Abstract: Managing computing devices in a computing system, including: receiving image data from a plurality of image sensors, each image sensor coupled to a computing device in a computing system, wherein multiple computing devices in the computing system are coupled to multiple image sensors; identifying, in dependence upon the image data from the plurality of image sensors, one or more characteristics of the computing system; and initiating, in dependence upon the one or more characteristics of the computing system, one or more desired system management actions.

Abstract: An apparatus for protecting connectors protruding from a metal enclosure of a hardware canister includes an enclosure that includes one or more components, wherein a portion of the one or more components protrudes out of a first side of the enclosure. The apparatus further includes a first extendable member assembly coupled to a lower interior surface of the enclosure, wherein the first extendable member assembly includes, a first structure coupled to a first compressible member, wherein a force applied to the first structure at the first side of the enclosure translates to the first compressible member and a lower edge of the first structure located below a lower edge of the one or more components, wherein a length of the first structure in an extended state is longer than a length of the protruding portion of the one or more components.

Abstract: Techniques disclosed herein generally describe providing fault tolerance in a virtual machine cluster using hardware transactional memory. According to one embodiment, a micro-checkpointing tool suspends execution of a virtual machine instance on a primary server. The micro-checkpointing tool identifies one or more memory pages associated with the virtual machine instance that were modified since a previous synchronization. The micro-checkpointing tool maps a first task to an operation to be performed on a memory of the primary server, where the first task is to resume the virtual machine instance. The micro-checkpointing tool also maps a second task to an operation to be performed on the memory of the primary server, where the second task is to copy the identified memory pages associated with the virtual machine instance to a secondary server. The first and second tasks are then performed on the memory.

Abstract: Methods and systems for agile load balancing include detecting an increased load for a first primary virtual machine (VM) on a first node that has a plurality of additional primary VMs running on a processor; deactivating one or more of the additional primary VMs, reducing said one or more deactivated VMs to a secondary state, to free resources at the first node for the first primary VM; and activating secondary VMs, located at one or more additional nodes, that correspond to the one or more deactivated VMs, raising said secondary VMs to a primary state. Activation and deactivation through micro-checkpointing may involve nodes of different CPU architectures during transient periods of peak load.

Abstract: Responsive to a data lookup in a buffer triggered for a search string, a processor searches for a selection of pairs from among multiple pairs of a hash table read from at least one address hash of the search string and matching at least one data hash of the search string, each row of the hash table assigned to a separate address hash, each of the pairs comprising a pointer to a location in the buffer and a tag with a previous data hash of a previously buffered string in the buffer. The processor identifies, from among the selection of pairs, at least one separate location in the buffer most frequently pointed to by two or more pointers within the selection of pairs. The processor, responsive to at least one read string from the buffer at the at least one separate location matching at least a substring of the search string, outputs the at least one separate location as the response to the data lookup.

Abstract: Responsive to a data lookup in a buffer triggered for a search string, a processor searches for a selection of pairs from among multiple pairs of a hash table read from at least one address hash of the search string and matching at least one data hash of the search string, each row of the hash table assigned to a separate address hash, each of the pairs comprising a pointer to a location in the buffer and a tag with a previous data hash of a previously buffered string in the buffer. The processor identifies, from among the selection of pairs, at least one separate location in the buffer most frequently pointed to by two or more pointers within the selection of pairs. The processor, responsive to at least one read string from the buffer at the at least one separate location matching at least a substring of the search string, outputs the at least one separate location as the response to the data lookup.

Abstract: Method and apparatus for performing in-place compression is provided. The in-place compression system transfers source data from a partition of a memory to a data buffer based on a read address. Compressed data is created by referencing the source data stored in the data buffer. The system writes the compressed data to the memory partition based on a write address. When the write address points at an address location that stores source data that has not been transferred to the data buffer, the system overwrites the compressed data stored in the memory partition with the source data stored in the data buffer.

Abstract: A compression engine and method for optimizing the high compression of a content addressable memory (CAM) and the efficiency of a static random access memory (SRAM) by synchronizing a CAM with a relatively small near history buffer and an SRAM with a larger far history buffer. An input stream is processed in parallel through the near history and far history components and an encoder selects for the compressed output the longest matching strings from matching strings provided by each of the near history and far history components. A further optimization is enabled by selectively disabling one or the other of the two types of compressors.

Abstract: Embodiments relate to avoiding out-of-space conditions in storage controllers operating with efficiency capabilities between virtual space in a data container and real space in a storage container. Both the real space and the virtual space are monitored. The real space usage is compared to a threshold to provide information about occupancy of the real space. A virtual size of the virtual object is adjusted responsive to the real space usage meeting or exceeding the threshold.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method is provided for supporting virtual machine and/or container live migration. The method may include hosting a virtual machine (VM) at a first location to be migrated to a second location by sending VM data packets from the first location to the second location and detecting a predetermined event associated with the VM at the first location. The method may further include prompting, in response to detection of the predetermined event, the redirection of the VM data packets from the first location to a buffer associated with the second location and storing the VM data packets in the buffer. The method may further include detecting an end of the predetermined event associated with the first location, and redirecting, in response to the end of the predetermined event, the VM data packets stored in the buffer to the VM migrated to the second location.

