Abstract: Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to techniques for performing a merge update for a database. In particular, certain embodiments of a method include generating a message comprising a first key and a first transaction associated with the first key, the first transaction indicating a transaction to perform other than for key-value pairs comprising the first key. The method further includes storing the message in a database. The method further includes merging the message with a first key-value pair stored in the database, the first-key value pair comprising the first key. The method further includes performing the first transaction based on merging the message with the first key-value pair.

Abstract: A method of installing an image of a virtualization software installing an image of a virtualization software in a heterogeneous duster of hosts that include first hosts having server hardware of a first type and at least one second host having server hardware of a second type, includes: in response to a user input, generating a software specification that specifies a base image of the virtualization software and an add-on image of the virtualization software; retrieving metadata of the base image and metadata of add-on image; generating first and second desired images of the virtualization software, which are to be applied respectively to the first hosts and the at least one second host, based on the metadata of the base image and metadata of the add-on image; and instructing each of the first and second hosts to install a desired image of the virtualization software therein.

Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for securely distributing certificates or encryption keys. A management service can receive an enrollment request from a client device. The management service can then send a key request to a certificate provider, the key request comprising a user identifier. The management service can also send a skeleton payload to an enterprise gateway. In response, the management service can receive an encrypted profile from the enterprise gateway, the encrypted profile comprising the skeleton payload with an encryption key inserted by the enterprise gateway into the skeleton payload. Finally, the management service can send the encrypted profile to the client device.

Abstract: In an example, a method of allocating storage objects of a virtual machine across storage devices in a computing system includes: collecting capabilities of the storage devices in the computing system; assigning a tier of a plurality of tiers to each of the storage devices in the computing system; collecting performance data for the storage devices across a period of time; analyzing the performance data and the capabilities to determine a placement of storage objects of the virtual machine across the plurality of tiers; and moving the storage objects to respective ones of the storage devices based on the assigned tiers.

Abstract: Techniques for implementing RDMA-based recovery of dirty data in remote memory are provided. In one set of embodiments, upon occurrence of a failure at a first (i.e., source) host system, a second (i.e., failover) host system can allocate a new memory region corresponding to a memory region of the source host system and retrieve a baseline copy of the memory region from a storage backend shared by the source and failover host systems. The failover host system can further populate the new memory region with the baseline copy and retrieve one or more dirty page lists for the memory region from the source host system via RDMA, where the one or more dirty page lists identify memory pages in the memory region that include data updates not present in the baseline copy. For each memory page identified in the one or more dirty page lists, the failover host system can then copy the content of that memory page from the memory region of the source host system to the new memory region via RDMA.

Abstract: Physical communication links are determined between devices in a network of devices without human input. A network topology engine determines the physical communication links between devices in the network and constructs a network topology based on the determined physical communication links. The network topology engine infers the presence of each physical communication link from network traffic that is currently flowing in the network. The network topology engine collects reachability information from the network devices included in the network that are already stored by the network devices, such as device identification entries included in address resolution protocol tables and media access control address tables. The network topology engine populates a flow graph of potential physical links between network interfaces that is weighted based on the collected reachability.

Abstract: A method of installing an image of a virtualization software in a cluster of hosts includes: in response to a user input, generating a software specification that specifies a base image of the virtualization software and a solution to be enabled; retrieving metadata of the base image, metadata of the solution, and a constraint of the solution; generating a desired image of the virtualization software based on the metadata of the base image and the metadata of the solution in accordance with the constraint; and instructing each host in the duster to install the desired image of the virtualization software.

Abstract: Certain embodiments described herein are generally directed to selecting a target storage profile for comparison to a recovered storage profile in support of a data recovery operation. In some embodiments, a method includes comparing a first plurality of fields of the reference storage profile with a second plurality of fields of a first target storage profile of the one or more target storage profiles to determine a degree to which the first target storage profile matches the reference storage profile, the first plurality of fields comprising a first plurality of storage requirements, and the second plurality of fields comprising a second plurality of storage requirements.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide stateful services in a chain of services identified for some data messages. The edge forwarding element receives a data message at a particular interface of the edge forwarding element that is traversing the edge forwarding element in a forward direction between two machines. The edge forwarding element identifies (1) a set of stateful services for the received data message and (2) a next hop associated with the identified set of stateful services in the forward direction and a next hop associated with the identified set of stateful services in the reverse direction. Based on the identified set of services and the next hops for the forward and reverse directions, the edge forwarding element generates and stores first and second connection tracking records for the forward and reverse data message flows, respectively used to forward data messages received subsequently for the flow.

Abstract: Methods, apparatus, systems, and articles of manufacture to refresh a token for use in a virtualized computing environment are disclosed. An example method includes accessing a request to perform an automation task; extracting a first token from the request to perform the automation task; determining, by executing an instruction with a processor, whether the first token is expired or will expire in a threshold amount of time; in response to determining that the first token is expired or will expire in the threshold amount of time, requesting a refreshed token; replacing the first token with the refreshed token to create an updated request; and sending the updated request to an automation executor.

