Abstract: A computer-implemented method and associated aircraft system and computer program product are disclosed. The method comprises receiving a first tradeoff preference representing a tradeoff between a first flight plan characteristic and a second flight plan characteristic; receiving a first flight plan corresponding to a first value of the first flight plan characteristic; and displaying a graphical representation of the first flight plan on a display of the aircraft. Displaying the graphical representation of the first flight plan comprises displaying a chart; displaying one or more predefined values on the chart that are referenced to the first flight plan characteristic, wherein a visual arrangement of the one or more predefined values is based in part on the first tradeoff preference; and displaying a first geometric overlay representing the first flight plan on the chart, wherein the first value of the first flight plan characteristic is displayed relative to the visual arrangement.

Abstract: A computing system includes a chassis, one or more backplanes coupled to the chassis. Computing devices are coupled to the one or more backplanes. The one or more backplanes include backplane openings that allow air to pass from one side of the backplane to the other side of the backplane. Air channels are formed by adjacent circuit board assemblies of the computing devices and the one or more backplanes. Channel capping elements at least partially close the air channels.

Abstract: Customers of shared resources in a multi-tenant environment can have token buckets allocated that have an associated depth and fill rate, with each token enabling the customer to obtain an amount of work from a shared resource. A resource management system can monitor one or more system or output metrics, and can adjust a global fill rate based at least in part upon values of the monitored metrics. Such an approach can provide a fair distribution of work among the customers, while ensuring that the metrics stay within acceptable ranges and there are no drastic changes in performance levels of the system. The fill rate can update dynamically with changes in the monitored parameters, such that the system can float near an equilibrium point. Commitments for specific minimum service levels also can be met.

Abstract: When providing a user with native access to at least a portion of device hardware, the user can be prevented from modifying firmware and other configuration information by controlling the mechanisms used to update that information. In some embodiments, an asymmetric keying approach can be used to encrypt or sign the firmware. In other cases access can be controlled by enabling firmware updates only through a channel or port that is not exposed to the customer, or by mapping only those portions of the hardware that are to be accessible to the user. In other embodiments, the user can be prevented from modifying firmware by only provisioning the user on a machine after an initial mutability period wherein firmware can be modified, such that the user never has access to a device when firmware can be updated. Combinations and variations of the above also can be used.

Abstract: A system for performing computing operations in a data center includes one or more sets of computer systems, one or more primary power systems, and a reserve power system. The primary power systems include at least one power distribution unit that supplies power to at least one of the sets of computer systems. The reserve power system automatically supplies power to at least one of the sets of computer systems if a condition is met (such as a failure of the primary power system).

Abstract: Customers of shared resources in a multi-tenant environment can have token buckets allocated that have an associated depth and fill rate, with each token enabling the customer to obtain an amount of work from a shared resource. A resource management system can monitor one or more system or output metrics, and can adjust a global fill rate based at least in part upon values of the monitored metrics. Such an approach can provide a fair distribution of work among the customers, while ensuring that the metrics stay within acceptable ranges and there are no drastic changes in performance levels of the system. The fill rate can update dynamically with changes in the monitored parameters, such that the system can float near an equilibrium point. Commitments for specific minimum service levels also can be met.

Abstract: A computing system includes a chassis, one or more backplanes coupled to the chassis. Computing devices are coupled to the one or more backplanes. The one or more backplanes include backplane openings that allow air to pass from one side of the backplane to the other side of the backplane. Air channels are formed by adjacent circuit board assemblies of the computing devices and the one or more backplanes. Channel capping elements at least partially close the air channels.

Abstract: A set of techniques for customizing resources for the workload of an application is described. The application can be received and hosted on a set of hardware and software resources of a service provider, which may include server instances, databases, load balancers and the like. Once the application is deployed and processing workload, it can be monitored to gather runtime trace information associated with the workload. This runtime trace information can be analyzed for potential optimizations and improvements to the set of resources or their configuration. Additionally, the user is enabled to input hardware/software specifications for the resources used to run the application. The service provider can use these specifications, along with the runtime trace information to optimize the resource stack used to execute the user's application.

Abstract: Commitments against various resources can be dynamically adjusted for customers in a shared-resource environment. A customer can provision a data volume with a committed rate of Input/Output Operations Per Second (IOPS) and pay only for that commitment (plus any overage), for example, as well as the amount of storage requested. The customer can subsequently adjust the committed rate of IOPS by submitting an appropriate request, or the rate can be adjusted automatically based on any of a number of criteria. Data volumes for the customer can be migrated, split, or combined in order to provide the adjusted rate. The interaction of the customer with the data volume does not need to change, independent of adjustments in rate or changes in the data volume, other than the rate at which requests are processed.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method and associated aircraft system and computer program product are disclosed. The method comprises receiving a first tradeoff preference representing a tradeoff between a first flight plan characteristic and a second flight plan characteristic; receiving a first flight plan corresponding to a first value of the first flight plan characteristic; and displaying a graphical representation of the first flight plan on a display of the aircraft. Displaying the graphical representation of the first flight plan comprises displaying a chart; displaying one or more predefined values on the chart that are referenced to the first flight plan characteristic, wherein a visual arrangement of the one or more predefined values is based in part on the first tradeoff preference; and displaying a first geometric overlay representing the first flight plan on the chart, wherein the first value of the first flight plan characteristic is displayed relative to the visual arrangement.

