Patent Publication Number: US-10334040-B2

Title: Sharing information between appliances over a wan via a distributed P2P protocol

Description:
CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS 
     This application is related to co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 14/702,387, filed on May 1, 2015, entitled “APPLIANCE FOR SHARING INFORMATION OVER A WAN VIA A DISTRIBUTED P2P PROTOCOL,” by Dave Shanley et al, and assigned to the assignee of the present application. 
     BACKGROUND 
     Oftentimes virtual computing environments include numerous computing devices in various geographical locations. As a result, it is cumbersome and complex to link all of the computing devices to one another such that a user, such as an IT administrator, is able to universally monitor the operational metrics of each of the computing devices in the various geographical locations. 
    
    
     
       BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS 
       The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and form a part of this specification, illustrate various embodiments and, together with the Description of Embodiments, serve to explain principles discussed below. The drawings referred to in this brief description of the drawings should not be understood as being drawn to scale unless specifically noted. 
         FIG. 1  depicts a block diagram of a virtual computing environment, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 2  depicts a block diagram of a host computing system, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 3  depicts a block diagram of an appliance, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 4  depicts a block diagram of a side-view of an appliance offered for sale, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 5  depicts a block diagram of a virtualization infrastructure, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 6  depicts a block diagram of a virtualization infrastructure, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 7  depicts a flow diagram for a method for automatic network configuration of a pre-configured hyper-converged computing device, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 8  depicts a block diagram of a cluster of appliances, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 9  depicts a block diagram of a network of appliances, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 10  depicts a flow diagram for a method for sharing information between pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices over a wide area network via a distributed peer-to-peer protocol, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 11  depicts a flow diagram for a method for sharing information between pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices over a wide area network via a distributed peer-to-peer protocol, according to various embodiments. 
         FIG. 12  depicts a flow diagram for a method for peer-to-peer communication outside of a local area network via a network broker, according to various embodiments. 
     
    
    
     DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF CERTAIN EMBODIMENTS 
     Reference will now be made in detail to various embodiments, examples of which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings. While various embodiments are discussed herein, it will be understood that they are not intended to be limiting. On the contrary, the presented embodiments are intended to cover alternatives, modifications and equivalents, which may be included within the spirit and scope the various embodiments as defined by the appended claims. Furthermore, in this Description of Embodiments, numerous specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding. However, embodiments may be practiced without one or more of these specific details. In other instances, well known methods, procedures, components, and circuits have not been described in detail as not to unnecessarily obscure aspects of the described embodiments. 
     I. Embodiments of Automatic Discovery of Pre-Configured Hyper-Converged Computing Devices 
       FIG. 1  depicts a block diagram that illustrates virtual computing environment (VCE)  100  (or virtualization infrastructure) that includes computing system  110  and virtualized environment  120 , according to various embodiments. In general, computing system  110  and virtualized environment  120  are communicatively coupled over a network such that computing system  110  may access functionality of virtualized environment  120 . 
     As will be described in further detail below, computing system  110  is implemented using virtualized environment  120 . Also, while implementing the business functionality, computing system  110  might use some of resources  122 . 
     In one embodiment, computing system  110  may be a system (e.g., enterprise system) or network that includes a combination of computer hardware and software. The corporation or enterprise utilizes the combination of hardware and software to organize and run its operations. To do this, system  110  uses resources  122  because system  110  typically does not have dedicated resources that can be given to the virtualized environment. For example, an enterprise system may provide various computing resource for various needs such as, but not limited to information technology (IT), security, email, etc. 
     In various embodiments, computing system  110  includes a plurality of devices  112 . The devices are any number of physical and/or virtual machines. For example, in one embodiment, computing system  110  is a corporate computing environment that includes tens of thousands of physical and/or virtual machines. It is understood that a virtual machine is implemented in virtualized environment  120  that includes one or some combination of physical computing machines. Virtualized environment  120  provides resources  122 , such as storage, memory, servers, CPUs, network switches, etc., that are the underlying hardware infrastructure for VCE  100 . 
     The physical and/or virtual machines may include a variety of operating systems and applications (e.g., operating system, word processing, etc.). The physical and/or virtual machines may have the same installed applications or may have different installed applications or software. The installed software may be one or more software applications from one or more vendors. 
