Abstract: A method and system for image instance mapping is provided. The method includes receiving from change agents on virtual machine instances periodic monitoring data indicating changes for each virtual machine instance. The periodic monitoring data is analyzed and unique updates are applied to the virtual machine instances. High level semantic updates to the virtual machine instances are identified and updates associated with a golden master image are tracked. High level semantic updates to the golden master image are identified and in response, a version tree configured to track drift of each virtual machine instance with respect to golden master image is maintained.

Abstract: Methods and arrangements for providing assistance with troubleshooting for system updates. There is sent, to a first database, a feature log associated with an update event at a first location. The feature log is pooled in the first database with feature logs associated with update events at other locations. A signature is created of at least one update from the first database, and the signature is added to a signature database. The signature database is employed to identify one or more deviations, when the at least one update fails in at least one location. The one or more deviations are ranked with respect to at least one other deviation. Other variants and embodiments are broadly contemplated herein.

Abstract: Logical data stores are placed on storages to minimize store request time. The stores are sorted. A store counter and a storage counter are each set to one. (A), (B), and (C) are repeated until the storage counter exceeds the number of storages within the array. (A) is setting a load for the storage specified by the storage counter to zero. (B) is performing (i), (ii), and (iii) while the load for the storage specified by the storage counter is less an average determined load over all the storages. (i) is allocating the store specified by the store counter to the storage specified by the storage counter; and, (ii) is incrementing the load for this storage by this storage's request arrival rate multiplied by an expected service time for the requests of this store. (iii) is incrementing the store counter by one. (C) is incrementing the storage counter by one.

Abstract: Methods and systems for image migration. There are received, at an image reader, files of at least one image of at least one virtual machine from a first environment. Points of variability are identified within the files, with respect to preparation for functioning in a second environment. Each point of variability is associated with corresponding metadata, and each point of variability is stored with its corresponding metadata. The at least one image is reconfigured to function in the second environment, such reconfiguring comprising adjusting the points of variability via using the metadata. The reconfigured image is deployed to the second environment.

Abstract: Methods and arrangements for providing cooperative caching in a distributed system. A cache and a communicator are provided at a node in a distributed system. The communicator is used to communicate with at least one other node with respect to related data stored at the node and the at least one other node, via: communicating a status of the cache at the node and receiving notification of a status of at least one cache of at least one other node. There is updated, upon communicating with the at least one other node, at least one of: a cache replacement policy at the node and a cache pre-fetching policy at the node. Other variants and embodiments are broadly contemplated herein.

Abstract: During a process of migrating a source system into a standardized virtual environment, virtual machine instances of the source system executing in a hypervisor are snapshotted as virtual machine images in an operational repository of the hypervisor. The virtual machine images in the operational repository are short-term snapshots. From time to time during the migration process, long-term snapshots of the source system are created by checking given ones of the virtual machine images from the hypervisor operational repository into an image library as image objects.

Abstract: Techniques, systems, and articles of manufacture for automated application reconfiguration. A method includes identifying, for each of one or more configuration files in a pre-configured source virtual machine, a corresponding configuration file in a target virtual machine, identifying one or more mis-configured and/or missing points of variability in the one or more identified configuration files in the target virtual machine based on information derived from the one or more configuration files in the source virtual machine, and reconfiguring the target virtual machine by replacing each identified mis-configured point of variability with a given value based on the information derived from the one or more configuration files in the source virtual machine, and adding each identified missing point of variability at a given location with a given value and a given format based on the information derived from the one or more configuration files in the source virtual machine.

Abstract: During a process of migrating a source system into a standardized virtual environment, virtual machine instances of the source system executing in a hypervisor are snapshotted as virtual machine images in an operational repository of the hypervisor. The virtual machine images in the operational repository are short-term snapshots. From time to time during the migration process, long-term snapshots of the source system are created by checking given ones of the virtual machine images from the hypervisor operational repository into an image library as image objects.

Abstract: Techniques, systems, and articles of manufacture for input/output de-duplication based on variable-size chunks. A method includes partitioning virtual block data into multiple variable-sized chunks, caching each of the multiple variable-sized chunks in a chunk cache according to content of each of the multiple variable-sized chunks, initializing virtual block-to-chunk mapping and chunk-to-physical block mapping for each of the multiple variable-sized chunks, and detecting duplicate disk input and/or output requests across multiple hosts based on content-based mappings of the input and/or output requests to the chunk cache and the virtual block-to-chunk mapping and chunk-to-physical block mapping for each of the multiple variable-sized chunks in the chunk cache.

Abstract: A method and system for image instance mapping is provided. The method includes receiving from change agents on virtual machine instances periodic monitoring data indicating changes for each virtual machine instance. The periodic monitoring data is analyzed and unique updates are applied to the virtual machine instances. High level semantic updates to the virtual machine instances are identified and updates associated with a golden master image are tracked. High level semantic updates to the golden master image are identified and in response, a version tree configured to track drift of each virtual machine instance with respect to golden master image is maintained.

