Provisioning of Computer Systems Using Virtual Machines

• US 20090282404A1
• Filed: 07/16/2009
• Published: 11/12/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 04/05/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: PETKOVIC, Dragutin, KHANDEKAR, Dilip, SUBRAHMANYAM, Pratap, LE, Bich Cau
• Granted Patent: US 8,255,484 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45562 Creating, deleting, cloning virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/4557 Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

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.

Claims

1. A method for creating a virtualized computer system comprising the following steps:

inputting information identifying a desired computer configuration, the inputted information includes characteristics of a desired hardware platform; and

automatically configuring and deploying on a physical host platform a virtual machine according to the inputted information.

2. A method as in claim 1, further including the following steps:

storing a plurality of operating systems;

sensing selection by a requester of a desired operating system configuration;

heuristically selecting from among the stored operating systems the operating system that most closely matches the desired operating system configuration; and

installing in the virtual machine the most closely matching, stored operating system.

3. A method as in claim 1, further including the following steps:

storing a plurality of virtualized hardware components;

sensing selection by a requester of a desired hardware configuration;

heuristically selecting from among the stored virtualized hardware components the virtualized hardware components that most closely match the desired hardware configuration; and

installing in the virtual machine the most closely matching, stored virtualized hardware components.

4. A method as in claim 1, in which the requester is a human user, the method further comprising the following steps:

storing a plurality of virtualized hardware configurations, a plurality of operating systems, and a plurality of applications;

displaying for the user lists of the stored virtualized hardware configurations, operating systems, and applications;

sensing selection by a requester of a desired one of the virtualized hardware configurations, a desired one of operating systems, and of any of the applications; and

automatically configuring the virtual machine with the selected hardware configuration, operating system, and applications.

5. A method as in claim 1, further comprising:

deploying a virtual machine on each of a plurality of physical host platforms;

installing in at least two of the deployed virtual machines different, mutually interacting applications, the different separately deployed virtual machines thereby forming a network.

6. A method for creating a virtualized computer system comprising the following steps:

pre-storing a plurality of virtualized hardware configurations, operating systems, and applications;

sensing input by a requester of at least one goal;

heuristically selecting one of the pre-stored virtualized hardware configurations, one of the pre-stored operating systems, and at least one of the pre-stored applications that together best meet the goal;

automatically configuring and deploying on a physical host platform a virtual machine having the heuristically selected virtualized hardware configuration, an operating system and an application.

7. A method as in claim 6, in which the goal relates to a user-specified performance of the virtualized computer system.

8. A method as in claim 6, in which the goal relates to a user-specified functionality of the virtualized computer system.

9. A method for creating a virtualized computer system comprising the following steps:

creating and storing a plurality of pre-configured virtual machines having different configurations;

sensing selection by a requester of one of the pre-configured virtual machines; and

automatically deploying the selected virtual machine, wherein the automatically deploying includes installing an additional application in the selected virtual machine if the additional application being requested via the information and the additional application not pre-installed in the pre-configured virtual machines.

10. A method as in claim 9, in which the step of deploying the selected virtual machine comprises deploying the virtual machine on a physical host platform.

11. A method as in claim 10, further comprising the following steps:

monitoring the status of a plurality of hosts; and

heuristically selecting from among the plurality of hosts the host currently best suited for hosting the deployed virtual machine.

12. A method as in claim 10, further including the step of automatically migrating the deployed virtual machine from one host to another based on the monitored status of the plurality of hosts.

13. A method as in claim 9, in which the step of deploying the selected virtual machine includes automatically copying information defining the virtual machine onto a machine-readable storage medium.

14. A system for creating a virtualized computer system comprising:

input means for inputting information identifying a desired computer configuration; and

a provisioning server forming means for automatically configuring and deploying on a physical host platform a virtual machine according to the inputted information.

15. A system as in claim 14, further comprising:

a database storing a plurality of pre-configured virtual machines having different configurations; and

deployment means for automatically preparing for deployment any of the pre-configured virtual machines selected by a requester.

16. A system as in claim 15, in which the requester is a computer.

17. A system as in claim 14, further comprising:

means for monitoring the status of a plurality of hosts and for automatically selecting from among the plurality of hosts the host currently best suited for hosting the configured virtual machine.

18. A system as in claim 14, further including:

a virtual machine-to-hardware interface on each of a plurality of hardware hosts;

means for selecting at least one of the hardware hosts for hosting; and

deployment means for deploying the virtual machine on each selected hardware host, each of which thereby forms a separate physical host platform;

whereby deployment of the virtual machine is substantially independent of the overall hardware configuration.

19. A system as in claim 14, in which the input means is further provided for inputting the information as an image of an exiting physical computer.

20. A system as in claim 14, further comprising a virtual machine network that includes:

a plurality of physical host platforms, on each of which is deployed a virtual machine; and

at least two mutually interacting applications installed on different ones of the virtual machines.