Virtual Machine Image Component Segmentation
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current virtual machine (VM) images in cloud computing are inefficient due to unnecessary component inclusion, slow instantiation, and security concerns, where users pay for unwanted components and face delays and security risks when using untrusted web services.
Innovation Solution
Decomposing VM images into components represented as a graph, allowing users to select trusted components and assemble a new VM image with pipeline processing, enabling flexible selection and composition of subgraphs from different VM images for efficient provisioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a complete VM image is instantiated to provide all required components, then all software components and services become available for use, but the instantiation time increases significantly and users pay for unnecessary components
Solution Approach 1:
The VM image is segmented into multiple independent components (operating system, database, web service, etc.) that can be selected and instantiated separately. Users can choose only the components they need rather than instantiating a complete pre-packaged image, thereby reducing instantiation time and avoiding payment for unnecessary components while ensuring all required components are available.
2Productivity
If a complete VM image is instantiated to ensure all components are available, then no additional assembly time is required, but users cannot selectively choose only needed components and must pay for the entire image
Solution Approach 1:
The VM image is divided into discrete selectable components, allowing users to assemble only the specific software components and services they need. This eliminates the requirement to pay for entire pre-packaged images while ensuring all necessary components are available for immediate use, thereby improving productivity and reducing licensing costs.
3Adaptability or versatility
If untrusted web services are included in VM images to provide complete functionality, then all required services are available, but security risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
Web services are segmented as independent selectable components within the VM image framework. Users can evaluate and select only trusted web services while excluding untrusted ones, maintaining service availability and adaptability while ensuring security through selective component assembly rather than accepting all services in a pre-packaged image.
4Speed
If frequently used VM images are cached locally to reduce instantiation time, then access speed improves, but storage space is consumed and images may become outdated
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of caching entire VM images locally, the system caches only individual component segments that are frequently used. This allows rapid assembly of VM images from cached components while consuming minimal storage space, and enables selective updates of individual components without requiring full image replacements, thereby improving access speed while managing storage efficiently.
Data Source
AI summary
An embodiment of the invention directed to a method for provisioning a specified virtual machine from one or more selected images, sent over the network, includes the step of decomposing each of the selected VM images to provide a group of components, each component having specified information associated with it. The method further includes using a predetermined selection criterion to select components from the group for assembly into a specified VM image, and using the selected components of the specified VM image to provision the specified virtual machine at one or more locations.