Abstract: Techniques for optimizing data storage are disclosed herein. In particular, methods and systems for implementing redundancy encoding schemes with data storage systems are described. The redundancy encoding schemes may be scheduled according to system and data characteristics. The schemes may span multiple tiers or layers of a storage system. The schemes may be generated, for example, in accordance with a transaction rate requirement, a data durability requirement or in the context of the age of the stored data. The schemes may be designed to rectify entropy-related effects upon data storage. The schemes may include one or more erasure codes or erasure coding schemes. Additionally, methods and systems for improving and/or accounting for failure correlation of various components of the storage system, including that of storage devices such as hard disk drives, are described.

Abstract: Update preferences might be utilized to specify that an update to an application should not be applied until the demand for the application falls below a certain threshold. Demand for the application is monitored. The update to the application is applied when the actual demand for the application falls below the specified threshold. The threshold might be set such that updates are deployed during the off-peak periods of demand encountered during a regular demand cycle, such as a diurnal, monthly, or yearly cycle.

Abstract: A method for analyzing a display is described. The method includes scanning the display to generate a scanned image of the display. The scanned image may be analyzed to determine a characteristic of the display, such as whether or not the display is defective.

Abstract: A modular computing system includes two or more electrical modules. The electrical modules may each include a module chassis having shelf mounting portions for sliding the electrical module into a slot of a rack. The electrical modules may couple with one another to form module assemblies that can be slid into one or more slots in a rack.

Abstract: A server creates a schedule for each of multiple user devices based on a set of items associated with a corresponding user device, and allows each user device to obtain associated items in accordance with the schedule.

Abstract: A datacenter or server farm having servers mounted to blow air at an angle in a hot aisle. The angled air flow can provide a cyclonal effect in the hot aisle, enhancing heat convention in the hot aisle.

Abstract: A mobile device is described that stores and renders content. Access to certain content is predicated at least upon receiving a particular wireless signal from an external or separate device that has previously been associated with the mobile device or with content stored on the mobile device.

Abstract: Embodiments of systems and methods can determine evaluations of the quality of task results provided by judges. Certain embodiments can determine the quality evaluations with relatively little overlap of judges (e.g., two or three judges). The quality evaluations may include determining an error rate or a confidence index for a judge or for a particular judgment made by the judge. Certain embodiments may determine the quality evaluations by intercomparing judging results from multiple judges without requiring human intervention, comparison to evaluation data known (or assumed) to be accurate, or input from an external judge review panel. In some implementations, task results can be combined with a confidence score (based at least in part on the quality evaluation of the judge who provided the task result), and this information can be used as training data to improve performance of machine learning algorithms.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus for interfaces to manage virtual network interface objects. A system may include resource instances and a network interface virtualization coordinator. Responsive to a record creation request, the coordinator creates an interface records that may include an IP address, subnet information and security properties. The coordinator may, in response to a request to attach the record to a resource instance, enable traffic directed to the IP address to flow to the resource instance. In response to a subsequent detach request, the traffic to the IP address may be disabled at the resource instance. The same interface record may be attached to another resource instance in response to another attach request, enabling traffic directed to the IP address to flow to the second resource instance.

Abstract: Approaches are described for enabling a host computing device to store credentials and other security information useful for recovering the state of the host computing device in a secure store, such as a trusted platform module (TPM) on the host computing device. When recovering the host computing device in the event of a failure (e.g., power outage, network failure, etc.), the host computing device can obtain the necessary credentials from the secure store and use those credentials to boot various services, restore the state of the host and perform various other functions. In addition, the secure store (e.g., TPM) may provide boot firmware measurement and remote attestation of the host computing devices to other devices on a network, such as when the recovering host needs to communicate with the other devices on the network.

Abstract: A distributed load balancer in which a router receives packets from at least one client and routes packet flows to multiple ingress servers. For unknown packet flows, an ingress server cooperates with primary and secondary flow trackers to establish connections to server nodes. For known packet flows, the ingress server sends the packets to target server nodes. The server nodes randomly select egress servers for outgoing packets of the packet flows. The ingress servers, flow trackers, and egress servers are implemented by multiple load balancer nodes in a load balancer node layer. The ingress and egress servers for a given packet flow may be on different load balancer nodes. The load balancer nodes may use a consistent hash function to compute a consistent hash ring for the nodes according to packet flow client/public endpoint pairs so that nodes associated with given packet flows can be located.