     Each virtual machine may include a guest operating system and a guest file system. 
     Moreover, the virtual machines may be logically grouped. That is, a subset of virtual machines may be grouped together in a container (e.g., VMware vApp™). For example, three different virtual machines may be implemented for a particular workload. As such, the three different virtual machines are logically grouped together to facilitate in supporting the workload. The virtual machines in the logical group may execute instructions alone and/or in combination (e.g., distributed) with one another. Also, the container of virtual machines and/or individual virtual machines may be controlled by a virtual management system. The virtualization infrastructure may also include a plurality of virtual datacenters. In general, a virtual datacenter is an abstract pool of resources (e.g., memory, CPU, storage). It is understood that a virtual data center is implemented on one or some combination of physical machines. 
     In various embodiments, computing system  110  may be a cloud environment, built upon a virtualized environment  120 . Computing system  110  may be located in an Internet connected datacenter or a private cloud computing center coupled with one or more public and/or private networks. Computing system  110 , in one embodiment, typically couples with a virtual or physical entity in a computing environment through a network connection which may be a public network connection, private network connection, or some combination thereof. For example, a user may couple via an Internet connection with computing system  110  by accessing a web page or application presented by computing system  110  at a virtual or physical entity. 
     As will be described in further detail herein, the virtual machines are hosted by a host computing system. A host includes virtualization software that is installed on top of the hardware platform and supports a virtual machine execution space within which one or more virtual machines may be concurrently instantiated and executed. 
     In some embodiments, the virtualization software may be a hypervisor (e.g., a VMware ESX™ hypervisor, a VMware ESXi™ hypervisor, etc.) For example, if hypervisor is a VMware ESX™ hypervisor, then virtual functionality of the host is considered a VMware ESX™ server. 
     Additionally, a hypervisor or virtual machine monitor (VMM) is a piece of computer software, firmware or hardware that creates and runs virtual machines. A computer on which a hypervisor is running one or more virtual machines is defined as a host machine. Each virtual machine is called a guest machine. The hypervisor presents the guest operating systems with a virtual operating platform and manages the execution of the guest operating systems. Additional details regarding embodiments of structure and functionality of a host computer system are provided with respect to  FIG. 2 . 
     During use, the virtual machines perform various workloads. For example, the virtual machines perform the workloads based on executing various applications. The virtual machines can perform various workloads separately and/or in combination with one another. 
     Example Host Computer System 
       FIG. 2  is a schematic diagram that illustrates a virtualized computer system that is configured to carry out one or more embodiments of the present invention. The virtualized computer system is implemented in a host computer system  200  including hardware platform  230 . In one embodiment, host computer system  200  is constructed on a conventional, typically server-class, hardware platform. 
     Hardware platform  230  includes one or more central processing units (CPUs)  232 , system memory  234 , and storage  236 . Hardware platform  230  may also include one or more network interface controllers (NICs) that connect host computer system  200  to a network, and one or more host bus adapters (HBAs) that connect host computer system  200  to a persistent storage unit. 
     Hypervisor  220  is installed on top of hardware platform  230  and supports a virtual machine execution space within which one or more virtual machines (VMs) may be concurrently instantiated and executed. Each virtual machine implements a virtual hardware platform that supports the installation of a guest operating system (OS) which is capable of executing applications. For example, virtual hardware  224  for virtual machine  210  supports the installation of guest OS  214  which is capable of executing applications  212  within virtual machine  210 . 
     Guest OS  214  may be any of the well-known commodity operating systems, and includes a native file system layer, for example, either an NTFS or an ext3FS type file system layer. IOs issued by guest OS  214  through the native file system layer appear to guest OS  214  as being routed to one or more virtual disks provisioned for virtual machine  210  for final execution, but such IOs are, in reality, reprocessed by IO stack  226  of hypervisor  220  and the reprocessed IOs are issued, for example, through an HBA to a storage system. 
     Virtual machine monitor (VMM)  222  and  222 n may be considered separate virtualization components between the virtual machines and hypervisor  220  (which, in such a conception, may itself be considered a virtualization “kernel” component) since there exists a separate VMM for each instantiated VM. Alternatively, each VMM may be considered to be a component of its corresponding virtual machine since such VMM includes the hardware emulation components for the virtual machine. It should also be recognized that the techniques described herein are also applicable to hosted virtualized computer systems. Furthermore, although benefits that are achieved may be different, the techniques described herein may be applied to certain non-virtualized computer systems. 
