Abstract: Administration of virtual machine affinity in a data center, where the data center includes a plurality of virtual machines (VMs), each VM being a module of automated computing machinery installed upon a computer in the data center and characterized by a Universally Unique Identifier (UUID), at least two of the VMs having an affinity requirement to be installed on separate computers, the data center further including a data center administration server operably coupled to the VMs, including communicating, by at least one of the VMs having an affinity requirement to the data center administration server, the UUIDs of the VMs having an affinity requirement; and moving by the data center administration server the VMs having an affinity requirement to separate computers in the data center.

Abstract: Migrating port-specific operating parameters during blade server failover including querying, by a system management server of a data center, a switch for port-specific operating parameters of a first port, the data center comprising blade servers coupled for data communications to one another and to the system management server by a network, the system management server comprising a computer subsystem that automates server management processes in the data center, the switch comprising a data communications component of the network, the switch comprising ports, the ports comprising physical points of connection between the switch and blade servers, each port having associated port-specific operating parameters, the switch connected at the first port to a failing blade server; and assigning, by the system management server, the port-specific operating parameters to a second port in a same switch or another switch connected at the second port to a replacement blade server.

Abstract: Migrating port-specific operating parameters during blade server failover including querying, by a system management server of a data center, a switch for port-specific operating parameters of a first port, the data center comprising blade servers coupled for data communications to one another and to the system management server by a network, the system management server comprising a computer subsystem that automates server management processes in the data center, the switch comprising a data communications component of the network, the switch comprising ports, the ports comprising physical points of connection between the switch and blade servers, each port having associated port-specific operating parameters, the switch connected at the first port to a failing blade server; and assigning, by the system management server, the port-specific operating parameters to a second port in a same switch or another switch connected at the second port to a replacement blade server.

Abstract: A design structure embodied in a machine readable storage medium for designing, manufacturing, and/or testing a design for dynamically allocating lanes to a plurality of PCI Express connectors is disclosed that include identifying whether a PCI Express device is installed into each PCI Express connector, and assigning a portion of the lanes to each PCI Express connector having a PCI Express device installed into the PCI Express connector. Dynamically allocating lanes to a plurality of PCI Express connectors may also include identifying a device type for each PCI Express device installed into the plurality of PCI Express connectors, creating allocation rules that specify the allocation of lanes to the plurality of PCI Express connectors, and receiving user allocation preferences that specify the allocation of lanes to the plurality of PCI Express connectors.

Abstract: Autonomic scaling of virtual machines in a cloud computing environment, the cloud computing environment including virtual machines (‘VMs’), the VMs installed upon cloud computers disposed within a data center, also including a cloud operating system and a data center administration server operably coupled to the VMs, including deploying, by the cloud operating system, an instance of a VM, flagging the instance of a VM for autonomic scaling; monitoring, by the cloud operating system, one or more operating characteristics of the instance of the VM; deploying, by the cloud operating system, an additional instance of the VM if a value of an operating characteristic exceeds a first predetermined threshold value, including executing a portion of the data processing workload on the additional instance of the VM; and terminating operation of the additional instance of the VM if a value of an operating characteristic declines below a second predetermined threshold value.

Abstract: Deploying a virtual machine in a cloud computing environment, the cloud computing environment including one or more virtual machines (‘VMs’), the VMs being modules of automated computing machinery installed upon cloud computers disposed within data centers, the cloud computing environment also including a cloud operating system and data center administration servers operably coupled to the VMs, including deploying, by the cloud operating system in a local data center, a VM, including flagging the VM for disaster recovery; storing, by the cloud operating system in computer memory in a remote data center, a copy of the flagged VM; and configuring, by the cloud operating system, the remote data center to replace data processing operations of the flagged VM in the local data center with data processing operations of the copy in the remote data center when the flagged VM in the local data center is lost through disaster.

