Consensus-Based License Distribution in Virtualization Clusters
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Solution Overview
Problem
In cloud and server-based virtual computing environments, ensuring authorized licenses for virtual computing sessions while preventing 'double entitlement' situations, where a single license is improperly used across multiple sessions, is challenging due to limitations in existing licensing approaches that often require administrative interventions and can lead to double entitlement issues.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a license publishing server and a cluster of licensing servers using a consensus protocol to distribute and manage authorized licenses among geographically distributed virtualization servers, ensuring that licenses are only allocated based on available entitlements, with each licensing server fingerprinted for unique identification and encryption for secure communication.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If traditional licensing approaches are used to manage virtual computing session licenses, then license distribution can be simplified, but double entitlement situations occur where a single license is improperly used across multiple sessions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where licensing servers continuously monitor and report license usage status to a license manager. The system tracks the number of active virtual computing sessions and compares it against the licensed entitlement count, automatically stopping new session creations when the limit is reached. This closed-loop feedback system prevents double entitlement while maintaining automated license distribution.
2Reliability
If centralized license management is implemented to prevent double entitlement, then license authorization accuracy improves, but administrative overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables licensing servers to autonomously manage license distribution without requiring manual administrative intervention. The system automatically elects leader servers to coordinate with the license manager, self-regulates license allocation based on real-time session monitoring, and autonomously prevents double entitlement scenarios. This self-service approach maintains high authorization accuracy while minimizing administrative overhead.
3Reliability
If multiple licensing servers are deployed in a cluster to improve availability, then system reliability improves, but consensus coordination complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent inverts the traditional master-slave licensing architecture by allowing any licensing server in the cluster to potentially become the leader through democratic election. Rather than designating a fixed central authority, the system enables peer-to-peer coordination where servers take turns leading based on operational needs. This inversion simplifies consensus coordination while maintaining high availability across the distributed cluster.
4Measurement precision
If real-time license monitoring is implemented across distributed virtualization servers, then license compliance accuracy improves, but network communication overhead increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the centralized license monitoring function into distributed monitoring capabilities across multiple licensing servers in the cluster. Each server monitors local session creation requests and reports only relevant license usage data to the leader server, rather than continuously communicating with a central authority. This segmentation reduces network communication overhead while maintaining precise real-time license compliance tracking across the distributed virtualization environment.
Data Source
AI summary
A system may include a license publishing server, a plurality of licensing servers arranged in a cluster and configured to communicate with the license publishing server to obtain a given number of authorized licenses for virtual computing sessions associated with the cluster, and a plurality of geographically distributed virtualization servers configured to obtain authorized licenses from the plurality of licensing servers and run virtual computing sessions for client computing devices based upon the authorized licenses. The licensing servers may be configured to, based upon a consensus protocol, distribute the authorized licenses to the virtualization servers, reach an agreement among the licensing servers regarding whether a number of authorized licenses in use across the virtualization servers has exceeded the given number of authorized licenses, and cease to distribute authorized licenses to the virtualization servers based upon agreement that the number of authorized licenses in use has exceeded the given number.