Patent ID: 8738822
Filing Date: 2014-05-27
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
1. A system, comprising: a component of a computer system, the component including a hardware device and a software application; a processor; a validator module for controlling the processor to generate a control identity, the control identity for binding together the component and the computer system; and a store for storing the control identity; wherein the validator module is arranged to define a binding configuration for the component, the binding configuration representing a weighted combination of a set of hardware elements and a set of software elements needed within the computer system for operation of the component, and is arranged to prompt the processor to establish whether instances of the hardware elements and software elements are present in the computer system; wherein the validator module assigns to each category of element that is established to be present an identity value and adds the identity value to data representing the binding configuration to define the control identity; wherein the binding configuration comprises a list of identifiers for each category of element, wherein the list of identifiers includes a weight value representing a level of difficulty to modify the category of elements, a volatility indicator representing an indication as to whether elements in the category may change during performance, and an essentiality indicator representing an essentiality of the category of elements for operation of the component, wherein the essentiality represents whether the component is operable without the category of elements; wherein the validator module causes the control identity to be transferred to the store; and wherein the validator module is arranged to cause the processor to generate a new control identity on each occasion that the component is loaded into the computer system; compare the new control identity with the previous the control identity for establishing whether the component may be permitted to operate in the computer system; and permit the component to operate in the computer system upon determining that elements identified as essential to the operability of the component are present in the computer system.