Abstract: A computer cache memory organization called Probabilistic Set Associative Cache (PAC) has the hardware complexity and latency of a direct-mapped cache but functions as a set-associative cache for a fraction of the time, thus yielding better than direct mapped cache hit rates. The organization is considered a (1+P)-way set associative cache, where the chosen parameter called Override Probability P determines the average associativity, for example, for P=0.1, effectively it operates as if a 1.1-way set associative cache.

Abstract: Methods and systems for agile load balancing include detecting an increased load for a first primary virtual machine (VM) on a first node that has a plurality of additional primary VMs running on a processor; deactivating one or more of the additional primary VMs, reducing said one or more deactivated VMs to a secondary state, to free resources at the first node for the first primary VM; and activating secondary VMs, located at one or more additional nodes, that correspond to the one or more deactivated VMs, raising said secondary VMs to a primary state. Activation and deactivation through micro-checkpointing may involve nodes of different CPU architectures during transient periods of peak load.

Abstract: Methods, apparatus and design structures are provided for improving resource utilization by data compression accelerators. An exemplary apparatus for compressing data comprises a plurality of hardware data compression accelerators and a hash table shared by the plurality of hardware data compression accelerators. Each of the plurality of hardware data compression accelerators optionally comprises a first-in-first-out buffer that stores one or more input phrases. The hash table optionally records a location in the first-in-first-out buffers where a previous instance of an input phrase is stored. The plurality of hardware data compression accelerators can simultaneously access the hash table. For example, the hash table optionally comprises a plurality of input ports for simultaneous access of the hash table by the plurality of hardware data compression accelerators. A design structure for a data compression accelerator system is also disclosed.

Abstract: A method for detecting a modification to stored data includes continuously creating a point-in-time copy of a storage level logical unit, the point-in-time copy comprising a volume copy of the storage level logical unit and a signature of the storage level logical unit, comparing at least a portion of the point-in-time copy with a previous copy of the storage level logical unit, and monitoring, based on the comparing, changes on certain logical blocks of the stored data, using the signature of the storage level logical unit.

Abstract: A method and device for provisioning bare-metal servers to tenants of a cloud provider is provided. The cloud provider operating a datacenter receives a profile of a tenant. The cloud provider identifies a set of physical resources subscribed by the tenant based on the tenant's profile and identifies a bare-metal server in the datacenter having sufficient physical resources to provide the subscribed physical resources. The cloud center reports to the tenant a set of physical resources in the BM server that corresponds to the subscribed set of physical resources. The cloud center receives a request from the tenant to provision a tenant bare metal machine in the datacenter. The cloud center enables at least one of the reported physical resources in the bare-metal server for the tenant, based on the request, and disables remaining reported physical resources in the bare-metal.

Abstract: A plurality of data words are written into a TCAM; each has binary digits and don't-care digits. Contemporaneously, for each of the words: a first checksum is calculated on the binary digits; and the following are stored in a corresponding portion of a RAM: an identifier of the binary digits and the first checksum. The ternary content-addressable memory is queried with an input word. Upon the querying yielding a match, further steps include retrieving, from the random-access memory, corresponding values of the identifier of the binary digits and the first checksum; computing a second checksum on the input word, using the identifier of the binary digits; and if the second and first checksums are not equal, determining in real time that the match is a false positive.

Abstract: A method (and system) for detecting intrusions to stored data includes creating a point-time-copy of a logical unit, and comparing at least a portion of the point-time-copy with a previous copy of the logical unit. The method (and system) monitors access to a data storage system and detects an intrusion or any other intentional or unintentional, unwanted modification to data stored in the data storage system. The method (and system) also recovers data once an intrusion or other unwanted modification is detected.

Abstract: Multiple clients may attempt to utilize a coprocessor engine within a coprocessor simultaneously. However, each engine may accomplish the particular function for which it is designed for one client at a time. Therefore, to transition from performing coprocessor engine operations between clients, the coprocessor engine may be suspended from performing operations for a first client so that it may begin performing operations for a second client. Prior to such transition, the coprocessor engine saves metadata about its operation state at the time of the suspension. At a subsequent time, when operations for the first client are to resume, the operating state of the coprocessor engine is determined utilizing the metadata and operations for the first client resume.

Abstract: Multiple clients may attempt to utilize a coprocessor engine within a coprocessor simultaneously. However, each engine may accomplish the particular function for which it is designed for one client at a time. Therefore, to transition from performing coprocessor engine operations between clients, the coprocessor engine may be suspended from performing operations for a first client so that it may begin performing operations for a second client. Prior to such transition, the coprocessor engine saves metadata about its operation state at the time of the suspend. At a subsequent time, when operations for the first client are to resume, the operating state of the coprocessor engine is determined utilizing the metadata and operations for the first client resume.

Abstract: Methods and systems for agile load balancing include detecting an increased load for a first primary virtual machine (VM) on a first node that has a plurality of additional primary VMs running on a processor; deactivating one or more of the additional primary VMs, reducing said one or more deactivated VMs to a secondary state, to free resources at the first node for the first primary VM; and activating secondary VMs, located at one or more additional nodes, that correspond to the one or more deactivated VMs, raising said secondary VMs to a primary state. Activation and deactivation through micro-checkpointing may involve nodes of different CPU architectures during transient periods of peak load.