Patent ID: 9258262
Filing Date: 2016-02-09
CPC Classification: H04L

Claim Text:
1. A method for effecting communications between a trusted management process executing on a first computer system and a plurality of managed processes executing on one or more second computer systems in a distributed computing environment, the trusted management process and the managed processes being connected for electronic communications via a data communication network with a mailbox server executing on a third computer system, comprising the steps of: providing a mailbox server on a third computer system for communications between the trusted management process and the managed processes, the mailbox server hosting a first mailbox associated with a first managed process and a second mailbox associated with a second managed process, the first mailbox storing one or more messages used for communications between the trusted management process and the first managed process, the second mailbox storing one or more messages used for communications between the trusted management process and the second managed process, each message comprising a digital file stored within a mailbox on the mailbox server, each file within a mailbox having a file name and a predetermined data format that is specific to the type of message being communicated between the trusted management process and the managed process, the mailbox server controlling access to the files stored within each mailbox such that the files are accessible only to the managed process associated with the mailbox and the trusted management process; the mailbox server providing secure communications between the trusted management process and the managed processes by enforcing predetermined access control policies for each mailbox; the first managed process creating a mailbox on the mailbox server for use in communicating with the trusted management process using a universally unique identifier (UUID); the trusted management process scanning the mailboxes on the mailbox server at predetermined intervals to identify new mailboxes created by managed processes; the trusted management process sending a message to the first managed process by writing a file of a predetermined name and format to the mailbox of the first managed process; the first managed process accessing the message from the trusted management process by scanning the mailbox of the first managed process on the mailbox server for a file of the predetermined name at predetermined intervals, the first managed process sending a message to the trusted management process by writing a file of a predetermined name and format to the mailbox of the first managed process on the mailbox server; and the trusted management process receiving the message from the first managed process by the scanning the mailbox of the first managed process for a file of the predetermined name at predetermined intervals.