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Patent

System and method for managing virtual servers

TL;DR: In this paper, a management capability is provided for a virtual computing platform that allows for the creation, deletion, modification, control (e.g., start, stop, suspend, resume) and status (i.e., events) off the virtual servers which execute on the virtual computing platforms and the management capability provides controls for these functions.
Abstract: A management capability is provided for a virtual computing platform. In one example, this platform allows interconnected physical resources such as processors, memory, network interfaces and storage interfaces to be abstracted and mapped to virtual resources (e.g., virtual mainframes, virtual partitions). Virtual resources contained in a virtual partition can be assembled into virtual servers that execute a guest operating system (e.g., Linux). In one example, the abstraction is unique in that any resource is available to any virtual server regardless of the physical boundaries that separate the resources. For example, any number of physical processors or any amount of physical memory can be used by a virtual server even if these resources span different nodes. A virtual computing platform is provided that allows for the creation, deletion, modification, control (e.g., start, stop, suspend, resume) and status (i.e., events) off the virtual servers which execute on the virtual computing platform and the management capability provides controls for these functions. In a particular example, such a platform allows the number and type of virtual resources consumed by a virtual server to be scaled up or down when the virtual server is running. For instance, an administrator may scale a virtual server manually or may define one or more policies that automatically scale a virtual server. Further, using the management API, a virtual server can monitor itself and can scale itself up or down depending on its need for processing, memory and I/O resources. For example, a virtual server may monitor its CPU utilization and invoke controls through the management API to allocate a new processor for itself when its utilization exceeds a specific threshold. Conversely, a virtual server may scale down its processor count when its utilization falls. Policies can be used to execute one or more management controls. More specifically, a management capability is provided that allows policies to be defined using management object's properties, events and/or method results. A management policy may also incorporate external data (e.g., an external event) in its definition. A policy may be triggered, causing the management server or other computing entity to execute an action. An action may utilize one or more management controls. In addition, an action may access external capabilities such as sending notification e-mail or sending a text message to a telephone paging system. Further, management capability controls may be executed using a discrete transaction referred to as a 'job.' A series of management controls may be assembled into a job using one or management interfaces. Errors that occur when a job is executed may cause the job to be rolled back, allowing affected virtual servers to return to their original state.
Citations
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Patent
02 May 2009
TL;DR: In this paper, a multi-tenant virtual machine infrastructure (MTVMI) allows multiple tenants to independently access and use a plurality of virtual computing resources via the Internet, and different tenants may define unique configurations of VM resources and unique rules to govern the use of the VM resources.
Abstract: A multi-tenant virtual machine infrastructure (MTVMI) allows multiple tenants to independently access and use a plurality of virtual computing resources via the Internet. Within the MTVMI, different tenants may define unique configurations of virtual computing resources and unique rules to govern the use of the virtual computing resources. The MTVMI may be configured to provide valuable services for tenants and users associated with the tenants.

626 citations

Patent
28 Oct 2005
TL;DR: In this paper, a plurality of permissions associated with a cloud customer is created, and each of the permissions describes an action performed on an object, while the second set of permissions describe an action to be performed by one or more users.
Abstract: A cloud computing environment having a plurality of computing nodes is described. A plurality of permissions associated with a cloud customer is created. A first set of permissions from the plurality of permissions is associated with one or more objects. Each of the first set of permissions describes an action performed on an object. A second set of permissions from the plurality of permissions is associated with one or more users. Each of the second set of permissions describes an action to be performed by one or more users.

593 citations

Patent
13 Mar 2012
Abstract: System, method, and tangible computer-readable storage media are disclosed for providing a brokering service for compute resources The method includes, at a brokering service, polling a group of separately administered compute environments to identify resource capabilities and information, each compute resource environment including the group of managed nodes for processing workload, receiving a request for compute resources at the brokering service system, the request for compute resources being associated with a service level agreement (SLA) and based on the resource capabilities across the group of compute resource environments, selecting compute resources in one or more of the group of compute resource environments The brokering service system receives workload associated with the request and communicates the workload to the selected resources for processing The brokering services system can aggregate resources for multiple cloud service providers and act as an advocate for or a guarantor of the SLA associated with the workload

563 citations

Patent
28 Nov 2006
TL;DR: In this article, a broker machine receives a request from a client machine for access to a computing environment, the request including an identification of a user of the client machine, and one of a plurality of virtual machines is identified, the identified virtual machine providing the requested computing environment.
Abstract: A method for providing access to a computing environment includes the step of receiving, by a broker machine, a request from a client machine for access to a computing environment, the request including an identification of a user of the client machine. One of a plurality of virtual machines is identified, the identified virtual machine providing the requested computing environment. One of a plurality of execution machines is identified, the identified execution machine executing a hypervisor providing access to hardware resources required by the identified virtual machine. A connection is established between the client machine and the identified virtual machine.

