METHODS AND APPARATUS FOR USING TAGS TO CONTROL AND MANAGE ASSETS
First Claim
1. A method for using tags to manage virtual machines, the method comprising:
- storing a plurality of virtual machines on at least one physical host machine;
associating a plurality of tags with the plurality of virtual machines, wherein the tags are each associated with metadata representing a virtual machine characteristic; and
storing the tags associated with the plurality of virtual machines.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
By implementing various types of tags, easy management and control of assets in a business system is enabled. These assets may be virtual machines, hardware assets, personnel assets, or any other kind of assets. System tags are determined and associated with an asset automatically. For example, a system automatically determines the name and version of an operating system running on a virtual machine and associates an appropriate system tag with that asset. Virtual tags and dynamic tags are tags that do not contain the information sought—rather, these tags contain instructions about how to determine the tag value associated with an asset. Management tags are user-entered tags indicating information about an asset based on the knowledge of an individual.
The above-described tags can be combined using Boolean algebraic operators, resulting in a tag-based algebra system. Moreover, this tag-based algebra enables a Tag-Based Query Language (TQL), which enables searching of a universe of assets based on the associated tags. Additionally, this tag-based algebra enables access control based on tags associated with a user and tags associated with assets in a universe of assets. Finally, the tag-based algebra enables policies to be enforced in a universe of assets.
181 Citations
16 Claims
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1. A method for using tags to manage virtual machines, the method comprising:
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storing a plurality of virtual machines on at least one physical host machine; associating a plurality of tags with the plurality of virtual machines, wherein the tags are each associated with metadata representing a virtual machine characteristic; and storing the tags associated with the plurality of virtual machines. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method for using tags to manage assets, wherein the assets are managed by a management system, the method comprising:
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associating a plurality of tags with the plurality of assets, wherein the tags are each associated with metadata representing an asset characteristic; storing the tags associated with the plurality of assets; and the management system using the tags to manage the assets. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16)
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Specification