 2010-06-22
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A method comprising: providing first and second nodes that are physically partitioned from one another, the first and second nodes being in a pre-merger state; configuring the first node to operate in a first predetermined address range while the first node exhibits the pre-merger state; configuring the second node to operate in a second predetermined address range that is non-overlapping with respect to the first predetermined address range while the second node exhibits the pre-merger state; and activating, in response to a merge command, a communication bus between the first and second nodes to merge the first and second nodes to form a merged physical partition in a post-merger state, wherein the first node communicates over the communication bus with the second node via the second predetermined address range of the second node, and further wherein the second node is capable of communicating over the communication bus with the first node via the first predetermined address range of the first node; wherein the first node includes first hardware resources and a first logical partition, wherein the second node includes second hardware resources and a second logical partition, the first and second hardware resources being within the merged physical partition, wherein the first hardware resources include a first memory, the method further comprising configuring the first memory to operate in the first predetermined address range; wherein the second hardware resources include a second memory, the method further comprising configuring the second memory to operate in the second predetermined address range that is not overlapping with respect to the first predetermined address range; configuring a master hypervisor on the first node and a slave hypervisor on the second node during the pre-merger state; storing first hardware resource data structures of the first node in the master hypervisor and storing second hardware resource data structures of the second node in the slave hypervisor; transmitting, by the second node, the second hardware resource data structures to the first node; and configuring a modified master hypervisor to include the first hardware resource data structures and the second hardware resource data structures.