Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080244028 | Synchronization and Customization of a Clone Computer - A computer implemented method for maintaining synchronization between a master computer disk and a clone disk that includes cloning the clone disk from the master computer disk, the clone disk having a customization portion; and customizing the customization portion with information relevant to a clone computer that uses the clone disk. | 10-02-2008 |
20090158432 | On-Access Anti-Virus Mechanism for Virtual Machine Architecture - A tangible medium embodying instructions usable by a computer system to protect a plurality of guest virtual machines (VMs), which execute via virtualization software on a common host platform, from malicious code is described. A scan engine is configured to scan data for malicious code and determine a result of the scanning, wherein the result indicates whether malicious code is present in the data. A driver portion is configured for installation in an operating system of a target VM, which is one of the guest VMs. The driver portion intercepts an access request to a file, that originates within the target VM. The driver portion communicates information identifying a location of the data to be scanned by the scan engine without sending a copy of the data to the scan engine. The scan engine executes within the virtualization layer outside a context of the target VM. | 06-18-2009 |
20090282404 | Provisioning of Computer Systems Using Virtual Machines - 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. | 11-12-2009 |
20100036889 | CENTRALIZED MANAGEMENT OF VIRTUAL MACHINES - Virtual machines are managed in centralized manner. Files that are shared by multiple virtual machines are stored in a central storage unit and a management program is executed on one or more of these files on a per file basis. The management program is executed on a file if an 10 operation is issued for that file. A namespace map is used to provide a mapping of filenames used by the different virtual machines to filenames used by the central storage unit. | 02-11-2010 |
20100037041 | Booting a Computer System from Central Storage - A filter driver that is loaded during an initial part of the boot process enable operating systems that are not capable of booting from central storage to be booted from central storage. According to this technique, an initial set of operating system files is loaded into system memory from a local storage volume. The initial set of files includes a small subset of all of the operating system files and includes a boot loader, a kernel, boot time drivers, a file system driver, and a filter driver. The filter driver takes control over the loading of the remainder of the operating system files, so that these files are loaded from central storage instead of the local storage volume. | 02-11-2010 |
20100088328 | NAMESPACE MAPPING TO CENTRAL STORAGE - A file management system includes a host computer having one or more virtual machines, a switching layer computer configured to manage a namespace map for the virtual machines in the host computer, and a central storage unit. The host computer is connected indirectly to the central storage unit through an in-band IO path that includes the switching layer computer and directly to the central storage unit through an out-of-band IO path. When a virtual machines issues a file operation, a file operation including a data operation is routed to the central storage unit along an out-of-band IO path and a file operation including a metadata operation is routed to the central storage unit along an in-band IO path that includes the switching layer computer. | 04-08-2010 |
20100306849 | ON-ACCESS ANTI-VIRUS MECHANISM FOR VIRTUAL MACHINE ARCHITECTURE - A tangible medium embodying instructions usable by a computer system to protect a plurality of guest virtual machines (VMs), which execute via virtualization software on a common host platform, from malicious code is described. A scan engine is configured to scan data for malicious code and determine a result of the scanning, wherein the result indicates whether malicious code is present in the data. A driver portion is configured for installation in an operating system of a target VM, which is one of the guest VMs. The driver portion intercepts an access request to a file, that originates within the target VM. The driver portion communicates information identifying a location of the data to be scanned by the scan engine without sending a copy of the data to the scan engine. The scan engine executes within the virtualization layer outside a context of the target VM. | 12-02-2010 |
20110047195 | METHOD OF UNIVERSAL FILE ACCESS FOR A HETEROGENEOUS COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT - An architecture and system are described that provide a unified file access service within in a managed computing environment composed of diverse networks, computing devices, and storage devices. The service provides mechanisms for remotely accessing the file systems of any managed computer or disk snapshot, independently of the computer's current state (powered on, suspended or powered off), its location within the environment, its hardware type (virtual vs. physical), its operating system type, and its file system formats. The system isolates centralized FPAs from the details of clients, proxies and storage elements by providing a service that decomposes offloaded file system access into two steps. A FPA or a requester acting on behalf of the FPA first expresses the disk set or the computer containing the file systems it wishes to access, along with requirements and preferences about the access method. The service figures out an efficient data path satisfying the FPA's needs, and then automatically configures a set of storage and computing resources to provide the data path. The service then replies with information about the resources and instructions for using them. The FPA then accesses the requested file systems using the returned information. | 02-24-2011 |
20110138383 | Space Efficient Virtual Machines - A method and a system of making a virtual machine space efficient are disclosed. The virtual machine includes a virtual disk. The method includes creating a temporary virtual disk and adding the temporary virtual disk to the virtual machine. The temporary virtual disk works in conjunction with the virtual disk. The virtual machine is configured to store temporary files in the temporary virtual disk rather than the virtual disk. | 06-09-2011 |
20130024940 | OFFLOADING OPERATIONS TO A REPLICATE VIRTUAL MACHINE - A method for detecting malicious code within a first virtual machine comprising creating a snapshot of the first virtual machine and transferring the snapshot to a second machine. A scan operation is run on the snapshot using resources of the second machine. In response to detecting malicious code during the scan operation, action is taken at the first virtual machine to address the detection of the malicious code. Thus, the action in response to detecting the malicious code may include placing the first virtual machine in quarantine. | 01-24-2013 |
20130060919 | PROVISIONING OF COMPUTER SYSTEMS USING VIRTUAL MACHINES - 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. | 03-07-2013 |
20130185723 | CENTRALIZED MANAGEMENT OF VIRTUAL MACHINES - A method enables a central management service to operate on individual files within virtual disks associated with different virtual machines (VMs) running in one or more host computers that are each networked to a remote storage system. An IO request from a VM is received at a virtualization software layer on a host computer, wherein the IO request relates to a file stored in a virtual disk associated with the VM, and the file is individually stored in the remote storage system in accordance with a file system. The central management service is notified of the received IO request and uses the file system to access the file in the remote storage system to perform a management task on the file, and the IO request is then performed on the file by the virtualization software layer upon a notification of a successful completion of the management task. | 07-18-2013 |
20140201740 | SOFTWARE DELIVERY FOR VIRTUAL MACHINES - One embodiment entails delivering a software payload to guest software in a virtual machine so that the software payload is part of a file system accessible by the guest software, wherein the delivery is such that the software payload is part of a file system accessible by the guest software. The delivering utilizes a virtual device of the virtual machine, but does not involve either a virtual network interface card (NIC) or any virtual host bus adapter (VHBA) of the virtual machine. The delivering further includes establishing a data path from the software payload to the virtual machine and a guest agent of the virtual machine. During processing of the software payload, status from the guest agent is monitored. After reception of the status indicating completion of the processing of the software payload, the data path is deactivated. | 07-17-2014 |