Virtual Identity Disk for Secure VM Provisioning
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
When generating multiple virtual machines (VMs), existing methods require creating and uploading unique identity information such as hostnames and secrets for each VM, which is resource-intensive and can lead to slow provisioning due to the need for large disk uploads and public cloud service API throttling, while also lacking secure and efficient mechanisms for identity management.
Innovation Solution
A method that retrieves identity data from a metadata service in the cloud environment, encrypts it using a data encryption key (DEK) or a virtual trusted platform module (vTPM), and writes it to a virtual identity disk, allowing VMs to securely access and update their identity information without requiring hypervisor or public cloud credentials.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If unique identity information is created and uploaded for each VM using traditional methods, then each VM can have its own hostname and secrets, but the provisioning process becomes resource-intensive and slow due to large disk uploads and API throttling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential identity data (hostname, secrets, passwords) from the full VM image and transfers only this minimal dataset to the metadata service. The VM then retrieves only the necessary identity information rather than receiving complete disk images, dramatically reducing data transfer volume and provisioning time while maintaining unique identity for each VM
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a traditional disk-based identity delivery model to a metadata service-based model. Instead of uploading identity data through disk attachment operations, the system uses a dedicated metadata service that stores and serves identity information through API calls, changing the dimensional approach from file-system-based to service-based delivery
2Ease of operation
If identity data is stored in accessible locations for VM runtime access, then VMs can update their identity information, but security risks increase without proper protection mechanisms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary anti-action by encrypting identity data with AES-256 encryption before storing it in the metadata service. This pre-encryption protects the data from unauthorized access while still allowing legitimate VMs to retrieve and decrypt their own identity information, thus preventing security vulnerabilities before they can occur
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary encryption layer between the metadata service and VM access. The encryption mechanism acts as a mediator that allows authorized VMs to access their identity data while blocking unauthorized access, thus enabling both accessibility and security simultaneously
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for initializing a virtual machine (VM) image is provided. The method includes steps of retrieving identity data from a metadata service implemented by a cloud environment; obtaining, from the cloud environment, a virtual identity disk assigned to a VM; and writing the identity data to the virtual identity disk assigned to the VM. The method may further comprise encrypting the identity data with a data encryption key (DEK) or a public key of a virtual trusted platform module (vTPM) responsive to the vTPM being available.