Distributed Digital Certificate Management for Cluster Authentication
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Solution Overview
Problem
In virtualized computing environments, communicating encryption keys from a key management service to hosts is insecure due to unencrypted network transmission and reliance on a management layer, which can be compromised or experience outages, making it difficult to manage and scale cryptographic operations across a cluster of hosts.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a distributed management and installation of digital certificates that allow hosts to bypass the management layer and directly communicate with the key management service, replicating configuration information across hosts to ensure secure and independent encryption key acquisition.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If hosts communicate with KMS through the management layer, then centralized control is maintained, but security is compromised due to potential interception and corruption of encryption keys during network transmission
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the encryption key transmission path from the management layer, allowing hosts to communicate directly with the KMS. This removes the management layer as an intermediary that could potentially intercept or corrupt keys, thereby improving security while maintaining the overall system architecture.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces digital certificates as a secure intermediary mechanism for authentication between hosts and the KMS. These certificates enable direct communication with enhanced security by verifying host identities without requiring the management layer to mediate key transmission.
2Reliability
If the management layer is used to distribute encryption keys, then centralized management is maintained, but service availability is reduced due to network outages affecting key distribution
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the key distribution function from the management layer, enabling hosts to obtain encryption keys directly from the KMS. This eliminates the single point of failure represented by the management layer, ensuring that network outages affecting the management layer do not prevent hosts from accessing cryptographic services.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the communication parameter from centralized (through management layer) to distributed (direct host-KMS communication). This parameter change allows the system to maintain service availability even when the management layer is unavailable, as each host can independently communicate with the KMS.
3Productivity
If digital certificates are centrally managed through the management layer, then configuration control is maintained, but scalability is reduced due to manual configuration requirements for each host
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables hosts to self-configure with digital certificates by allowing them to directly obtain and install certificates from the KMS without manual intervention. This self-service capability dramatically improves scalability, as new hosts can automatically integrate into the cryptographic infrastructure without requiring administrative configuration for each individual host.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by having the KMS pre-generate and make available digital certificates that hosts can automatically retrieve and install. This preliminary preparation of authentication credentials enables hosts to immediately participate in secure communications without requiring post-deployment configuration, thereby enhancing scalability.
Data Source
AI summary
Hosts in a cluster in a virtualized computing environment bypass a management layer when communicating with an external key management service (KMS). One of the hosts is configured with KMS configuration information (including digital certificate information) that enables the host to directly communicate with the KMS via a secure communication connection, instead of communicating with the KMS via the management layer. This KMS configuration information is replicated in a distributed manner from the host to the other hosts in the cluster, thereby enabling the other hosts in the cluster to also directly and independently communicate with the KMS to obtain encryption keys to perform cryptographic operations.