Abstract: Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for image deduplication of guest virtual machines are provided herein. A method includes implementing a shared image file on a host server, transparently consolidating multiple duplicate blocks across multiple virtual machines on the shared image file, and creating a merged data path for the multiple virtual machines via the shared image file based on the multiple consolidated duplicate blocks.

Abstract: A method and system for image instance mapping is provided. The method includes receiving from change agents on virtual machine instances periodic monitoring data indicating changes for each virtual machine instance. The periodic monitoring data is analyzed and unique updates are applied to the virtual machine instances. High level semantic updates to the virtual machine instances are identified and updates associated with a golden master image are tracked. High level semantic updates to the golden master image are identified and in response, a version tree configured to track drift of each virtual machine instance with respect to golden master image is maintained.

Abstract: A service method and associated system is provided. The method includes generating event types for events and services associated with the events. Virtual or physical machines associated with the services are provisioned and a message associated with a first event is published. The message is routed to a queue of a second service and the second service is notified of the message. The services are enabled and a selection for a sub-set of the services is received. The selection is enabled.

Abstract: A virtual machine placement framework is described to enable a data center operator to develop a placement scheme to satisfy its particular constraints while simultaneously optimizing resource utilization. To generate a placement solution, the virtual machine placement problem is first characterized as a “bin packing” problem. The framework provides simple interface tools and processing modules, and a pluggable architecture for receiving placement algorithms. To generate a solution, an administrator creates an XML representation that abstracts physical entities (e.g., data center, subnet, rack, physical server, and the like) into a hierarchical tree of bins. The administrator also defines a set of “rules” that govern (direct) the placement of the virtual machines by placing constraints on the placement scheme. Using the hierarchical tree and the rules, the framework is executed to generate a placement as a solution to a bin packing problem, preferably on a layer-by-layer basis.

Abstract: Techniques, systems, and articles of manufacture for input/output de-duplication based on variable-size chunks. A method includes partitioning virtual block data into multiple variable-sized chunks, caching each of the multiple variable-sized chunks in a chunk cache according to content of each of the multiple variable-sized chunks, initializing virtual block-to-chunk mapping and chunk-to-physical block mapping for each of the multiple variable-sized chunks, and detecting duplicate disk input and/or output requests across multiple hosts based on content-based mappings of the input and/or output requests to the chunk cache and the virtual block-to-chunk mapping and chunk-to-physical block mapping for each of the multiple variable-sized chunks in the chunk cache.

Abstract: An apparatus and an article of manufacture for problem determination and diagnosis in a shared dynamic cloud environment include monitoring each virtual machine and physical server in the shared dynamic cloud environment for at least one metric, identifying a symptom of a problem and generating an event based on said monitoring, analyzing the event to determine a deviation from normal behavior, and classifying the event as a cloud-based anomaly or an application fault based on existing knowledge.

Abstract: Techniques for problem determination and diagnosis in a shared dynamic cloud environment. A method includes monitoring each virtual machine and physical server in the shared dynamic cloud environment for at least one metric, identifying a symptom of a problem and generating an event based on said monitoring, analyzing the event to determine a deviation from normal behavior, and classifying the event as a cloud-based anomaly or an application fault based on existing knowledge.

Abstract: Techniques, systems, and articles of manufacture for automated application reconfiguration. A method includes identifying, for each of one or more configuration files in a pre-configured source virtual machine, a corresponding configuration file in a target virtual machine, identifying one or more mis-configured and/or missing points of variability in the one or more identified configuration files in the target virtual machine based on information derived from the one or more configuration files in the source virtual machine, and reconfiguring the target virtual machine by replacing each identified mis-configured point of variability with a given value based on the information derived from the one or more configuration files in the source virtual machine, and adding each identified missing point of variability at a given location with a given value and a given format based on the information derived from the one or more configuration files in the source virtual machine.

Abstract: Systems determine workload resource usage patterns of a computerized workload, using a computerized device. Such systems use the computerized device to place the computerized workload with a computer server cluster within a private cloud computing environment. Also, systems herein place the computerized workload on a selected computer server within the computer server cluster that has a resource usage pattern complementary to the workload resource usage profile, also using the computerized device. The complementary resource usage pattern peaks at different times from the workload resource usage patterns.

Abstract: Techniques, systems, and articles of manufacture for automatically propagating updates in a data center. A method includes dividing multiple virtual machines in a data center into one or more equivalence classes, wherein each equivalence class is based on a signature corresponding to an offline, online and/or manual update, automatically creating an offline and/or online virtual machine manifest for a first virtual machine of the multiple virtual machines based on one or more file system changes during the offline, online and/or manual update for the first virtual machine, wherein said manifest is applicable to each additional virtual machine in the same equivalence class as the first virtual machine, and applying the offline and/or online virtual machine manifest for the first virtual machine to the remaining multiple virtual machines in the same equivalence class to automatically update the remaining multiple virtual machines in the same equivalence class.