Abstract: A method and system for managing communication connections in a virtualization environment implemented by a cluster of host machines, each of the host machines comprises a hypervisor, at least one user virtual machine (UVM), a connection manager, and an I/O controller. The system includes a virtual disk accessible by all of the I/O controllers and comprising a plurality of storage devices. The system includes a first host machine of the host machines designated as a leader node, wherein the leader node configured to confirm a second one of the host machines is unreachable; and transmit, in response to the confirmation, an update message to other host machines in the cluster. The update message identifies the unreachable host machine and causes the other host machines to block messages from the unreachable host machine and send an acknowledgement of the update message back to the leader node.

Abstract: Communication between VMs running in a clustered virtualization environment and a distributed storage system is managed. The distributed storage system consists of multiple storage/compute nodes. A hypervisor communicates with a controller in a local node on behalf of a VM. The controller will redirect a connection to a second controller on different node. The controller to which the connection is redirected is selected so as to distribute the load evenly across the cluster.

Abstract: Examples of systems are described herein which may dynamically allocate compute resources to recovery clusters. Accordingly, a recovery site may utilize fewer compute resources in maintaining recovery clusters for multiple associate clusters, while ensuring that, during use, compute resources are allocated to a particular cluster. This may reduce and/or avoid vulnerabilities arising from a use of shared resources in a virtualized and/or cloud environment.

Abstract: A system and method include determining underprovisioning of a guest physical memory of a virtual machine running on a computing node. The node includes hardware resources that are mapped the guest physical memory by a hypervisor. The hypervisor receives page fault information from the virtual machine based on page faults in the virtual machine. The hypervisor generates a table that includes virtual memory address-process indicator pair entries and corresponding page fault numbers. The hypervisor removes those entries that have a corresponding page fault number that is less than a first threshold value. The hypervisor determines a size of a revolving memory based on the number of remaining entries and a page size of the guest physical memory. If the revolving memory size is less than a second threshold value in relation to the allocated size of the guest physical memory, the hypervisor indicates underprovisioning of the guest physical memory.

Abstract: A system and method include initiating a live migration of a virtual machine from a first host machine to a second host machine. The system and method include copying an initial copy of data stored in a memory of the first host machine to a memory of the second host machine, determining a set of modified data stored in the memory of the first host machine, determining that transferring the set of modified data stored in the memory of the first host machine exceeds a downtime limit, determining that an increased throttling of the virtual machine executing on the first host machine does not exceed a throttling limit, applying the increased throttling to the virtual machine executing on the first host machine, and copying the set of modified data while the increased throttling is applied to the virtual machine executing on the first host machine.

Abstract: Systems and methods for storage resource and computation resource expansion. A method embodiment includes migrating a computing task from an external computing environment to a different computing/storage environment. The method commences by identifying a storage system having virtualized controllers and by identifying a computing device that performs a workload that interfaces with the storage system. The virtualized controllers execute in the second computing environment to manage access to storage target devices by accessing a storage target device identified by an IP address. A particular virtualized controller that is connected to the storage target device is selected and configured to process storage I/O from a migrated workload. A user virtual machine or user executable container is configured to execute the workload on one of the nodes in the computing and storage system within the second computing environment.

Abstract: A system and method include managing, by a computing system, the memory assignments between a virtual and multiple physical memories based on deterministically realized distribution of the virtual memory over the multiple physical memories. The computing system can determine proportion values associated with the physical memories assigned to a virtual memory. The proportion values indicate the proportion of the total size of the memory allocated to the virtual memory is to be assigned to the physical memories.

Abstract: A method for providing external access into a secured networked virtualization environment, includes performing a leadership election amongst nodes of the secured networked virtualization environment to elect a leader node, assigning a cluster virtual IP address to the leader node and generating a reverse tunnel, using a processor, by the leader node to allow for an external entity to communicate with the secured networked virtualization environment.

Abstract: A system and method include generating a transient error at a hypervisor that is responsive to a request sent by a virtual machine that was transmitted to a device. The system and method also include transmitting the transient error from the hypervisor to the virtual machine responsive to a timer for a predetermined period of time expiring before a timeout occurs at the virtual machine. The transient error is transmitted from the hypervisor level to the virtual machine before a timeout occurs at the virtual machine.

Abstract: A method for providing load balancing to a client node external to a clustered environment for storage management, includes deploying a lightweight load balancing component at the client node, receiving I/O requests issued by virtual machines hosted at the client node by the lightweight load balancing component, performing a hashing algorithm on content of the I/O requests by the lightweight load balancing component to identify one or more controller virtual machines at the clustered environment for handling the I/O requests and dynamically distributing the I/O requests from the lightweight load balancing component to the one or more controller virtual machines at the clustered environment for storage management.

Abstract: Systems for management of a large computing cluster. A set of computing nodes within the cluster are identified. The identified nodes are to be reimaged with an operating system image and parameters. One or more reimaging algorithms in the form of computer code are stored in a networked storage device within a storage pool that comprises the networked storage device and a plurality of local storage devices that correspond to respective individual ones of the set of computing nodes. An agent that can execute the reimaging algorithm code is configured to run on any one of the set of computing nodes, wherein the agent is further configured to retrieve reimaging data from a storage device that is within the storage pool. An agent running on a leader node initiates reimaging of a second node. The second node initiates reimaging of a third node. The third node reimages the leader node.