Abstract: A hierarchical distributed routing architecture including at least three levels, or layers, for receiving, processing and forwarding data packets between network components is provided. The core level router components receive an incoming packet from a network component and identify a distribution level router component based on processing a subset of the destination address associated with the received packet. The distribution level router components that receiving a forwarded packet and identify a transit level router component based a second processing of at least a subset of the destination address associated with the received packet. The transit level router components receive the forwarded packet and forward the packet to a respective network. The mapping, or other assignment, of portions of the FIB associated with the distributed routing environment is managed by a router management component.

Abstract: A system for performing computing operations in a data center includes one or more sets of computer systems, one or more primary power systems, and a reserve power system. The primary power systems include at least one power distribution unit that supplies power to at least one of the sets of computer systems. The reserve power system automatically supplies power to at least one of the sets of computer systems if a condition is met (such as a failure of the primary power system).

Abstract: An aircraft system, computer-implemented method, and computer program product for optimizing a flight plan for schedule, ride quality, and efficiency is provided. Tradeoff preferences between on-schedule operations, ride quality, and efficiency are received. A multi-axis chart that includes axes for on-schedule operations, ride quality, and efficiency is displayed. Values are arranged along the respective axes based on the tradeoff preferences. When a flight plan is received, values for on-schedule operations, ride quality, and efficiency are extracted. A triangle is overlaid on the multi-axis chart such that apexes of the triangle intersect the respective axes at locations corresponding to the extracted values. When multiple optional flight plans are received, multiple triangles corresponding to the respective flight plans can be overlaid on the multi-axis chart. The pilot can identify a most-preferable flight plan based on visual differences between the triangles.

Abstract: A system for performing computing operations in a data center includes one or more sets of computer systems, one or more primary power systems, and a reserve power system. The primary power systems include at least one power distribution unit that supplies power to at least one of the sets of computer systems. The reserve power system automatically supplies power to at least one of the sets of computer systems if a condition is met (such as a failure of the primary power system).

Abstract: In an environment such as a cloud computing environment where various guests can be provisioned on a host machine or other hardware device, it can be desirable to prevent those users from rebooting or otherwise restarting the machine or other resources using unauthorized information or images that can be obtained from across the network. A cloud manager can cause one or more network switches or other routing or communication processing components to deny communication access between user-accessible ports on a machine or device and the provisioning systems, or other specific network resources, such that the user cannot cause the host machine to pull information from those resources upon a restart or reboot of the machine. Further, various actions can be taken upon a reboot or attempted reboot, such as to isolate the host machine or even power off the specific machine.

Abstract: A method for grouping and storing objects across different storage solutions in storage systems according to analysis of multiple dimensions of information may be implemented as or in a storage management module. The module collects information about objects (e.g., data objects) in a storage system (e.g., a data storage system). The objects may be objects already stored in the storage system or may be new objects to be stored in the storage system. The module analyzes the collected information across multiple dimensions to determine groupings of the objects, and determines a storage solution for each determined grouping. The module may then direct storage of the objects in the groupings according to the determined storage solutions. Upon obtaining new information about object(s) in the storage system, the module may direct movement of the object(s) from one storage solution to another storage solution according to an analysis including the new information.

Abstract: When providing a user with native access to at least a portion of device hardware, the user can be prevented from modifying firmware and other configuration information by controlling the mechanisms used to update that information. For example, a clock or a timer mechanism can be used by a network interface card to define a mutability period. During the mutability period, firmware update to a peripheral device can be allowed. Once the mutability period has expired, firmware update to a peripheral device will no longer be allowed.

Abstract: An aircraft system, computer-implemented method, and computer program product for optimizing a flight plan for schedule, ride quality, and efficiency is provided. Tradeoff preferences between on-schedule operations, ride quality, and efficiency are received. A multi-axis chart that includes axes for on-schedule operations, ride quality, and efficiency is displayed. Values are arranged along the respective axes based on the tradeoff preferences. When a flight plan is received, values for on-schedule operations, ride quality, and efficiency are extracted. A triangle is overlaid on the multi-axis chart such that apexes of the triangle intersect the respective axes at locations corresponding to the extracted values. When multiple optional flight plans are received, multiple triangles corresponding to the respective flight plans can be overlaid on the multi-axis chart. The pilot can identify a most-preferable flight plan based on visual differences between the triangles.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for equitable distribution of excess shared-resource throughput capacity are disclosed. A first and a second work target are configured to access a shared resource to implement accepted work requests. Admission control is managed at the work targets using respective token buckets. A first metric indicative of the work request arrival rates at the work targets during a time interval, and a second metric associated with the provisioned capacities of the work targets are determined. A number of tokens determined based on a throughput limit of the shared resource is distributed among the work targets to be used for admission control during a subsequent time interval. The number of tokens distributed to each work target is based on the first metric and/or the second metric.

Abstract: Techniques are described for managing power in a computing system using power controller(s). Power consumption information may be received from power sensors that measure power consumption of computing devices in a rack computing system, or that measure the power received or distributed by power distribution components such as power distribution units (PDUs) in the racks. A determination may be made whether the amount of power being currently consumed within a computing system exceeds a predetermined threshold. If so, control signal(s) may be sent to instruct the power controller(s) to alter characteristic(s), such as frequency, voltage, current, and so forth, of the power being supplied to one or more computing devices or other component(s). The power alteration may occur at one or more points in the power distribution system of one or more racks, such as at one or more PDUs, distribution circuits, breakers, and so forth.