Method and apparatus for authentication of solution topology

Abstract

A computer implemented method is provided to verify an integrity of a solution. The computer implemented method comprises hashing, by a computer, a set of virtual machine instances in a solution topology of the solution. The computer hashes a set of connections in the solution topology. The set of connections comprising a connection between ones of the set of virtual machine instances, a connection between a first component of a first one of the set of virtual machine instances and a second component of a second one of the set of virtual machine instances, and combinations thereof. The computer hashes a set of solution-specific information, and then signs the hashes to create a first signed topology.

Description

BACKGROUND[0001]1. Field:[0002]The disclosure relates generally to the verification of authenticity (integrity and origin) of the content. More specifically, the disclosure relates to a computer implemented method, a computer program product, and a data processing system for verifying authenticity of solution topologies, i.e., the solution components and topologies are not deployed / modified in an unauthorized manner.[0003]2. Description of the Related Art[0004]Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort or interaction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may include at least five characteristics, at least three service models, and at least four deployment models.[0005]Charact...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The present invention provides a method for verifying the integrity of a computer solution. The method involves hashing a set of virtual machine instances and their connections in the solution topology, and then signing the hashes to create a first signed topology. The technical effect of this method is to provide a reliable way to verify the integrity of a computer solution.

Problems solved by technology

The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage, or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific application configuration settings.

The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting environment configurations.

The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).

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