Abstract: User data of different snapshots for the same virtual disk are stored in the same storage object. Similarly, metadata of different snapshots for the same virtual disk are stored in the same storage object, and log data of different snapshots for the same virtual disk are stored in the same storage object. As a result, the number of different storage objects that are managed for snapshots do not increase proportionally with the number of snapshots taken. In addition, any one of the multitude of persistent storage back-ends can be selected as the storage back-end for the storage objects according to user preference, system requirement, snapshot policy, or any other criteria. Another advantage is that the storage location of the read data can be obtained with a single read of the metadata storage object, instead of traversing metadata files of multiple snapshots.

Abstract: Methods and apparatus are disclosed that deploy a hybrid workload domain. An example apparatus includes a resource discoverer to determine whether a first bare metal server is available and a resource allocator to allocate virtual servers for a virtual server pool based on an availability of the virtual servers and, when the first bare metal server is available, allocate the first bare metal server for a bare metal server pool. The example apparatus further includes a hybrid workload domain generator to generate, for display in a user interface, a combination of die virtual server pool and the bare metal server pool and generate a hybrid workload domain used to run a user application based on a user selection in a user interface, the hybrid workload domain including virtual servers from the virtual server pool and bare metal servers from the bare metal server pool.

Abstract: A method for updating and formatting a local file is described. An update file, having a newer version of the local file, is accessed from a server over a network and a list of new hash values corresponding to data blocks of the update file is retrieved. Divisions between the data blocks are located when a value of a rolling checksum reaches a particular value, the data blocks being of variable size. New hash values of the update file are compared with local hash values of the local file. For each of the new hash values not having a matching local hash value, the corresponding data block is downloaded from the server and written to a new file. For each of the new hash values having a matching local hash value, the corresponding block is copied from the local file to the new file.

Abstract: Disclosed are various examples for specifying portions of content files that can be stored on a client device. A content file stored in a remote storage area can be segmented into content fragments. A manifest file that specifies which portions of the content file correspond to content fragments can also be generated. The manifest file and content fragments can be packaged into a content package file that is stored on a client device and interpreted by a content proxy server.

Abstract: Examples provide for virtual machine recovery using pooled memory. A shared partition is created on pooled memory accessible by a plurality of virtual machine hosts. A set of memory pages for virtual machines running on the hosts is moved to the shared partition. A master agent polls memory page tables associated with the plurality of hosts for write access. If the master agent obtains write access to a memory page table of a given host, the given host that previously held the write access is identified as a failed host or an isolated host. The virtual machines of the given host enabled to resume from pooled memory are respawned on a new host while maintaining memory state of the virtual machines using data within the pooled memory, including the virtual machine memory pages, memory page table, host profile data, and/or host-to-VM table data.

Abstract: In some embodiments, a method receives one or more address resolution mappings and sends the one or more first address resolution mappings to a manager for verification of the one or more first address resolution mappings. The method receives one or more responses based on the verification of the one or more first address resolution mappings and allows or disallows use of the one or more address resolution mappings based on the one or more responses. A list of verified address resolution mappings is received from the manager based on the verification of the one or more first address resolution mappings. Then, the method receives a second address resolution mapping and verifies the second address resolution mapping using the list of verified address resolution mappings.

Abstract: Methods, apparatus, and articles of manufacture are disclosed for template driven infrastructure in virtualized server systems. An example apparatus includes a catalog mapper to map a requirement and system information associated with a cloud computing environment including a virtual controller to a first tag including instructions to deploy a first virtual resource corresponding to physical hardware and identify a template including the first tag based on the mapping, a plan generator to generate a plan corresponding to the template including an order of execution of tags including the first tag to deploy virtual resources including the first virtual resource to the cloud computing environment, and a controller invoker to deploy a workload domain to the cloud computing environment to execute an application by executing the instructions associated with the first tag included in the template in response to determining that the virtual controller can execute the plan.

Abstract: The disclosure provides an approach for preventing the failure of virtual computing instance transfers across data centers. In one embodiment, a flow control module collects performance information primarily from components in a local site, as opposed to components in a remote site, during the transfer of a virtual machine (VM) from the local site to the remote site. The performance information that is collected may include various performance metrics, each of which is considered a feature. The flow control module performs feature preparation by normalizing feature data and imputing missing feature data, if any. The flow control module then inputs the prepared feature data into machine learning model(s) which have been trained to predict whether a VM transfer will succeed or fail, given the input feature data. If the prediction is that the VM transfer will fail, then remediation actions may be taken, such as slowing down the VM transfer.

Abstract: A method of handling message signaled interrupts in a computer system that uses an internal bus for communication between peripheral devices, using shared peripheral interrupt (SPI) vectors. The method includes determining whether a message signaled interrupt (MSI) needs to be allocated for a PCI-e device for an interrupt to be sent to a host. If it is determined that MSI needs to be allocated for the PCI-e device, a determination is made as to whether a Locality Specific Interrupt (LPI) register or an Interrupt Translation Service (ITS) is available to process the interrupt. If it is determined that neither the LPI register nor the Interrupt Translation Service (ITS) is available to process the interrupt, the PCI-e device is configured for SPI-based MSI generation to route the interrupt by determining an available SPI vector and assigning the available SPI vector to the PCI-e device.