     Examples of an Appliance 
       FIG. 3  depicts an embodiment of appliance  300 . Appliance  300  is a computing device that includes the requisite physical hardware and software to create and manage a virtualization infrastructure. Appliance  300  is also referred to herein as a pre-configured hyper-converged computing device. In general, a hyper-converged computing device includes pretested, pre-configured and pre-integrated storage, server and network components, including software, that are located in an enclosure. Moreover, the hyper-converged computing device includes a hypervisor that supports a virtualization infrastructure. 
     Based on the pre-configured hardware and software disposed within appliance  300 , appliance  300  enables a user to simply and quickly create a virtualization infrastructure and deploy virtual machines shortly after the appliance is powered on for the first time. 
     Appliance  300  includes, among other things, at least one server node. For example, server nodes  310 - 1  through server node  310 -n. Server node  310 - 1  includes a central processing unit (CPU)  311 , memory  312 , and storage  313 . It should be appreciated that other server nodes (i.e., server node  310 -n) each include a CPU, memory, and storage similar to server node  310 -n. 
     Additionally, each server node includes a hypervisor. For example, server node  310 - 1  includes hypervisor  314  and server node  310 -n includes hypervisor  322 . 
     As described above, a hypervisor is installed on top of hardware platform (e.g., CPU, memory and storage) and supports a virtual machine execution space within which one or more virtual machines (VMs) may be concurrently instantiated and executed. 
     In various embodiments, a hypervisor (e.g., hypervisor  314  and  322 ) is VMware ESX™ hypervisor or a VMware ESXi™ hypervisor. It is noted that “ESX” is derived from the term “Elastic Sky X” coined by VMware™. Additionally, as stated above, if hypervisor is a VMware ESX™ hypervisor, then virtual functionality of the host is considered a VMware ESX™ server. Moreover, although the node is physical hardware it includes hypervisor functionality based on the hypervisor implemented on the server node. 
     Appliance  300  is scalable. That is appliance can be scaled to include more than one server node. For example, appliance  300  can initially have a single server node. However, additional server nodes may be included in appliance  300 . 
     In one embodiment, appliance  300  is able to deploy a plurality of virtual machines in the virtualization infrastructure. For example, based on the hardware and software incorporated in appliance  300 , appliance  300  is able to deploy pre-set number of virtual machines (e.g., 75 virtual machines, 150 virtual machines, etc.). 
     Moreover, each server node may be considered a server or host computing system. That is, each server node is able to independently host a number of virtual machines. For example, server node  310 - 1  is able to host a first set of virtual machines, while other server nodes are each able to independently host other sets of virtual machines, respectively. 
     The server nodes are independent of one another, and are not required to share any functionality with one another. Appliance  300  does not include a backplane. As such, the server nodes are isolated from one another and therefore independent of one another. 
     CPU  311  may be, but is not limited to, a dual socket CPU (e.g., Intel Xeon™ CPUs, 4-core to 6-core). 
     Memory  312  may be, but is not limited to, 128 gigabytes (GB). 
     Storage may be, but is not limited to, three drive slots per node. Such as a solid state drive (SSD) (e.g., an SSD up to 800 GB), and two hard disk drives (HDD) (e.g., HDDs up to 8 terabytes (TB)). 
     Additionally, the appliance may include various external interfaces, such as but not limited to, serial, network RJ-45 (10000 NIC), graphics, management RJ-45 (100/10000 NIC), power (in front and in rear), UID (in front and in rear) and a USB. 
     The appliance may also include Component Interconnect Express (PCIe) expansion slots, and a disk controller with pass through capabilities. It should be appreciated that the appliance may include other hardware attributes that are compatible with supporting a virtualization infrastructure. 
     In one embodiment, appliance  300  is a rackable 2U/4Node appliance. That is, appliance  300  is two rack units in height and includes four server nodes (e.g., server nodes  310 - 1  through  310 -n). 
