VM Proxy for Rapid Configuration Injection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional virtual machine provisioning in cloud computing environments is inefficient, requiring significant time for customization and setup, which is inconvenient for mission-critical applications that need rapid deployment of new virtual machines.
Innovation Solution
A proxy software agent operating within pre-staged virtual machines receives and applies user-specified configuration information, such as credentials and personalization settings, allowing for quick assignment and activation of virtual machines without manual configuration, using a pool of pre-staged virtual machines with default configurations.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If conventional virtual machine provisioning processes are used with manual customization, then configuration accuracy is improved, but provisioning time increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-configuring virtual machine templates with default settings, operating systems, and basic configurations before they are needed. This allows the virtualization manager to rapidly instantiate VMs from these pre-prepared templates, dramatically reducing provisioning time while maintaining configuration accuracy through automated parameter injection.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses an intermediary approach by introducing a configuration management system that acts as a mediator between the template repository and the virtualization environment. This intermediary automatically injects required configuration parameters into instantiated VMs, ensuring accuracy without manual intervention and maintaining fast provisioning speeds.
2Productivity
If pre-staged virtual machine templates are used with automated configuration injection, then provisioning speed is improved, but configuration flexibility may be reduced
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies dynamics by making the configuration system adaptable and flexible. The template repository stores configurable parameters that can be dynamically adjusted based on specific requirements. The configuration management system allows runtime modification of VM configurations, enabling the system to adapt to different needs while maintaining rapid provisioning through automated injection processes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses parameter changes by allowing configuration parameters to be modified and customized for different VM instantiation scenarios. The system supports changing parameters such as resource allocation, software versions, and configuration settings while maintaining the core template structure, thus preserving both provisioning speed and configuration flexibility.
3Manufacturing precision
If manual configuration customization is performed for each virtual machine, then configuration precision is improved, but operational complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by enabling the configuration management system to automatically handle VM configuration without manual intervention. The system self-injects configuration parameters, self-validates settings, and self-manages the provisioning process, thereby maintaining configuration precision while eliminating operational complexity associated with manual customization.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the complex configuration management tasks from the provisioning process and consolidates them into a dedicated configuration management system. This separation allows the core virtualization process to remain simple and fast, while the extraction of configuration complexity into a specialized subsystem handles precision requirements without adding operational burden to the overall system.
Data Source
AI summary
A proxy operating inside of a virtual machine that is responsible for receiving user-specified configuration information, such as credentials, and updating the configuration of the virtual machine with the user-specified values at the time of assigning the virtual machine to a user. Once the proxy updates the configuration of the virtual machine, the virtual machine is assigned the user that provided the user configuration information and the proxy can deactivate or uninstall itself from the virtual machine, such as by deleting all files, registry entries and other traces of execution.