Associating telemetry data from a group of entities
First Claim
1. At least one tangible computer-readable storage medium article having instructions recorded thereon which, when executed, perform a method comprising:
- (A) receiving, by each of a plurality of guest and/or host machines implemented by at least one computer executing virtualization software, information descriptive of the at least one computer, the information received by each of the plurality of guest and/or host machines being the same information;
(B) each of the plurality of guest and/or host machines generating a one-way hash of the information; and
(C) each of the plurality of guest and/or host machines including the one-way hash of the information within its respective telemetry data generated for transmission to an information collection facility, to enable the information collection facility to form an association between the telemetry data generated by each of the plurality of guest and/or host machines.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Embodiments of the invention provide an ability to associate telemetry data received from different entities, such as guest and/or host machines residing on one or more particular physical computers (e.g., server computers) executing virtualization software. In some embodiments, telemetry data supplied by each entity includes information that identifies, and preserves the anonymity of, the entity (e.g., the computer(s) on which the guest and/or host machine(s) reside(s)). For example, if the entities comprise guest and/or host machines residing on a single computer, the information may comprise a one-way hash of the fully qualified domain name (FQDN) of the computer. If the entities are guest and/or host machines residing on a group of computers, the information may comprise a one-way hash of a portion of an FQDN for each computer which is common to all computers in the group. If the group of computers belong to a network domain having a globally unique identifier (GUID) (e.g., as employed by Microsoft Active Directory), the information may comprise a one-way hash of a portion of the GUID.
11 Citations
20 Claims
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1. At least one tangible computer-readable storage medium article having instructions recorded thereon which, when executed, perform a method comprising:
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(A) receiving, by each of a plurality of guest and/or host machines implemented by at least one computer executing virtualization software, information descriptive of the at least one computer, the information received by each of the plurality of guest and/or host machines being the same information; (B) each of the plurality of guest and/or host machines generating a one-way hash of the information; and (C) each of the plurality of guest and/or host machines including the one-way hash of the information within its respective telemetry data generated for transmission to an information collection facility, to enable the information collection facility to form an association between the telemetry data generated by each of the plurality of guest and/or host machines. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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8. A system comprising:
at least one processor programmed to implement an information collection facility configured to; receive, from at least one computer coupled to the information collection facility via at least one network, each of the at least one computers executing virtualization software implementing a plurality of guest and/or host machines configured to generate respective telemetry data, information usable to form an association between the telemetry data generated by each of the plurality of guest and/or host machines; and form an association between the telemetry data received from each of the plurality of guest and/or host machines. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A method for use in a system comprising a plurality of computers each coupled to an information collection facility via at least one network, the method comprising:
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(A) each of the plurality of computers generating respective telemetry data for transmission to the information collection facility, the telemetry data generated by each of the plurality of computers comprising a same item of information which can not be used to identify any of the plurality of computers but which can be used to form an association between the telemetry data generated by each of the plurality of computers; and (B) transmitting the telemetry data generated by the plurality of computers to the information collection facility via the at least one network. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification