Abstract: A device receives a request from an Internet Protocol (IP)-based device to create a virtual extension of a plain old telephone service (POTS)-based telephone line, authenticates the IP-based device for association with the POTS-based telephone line, and creates the virtual extension of the POTS-based telephone line to the IP-based device when the IP-based device is authenticated.

Abstract: A device for inspecting the underside of a vehicle includes a carriage supported by four swivable wheels and a forwardly extending arm with a light source and upwardly extending camera on a forward portion thereof. A second arm extends rearwardly and upwardly from a rear portion of the carriage and includes a video monitor for viewing an image generated by the video camera and a control unit. The device also includes a video transmitter for sending a picture from the camera to a remote location and three 12 volt batteries for powering the device.

Abstract: A service controller for providing centralized service management, control and placement, as well as guaranteed failover, in a dynamic and distributed computing environment. The service controller works in conjunction with a computing resource supply manager, which supplies the required resources so that the service controller can run the service on the allocated resources. The number of active service instances may dynamically increase or decrease in accordance with changing availability of or demand for resources. The service controller monitors the service instances and takes appropriate action in the event of service instance failures. The service controller is provided with a service director component, which records and tracks, for each service instance which has been started on a particular resource/host, the IP address of such host, through a name location service, thus allowing end-users to locate the service regardless of where the service instances are physically running.

Abstract: A resource manager for managing the sharing of resources among multiple workloads in a distributed computing environment. The resource manager comprises an allocation service component which applies a resource allocation policy to determine whether the requested resources may be allocated. The resource manager also comprises a dynamic provisioning service component which applies a reprovisioning policy to modify the make-up of the resources in response to unsatisfied resource requests. The allocation of resources to consumers may be determined in accordance with the resource ownership and share rights of the consumer on behalf of which the application or workload is being demanded.

Abstract: A system and method for balancing loads in a computer system is disclosed. The system and method assess the health of various paths in a computer system by determining the health or status of at least two layers on each path. A health or status of the paths is then determined based on the information of the health of each layer in the path. A load balancing device routes information for processing to the various paths based on the determined health of the paths. To better estimate the health of a path, algorithms which weight the health signals for each layer are used giving greater weight to layers of greater importance. The system and method can also add or remove additional paths if the combined health of the existing paths is determined to be above or below a predetermined value. In addition, the weight of certain layers can be locked in to provide for updating of specific layers.