Abstract: Power management for clusters of computers, a cluster including a configuration of computers operating in a power management domain, one or more of the computers of the cluster having a power requirement that differs from power requirements of other computers in the cluster, data processing operations on the cluster effecting a processing load on the computers in the cluster, including selecting, from a plurality of configurations of computers capable of supporting a plurality of processing loads at a plurality of power levels, a configuration of computers capable of supporting the processing load at a lowest power level, the lowest power level defined by comparison among configurations capable of supporting the processing load; and reconfiguring the cluster according to the selected configuration.

Abstract: Administration of virtual machine affinity among data centers in a cloud computing environment, where the cloud computing environment includes a plurality of virtual machines (‘VMs’), the VMs composed of modules of automated computing machinery installed upon cloud computers disposed within data centers, the cloud computing environment further including a cloud operating system and data center administration servers operably coupled to the VMs, including installing, by the cloud operating system on at least one VM, an indicator that at least two of the VMs have an affinity requirement to be installed upon cloud computers in separate data centers; communicating, by at least one of the VMs, the affinity requirement to at least one data center administration server; and moving by the at least one data center administration server the VMs having the affinity requirement to cloud computers in separate data centers in the cloud computing environment.

Abstract: Administration of virtual machine affinity in a cloud computing environment, where the cloud computing environment includes a plurality of virtual machines (‘VMs’), the VMs composed of modules of automated computing machinery installed upon cloud computers disposed within a data center, the cloud computing environment also including a cloud operating system and a data center administration server operably coupled to the VMs, including installing, by the cloud operating system on at least one VM, an indicator that at least two of the VMs have an affinity requirement to be installed upon separate cloud computers; communicating, by at least one of the VMs, the affinity requirement to the data center administration server; and moving by the data center administration server the VMs having the affinity requirement to separate cloud computers in the cloud computing environment.

Abstract: Administration of virtual machine affinity in a data center, where the data center includes a plurality of virtual machines (‘VMs’), each VM being a module of automated computing machinery installed upon a computer in the data center and characterized by a Universally Unique Identifier (‘UUID’), at least two of the VMs having an affinity requirement to be installed on separate computers, the data center further including a data center administration server operably coupled to the VMs, including communicating, by at least one of the VMs having an affinity requirement to the data center administration server, the UUIDs of the VMs having an affinity requirement; and moving by the data center administration server the VMs having an affinity requirement to separate computers in the data center.

Abstract: Failover of blade servers in a data center including powering off a failing blade server by a system management server through a blade server management module (‘BSMM’) managing the failing blade server, the failing blade server characterized by a machine type, one or more network addresses, and one or more storage addresses, the addresses being virtual addresses; identifying, by the system management server from a pool of standby blade servers, a replacement blade server, the replacement blade server managed by a BSMM; assigning, by the system management server through the BSMM managing the replacement blade server, the one or more network addresses and the one or more storage addresses of the failing blade server to the replacement blade server, including enabling in the replacement blade server the assigned addresses; and powering on the replacement blade server by the system management server through the BSMM managing the replacement blade server.

Abstract: Failover of blade servers in a data center, including powering off by a system management server a failing blade server, the failing blade server characterized by a machine type, the failing blade server mapped to remote computer boot storage administered through a Storage Management Initiative-Specification (‘SMI-S’) provider; identifying, by the system management server by use of the SMI-S provider from a pool of standby blade servers, a replacement blade server; remapping by the system management server through the SMI-S provider the remote computer boot storage of the failing blade server to the replacement blade server; and powering on the replacement blade server by the system management server.

Abstract: Methods, apparatus, and products are disclosed for remotely booting computing nodes in a switching domain, the switching domain capable of connecting to other switching domains through a network switch, that include: receiving, in the switch, a wakeup request packet that requests activation of one or more computing nodes in the switching domain, the wakeup request packet having a process port value specifying physical ports on the switch to which the one or more computing nodes are physically connected; identifying, by the switch, a network address for each computing node in dependence upon the physical port on the switch to which each computing node to be activated is physically connected; generating, by the switch, a wakeup packet for each computing node in dependence upon the identified network address for that computing node; and transmitting, by the switch to each computing node to be activated, the wakeup packet for that computing node.

