Patents by Inventor Scott N. Durham

Scott N. Durham has filed for patents to protect the following inventions. This listing includes patent applications that are pending as well as patents that have already been granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).

  • Method for securely merging multiple nodes having trusted platform modules
    Patent number: 8589672
    Abstract: Method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for operating a plurality of computer nodes while maintaining trust. A primary computer node and at least one secondary computer node are connected into a cluster, wherein each of the clustered computer nodes includes a trusted platform module (TPM) that is accessible to software and includes security status information about the respective computer node. Each clustered computer node is then merged into a single node with only the TPM of the primary computer node being accessible to software. The TPM of the primary computer node is updated to include the security status information of each TPM in the cluster. Preferably, the step of merging is controlled by power on self test (POST) basic input output system (BIOS) code associated with a boot processor in the primary node.
    Type: Grant
    Filed: November 14, 2008
    Date of Patent: November 19, 2013
    Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
    Inventors: Shiva R. Dasari, Lee H. Wilson, Scott N. Durham, Sumeet Kochar, William B. Schwartz, Kenneth A. Goldman
  • METHOD FOR SECURELY MERGING MULTIPLE NODES HAVING TRUSTED PLATFORM MODULES
    Publication number: 20100125731
    Abstract: Method, apparatus and computer program product are provided for operating a plurality of computer nodes while maintaining trust. A primary computer node and at least one secondary computer node are connected into a cluster, wherein each of the clustered computer nodes includes a trusted platform module (TPM) that is accessible to software and includes security status information about the respective computer node. Each clustered computer node is then merged into a single node with only the TPM of the primary computer node being accessible to software. The TPM of the primary computer node is updated to include the security status information of each TPM in the cluster. Preferably, the step of merging is controlled by power on self test (POST) basic input output system (BIOS) code associated with a boot processor in the primary node.
    Type: Application
    Filed: November 14, 2008
    Publication date: May 20, 2010
    Applicant: INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION
    Inventors: Shiva R. Dasari, Lee H. Wilson, Scott N. Durham, Sumeet Kochar, William B. Schwartz, Kenneth A. Goldman