Stateless OS Volume Creation for Rapid Hardware Provisioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
The provisioning of computing devices with an operating system is time-consuming due to the need for the OS installer to identify and configure hardware-specific components, making it difficult to create bootable volumes across various hardware configurations.
Innovation Solution
The creation of 'stateless' operating system volumes that are independent of underlying hardware, using an OS image to construct volumes in memory and store ACPI tables for multiple hardware configurations, allowing for rapid provisioning across different hardware permutations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If the OS installer identifies and configures hardware-specific components, then the operating system can be properly installed on the hardware, but the provisioning time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-configuring the operating system volume with generic ACPI tables and device identifiers before deployment. The OS image is prepared in advance with placeholder hardware configurations that can be quickly replaced or adapted at runtime, eliminating the need for time-consuming hardware identification and configuration during provisioning. This allows the OS to be deployed rapidly while maintaining installation reliability through pre-validated configurations.
2Reliability
If the OS installer configures hardware-specific components, then the operating system works correctly on specific hardware, but it becomes difficult to create bootable volumes across various hardware configurations
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements universality by creating a single OS volume image that can boot and operate on multiple different hardware configurations. This is achieved by using generic ACPI tables and standardized device identifiers that are not tied to specific hardware. The OS image maintains hardware compatibility through universal configuration approaches while gaining the ability to be deployed across diverse hardware platforms without requiring hardware-specific customization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies parameter changes by modifying the ACPI tables and device identifiers within the OS volume to be generic rather than hardware-specific. By changing these configuration parameters from fixed hardware-dependent values to universal placeholders, the system achieves both hardware compatibility and deployment flexibility. The parameters can be dynamically adjusted or replaced at runtime to match the actual hardware configuration.
3Productivity
If stateless volumes are used for rapid provisioning, then provisioning time is reduced to seconds, but hardware-specific configurations may not be properly supported
Solution Approach 1:
The patent resolves this contradiction by performing preliminary configuration of essential OS components and generic hardware abstractions before deployment. The stateless volume is pre-configured with universal ACPI tables and device identifiers that enable immediate booting, achieving rapid provisioning. At the same time, the preliminary configuration includes mechanisms for runtime hardware detection and adaptation, ensuring that hardware-specific requirements are properly handled after the fast initial deployment.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples are provided for a device comprising a processor to create a volume in a memory. The volume may be based on an operating system (OS) image. The processor may: attach the OS image to a virtual machine, and attach the volume to the virtual machine as a disk of the virtual machine. The virtual machine may: boot using the attached OS image, determine a version of the attached OS image, determine a set of advanced configuration power management interface (ACPI) tables for different permutations of hardware, store the set of ACPI tables corresponding to the hardware permutations in the attached volume, and modify the attached volume to create a modified volume based on the set of ACPI tables. The modified volume is bootable by the different permutations of hardware. The processor may further store the modified volume on the storage device.