Abstract: An aggregated server blade system includes a plurality of individual server blades and a management module which can be designated as a bootable device. A boot list maintained and executed in each server blade includes a management module entry in its list of bootable devices. In response to the management module entry being selected or otherwise made active as the bootable device for a particular blade, an alternative bootable-devices list maintained on the management module is referenced and the boot process proceeds according to the alternative list.

Abstract: A method and system in accordance with the present invention provides a microprocessor on each blade server for providing interfaces at the plurality of blade servers for simultaneous connection with a local or remote drive. The microprocessor can also configure the blade server to simultaneously connect with a plurality of local and/or remote drives. The microprocessor routes data packets between a management system and its respective blade server, while a management module in the management system manages the simultaneous access of the drive(s) by the plurality of blade servers or the plurality of drives by a blade server. This increases the efficiency of the system.

Abstract: Embodiments of the present invention address deficiencies of the art in respect to video scaling and compression and provide a novel and non-obvious method, system and computer program product for pre-distribution image scaling for screen size. In one embodiment of the invention, a compressed video delivery method can be provided. The method can include determining a display size for a target computing platform, pre-scaling video imagery to comport with the display size of the target computing platform, compressing the pre-scaled video imagery, and transmitting the compressed, pre-scaled video imagery to the target computing platform over a computer communications network.

Abstract: Methods, apparatus, and products are disclosed for dynamically balancing resources in a server farm, the server farm comprising a plurality of servers organized in functional server groups with the servers in each functional server group assigned a same type of data processing task, the servers operatively coupled to data storage through a packet switching fabric, the servers operatively coupled to a system management server, the methods, apparatus, and products including: monitoring, by a resource balancing module of the system management server, CPU utilization in at least one of the functional server groups; identifying, by the resource balancing module in dependence upon the monitored CPU utilization, an overburdened functional server group, the overburdened functional server group's CPU utilization exceeding a CPU overburden threshold; and increasing, by the resource balancing module, CPU resources of the overburdened functional server group, including moving a transfer server from a source functional se

Abstract: Applying firmware updates to servers in a data center, the servers including one or more active servers and a standby server, each server mapped to separate remote computer boot storage, including applying the firmware updates to the standby server; selecting an active server for firmware updating; powering off the selected active server by the system management server; remapping the standby server to the remote computer boot storage for the selected active server; rebooting the standby server from the remote computer boot storage for the selected active server, designating the standby server as an active server; remapping the selected active server to the remote computer boot storage formerly mapped to the standby server; and rebooting the selected active server from the remote boot storage formerly mapped to the standby server, designating the selected active server as a standby server.

Abstract: A computer with a fully integrated virtual keyboard projector and a display projector. The computer includes a base having a CPU, a video card and memory, a screen pivotally mounted to one side of the base, and a display projector mounted to an opposite side of the base and angled to project a computer generated image onto the screen. Further, the computer includes a keyboard projector mounted to the opposite side of the base to project a keyboard onto a surface adjacent to the opposite side of the base. Further, the computer includes another display projector mounted to the opposite side of the base and digitally synchronized with the first display projector for projecting a superimposed image.

Abstract: A method of providing diagnostic service for a data processing system includes retrieving product data identifying a data processing element in response to an alert generated by the element. The retrieved product data is forwarded to a networked diagnostic site. A diagnostic package is retrieved, the diagnostic package including diagnostic code appropriate for the alerting element. The diagnostic package is forwarded to the data processing system. The diagnostic code is then installed and executed to perform diagnostic testing of the element. Results generated during execution of the diagnostic code may then be used to take machine initiated corrective action. After the results have been generated, the diagnostic software is uninstalled from the data processing system.