Patent · US Active

Automated rapid virtual machine provisioning system

US8359594B1 · kind B1 · utility

135Cited by
7References
20Claims
0Family size

Assignee

Inventors

Key dates

Filing dateMay 27, 2010
Grant dateJan 22, 2013
Priority date
Expiry dateJul 5, 2031

Classification

  • Technology area (CPC G)Physics
  • CPC primaryG06F2009/4557
  • WIPO fieldComputer technology
  • WIPO sectorElectrical engineering

Abstract

Embodiments disclosed herein utilize Habitats to perform incremental updates on virtual machines (VMs) over time. A VM Habitat comprises a collection of VMs and a specification shared between these VMs. Each Habitat specification may define an image name, processing power, etc. A Habitat specification may exist across a cluster of servers. In some embodiments, to dynamically update a Habitat specification, only “spare” VMs in the Habitat are updated, subject to some scheduling parameters and server concurrency limit. As spare VMs are updated, they move towards the new Habitat specification. Eventually, all VMs reach this goal over time, given sufficient spare VM resources. This approach can allow the service provided by the VMs to remain operational, thus maintaining the service level required for its users. This automated process can also eliminate or otherwise reduce human error either in the server removal/insertion from/to the cluster or in the VM update itself.

Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.