Maintaining two-site configuration for workload availability between sites at unlimited distances for products and services

Abstract

A system for maintaining a two-site configuration for continuous availability over long distances may include a first computing site configured to execute a first instance associated with a priority workload, the first instance being designated as an active instance; a second computing site configured to execute a second instance of the priority workload, the second instance being designated as a standby instance; a software replication module configured to replicate a unit of work data associated with the priority workload from a first data object associated with the active instance to a second data object associated with the standby instance, and a hardware replication module configured to replicate an image from a first storage volume to a copy on a second storage volume, wherein the first storage volume is associated with the first computing site, and the second storage volume is associated with a third computing site.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer program product for maintaining a multiple-site configuration for continuous availability over long distances, the computer program product comprising one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media having stored thereon:
 first program instructions executable by a first processor located at a first computing site, the first program instructions being configured to execute a first instance of one or more computing transactions associated with a priority workload, wherein the first instance is designated as an active instance;   second program instructions executable by a second processor that is communicatively coupled to the first processor and located at a second computing site, the second program instructions being configured to execute a second instance of the one or more computing transactions, wherein the second instance is designated as a standby instance; and   a workload availability module configured to determine based on monitoring one or more metrics that the first computing site is unavailable and, in response to a determination that the first computing site is unavailable, to:   designate the second instance as the active instance;   cause a third computing site to execute a third instance of the one or more computing transactions associated with the priority workload; and   designate the third instance as the standby instance.   
     
     
         2 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the first program instructions are further configured to restart the first instance associated with the priority workload based on the first computing site subsequently becoming available. 
     
     
         3 . The computer program product of  claim 2 , wherein the first program instructions are further configured to designate the first instance as the active instance after restarting the first instance. 
     
     
         4 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the second computing site is separated from the first computing site by a first distance greater than a metropolitan area network. 
     
     
         5 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the second storage volume is separated from the first storage volume by a second distance greater than a metropolitan area network. 
     
     
         6 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein execution of the third instance is based at least in part on a copy of data from the first computing site that is stored on a storage volume of the second computing site. 
     
     
         7 . The computer program product of  claim 1  wherein the non-transitory computer-readable storage media further include a first replication module configured to replicate a unit of work data associated with the priority workload to the standby instance at the second computing site, and wherein the unit of work data includes transactional data that is logged in response to completion of at least one of the one or more computing transactions. 
     
     
         8 . A system for maintaining a multiple-site configuration for continuous availability over long distances, the system comprising:
 a first computing site configured to execute a first instance of one or more computing transactions associated with a priority workload, wherein the first instance is designated as an active instance;   a second computing site communicatively coupled with the first computing site, the second computing site configured to execute a second instance of the one or more computing transactions, wherein the second instance is designated as a standby instance; and   a workload availability module configured to determine based on monitoring one or more metrics that the first computing site is unavailable and, in response to a determination that the first computing site is unavailable, to:   designate the second instance as the active instance;   cause a third computing site to execute a third instance of the one or more computing transactions associated with the priority workload; and   designate the third instance as the standby instance.   
     
     
         9 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the first computing site is further configured to restart the first instance associated with the priority workload based on the first computing site subsequently becoming available. 
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the first computing site is further configured to designate the first instance as the active instance after restarting the first instance. 
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 8 , wherein the second computing site is separated from the first computing site by a distance greater than a metropolitan area network. 
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising a replication module configured to replicate data stored in a first storage volume associated with the first computing site to a copy on a second storage volume associated with the second computing site, wherein the second storage volume is separated from the first storage volume by a distance greater than a metropolitan area network. 
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein execution of the third instance is based at least in part on the copy on the second storage volume. 
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 8 , further comprising a replication module configured to replicate a unit of work data associated with the priority workload to the standby instance at the second computing site, wherein the unit of work data includes transactional data that is logged in response to completion of at least one of the one or more computing transactions. 
     
     
         15 . A computer-implemented method for maintaining a multiple-site configuration for continuous availability over long distances, the method comprising:
 executing, at a first computing site, a first instance of one or more computing transactions associated with a priority workload, wherein the first instance is designated as an active instance;   executing, at a second computing site, a second instance of the one or more computing transactions associated with the priority workload, wherein the second instance is designated as a standby instance;   in response to determining, based on monitoring a metric associated with the first computing site, that the first computing site is unavailable:   designating the second instance as the active instance;   causing a third computing site to execute a third instance of the one or more computing transactions associated with the priority workload; and   designating the third instance as the standby instance.   
     
     
         16 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , wherein the first computing site is further configured to restart the first instance associated with the priority workload based on the first computing site subsequently becoming available. 
     
     
         17 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 16 , wherein the first computing site is further configured to designate the first instance as the active instance after restarting the first instance. 
     
     
         18 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , wherein the second computing site is separated from the first computing site by a first distance greater than a metropolitan area network. 
     
     
         19 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , wherein execution of the third instance is based at least in part on a copy of data associated with the first instance that is stored on a storage volume of the second computing site. 
     
     
         20 . The computer-implemented method of  claim 15 , further comprising replicating a unit of work data associated with the priority workload being executed as the active instance at the first computing site to the standby instance at the second computing site, wherein the unit of work data includes transactional data that is logged in response to completion of at least one of the one or more computing transactions.