Patent ID: 7801128
Filing Date: 2010-09-21
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method for managing data transmissions between a plurality of virtual machine nodes hosted on a network of multiple computing systems such that each of the computing systems hosts multiple of the virtual machine nodes, the method comprising: receiving definitions of multiple groups of nodes such that each group has multiple members that are each authorized to communicate with the other members of the node group, the multiple members of each group being multiple related virtual machine nodes from the plurality of virtual machine nodes; for each of multiple source virtual machine nodes that each initiate a transmission of data to a remote destination virtual machine node, and under control of the computing system hosting the source virtual machine node, permitting the transmission only if authorized by, for each of multiple destination virtual machine nodes to which a transmission of data is initiated from a remote source virtual machine node, and under control of the computing system hosting the destination virtual machine node, determining whether to authorize the transmission by: and wherein each of the computing systems hosts a single privileged virtual machine node that executes a data transmission manager program to control transmissions to and from all other virtual machine nodes hosted by the computing system by intercepting those transmissions and by forwarding those transmissions to intended recipients only if those transmissions are determined to be authorized, such that the permitting of an initiated transmission from a source virtual machine node under the control of the computing system hosting the source virtual machine node is performed by the data transmission manager program for that computing system, and such that the determining whether to authorize an initiated transmission to a destination virtual machine node under the control of the computing system hosting the destination virtual machine node is performed by the data transmission manager program for that computing system.