Abstract: A computer-implemented method for a media access control (MAC) address synchronization mechanism for a bridge port failover is disclosed. The method comprises: detecting a failover of a previously active bridge node; for each MAC address stored in a MAC-SYNC table: generating a first reverse address resolution protocol (“RARP”) packet having a source MAC address; broadcasting the first RARP message to a virtual extensible LAN (“VXLAN”) switch via a bridge port to register the source MAC address on the bridge port; and storing an association of the MAC address and an identifier of the bridge port in a forwarding table; for each MAC address stored in the forwarding table but not stored in the MAC-SYNC table: generating a second RARP packet with a MAC address to be the source MAC address; causing a physical switch to update a forwarding table maintained by the physical switch; and forwarding traffic via the bridge port.

Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems and articles of manufacture manage credentials in hyper-converged infrastructures are disclosed. An example method includes establishing, by executing an instruction with at least one processor, a communication between a software defined data center manager of the hyper-converged infrastructure and a component of the hyper-converged infrastructure using first credentials included in a known hosts file. The example method also includes generating, by executing an instruction with the at least one processor, second credentials at the component in response to a power-on event detected by the software defined data center manager. The example method also includes recording, by executing an instruction with the at least one processor, the second credentials at the known host file.

Abstract: The disclosure provides an approach for dynamically reprogramming network and network infrastructure in response to VM mobility. The approach provides a hypervisor layer that can observe changes in VM-host relationships and reprogram the associated network and network infrastructure to maintain network communication. The hypervisor layer notifies an elastic network interface of a new IP address to include within its whitelist in response to VM migration to that elastic network interface.

Abstract: Disclosed are various approaches for relaying and caching authentication credentials. A single sign-on (SSO) token is received, the SSO token representing a user account authenticated with an identity manager. An authentication request is then sent to a service that is federated with the identity manager in response to receipt of the SSO token, the authentication request including the SSO token. An access token is received in response to the authentication request, the access token providing access to the service for the user account authenticated with the identity manager for a predefined period of time. The access token and a link between the access token and the SSO token are then cached.

Abstract: Embodiments of the disclosure provide techniques for measuring congestion and controlling quality of service to a shared resource. A module that interfaces with the shared resource monitors the usage of the shared resource by accessing clients. Upon detecting that the rate of usage of the shared resource has exceeded a maximum rate supported by the shared resource, the module determines and transmits a congestion metric to clients that are currently attempting to access the shared resource. Clients, in turn determine a delay period based on the congestion metric prior to attempting another access of the shared resource.

Abstract: A method for suppressing broadcast messages includes intercepting a packet from a client device. If the packet is a bootstrap protocol (BOOTP) request, the method stores the packet in a BOOTP queue and sets a timer for the packet. If the packet is a dynamic host configuration protocol (DHCP) request, the method stores the packet in a DHCP queue and sets a timer for the packet. The method then processes the packets stored in the BOOTP queue and the DHCP queue, where each BOOTP packet in the BOOTP queue is processed before any DHCP packet in the DHCP queue is processed.

Abstract: An example method of authenticating software executing in a computer system includes verifying first software executing on the computer system, the software including a hypervisor, verifying second software executing in a virtual machine (VM) managed by the hypervisor, generating a binding key having public and private portions, signing an object to identifies the VM using the private portion of the binding key, and verifying a signature of the object using a public portion of the binding key.

Abstract: Computational methods and systems described herein manage alerts generated by event sources that run in a distributed computing system. Methods and system provide a graphical user interface that enables a user to define a dominant alert and select subsumed alerts generated by the event sources. Methods and systems may also compute a relative fraction that represents a number of times each alert is triggered with respect to a number of times another alert is triggered for each pair of alerts. The relative fractions may be displayed in the graphical user interface to allow a user to select dominant and subsumed alerts based on the relative fractions. Methods and systems identify log messages that correspond to user-identified subsumed alerts, suppress subsumed alerts and generate the dominant alert. Methods and systems may also execute remedial action to correct the problem represented by the dominant alert.

Abstract: A system and method for efficiently replacing clients running a large scale application uses a pool of clients, which includes a group of active clients running the large scale application and at least one standby client. When a particular active client is identified to be replaced, one of the at least one standby client is selected as a replacement client for the particular active client. The particular active client is replaced with the selected replacement client with respect to the running of the large scale application such that the particular client is removed from the group of active clients and the selected replacement client is added to the group of active clients.

Abstract: Disclosed are various approaches for polling federated services for notifications. A request for an access token for a federated service is sent to an authentication service. The access token for the federated service is received from the authentication service. A query is sent to the federated service for a notification, the query comprising the access token. The notification is received from the federated service.