     The size of a piece of rack-mounted equipment is described as a number in “U” or “RU” (rack unit). One rack unit is often referred to as “1 U”, 2 rack units as “2U” and so on. “U” is a unit of measure that describes the height of equipment designed to mount in a rack (e.g., 19-inch rack or a 23-inch rack). The 19-inch (482.6 mm) or 23-inch (584.2 mm) dimension refers to the width of the equipment mounting frame in the rack including the frame. In some instances, one rack unit is 1.75 inches (4.445 cm) high. 
     In another embodiment, appliance  300  is a 4U/4Node appliance. That is, appliance  300  is four rack units in height and includes 4 server nodes (e.g., server nodes  310 - 1  through  310 -n). 
     Appliance  300  includes software to support a virtualization infrastructure. That is, appliance  300  includes code or instructions stored on physical hardware in appliance  300 , that when executed by a processor, supports a virtualization infrastructure. For instance, appliance  300  includes pre-configured software module  320 . 
     It should be appreciated that the software installed on appliance  300  (e.g., software module  320 ) is stored in a storage device. In various embodiments, the software may be installed in a single server node or may be distributed in various server nodes. In another embodiment, the software may be stored in a storage device within appliance  300  but is outside of the server nodes. 
     During operation of the appliance, the software may be executed by one or more CPUs in a single server node or the execution may be distributed amongst various CPUs in various server nodes. 
     It should be appreciated that software module  320 , in one embodiment, includes a suite of software tools for cloud computing (e.g., VMware vSphere™, VCenter™) that utilizes various components such as a VMware ESX/ESXi hypervisor. Accordingly, software module  320  may be a controlling module for at least appliance  300  based on the controlling software tools (e.g., VMware vSphere™, VCenter™). 
     Software module  320 , in one embodiment, includes a centralized management tool for an appliance or a cluster of appliances, which will be described in further detail below. The centralized management tool, in one embodiment, is for the management of multiple ESX hosts and virtual machines (VMs) from different ESX hosts through a single console application. It should be appreciated that the virtualization infrastructure, or portions of the virtualization infrastructure may be managed by the centralized management tool via a user interface. Additionally, the centralized management tool manages or controls the hypervisors in appliance  300 . For example, the centralized management tool controls the hypervisor it runs in (e.g., hypervisor  322 ) and controls the other hypervisors (e.g., hypervisor  314 ) in the other nodes (e.g., server node  310 - 1 ). The centralized management tool may also include a federated SSO module and auto-discovery module which are described in further detail below. The centralized management tool, in one embodiment, is centralized management tool  830  as described herein with at least reference to  FIG. 8 . 
     Software module  320  includes storage block  324 . Storage block  324  is a logical partition of storage (e.g., storage  313 ) in appliance  300 . In other words, storage block  324  is virtual storage. In one embodiment, storage block  314  is a virtual storage area network (VSAN). As a result, the VSAN allows traffic to be isolated within specific portions of a storage area network. 
     Various advantages occur due to the storage block integrated with the hypervisor. In one example, the VSAN communicates with the ESX layer at a kernel level and is not required to communicate over a network via an Ethernet connection. As such, communication latency between the storage block and hypervisor is reduced. 
     GUI module  326  is code or instructions that enable the utilization of a graphical user interface to creating and managing appliances (e.g., ESX hosts) and virtual machines of the virtualization infrastructure. The graphical user interface is described in further detail below. 
     It is noted that software module  320  is proprietary software of a single entity (e.g., VMware™). For example, hypervisor  322 , storage block  324 , and GUI module  326  are proprietary software code to a single entity. That is, hypervisor  322 , storage block  324 , and GUI module  326  are not open source code, and therefore require a license agreement between the licensor (e.g., VMware™) and a purchaser of the appliance that includes the proprietary software module. In one embodiment, the license agreement is an end-user license agreement (EULA). The EULA establishes the purchaser&#39;s right to use the software (e.g., software module  320 ) and the hardware of appliance  300 . 
       FIG. 4  depicts an embodiment of a side-view of an appliance offered for sale. In one embodiment, appliance  300  is offered for sale as a single stock keeping unit (SKU). For example, appliance  300  is disposed in packaging  400  and SKU  410  is on packaging  400 . Accordingly, appliance  300  is offered for sale as a single SKU. 
