A provisioning server automatically configures a virtual machine (VM) according to user specifications and then deploys the VM on a physical host. The user may either choose from a list of pre-configured, ready-to-deploy VMs, or he may select which hardware, operating system and application(s) he would like the VM to have. The provisioning server then configures the VM accordingly, if the desired configuration is available, or it applies heuristics to configure a VM that best matches the user's request if it isn't. The invention also includes mechanisms for monitoring the status of VMs and hosts, for migrating VMs between hosts, and for creating a network of VMs.

Provisioning of computer systems using virtual machines

Summary form only given. The layered architecture is one of the key reasons behind the explosive and continuing growth of the Internet. There are, however, special networks in which cross-layer design is appropriate and may even be necessary. Two such cases are small wireless LAN and large-scale sensor networks. We consider first the design of medium access control (MAC) for a small wireless LAN based on a multiuser physical layer. We present a complete characterization of the throughput region and present conditions under which ALOHA is optimal. Next we consider the estimation of signal field using data collected from a large scale sensor network. The impact of medium access control on estimation is examined. We show that there exists a threshold on sensor outage probability above which a distributed random access protocol (such as ALOHA) outperforms the centralized deterministic schedulers.

On cross-layer design of wireless networks

Techniques are described for providing managed virtual computer networks that have a configured logical network topology with virtual networking devices, such as by a network-accessible configurable network service, with corresponding networking functionality provided for communications between multiple computing nodes of the virtual computer network by emulating functionality that would be provided by the virtual networking devices if they were physically present. In some situations, the networking functionality provided for a managed computer network of a client includes receiving routing communications directed to the virtual networking devices, and using included routing information to identify and initiate external actions whose effects are not related to how network communications between computing nodes of the managed computer network are configured to be routed or otherwise forwarded through the managed computer network, such as external actions that affect devices that are not part of the managed computer network, or other types of external actions.

Using virtual networking devices and routing information to initiate external actions

In general, the present invention relates to a virtual platform in which one or more distributed virtual switches can be created for use in virtual networking. According to some aspects, the distributed virtual switch according to the invention provides the ability for virtual and physical machines to more readily, securely, and efficiently communicate with each other even if they are not located on the same physical host and/or in the same subnet or VLAN. According other aspects, the distributed virtual switches of the invention can support integration with traditional IP networks and support sophisticated IP technologies including NAT functionality, stateful firewalling, and notifying the IP network of workload migration. According to further aspects, the virtual platform of the invention creates one or more distributed virtual switches which may be allocated to a tenant, application, or other entity requiring isolation and/or independent configuration state. According to still further aspects, the virtual platform of the invention manages and/or uses VLAN or tunnels (e.g, GRE) to create a distributed virtual switch for a network while working with existing switches and routers in the network. The present invention finds utility in both enterprise networks, datacenters and other facilities.

Method and apparatus for implementing and managing virtual switches

Cyber-physical systems (CPSs) couple their cyber and physical parts to provide mission-critical services, including automated pervasive health care, smart electricity grid, green cloud computing, and surveillance with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs). CPSs can use the information available from the physical environment to provide such ubiquitous, energy-efficient and low-cost functionalities. Their operation needs to ensure three key properties, collectively referred to as S3: 1) safety: avoidance of hazards; 2) security: assurance of integrity, authenticity, and confidentiality of information; and 3) sustainability: maintenance of long-term operation of CPSs using green sources of energy. Ensuring S3 properties in a CPS is a challenging task given the spatio-temporal dynamics of the underlying physical environment. In this paper, the formal underpinnings of recent CPS S3 solutions are aligned together in a theoretical framework for cyber-physical interactions, empowering CPS researchers to systematically design solutions for ensuring safety, security, or sustainability. The general applicability of this framework is demonstrated with various exemplar solutions for S3 in diverse CPS domains. Further, insights are provided on some of the open research problems for ensuring S3 in CPSs.

Ensuring Safety, Security, and Sustainability of Mission-Critical Cyber–Physical Systems

Spatio-temporal thermal-aware job scheduling to minimize energy consumption in virtualized heterogeneous data centers

Techniques for generating an access control list to block traffic from a network device infected by malware.

Infected electronic system tracking

Mobile devices, systems, and methods for end-user transparent utilization of computational, storage, and network capacity of mobile device are described herein. A communication interface may be responsive to a request for a resource from a network of mobile devices. A database may store mobile device information and, in response to the request, identify at least one mobile device having the resource. A virtual machine dispatcher may generate a command to a virtual machine dispatch agent of the at least one mobile device to create a virtual machine to perform the resource.

Apparatus for end-user transparent utilization of computational, storage, and network capacity of mobile devices, and associated methods

Methods and apparatus to a cross-layer approach to virtualized overlay on ad hoc networks are described. In one embodiment, a virtual address may be used to search for a (key,value) pair in a virtual overlay. Other embodiments are also described.

Cross-layer approach to virtualized overlay on ad hoc networks

After years of research on ad hoc networks, practical wireless mesh networks are moving towards mainstream industry deployment. As wireless mesh networks become more ubiquitous, how to enable distributed applications and services is a challenging research topic. A new network architecture called OverMesh is recently proposed, in which computational overlays provide the facility to deploy distributed services across mobile mesh nodes. In this paper, we present the first implementation of the OverMesh architecture. The overlays are built over an IEEE 802.11s wireless mesh network pre-standard prototype. The platform enables development and deployment of concurrent distributed experiments on wireless mesh networks. Based on this platform, we further introduce a cross-layer searching algorithm, which combines traditional overlay searching with ad hoc network routing so that a physically short searching route is facilitated. Both experimentation and simulation results are presented.

/pdf/overlays-on-wireless-mesh-networks-implementation-and-cross-3fyu5qivco.pdf

Sanjay Rungta

Papers

Spatio-temporal thermal-aware job scheduling to minimize energy consumption in virtualized heterogeneous data centers

Infected electronic system tracking

Apparatus for end-user transparent utilization of computational, storage, and network capacity of mobile devices, and associated methods

Cross-layer approach to virtualized overlay on ad hoc networks

Overlays on wireless mesh networks: implementation and cross-layer searching