Abstract: A system and method for facilitating communication between one or more of a plurality of user virtual machines and external devices is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of uplink bridges configured to facilitate communication between the plurality of user virtual machines and the external devices, a plurality of local bridges, with each of the plurality of user virtual machines being connected to one or more of the plurality of local bridges, and a first multiplexing bridge connected to the plurality of local bridges. The first multiplexing bridge is configured to direct data between the plurality of user virtual machines and the plurality of uplink bridges. The system also includes a second multiplexing bridge connected to the first multiplexing bridge and the plurality of uplink bridges. The second multiplexing bridge is configured to direct the data between the first multiplexing bridge and the plurality of uplink bridges.

Abstract: Performing a hot-swap of a storage device for a node in a virtualization environment having a plurality of storage devices, includes performing pass-thru of a storage manager managing the plurality of storage devices to a service virtual machine, such that the service virtual machine communicates with the plurality of storage devices without going through a storage software layer of its corresponding hypervisor, booting the hypervisor from a device other than the plurality of storage devices and performing the hot-swap of the storage device.

Abstract: Systems for management of a large computing cluster. A set of computing nodes within the cluster are identified. The identified nodes are to be reimaged with an operating system image and parameters. One or more reimaging algorithms in the form of computer code are stored in a networked storage device within a storage pool that comprises the networked storage device and a plurality of local storage devices that correspond to respective individual ones of the set of computing nodes. An agent that can execute the reimaging algorithm code is configured to run on any one of the set of computing nodes, wherein the agent is further configured to retrieve reimaging data from a storage device that is within the storage pool. An agent running on a leader node initiates reimaging of a second node. The second node initiates reimaging of a third node. The third node reimages the leader node.

Abstract: A technique for quickly switching between a first operating system (OS) and a second OS involves deactivating the first OS and loading the second OS from dynamic memory. The technique can include inserting a context switching layer between the first OS and a hardware layer to facilitate context switching. It may be desirable to allocate dynamic memory for the second OS and preserve state of the first OS before deactivating the first OS and loading the second OS from the dynamic memory.

Abstract: Systems and methods for deploying and managing virtual machine clusters. A method commences upon launching, on a subject processor instance that is running a first operating system, an installation hypervisor that forms a RAM disk comprising an installation boot image and respective one or more scripts. A bootable portion of the RAM disk is exposed to a virtual machine so as to serve as a virtual boot device that comprises the installation boot image and its one or more scripts. Next, a physical boot device is exposed to the virtual machine so as to initiate a boot operation that causes the virtual machine to boot. A subsequent boot operation is initiated to cause transfer of instruction execution to a low-level I/O subsystem entry point such that the target boot image is booted.

Abstract: A method of efficient message transmission includes a hypervisor receiving a first input/output (I/O) request from a ring buffer; receiving a second I/O request from the ring buffer; receiving an absence of further I/O requests from the ring buffer; comparing an aggregate size of a first message and the second I/O request to a maximum transmission unit, wherein the first message comprises the first I/O request and a first protocol overhead; generating a combined message, in response to the aggregate size of the first message and the second I/O request being less than the maximum transmission unit. The combined message comprises the first I/O request, the second I/O request, and the first protocol overhead; and forwarding the combined message to an I/O target.

Abstract: A system and method for facilitating communication between one or more of a plurality of user virtual machines and external devices is disclosed. The system includes a plurality of uplink bridges configured to facilitate communication between the plurality of user virtual machines and the external devices, a plurality of local bridges, with each of the plurality of user virtual machines being connected to one or more of the plurality of local bridges, and a first multiplexing bridge connected to the plurality of local bridges. The first multiplexing bridge is configured to direct data between the plurality of user virtual machines and the plurality of uplink bridges. The system also includes a second multiplexing bridge connected to the first multiplexing bridge and the plurality of uplink bridges. The second multiplexing bridge is configured to direct the data between the first multiplexing bridge and the plurality of uplink bridges.

Abstract: A method and system for managing communication connections in a virtualization environment implemented by a cluster of host machines, each of the host machines comprises a hypervisor, at least one user virtual machine (UVM), a connection manager, and an I/O controller. The system includes a virtual disk accessible by all of the I/O controllers and comprising a plurality of storage devices. The system includes a first host machine of the host machines designated as a leader node, wherein the leader node configured to confirm a second one of the host machines is unreachable; and transmit, in response to the confirmation, an update message to other host machines in the cluster. The update message identifies the unreachable host machine and causes the other host machines to block messages from the unreachable host machine and send an acknowledgement of the update message back to the leader node.

Abstract: An exemplary embodiment disclosed herein is a method including a virtual storage controller receiving an input/output (I/O) command using a native drive communications protocol from a software application on a user virtual machine running on the host machine; determining whether a local service virtual machine is unresponsive to the virtual storage controller; translating the I/O command from the native drive communications protocol to an IP-based storage communications protocol to create a translated I/O command, in response to the local service virtual machine being unresponsive to the virtual storage controller; sending the translated I/O command to a remote service virtual machine, wherein the remote service virtual machine is configured to send the translated I/O command to a local storage and receive a response from the local storage; and receiving the response from the remote service virtual machine.