Secure Live Migration of Virtual Machines via IPSec Policies
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Solution Overview
Problem
Live migration of virtual machines (VMs) outside a secure computing environment introduces security vulnerabilities due to compromised data communications with other VMs in the secure environment.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for secure live migration of VMs, which involves selecting a VM for migration, blocking data communications, migrating it to a different environment, restarting it, and establishing a secure communicative link using IPSec policies to ensure secure data exchange.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a VM is live migrated outside the secure computing environment, then the VM can be moved to a different virtualized computing environment for maintenance or hardware improvement, but security vulnerabilities are introduced due to compromised data communications with other VMs in the secure environment
Solution Approach 1:
An IPSec policy is configured and applied to the VM before it is migrated out of the secure computing environment. This preliminary configuration ensures that security measures are in place prior to migration, preventing security vulnerabilities from being introduced during the migration process. The policy is transferred with the VM configuration, so the VM maintains secure communication capabilities regardless of its location.
2Reliability
If data communications are blocked during VM migration, then security is maintained, but communication between the VM and other VMs is interrupted
Solution Approach 1:
The IPSec policy is configured in advance before migration occurs, so that when the VM is moved and communications are temporarily blocked, security measures are already in place. This allows communications to be restored quickly after migration without compromising security, as the policy ensures secure communication channels are re-established automatically.
Solution Approach 2:
The IPSec policy acts as an intermediary security mechanism that mediates between the need for communication continuity and security requirements. It enables secure communication channels to be established between the migrated VM and other VMs, allowing data exchange to resume after migration while maintaining security integrity throughout the process.
Data Source
AI summary
In an embodiment of the invention, a method for secure live migration of a virtual machine (VM) in a virtualized computing environment can include selecting a VM in a secure virtualized computing environment for live migration to a different virtualized computing environment and blocking data communications with the selected VM and other VMs in the secure virtualized computing environment. The selected VM can be live migrated to the different virtualized computing environment and the VM can be restarted in the different virtualized computing environment. Notably, a secure communicative link can be established between the restarted VM and at least one other of the VMs in the secure virtualized computing environment. Finally, data communications between the restarted VM and the at least one other of the VMs can be enabled over the secure communicative link.