Virtual machine updates

{
  "publication_number": "US2013132945A1",
  "country": "US",
  "kind": "A1",
  "title": "Virtual machine updates",
  "abstract": "Various systems, processes, and products may be used to update virtual machines. In particular implementations, a system, process, and product for updating virtual machines may include the ability to determine whether a change to a portion of an operating system for a virtual machine is available and identify a virtual machine using the operating system. The system, process, and product may also include the ability to determine when the virtual machine is modifiable and update the portion of the operating system for the virtual machine when it is modifiable.",
  "claims": [
    "1. A system comprising: a number of virtual machines, each virtual machine including an operating system; and a server system comprising: memory storing the operating system and a change to a portion of the operating system; a virtualization engine operable to provide an interface between the virtual machines and the server system; and a processing system operable, according to the virtualization engine, to update the portion of the operating system for one of the virtual machines when the virtual machine is modifiable. 2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further operable to: determine whether a change to a portion of an operating system for a virtual machine is available; identify a virtual machine using the operating system; and determine when the virtual machine is modifiable. 3. The system of claim 2, wherein the processing system is further operable to associate the change with a portion of the operating system. 4. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further operable to: determine whether an additional virtual machine requires an update of the operating system; and determine whether the virtual machine is modifiable. 5. The system of claim 1, wherein the processing system is further operable to release the memory for the old portion of the operating system when the virtual machines using the operating system have been updated. 6. The system of claim 5, wherein updating the portion of the operating system comprises reading from disk blocks containing the changed portion when loading the operating system. 7. A method comprising: determining whether a change to a portion of an operating system for a virtual machine is available; identifying a virtual machine using the operating system; determining when the virtual machine is modifiable; and updating the portion of the operating system for the virtual machine when it is modifiable. 8. The method of claim 7, further comprising associating the change with a portion of the operating system. 9. The method of claim 7, further comprising: determining whether an additional virtual machine requires an update of the operating system; and determining whether the virtual machine is modifiable. 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising releasing the memory for the old portion of the operating system when the virtual machines using the operating system have been updated. 11. The method of claim 7, wherein updating the portion of the operating system comprises reading from disk blocks containing the changed portion when loading the operating system. 12. A computer program product for modifying numeric data presented on a display, the computer program product comprising: a computer readable storage medium; first program instructions to determine whether a change to a portion of an operating system for a virtual machine is available; second program instructions to identify a virtual machine using the operating system; third program instruction to determine when the virtual machine is modifiable; and fourth program instructions to update the portion of the operating system for the virtual machine when it is modifiable; wherein said program instructions are stored on said computer readable storage medium. 13. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising fifth program instructions to associate the change with a portion of the operating system. 14. The computer program product of claim 12, further comprising sixth program instructions to: determine whether an additional virtual machine requires an update of the operating system; and determine whether the virtual machine is modifiable. 15. The computer program product of claim 14, further comprising seventh program instructions to release the memory for the old portion of the operating system when the virtual machines using the operating system have been updated. 16. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein updating the portion of the operating system comprises reading from disk blocks containing the changed portion when loading the operating system."
  ],
  "description_excerpt": "The present invention relates to computer systems, and more particular to virtual machines.\n\nCloud computing often requires the ability to quickly scale computing resources as demands change. Virtual machines techniques, which are available from a number of companies, including International Business Machines of Armonk, N.Y. and VMWare Inc. of Palo Alto, Calif., allow a portion of a relatively large computer system to be formed into a smaller computer system for a specific purpose as needed. For instance, a portion of a server system may be formed into a Web server. Moreover, the smaller computer system may be replicated as needed to provide more computing resources. For instance, a large number of Web servers could be quickly formed from a first Web server. Thus, virtual machines may be implemented quickly and are quite useful in cloud computing environments.\n\nIn one implementation, a process for virtual machine updates may include determining whether a change to a portion of an operating system for a virtual machine is available and identifying a virtual machine using the operating system. The process may also include determining when the virtual machine is modifiable and updating the portion of the operating system for the virtual machine when it is modifiable. The process may, for example, be performed by a server system or computer program product.\n\nThe details and features of various implementations will be conveyed by the following description, along with the drawings.",
  "cpc": [
    "G06F 8/65",
    "G06F 9/45533"
  ],
  "ipc": [
    "G06F 9/455",
    "G06F 21/00",
    "G06F 9/26"
  ],
  "assignees": [
    "International Business Machines Corp"
  ],
  "inventors": [
    "Ray W. Anderson",
    "James A. Pafumi",
    "Jacob J. Rosales",
    "Vasu Vallabhaneni"
  ],
  "filing_date": "2011-11-17",
  "publication_date": "2013-05-23",
  "priority_date": "2011-11-17",
  "application_number": "US-201113298848-A",
  "family_id": "48428220",
  "cited_by_count": 14,
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}