Abstract: System and method for performing a remote attestation for creation of a trusted execution environment (TEE) using a virtual secure enclave device running in a virtualized environment utilizes a trusted bootloader appliance in a TEE virtual computing instance, which is created in response to a request for a TEE from a software process running in the system. The trusted bootloader appliance manages the provisioning of a TEE in the TEE virtual computing instance for the software process. The remote attestation includes performing a first stage attestation on the trusted bootloader appliance by a hardware platform of the computer system and performing a second stage attestation on the provisioned TEE by the trusted bootloader appliance.

Abstract: Solutions for managing archived storage include receiving, at a first node, a snapshot comprising object data (e.g., a virtual machine disk snapshot) from a second node (e.g., a software defined data center), and storing the snapshot in a tiered structure that includes a data tier and a metadata tier. Snapshots may be used for fail-over operations and/or backups, to support disaster recovery. The data tier comprises a log-structured file system (LFS), and the metadata tier comprises a content addressable storage (CAS) identifying addresses within the LFS. The metadata tier also comprises a logical layer indicating content in the CAS. Segment cleaning of the data tier is performed using a segment usage table (SUT). Some examples include performing a fail-over operation from the second node to a third node using at least the stored snapshot for workload recovery. In some examples, the CAS comprises a log-structured merge-tree (LSM-tree).

Abstract: A method for cleaning an object storage having a plurality of segments is provided. Each segment includes an identifier through which the segment is accessed. The method identifies a first segment in the plurality of segments. The first segment includes a first identifier and a first size. The method determines that a utilization ratio for the first segment is below a threshold. As a result, the method generates a second segment from the first segment, such that the second segment includes a second identifier that is the same as the first identifier and a second size that is smaller than the first size. The method then writes the second segment to the object storage.

Abstract: Techniques disclosed herein provide an approach for identifying application dependencies in a hybrid environment in which one or more applications run in operating system (OS)-less containers. One embodiment provides a computer-implemented method that includes monitoring network traffic at one or more host computer systems, wherein OS-less containers run in at least one of the host computer systems. The method further includes monitoring network traffic at virtual bridges to which the OS-less containers are attached, and identifying network dependencies based on the monitored network traffic at the host computer systems and the monitored network traffic at the virtual bridges. In addition, the method includes determining the application dependencies based on the identified network dependencies.

Abstract: A method of processing requests from users of a computer system having software and hardware components, wherein each request includes a description of an software or hardware issue, includes: upon receiving a first request, performing content matching using a first instance of the data model to determine if the issue described in the first request has been previously encountered; executing a machine learning algorithm against a new data set to update a second instance of the data model; after the second instance of the data model has been updated, switching the data model used for performing content matching from the first to the second instance of the data model; and upon receiving a second request after the switch, performing content matching using the second instance of the data model to determine if the issue described in the second request has been previously encountered.

Abstract: Some embodiments provide a method for providing a user interface (UI) for a network management application. The method provides a first UI for accessing a global network manager through the network management application to configure a global logical network spanning multiple physical sites. For each respective site, the method provides an additional UI for accessing a respective local network manager for the site (i) to modify the global logical network at the respective site and (ii) to configure a local logical network at the respective site. The method provides a UI item for toggling between the first UI and the additional UIs. Multiple UI items available in the first UI are also available in the additional UIs.

Abstract: The disclosure provides for fault tolerant parallel journaling that speeds up both input/output (I/O) operations and recovery operations. Journal entry writing may occur in parallel with data writing operations. Even if a crash occurs during a data writing operation for which the journal entry has been written, the recovery operation will correctly determine that the journal entry is not valid. Additionally, recovery operations may need to validate fewer journal entries, and yet possibly retain more valid data. Examples include: for each of a plurality of journal entries: receiving incoming data; determining a signature for the incoming data; generating the journal entry for the incoming data; writing the signature in the journal entry; and writing the journal entry and the incoming data to a storage media; and based at least on writing data to the storage media, updating an awaiting index in a journal header.

Abstract: System and method for virtual agent management in a cloud architecture deploys multiple virtual appliances with proxy services in the cloud architecture, instantiates virtual agents in the virtual appliances, communicates with a cloud framework using the proxy services, and controls the virtual agents based on communications with the cloud framework.

Abstract: Disclosed are various embodiments for generating recommended replacement host machines for a datacenter. The recommendations can be generated based upon an analysis of historical workload usage across the datacenter. Clusters can be generated that cluster workloads together that are similar. Purchase plans can be generated based upon the identified clusters and benchmark data regarding servers.

Abstract: In one example, a request to migrate an application running on a first compute node to a second compute node with a change in a version of the application may be received. Migration information may be provided to a cloud-based Migration as a Service provider based on the request. An application migration component may be received from the cloud-based Migration as a Service provider based on the migration information. Further, the application migration component may be executed to migrate the application from the first compute node to the second compute node with the change in the version of the application.