Abstract: An example method of provisioning a network service in a cloud computing system includes: defining, at an orchestrator, the network service to include a plurality of network functions; defining, at the orchestrator, network connectivity among the plurality of network functions; identifying a plurality of vendor device managers (VDMs) configured to provision virtual network functions that implement the plurality of network functions; and instructing, by the orchestrator, the VDMs to deploy the virtual network functions having the defined network connectivity.

Abstract: A method of deploying a network service (NS) across multiple data centers includes identifying virtual network functions (VNFs) associated with the NS in response to a request for or relating to the NS, generating commands to deploy VNFs based on VNF descriptors, and issuing the commands to the data centers to deploy VNFs. The data centers each have a cloud management server in which cloud computing management software is run to provision virtual infrastructure resources thereof for a plurality of tenants. The cloud computing management software of a first data center is different from the cloud computing management software of a second data center, and the commands issued to the first and second data centers are each a generic command that is not in a command format of the cloud computing management software of either the first data center or the second data center.

Abstract: An example method of provisioning a network service in a cloud computing system includes: defining, at an orchestrator, the network service to include a plurality of network functions; defining, at the orchestrator, network connectivity among the plurality of network functions; identifying a plurality of vendor device managers (VDMs) configured to provision virtual network functions that implement the plurality of network functions; and instructing, by the orchestrator, the VDMs to deploy the virtual network functions having the defined network connectivity.

Abstract: A method of deploying a virtual network function of a network service in a data center having a cloud management server running a cloud computing management software to provision virtual infrastructure resources of the data center to at least one tenant, includes generating at least first and second API calls to the cloud computing management software in response to external commands received at the data center to deploy a virtual network function, and executing at least the first and second API calls by the cloud computing management software to deploy the virtual network function. The cloud computing management software creates at least one virtual machine by executing the first API call and at least one virtual disk by executing the second API call.

Abstract: A system and method for backing up workloads for multiple tenants of a cloud computing system are disclosed. A method of backing up workloads for multiple tenants of a computing system includes triggering an archival process according to an archival policy set by a tenant, and executing the archival process by reading backup data of the tenant stored in a backup storage device of the computer system and transmitting the backup data to an archival store designated in the archival policy, and then deleting or invalidating the backup data stored in the backup storage device.

Abstract: An example method of provisioning a network service in a cloud computing system includes: defining, at an orchestrator, the network service to include a plurality of network functions; defining, at the orchestrator, network connectivity among the plurality of network functions; identifying a plurality of vendor device managers (VDMs) configured to provision virtual network functions that implement the plurality of network functions; and instructing, by the orchestrator, the VDMs to deploy the virtual network functions having the defined network connectivity.

Abstract: Techniques disclosed herein relate to migrating virtual computing instances such as virtual machines (VMs). In one embodiment, VMs are migrated across different virtual infrastructure platforms by, among other things, translating between resource models used by virtual infrastructure managers (VIMs) that manage the different virtual infrastructure platforms. VM migrations may also be validated prior to being performed, including based on resource policies that define what is and/or is not allowed to migrate, thereby providing compliance and controls for borderless data centers. In addition, an agent-based technique may be used to migrate VMs and physical servers to virtual infrastructure, without requiring access to an underlying hypervisor layer.

Abstract: Techniques disclosed herein relate to migrating virtual computing instances such as virtual machines (VMs). In one embodiment, VMs are migrated across different virtual infrastructure platforms by, among other things, translating between resource models used by virtual infrastructure managers (VIMs) that manage the different virtual infrastructure platforms. VM migrations may also be validated prior to being performed, including based on resource policies that define what is and/or is not allowed to migrate, thereby providing compliance and controls for borderless data centers. In addition, an agent-based technique may be used to migrate VMs and physical servers to virtual infrastructure, without requiring access to an underlying hypervisor layer.

Abstract: A method of deploying a network service across multiple data centers, each having a cloud management server running a cloud computing management software to provision virtual infrastructure resources thereof for a first tenant among a plurality of tenants, includes maintaining for each data center static inventory data that indicate virtual infrastructure resources that are available thereat to the first tenant, identifying, in response to a network service request for the first tenant, a virtual network function associated with the network service, generating commands to deploy the virtual network function based on a descriptor of the virtual network function, selecting one of the data centers in which the virtual network function is to be deployed based on the descriptor of the virtual network function and the static inventory data of each data center, and issuing the commands to the selected data center to deploy the virtual network function.

Abstract: One or more embodiments provide a firewall policy between a first virtual data center and a second virtual data center. A method includes: establishing a communication link between a first firewall server in the first virtual data center and a second firewall server in the second virtual data center over a network, the first firewall server having a first firewall defined by polices applied to groups of objects in the first virtual data center; obtaining, at the first firewall server, an inventory of objects in the second virtual data center from the second firewall server; determining firewall rule tuples by mapping the policies of the first firewall to groups of objects in the inventory of the second virtual data center; and sending the firewall rule tuples to enforcement points in the second virtual data center.

