Abstract: Techniques for implementing linear view-change in a Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) protocol running on a distributed system comprising n replicas are provided. According to one set of embodiments, at a time of performing a view-change from a current view number v to a new view number v+1, a replica in the n replicas corresponding to a new proposer for new view number v+1 can generate a PREPARE message comprising a single COMMIT certificate, where the single COMMIT certificate is the highest COMMIT certificate the new proposer is aware of. The new proposer can then transmit the PREPARE message with the single COMMIT certificate to all other replicas in the n replicas.

Abstract: Automated processes and systems troubleshoot and optimize performance of applications running in distributed computing systems. An automated computer-implemented processes train an inference model for an application based on metrics associated with the application and a key performance indicator (“KPI”) of the application. When a run-time performance problem is detected in run-time KPI values of KPI, the trained inference model is applied to run-time metrics and run-time KPI values to identify relevant run-time metrics that can be used to identify the root cause of the performance problem. The root cause of the performance problem can be used to generate a recommendation for correcting the performance problem. An alert identifying the root cause of the performance problem and the recommendation for correcting the performance problem are displayed on an interface of a display, thereby enabling correction of the performance problem and optimization of the application.

Abstract: Some embodiments of the invention provide novel methods for facilitating a distributed SNAT (dSNAT) middlebox service operation for a first network at a host computer in the first network on which the dSNAT middlebox service operation is performed and a gateway device between the first network and a second network. The novel methods enable dSNAT that provides stateful SNAT at multiple host computers, thus avoiding the bottleneck problem associated with providing stateful SNAT at gateways and also significantly reduces the need to redirect packets received at the wrong host by using a capacity of off-the-shelf gateway devices to perform IPv6 encapsulation for IPv4 packets and assigning locally unique IPv6 addresses to each host executing a dSNAT middlebox service instance that are used by the gateway device.

Abstract: A method for storage management of an object among a plurality of storage devices of a datacenter is provided. The method, in response to receiving an input on a selection item presented through a UI, determines that a manual storage management of an object is selected. The method then receives a storage policy for storing the object. Based on the storage policy, the method defines a plurality of components for the object and determines whether a set of one or more storage resources is available for storing the plurality of components. When the method determines that the set is available, for each component, the method presents the set of storage resources, receives a selection of a storage resource in the set to store the component, and updates the set based on the policy and the selection before presenting the updated set to select from for storing a next component.

Abstract: Automated provision and assignment of meaningful business names for auto discovered Applications and Tiers is disclosed. Properties of members of a virtual computing environment are automatically determined. Performing a tokenization process on text corresponding to the members to obtain information from the text. Utilizing a document generation operation to obtain tokens from the text. Performing a text mining operation on the text to obtain Term Frequency (TF) data, Document Frequency (DF) information, an Inverse Document Frequency (IDF), and TF-IDF data, and utilizing the TF-IDF data to automatically generate and assign a name to the Application/Tiers of said virtual computing environment.

Abstract: Some embodiments of the invention provide a method for forwarding data messages between a client and a server (e.g., between client and server machines and/or applications). In some embodiments, the method receives a data message that a load balancer has directed from a particular client to a particular server after selecting the particular server from a set of several candidate servers for the received data message's flow. The method stores an association between an identifier associated with the load balancer and a flow identifier associated with the message flow, and then forwards the received data message to the particular server. The method subsequently uses the load balancer identifier in the stored association to forward to the particular load balancer a data message that is sent by the particular server. The method of some embodiments is implemented by an intervening forwarding element (e.g., a router) between the load balancer set and the server set.

Abstract: In a computer-implemented method for maintaining a time series database including a plurality of time series database schemas, time series data including data points are received at an ingestion node of a time series database, the data points comprising a plurality of dimensions. A plurality of time series database schemas of the time series database is determined for storing the time series data. The time series data is ingested according to the plurality of time series database schemas, wherein each data point is stored according to each time series database schema of the plurality of time series database schemas, such that the time series database comprises multiple instances of each data point.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a method for performing services on a host computer that executes several machines in a datacenter. The method configures a first set of one or more service containers for a first machine executing on the host computer, and a second set of one or more service containers for a second machine executing on the host computer. Each configured service container performs a service operation on data messages associated with a particular machine. For each particular machine, the method also configures a module along the particular machine's datapath to identify a subset of service operations to perform on a set of data messages associated with the particular machine, and to direct the set of data messages to a set of service containers configured for the particular machine to perform the identified set of service operations on the set of data messages.

Abstract: In some embodiments, a method implements a Byzantine fault tolerant protocol. A first replica detects a condition to cause a view change procedure to move from a current view to a next view. The first replica sends a message indicating the first replica wants to leave the current view. Also, the first replica receives a set of messages from second replicas indicating a respective second replica wants to leave the current view. The first replica determines when a property is received to the leave the current view based on the set of messages from the set of second replicas. When it is determined the property is received, the first replica performs a process to leave the current view. When it is determined the property is not received, the first replica stays in the current view and participating in processing a request from a client in the current view.

