Virtual Machine Migration for Secure Boot Processes
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing virtualization systems face challenges in securely managing sensitive data operations across multiple hosts, leading to increased costs due to over-provisioning of secured hosts, as malicious applications can exploit hypervisors to access sensitive data, and secure operations are constrained to specific hosts, limiting flexibility and efficiency.
Innovation Solution
Implement a method where virtual machines perform secure operations on standard hosts and migrate to secured hosts only when necessary, using security mechanisms like Trusted Platform Modules and specific policies to ensure data integrity and access control, allowing secure operations to be initiated and completed on secured hosts without constant over-provisioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If virtual machines are constrained to execute only on secured hosts for secure operations, then security is improved, but device complexity and operational costs increase due to over-provisioning of secured hosts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic migration of virtual machines between standard hosts and secured hosts based on operational requirements. Virtual machines can be migrated to secured hosts when secure operations are needed and returned to standard hosts when not needed, transforming the static host assignment into a dynamic, adaptive system that optimizes security while reducing the need for permanent over-provisioning of secured hosts
Solution Approach 2:
The system employs periodic or event-driven migration patterns where virtual machines are moved to secured hosts only during specific secure operations and remain on standard hosts during normal operations. This periodic action to secured hosts reduces the time virtual machines spend on secured hosts, thereby reducing the number of secured hosts needed while maintaining security when required
2Productivity
If virtual machines are migrated between hosts for secure operations, then resource utilization improves, but system complexity increases due to migration management
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a secure operation system as an intermediary layer that manages virtual machine migrations between standard hosts and secured hosts. This intermediary system handles the complexity of migration orchestration, host selection, and secure operation coordination, shielding users from the underlying complexity while enabling efficient resource utilization through dynamic migration
3Reliability
If secured hosts are used for all virtual machine operations, then security is maintained, but operational costs increase due to inability to migrate back to standard hosts
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements periodic migration patterns where virtual machines are moved to secured hosts only during secure operations and then migrated back to standard hosts for normal operations. This periodic action ensures security is maintained during critical operations while reducing operational costs by utilizing less expensive standard hosts during non-critical periods
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a dynamic host selection mechanism that adapts virtual machine placement based on security requirements. Virtual machines can dynamically transition between standard hosts and secured hosts, allowing the system to optimize the balance between security and operational costs rather than statically assigning all virtual machines to expensive secured hosts
Data Source
AI summary
In some examples, an indication that a virtual machine is to begin a boot process is received. In response to the received indication and prior to beginning the boot process, the virtual machine is migrated from a first host to a secured host, where the secured host includes a security mechanism to provide security that is unavailable at the first host. In response to the migrating, the boot process of the virtual machine is initiated at the secured host. The virtual machine is migrated from the secured host to a host other than the secured host in response to determining that the boot process of the virtual machine at the secured host is complete.