SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR IDENTIFICATION AND MANAGEMENT OF CLOUD-BASED VIRTUAL MACHINES

• US 20090300607A1
• Filed: 05/29/2008
• Published: 12/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/29/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Vujec, Tomislav, Ferris, James Michael, Huff, David P., Kearney, Bryan
• Granted Patent: US 8,341,625 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 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for identification and management of cloud-based virtual machines. A user requests the instantiation of a set of virtual machines from a cloud computing environment. A cloud management system requests the resources necessary to build the machines from a set of resource servers. After populating the set of virtual machines from the cloud, the cloud management system inserts a token ID into one of the virtual machines to designate that machine as a management instance. An image of that machine can be stored in the cloud management system to represent the configuration of the set of virtual machines, even when the cloud itself lacks permanent storage. When the user wishes to update the set of virtual machines, the cloud management system can insert another token ID into another virtual machine, reconfigure the software, processing, or other resources of that machine as a revised management instance.

Claims

1. A method of managing the identification of entities in a cloud computing environment, comprising:

instantiating a first set of virtual machines in a cloud computing environment;

inserting a token ID in at least one of the first set of virtual machines to designate the at least one of the first set of virtual machines as a management instance of the first set of virtual machines;

registering the management instance to a cloud management system; and

storing an image of the management instance via the cloud management system to record a configuration record of the first set of virtual machines.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the cloud computing environment comprises a set of resource servers configured to deliver resources to instantiate the first set of virtual machines.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein individual machines in the first set of virtual machines are identified by an identification field in the configuration record.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising changing a configuration of the management instance.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising storing an image of the changed configuration of the management instance via the cloud management system.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising removing the token ID of the management instance having the changed configuration.

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising generating a revised set of virtual machines based on the changed configuration.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising retiring the first set of virtual machines upon generation of the revised set of virtual machines.

9. The method of claim 7, further comprising inserting a token ID in at least one of the revised set of virtual machines to generate a revised management instance of the revised set of virtual machines.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising storing an image of the revised management instance via the cloud management system to record a configuration record of the revised set of virtual machines.

11. A system for managing the identification of entities in a cloud computing environment, comprising:

a network interface to a first set of virtual machines in a cloud computing environment; and

a cloud management module, communicating with the network interface, the cloud management module being configured to—

insert a token ID in at least one of the first set of virtual machines to designate the at least one of the first set of virtual machines as a management instance of the first set of virtual machines,

register the management instance in the cloud management module, and

store an image of the management instance to record a configuration record of the first set of virtual machines.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the cloud computing environment comprises a set of resource servers configured to deliver resources to instantiate the first set of virtual machines.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein individual machines in the first set of virtual machines are identified by an identification field in the configuration record.

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the cloud management module is further configured to change a configuration of the management instance.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the cloud management module is further configured to store an image of the changed configuration of the management instance via the cloud management system.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the cloud management module is further configured to remove the token ID of the management instance having the changed configuration.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the cloud management module is further configured to generate a revised set of virtual machines based on the changed configuration.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the cloud management module is further configured to retire the first set of virtual machines upon generation of the revised set of virtual machines.

19. The system of claim 17, wherein the cloud management module is further configured to insert a token ID in at least one of the revised set of virtual machines to generate a revised management instance of the revised set of virtual machines.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the cloud management module is further configured to store an image of the revised management instance via the cloud management system to record a configuration record of the revised set of virtual machines.

21. A set of virtual machines, the set of virtual machines being generated by a method comprising:

instantiating a first set of virtual machines in a cloud computing environment;

inserting a token ID in at least one of the first set of virtual machines to designate the at least one of the first set of virtual machines as a management instance of the first set of virtual machines;

registering the management instance to a cloud management system; and

storing an image of the management instance via the cloud management system to record a configuration record of the first set of virtual machines.

22. The set of virtual machines of claim 21, wherein the cloud computing environment comprises a set of resource servers configured to deliver resources to instantiate the first set of virtual machines.

23. The set of virtual machines of claim 21, wherein individual machines in the first set of virtual machines are identified by an identification field in the configuration record.

24. The set of virtual machines of claim 21, wherein the method further comprises changing a configuration of the management instance.

25. The set of virtual machines of claim 24, wherein the method further comprises storing an image of the changed configuration of the management instance via the cloud management system.

26. The set of virtual machines of claim 25, wherein the method further comprises removing the token ID of the management instance having the changed configuration.

27. The set of virtual machines of claim 26, wherein the method further comprises generating a revised set of virtual machines based on the changed configuration.

28. The set of virtual machines of claim 27, wherein the method further comprises retiring the first set of virtual machines upon generation of the revised set of virtual machines.

29. The set of virtual machines of claim 27, wherein the method further comprises inserting a token ID in at least one of the revised set of virtual machines to generate a revised management instance of the revised set of virtual machines.

30. The set of virtual machines of claim 29, wherein the method further comprises storing an image of the revised management instance via the cloud management system to record a configuration record of the revised set of virtual machines.