     More specifically, appliance  300 , as described herein, is pre-configured with the requisite hardware and software for employing a virtualization infrastructure. Therefore, subsequent the purchase of appliance  300  as a single SKU, appliance  300  is not required to include any additional hardware and/or software to support and manage a virtualization infrastructure. 
     Upon powering on appliance  300  for the first time, a single EULA is displayed to an end-user. Because software module  320  is proprietary to a single entity (e.g., VMware™), only a single EULA, provided by the single entity, is displayed to the purchasing end-user. More specifically, at least hypervisor  322  (e.g., ESX/ESXi hypervisor) and storage block  324  (e.g., VSAN) are proprietary to a single entity (e.g., VMware™). Therefore, only a single EULA pertaining to hypervisor  322  and storage block  324  is displayed and provided to an end-user. 
     Upon acceptance of the EULA, appliance  300  is enabled to operate and manage a virtualization infrastructure, and deploy virtual machines in the virtualization infrastructure. 
     It should be appreciated that upon first powering on appliance  300  and accepting the single EULA, a virtualization infrastructure is able to be rapidly created and a virtual machine is able to be deployed within the virtualization infrastructure within minutes (e.g., 15 minutes). Moreover, the virtualization infrastructure is able to be managed and controlled by an end-user that is not required to have high-level IT administrative training and experience. 
     In one embodiment, appliance  300  is able to deploy a plurality of virtual machines in the virtualization infrastructure. For example, based on the hardware and software incorporated in appliance  300 , appliance  300  is able to deploy pre-set number of virtual machines (e.g., 75 virtual machines, 150 virtual machines, etc.). 
     Examples of Virtualization Infrastructures 
       FIG. 5  depicts an embodiment of various appliances supporting virtualization infrastructure  500 . 
     In one embodiment, appliances may be grouped together to increase the functionality of creating and managing a virtualization infrastructure. For example, appliance  510 - 1  was initially utilized to deploy a plurality of virtual machines, at location  510 . However, additional virtual machines were desired but appliance  510 - 1 , alone, was not able to meet the demand for the desired additional virtual machines. As such, additional appliances  510 - 2 ,  510 - 3 , and  510 - 4  were purchased and grouped together to meet the demand of the additional virtual machines. In particular, the cluster of appliances which are communicatively coupled together, act as a single platform for managing the virtualization infrastructure and deploying virtual machines. 
     Similarly, appliance  520 - 1  was initially utilized to deploy a plurality of virtual machines, at location  520 . However, additional virtual machines were desired but appliance  520 - 1 , alone, was not able to meet the demand for the desired additional virtual machines. As such, additional appliance  520 - 2  was purchased and grouped together with appliance  520 - 1  to meet the demand of the additional virtual machines. 
     It should be appreciated that any number of appliances may be grouped together. For example, two, three, four, five or more appliances may be grouped together provided that the functionality of the appliances, as a whole, are able to act as a single platform for managing the virtualization infrastructure. 
     Additionally, the appliances and/or clusters of appliances may be located at various locations. For example, a first cluster of appliances may be located at a main office of an enterprise, while a second cluster of appliances are located at a remote office/branch office (ROBO). 
     In another example, virtualization infrastructure  500  is a virtualization infrastructure of a large enterprise having various building and infrastructure at various geo-locations. In such an example, information technology (IT) is located at a first location (e.g., location  510 ), an engineering team is located at a second location (e.g., location  520 ) and sales team is located at location  530 . 
     Accordingly, appliances  510 - 1  through  510 - 4  may be grouped together at a first location  510  to support the demand for virtual machines of the IT team, appliances  510 - 1  and  510 - 2  are grouped together at location  520  to support the demand of virtual machines for the engineering team, and appliance  530 - 1  is located at location  530  to support the demand of virtual machines for the sales team. 
     As will be described in further detail below, GUI module  326  enables a GUI to facilitate the creating and managing of hosts and virtual machines. Moreover, the GUI is able to facilitate in managing the virtualization infrastructure by displaying the attributes of the appliances. For example, the GUI would display the particular health, resources used, and the like, for each of the appliances in virtualization infrastructure  500 . 
     Embodiments of Auto-Discovery of Appliances in a Network 
       FIG. 6  depicts an embodiment of network  600  (or virtualization infrastructure). 