Abstract: This disclosure describes a process for securely instantiating a virtual machine on a server cluster. The virtual machine just after instantiation has access to persistent storage that includes an encrypted region and lacks access to an encryption key configured to provide access to data stored within the encrypted region. The virtual machine receives a communication from a management server associated with the server cluster that includes the encryption key configured to provide access to the data stored within the encrypted region. After the virtual machine receives the encryption key, the server cluster runs services that depend upon the data stored within the encrypted region to operate after receiving the communication from the management server.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a method for performing services for data messages associated with a machine executing on a particular host computer. On the particular host computer, the method configures (1) a first distributed forwarding element (DFE) to forward data messages sent by the machine based on network addresses specified by machine, and (2) a second DFE to forward data messages sent by the machine to a set of one or more other host computers on which a set of one or more service nodes before the data messages are returned to the particular host computer to be forwarded by the first DFE based on the network addresses specified by the machine. Each DFE is implemented by at least one software forwarding element executing (SFE) on the particular host computer and at least one other SFE executing on at least one other host computer.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a method for maintaining a virtual network that spans at least one cloud datacenter separate from multi-machine edge nodes of an entity. This method configures a gateway in the cloud datacenter to establish secure connections with several edge devices at several multi-machine edge nodes (e.g., branch offices, datacenters, etc.) in order to establish the virtual network. The method configures the gateway to assess quality of connection links with different edge devices, and to terminate a secure connection with a particular edge device for a duration of time after the assessed quality of the connection link to the particular edge device is worse than a threshold value. In some embodiments, the gateway is configured to distribute routes to edge devices at the edge nodes, and to forgo distributing any route to the particular edge device along the connection link for the duration of time when the assessed quality of the connection link is worse than (e.g., less than) a threshold value.

Abstract: Some embodiments establish for an entity a virtual network over several public clouds of several public cloud providers and/or in several regions. In some embodiments, the virtual network is an overlay network that spans across several public clouds to interconnect one or more private networks (e.g., networks within branches, divisions, departments of the entity or their associated datacenters), mobile users, and SaaS (Software as a Service) provider machines, and other web applications of the entity. The virtual network in some embodiments can be configured to optimize the routing of the entity's data messages to their destinations for best end-to-end performance, reliability and security, while trying to minimize the routing of this traffic through the Internet. Also, the virtual network in some embodiments can be configured to optimize the layer 4 processing of the data message flows passing through the network.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a method for quantifying quality of several service classes provided by a link between first and second forwarding nodes in a wide area network (WAN). At a first forwarding node, the method computes and stores first and second path quality metric (PQM) values based on packets sent from the second forwarding node for the first and second service classes. The different service classes in some embodiments are associated with different quality of service (QoS) guarantees that the WAN offers to the packets. In some embodiments, the computed PQM value for each service class quantifies the QoS provided to packets processed through the service class. In some embodiments, the first forwarding node adjusts the first and second PQM values as it processes more packets associated with the first and second service classes. The first forwarding node also periodically forwards to the second forwarding node the first and second PQM values that it maintains for the first and second service classes.

Abstract: A method is provided for a hyper-converged storage-compute system to implement an active-active failover architecture for providing Internet Small Computer System Interface (iSCSI) target service. The method intelligently selects multiple hosts to become storage nodes that process iSCSI input/output (I/O) for a target. The method further enables iSCSI persistent reservation (PR) to handle iSCSI I/Os from multiple initiators.

Abstract: Some embodiments of the invention provide novel methods for facilitating a distributed SNAT (dSNAT) middlebox service operation for a first network at a host computer in the first network on which the dSNAT middlebox service operation is performed and a gateway device between the first network and a second network. The novel methods enable dSNAT that provides stateful SNAT at multiple host computers, thus avoiding the bottleneck problem associated with providing stateful SNAT at gateways and also significantly reduces the need to redirect packets received at the wrong host by using a capacity of off-the-shelf gateway devices to perform IPv6 encapsulation for IPv4 packets and assigning locally unique IPv6 addresses to each host executing a dSNAT middlebox service instance that are used by the gateway device.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a method that receives (i) definition of a group of virtual datacenters and (ii) addition of at least two virtual datacenters to the group. Each virtual datacenter is defined in a public cloud and includes a set of network management components and a set of network endpoints connected by a logical network that is managed by the network management components of the virtual datacenter. Based on the definition of the group, the method configures a gateway router to which each of the virtual datacenters of the group connect. The gateway router is for routing traffic between the virtual datacenters of the group. The method also configures, at each respective virtual datacenter, a respective router to route data traffic between the respective virtual datacenter and the other virtual datacenters to route traffic for the other virtual datacenters to the gateway router.

Abstract: The current document is directed to methods and subsystems within computing systems, including distributed computing systems that efficiently store metric data by approximating a sequence of time-associated data values with one or more linear functions. In a described implementation, a running variability metric is used to control variation within the metric data with respect to the approximating linear functions, with a variation threshold employed to maximize the number of data points represented by a given linear function while ensuring that the variation of the data with respect to the given linear function does not exceed a threshold value. In one implementation, the metric data occurs within a graph-like configuration-management-database representation of the current state of a computer system.

Abstract: A system of nodes configured to form a network comprising virtual links in an overlay network provisioned over an underlay network including servers of a public network. The system includes virtual routers (VRs) at each node. Each VR is coupled to the network and to a tenant of the node, and configured to form in the network a set of virtual links corresponding to the tenant. One or more VRs includes a feedback control system comprising an objective function that characterizes the network. The VR is configured to receive link state data of the set of virtual links and control routing of a tenant traffic flow of each tenant according to a best route of the network determined by the objective function using the link state data.

Abstract: An example method of determining operational health of a virtualized computing system includes: monitoring, at a service executing in the virtualized computing system, a current configuration of a software-defined data center (SDDC) with respect to a desired state, the desired state including: a host cluster having hosts executing a virtualization layer thereon; a software-defined (SD) network deployed in the host cluster; shared storage accessible by the host cluster; a virtual infrastructure (VI) control plane managing the host cluster, the SD network, and the shared storage; and an orchestration control plane integrated with the virtualization layer and the VI control plane; determining a configuration status for the current configuration of the SDDC; monitoring, at the service, operational status of an application management system executing on the SDDC having the current configuration; and determining at least one measure of the operational health in response to the configuration status and the operation