Cache-based system management architecture with virtual appliances, network repositories, and virtual appliance transceivers

US7373451B2 · kind B2 · utility

Assignee

• The Board of Trustees of the Leland Stanford Junior University · US

Inventors

• Monica Lam · Menlo Park, US
• Constantine P. Sapuntzakis · Mountain View, US
• Ramesh Chandra · Santa Clara, US
• Nickolai Zeldovich · Brookline, US
• Mendel Rosenblum · Stanford, US
• James Chow · San Jose, US
• David Brumley · Bothell, US

Key dates

• Filing date: Dec 8, 2004
• Grant date: May 13, 2008
• Expiry date: Feb 18, 2026

Classification

• Technology area (CPC H): Electricity
• CPC primary: H04L69/329
• WIPO field: Computer technology
• WIPO sector: Electrical engineering

Abstract

A cache-based system management architecture named “the Collective” automates system management and supports mobile computing. The Collective manages systems by manipulating virtual appliances, each encapsulating a system state. A virtual appliance (VA) may comprise a virtual network of VAs. Distributed repositories separately storing the VAs and user data. Publishers create and maintain VAs. A user plugs a bootable portable storage device implementing a VA transceiver (VAT) into a host computer. The VAT, comprising a Manager, a Cache Client, and a virtual machine monitor (VMM), authenticates the user, retrieves a copy of the latest version of a subscribed VA from the appropriate network repository, obtains user data, and automatically backs up the user data over the network in the background while running the subscribed VA. Multiple VAs can be run at the same time. With the novel caching protocol and cache charging process, the Collective performs well and has numerous advantages.