340 citations

Patent
21 Mar 2008
TL;DR: In this paper, techniques for configuring intercommunications between multiple computing nodes, such as multiple virtual machine nodes hosted on one or more physical computing machines or systems, are described, such that other communication manager modules may appropriately forward or otherwise process such communications.
Abstract: Techniques are described for configuring intercommunications between multiple computing nodes, such as multiple virtual machine nodes hosted on one or more physical computing machines or systems. In some situations, virtual networks may be established and maintained for groups of computing nodes, such as those operated by or on behalf of various users. Such virtual networks may be established in some situations by automatically configuring various communication manager modules to associate communications from a computing node belonging to a virtual network with one or more networking identifiers associated with the virtual network, such that other communication manager modules may appropriately forward or otherwise process such communications.

322 citations

References
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Patent
02 May 1997
TL;DR: In this paper, a computer system employs a globally addressable storage environment that allows a plurality of networked computers to access data by addressing even when the data is stored on a persistent storage device such as a computer hard disk and other traditionally non-addressable data storage devices.
Abstract: A computer system employs a globally addressable storage environment that allows a plurality of networked computers to access data by addressing even when the data is stored on a persistent storage device such as a computer hard disk and other traditionally non-addressable data storage devices. The computers can be located on a single computer network or on a plurality of interconnected computer networks such as two local area networks (LANs) coupled by a wide area network (WAN). The globally addressable storage environment allows data to be accessed and shared by and among the various computers on the plurality of networks.

678 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
B. Nitzberg1, V. Lo1
TL;DR: An overview of distributed shared memory issues covers memory coherence, design choices, and implementation methods, and algorithms that support process synchronization and memory management are discussed.
Abstract: An overview of distributed shared memory (DSM) issues is presented. Memory coherence, design choices, and implementation methods are included. The discussion of design choices covers structure and granularity, coherence semantics, scalability, and heterogeneity. Implementation issues concern data location and access, the coherence protocol, replacement strategy, and thrashing. Algorithms that support process synchronization and memory management are discussed. >

524 citations

Patent
10 Jun 1998
TL;DR: In this article, the authors use the distributed system support of modem operating systems to export a partial single system image to the users, and use copy-on-write disks and the use of a special network device to enable transparent resource sharing without requiring cooperation of the operating systems.
Abstract: The problem of extending modern operating systems to run efficiently on large-scale shared memory multiprocessors without a large implementation effort is solved by a unique type of virtual machine monitor. Virtual machines are used to run multiple commodity operating systems on a scalable multiprocessor. To reduce the memory overheads associated with running multiple operating systems, virtual machines transparently share major data structures such as the operating system code and the file system buffer cache. We use the distributed system support of modem operating systems to export a partial single system image to the users. Two techniques, copy-on-write disks and the use of a special network device, enable transparent resource sharing without requiring the cooperation of the operating systems. This solution addresses many of the challenges facing the system software for these machines. The overheads of the monitor are small and the approach provides scalability as well as the ability to deal with the non-uniform memory access time of these systems. The overall solution achieves most of the benefits of operating systems customized for scalable multiprocessors yet it can be achieved with a significantly smaller implementation effort.

496 citations

Patent
19 Dec 2001
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors propose a virtual file system that enables a plurality of underlying file systems running on various file servers to be virtualized into one or more virtual volumes that appear as a local file system to clients that access the virtual volumes.
Abstract: A virtual file system and method. The system architecture enables a plurality of underlying file systems running on various file servers to be “virtualized” into one or more “virtual volumes” that appear as a local file system to clients that access the virtual volumes. The system also enables the storage spaces of the underlying file systems to be aggregated into a single virtual storage space, which can be dynamically scaled by adding or removing file servers without taking any of the file systems offline and in a manner transparent to the clients. This functionality is enabled through a software “virtualization” filter on the client that intercepts file system requests and a virtual file system driver on each file server. The system also provides for load balancing file accesses by distributing files across the various file servers in the system, through migration of data files between servers.

429 citations

Patent
26 Oct 1998
TL;DR: In this paper, a virtual machine monitor (VMM) and virtual machine (VM) that has at least one virtual processor and is operatively connected to the VMM for running a sequence of VM instructions, which are either directly executable or non-directly executable.
Abstract: In a computer that has hardware processor, and a memory, the invention provides a virtual machine monitor (VMM) and a virtual machine (VM) that has at least one virtual processor and is operatively connected to the VMM for running a sequence of VM instructions, which are either directly executable or non-directly executable. The VMM includes both a binary translation sub-system and a direct execution sub-system, as well as a sub-system that determines if VM instructions must be executed using binary translation, or if they can be executed using direct execution. Shadow descriptor tables in the VMM, corresponding to VM descriptor tables, segment tracking and memory tracing are used as factors in the decision of which execution mode to activate. The invention is particularly well-adapted for virtualizing computers in which the hardware processor has an Intel x86 architecture.

426 citations