     Network  600  may include one or more appliances. For example, network  600  may include various appliances that are grouped together in a cluster and/or stand-alone. 
     Network  600 , in one embodiment, includes appliance cluster  610  that includes appliances  610 - 1  through  610 -n. Appliances  610 - 1  through  610 -n are communicatively coupled and act as a single platform for managing the virtualization infrastructure and deploying virtual machines. 
     Additionally, network  600  may include stand-alone appliances such as appliance  620 . Appliance  620  is independent to other clusters and other stand-alone appliances. 
     It is noted that appliances in network  600  (stand-alone appliances and/or clustered appliances) are authenticated and configured to function within network  600 . 
     It may be desired that additional appliances are added to network  600  either as a stand-alone appliance or part of an existing appliance cluster to increase the functionality of the virtualization infrastructure. Moreover, the auto-discovery of other appliances that are authenticated and configured for use in the network is beneficial to the overall management of the appliances and network. 
     Referring still to  FIG. 6 , appliance  630  is intended to be added to network  600 . Appliance  630  is initially communicatively coupled to network  600  (prior to being authenticated and configured to be included in network  600 ). 
     Appliance  630  automatically broadcasts an auto-discovery request  632  over network  600  to appliances within network  600  (e.g., appliances  610 - 1  through  610 -n and appliance  620 ). The auto-discovery request by appliance  630  is provided by, but is not limited to, multicast Domain Name System (MDNS) broadcasting, or Domain Name System-Service Discovery (DNS-SD). In one embodiment, the broadcasted auto-discovery request is supported by Internet Protocol version 4 (IPv4). 
     It is noted that it may desired that a plurality of appliances are to be added to network  600  at substantially the same time. As such, an auto-discovery request is multicasted by one or more of appliances (that are intended to be added to the network) over network  600  to appliances within network  600 . In one embodiment, the multicasted auto-discovery request is supported by Internet Protocol version 6 (IPv6). It should be appreciated that each appliance includes an auto-discovery agent (e.g., auto discovery agent  832 - 1 ) to implement the auto-discovery described herein. 
     Appliance  630  may broadcast auto-discovery request  632  at various times during operation. For example, auto-discovery request  632  may be broadcasted upon initial powering on of appliance  630 , during initial operation of appliance  630 , or when appliance  630  is initially communicatively coupled to network  600  (but not authenticated or configured to operate within network  600 . 
     Auto-discovery request  632  includes a service type. For example, request  632  includes a request for devices (or appliances) that are pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices. In one embodiment, the service type in request  632  is the same as the service type of appliance  630  (e.g., pre-configured hyper-converged computing device). 
     As will be described in further detail below, appliances have a unique identifier. The unique identifier includes the service type of the particular appliance. As such, in one embodiment, auto-discovery request  632  includes a portion of the unique identifier of the appliance. 
     It should be appreciated that a service type may be an identifier that is associated with a service provided within a node of an appliance. The auto-discovery request is directed at a specific service type to locate only the nodes of interest. In one or more embodiments, the service type may be registered with the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority (IANA). 
     Appliances within network  600  provide responses  634  to auto-discovery request  632  by appliance  630 . Appliances in network  600  that receive the auto-discovery request may be required to respond to the auto-discovery request. In particular, the appliances having the same service type as the service type in auto-discovery request  632  provide responses  634 . 
     In one or more embodiments, an auto-discovery request may be implemented using a zeroconf (zero-configuration networking) protocol or other similar protocol where a node or a service broadcasts over a multicast protocol. 
     If a stand-alone appliance, such as appliance  620 , in network  600  receives the auto-discovery request then the stand-alone appliance provides a response. If appliances in a cluster receive the auto-discovery request, then one or more appliances in the cluster provide a response indicating that they are in a cluster of appliances. 
     Responses  634  are accessed by appliance  630  and indicate the appliances that are authenticated and configured to operate in network  600 . 
     In one embodiment, responses  634  are obtained and displayed for viewing by a user, such as an IT administrator for network  600 . The user may then select for appliance  630  to join a cluster, such as cluster  610 , or join network  600  as a stand-alone appliance. 
     In another embodiment, appliance  630  may automatically decide to join a cluster, such as cluster  610 , or join network  600  as a stand-alone appliance. The automatic decision may be based on which appliances in network  600  that are most similar to appliance  630 . 