Abstract: Approaches are described for enabling a host computing device to store credentials and other security information useful for recovering the state of the host computing device in a secure store, such as a trusted platform module (TPM) on the host computing device. When recovering the host computing device in the event of a failure (e.g., power outage, network failure, etc.), the host computing device can obtain the necessary credentials from the secure store and use those credentials to boot various services, restore the state of the host and perform various other functions. In addition, the secure store (e.g., TPM) may provide boot firmware measurement and remote attestation of the host computing devices to other devices on a network, such as when the recovering host needs to communicate with the other devices on the network.

Abstract: A connection publishing method for a distributed load balancer in which a router receives packets from at least one client and routes packet flows to multiple load balancer (LB) nodes, which in turn distribute the packet flows among multiple server nodes. A load balancer (LB) module on each server node determines and publishes a list of active connections between client(s) and the server (a connection publishing packet) back to the LB nodes. The LB module may randomly select a LB node to receive the packet. Upon receiving the packet, the LB node processes the connection information in the packet, distributing the connection information among appropriate LB nodes. Receiving the connection publishing information from the server nodes refreshes leases for the connections on the LB nodes.

Abstract: Web services hosted at a data center may employ architectural patterns that tend to obfuscate the source of queries made against databases and other resources in the data center. The queries may be the source of performance, capacity or utilization problems, and may contribute to the cost of hosting the web service. Web service invocations may be associated with identifiers that can be included in modified queries sent to databases and other resources. Summarized cost information may be calculated based on recorded associations between the identifiers and query performance information.

Abstract: A frame for a mobile device includes a metal region and a plastic region. The metal region has a plurality of sides, wherein at least one side of the plurality of sides comprises a plurality of voids. The plastic region comprises glass impregnated plastic and has a mechanical bond to the at least one side of the metal region, wherein the mechanical bond is achieved via protrusions of the plastic region that fill the plurality of voids in the at least one side.

Abstract: Two-party, role-based email verification can be used by an administrator to control the sending of emails by an authorized user. Various administrator notification/approval options may be provided. Two-party, role-based verification may also be applied to e-commerce transactions and other transactions where two-party, role-based verification is desirable.

Abstract: An API testing component is provided that is configured to deploy test suites to one or more test virtual machine instances. The test suites include an API test. The API tests are periodically executed on the test virtual machine instances, and test results generated by the API tests are collected and stored. The API testing component also provides a user interface for viewing the test results using a user interface specification that defines a visual layout for presenting test results generated by one or more test suites. The API testing component might also generate one or more alarm messages utilizing the test results and an alarm specification.

Abstract: The relative positions of two or more electronic devices can be determined utilizing ultrasonic beacons. Each device can have a unique signature that can be included in the beacon broadcast by that device. A device having an array of ultrasonic detectors can receive a beacon and correlate the beacon received at each detector. The time of arrival then can be used to determine the relative position of the source of the beacon. The signature in that beacon can also be used to determine the identity of the device that broadcast the beacon, in order to determine the identity of the device, or a user of that device, at the determined relative position. The devices can be configured to transmit signals over the air or through a specific transmission medium, such as propagating surface. Further, a dedicated detector array can be used for determining multiple relative positions.

Abstract: Information pertaining to billboards and similar advertising spaces can be obtained using a plurality of capture devices positioned in vehicles traveling along various roadways. Information regarding the advertising spaces is determined from the images and stored in at least one data store. Image analysis and manipulation can be used to isolate images or image portions that potentially correspond to the advertising spaces, and these image portions can be presented to users who are able to quickly identify whether the image portion contains a billboard and, if so, the contents of that billboard. The information then can be analyzed in order to provide a billboard advertising system wherein advertisers can view billboard information and purchase advertising space without having to contact a broker or other intermediary.

Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for using data contracts in connection with network page generation code. A network page request is obtained from a client. Data is aggregated from multiple data sources in response to the request, and data is marshalled based at least in part on a data contract. Page generation code is executed to generate at least a portion of the network page in response to the request. The aggregated data is provided to the page generation code as one or more predefined variables. Access to the predefined variables by the page generation code complies with the data contract.