VIRTUAL COMPUTING INFRASTRUCTURE

• US 20090241108A1
• Filed: 10/28/2005
• Published: 09/24/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Edwards, Nigel John, Goldsack, Patrick, Lain, Antonio, Baldwin, Adrian John
• Granted Patent: US 9,596,239 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/604 Tools and structures for managing or administering access control systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/10 for controlling access to devices or network resources

Abstract

A system has a virtual overlay infrastructure mapped onto physical resources for processing, storage and network communications, the virtual infrastructure having virtual entities for processing, storage and network communications. Virtual infrastructures of different users share physical resources but are isolated. Each infrastructure has its own infrastructure controller to create and configure the infrastructure. It has a user accessible part (CFC) for configuration of that user'"'"'s infrastructure, and a user inaccessible part (UFC) able to access the mapping and the physical resources. This increases user control to ease system administration, while maintaining security by limiting access to the mapping.

Claims

1. A system having physical resources for data processing, for data storage resources and for network communications to couple the data processing and data storage resources, the system also having one or more virtual overlay infrastructures mapped onto the physical resources, each virtual overlay infrastructure comprising one or more virtual entities for data processing, one or more virtual data storage entities and one or more virtual network entities arranged to couple others of the virtual entities, the system having an infrastructure controller for each virtual infrastructure.

2. The system of claim 1, the infrastructure controller having a user accessible part (CFC) for controlling a configuration of that user'"'"'s virtual infrastructure, and a user inaccessible part (UFC) able to access the mapping and the physical resources.

3. The system of claim 2, the user inaccessible part being arranged to enforce a policy limiting the configuration of the infrastructure.

4. The system of claim 1, the infrastructure controller being implemented by one or more virtual machines.

5. The system of claim 1, the controller being arranged to monitor applications, running on the virtual infrastructure.

6. The system of claim 2, the user inaccessible part being arranged to control the mapping.

7. The system of claim 2, the user accessible part having access to some or all of the virtual network entities in the infrastructure.

8. The system of claim 2, the user accessible part being arranged to have access to system management entities including the mapping and the physical resources via the user inaccessible part.

9. Infrastructure control software for a system having physical resources for data processing, for data storage resources and for network communications to couple the data processing and data storage resources, the system also having one or more virtual overlay infrastructures mapped onto the physical resources, each virtual overlay infrastructure comprising one or more virtual entities for data processing, one or more virtual data storage entities and one or more virtual network entities arranged to couple others of the virtual entities, the infrastructure control software being arranged to control one of the virtual infrastructures.

10. The infrastructure control software of claim 9, having a user accessible part (CFC) for controlling a configuration of that user'"'"'s virtual infrastructure, and a user inaccessible part (UFC) able to access the mapping and the physical resources.

11. The infrastructure control software of claim 10, the user inaccessible part being arranged to enforce a policy limiting the configuration of the infrastructure.

12. The infrastructure control software of claim 9, arranged in the form of one or more virtual machines.

13. The infrastructure control software of claim 9, arranged to monitor applications running on the virtual infrastructure.

14. The infrastructure control software of claim 10, the user inaccessible part being arranged to control the mapping.

15. The infrastructure control software of claim 10, the user accessible part having access to some or all of the virtual network entities in the infrastructure.

16. The infrastructure control software of claim 10, the user accessible part being arranged to have access to system management entities including the mapping and the physical resources via the user inaccessible part.

17. A method of using a system, by a user, the system having physical resources for data processing, for data storage resources and for network communications to couple the data processing and data storage resources, the system also having one or more virtual overlay infrastructures mapped onto the physical resources, each virtual overlay infrastructure comprising one or more virtual entities for data processing, one or more virtual data storage entities and one or more virtual network entities arranged to couple others of the virtual entities, and infrastructure control software arranged to control that user'"'"'s virtual infrastructure, the infrastructure control software having a user accessible part (CFC) for controlling a configuration of that user'"'"'s virtual infrastructure, and a user inaccessible part (UFC) able to access the mapping and the physical resources, the method having the step of using the user accessible part to control the users infrastructure.

18. (canceled)