Abstract: Techniques disclosed herein relate to migrating virtual computing instances such as virtual machines (VMs). In one embodiment, VMs are migrated across different virtual infrastructure platforms by, among other things, translating between resource models used by virtual infrastructure managers (VIMs) that manage the different virtual infrastructure platforms. VM migrations may also be validated prior to being performed, including based on resource policies that define what is and/or is not allowed to migrate, thereby providing compliance and controls for borderless data centers. In addition, an agent-based technique may be used to migrate VMs and physical servers to virtual infrastructure, without requiring access to an underlying hypervisor layer.

Abstract: An example method of migrating a firewall policy between a first virtual data center and a second virtual data center includes: generating a static firewall from a firewall document at a first firewall server in the first virtual data center, the firewall document defining polices applied to groups of objects in the first virtual data center, the static firewall including firewall rule tuples; sending the static firewall from the first firewall server to a second firewall server in the second virtual data center; migrating a plurality of virtual machines (VMs) from the first virtual data center to the second virtual data center; and importing the firewall document from the first firewall server to the second firewall server by mapping the policies of the first firewall to groups of objects in an inventory of the second virtual data center.

Abstract: A hybrid cloud computing system having a private data center and a public cloud computing system is discussed. The private data center is managed by a first organization. The public cloud computing system is managed by a second organization, and the first organization is a tenant in the public cloud computing system. The hybrid cloud computing system is configured to generate a mapping that contextualizes virtual objects migrated between the private data center and the public cloud computing system based on the objects' location. Such a mapping is maintained to expose the true hybridity of the hybrid cloud rather than present two distinct views of a private data center (or private cloud) and a public cloud.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a network system that includes several host machines for hosting virtual machines, divided into several different domains. The network system includes several local domain management servers. A first local domain management server of a first domain is for (i) initiating creation of a set of distributed virtual switch ports associated with a particular logical network identifier on a host machine within its domain and (ii) attaching a first virtual machine on the host machine to a created port associated with the particular logical network identifier in order for the first virtual machine to send traffic over the logical network. The network system includes a second level management server for coordinating the use of logical network identifiers between multiple different logical domain management servers in order for the first virtual machine to communicate via the logical network with a second virtual machine in a second domain.

Abstract: A method is provided to control the flow of packets within a system that includes one or more computer networks comprising: policy rules are provided that set forth attribute dependent conditions for communications among machines on the one or more networks; machine attributes and corresponding machine identifiers are obtained for respective machines on the networks; and policy rules are transformed to firewall rules that include machine identifiers of machines having attributes from among the obtained machine attributes that satisfy the attribute dependent policy rules.

Abstract: A method of deploying a network service (NS) across multiple data centers includes identifying virtual network functions (VNFs) associated with the NS in response to a request for or relating to the NS, generating commands to deploy VNFs based on VNF descriptors, and issuing the commands to the data centers to deploy VNFs. The data centers each have a cloud management server in which cloud computing management software is run to provision virtual infrastructure resources thereof for a plurality of tenants. The cloud computing management software of a first data center is different from the cloud computing management software of a second data center, and the commands issued to the first and second data centers are each a generic command that is not in a command format of the cloud computing management software of either the first data center or the second data center.

Abstract: A method of deploying a network service across multiple data centers, each having a cloud management server running a cloud computing management software to provision virtual infrastructure resources thereof for a first tenant among a plurality of tenants, includes maintaining for each data center static inventory data that indicate virtual infrastructure resources that are available thereat to the first tenant, identifying, in response to a network service request for the first tenant, a virtual network function associated with the network service, generating commands to deploy the virtual network function based on a descriptor of the virtual network function, selecting one of the data centers in which the virtual network function is to be deployed based on the descriptor of the virtual network function and the static inventory data of each data center, and issuing the commands to the selected data center to deploy the virtual network function.

Abstract: A method of deploying a virtual network function of a network service in a data center having a cloud management server running a cloud computing management software to provision virtual infrastructure resources of the data center to at least one tenant, includes generating at least first and second API calls to the cloud computing management software in response to external commands received at the data center to deploy a virtual network function, and executing at least the first and second API calls by the cloud computing management software to deploy the virtual network function. The cloud computing management software creates at least one virtual machine by executing the first API call and at least one virtual disk by executing the second API call.

Abstract: Backups of workloads in a multi-tenant cloud computing environment are efficiently queued and scheduled. A method of backing up workloads for multiple tenants of a cloud computing system, includes the steps of determining a pool of workloads to be backed up during a time window, the workloads including workloads for a first tenant and workloads for a second tenant, placing a backup task for backing up each of the workloads in the pool in a scheduling queue and prioritizing the backup tasks according to backup parameters specified by the tenants, sizes of workload data to be backed up, and hardware constraints of a backup storage device executing the backups, and instructing the backup storage device to execute the backup tasks according to an order of the backup tasks in the scheduling queue.

Abstract: Conditional address translation is performed in a multi-tenant cloud infrastructure to effectively support tenant-assigned addresses. For each tenant, the multi-tenant cloud infrastructure deploys both a private network used to communicate between the tenant and the cloud and a tenant-facing gateway to manage the private network. The multi-tenant cloud infrastructure also includes an externally-facing gateway used to communicate between the multi-tenant cloud and a public network. The tenant-facing gateways are configured to bypass address translation—providing consistent addressing across each private network irrespective of the physical location of resources linked by the private network. By contrast, the public-facing gateway is configured to translate source addresses in outgoing packets to addresses that are unique within the public network.