     Examples of Authentication and Configuration of an Appliance in a Network 
       FIG. 7  depicts a flow diagram  700  for a method for automatic configuration of an appliance. Network  710  includes appliances  712 . Network  710  is similar to network  600 , as described above. As such, appliances  712  are similar to appliances in network  600 . In particular, appliance  714  is similar to appliance  630  in that it is desired that appliance  714  is to be configured for network  710 . 
     At  720 , appliance  714  broadcasts an auto-discovery request to appliances  712  in network  710 . The broadcast by appliance  714  is the same as the broadcast of appliance  630  described herein. 
     At  721 , appliances  712  that receive the auto-discovery request provide responses to appliance  714 . The responses are the same as responses  634  described herein. 
     At  722 , it is decided that appliance  714  will join the network, either as a stand-alone appliance, joining an existing appliance cluster, or creating a new cluster with an existing stand-alone device. 
     At  723 , appliance is authenticated with network  710  and appliance  714  requests network configuration information from appliances already configured in network  712 . The configuration information can be any information the enables appliance  714  to be configured in network  710 . For example, configuration information can be, but is not limited to, internet protocol (IP) addresses, virtual local area network identification (VLAN IDs), etc. 
     The authentication is any secured authentication protocol, such as an authentication that utilizes a shared key. 
     At  724 , network configuration information is sent to appliance  714  from one or more appliances  712 . 
     At  725 , appliance  714  automatically performs the network configuration such that it is configured to be a part of network  710 . 
     II. Embodiments of Sharing Information Between Appliances Over a Wide Area Network Via a Distributed Peer-to-Peer Protocol 
     As will be described in further detail herein, appliances or clusters of appliances, located in various geographical locations, are able to communicate with each other via a peer-to-peer protocol over a wide area network. As a result, among other things, there is no single point of failure for sharing the information (e.g., performance metrics) between appliances or clusters of appliances. Moreover, there is no single point of failure for accessing and viewing the information over the wide area network. 
     Examples of a Cluster of Appliances 
       FIG. 8  depicts an embodiment of cluster  800  of appliances  810 - 1  through  810 -n. It should be appreciated that cluster  800  is similar to other cluster of appliances, as described herein, such as cluster  610 . However, cluster  800  enables, among other things, communication with other clusters (at various geographical locations) via a peer-to-peer protocol over a wide area network. In one embodiment, a cluster includes one appliance. 
     In general, a cluster of appliances are communicatively coupled together and act as a single platform for managing the virtualization infrastructure and deploying virtual machines. It should be appreciated that any number of appliances may be grouped together. For example, two, three, four, five or more appliances may be grouped together provided that the functionality of the appliances, as a whole, are able to act as a single platform for managing the virtualization infrastructure. 
     Appliances  810 - 1  through  810 -n are similar to other appliances or hyper-converged computing devices, as described herein, such as, appliance  300 . However, appliances  810 - 1  through  810 -n are able to communicate with other appliances or clusters of appliances (at various geographical locations) via a peer-to-peer protocol over a wide area network. 
     Appliance  810 - 1  includes server nodes  820 - 1  through  820 -n. Appliance  810 - 1  can include one server node or can include numerous server nodes. In one embodiment, appliance  810 - 1  includes four independent server nodes. 
     Each server node includes a CPU (e.g., CPU  311 ), memory (e.g., memory  312 ), storage (e.g., storage  313 ) and a software module (e.g., pre-configured software module  320 ). For brevity and clarity, the CPU, memory, storage and software module are not depicted in  FIG. 8 . It is noted that additional description of these features are provided with respect to at least  FIG. 3 . 
     Additionally, each server node in an appliance includes an auto-discovery agent. For example, server node  820 - 1  includes auto discovery agent  832 - 1  and server node  820 -n includes auto-discovery agent  832 -n. 
     An auto-discovery agent provides auto-discovery of other appliances in a network, such as a local area network (LAN). Referring to  FIG. 6 , the auto-discovery agent would enable appliance  630  to send auto-discovery request  632  to network  600  and receive responses  634  from the appliances and/or clusters of appliances for auto-discovery of the appliances and/or cluster of appliances in network  600 . 
     Similarly, referring to  FIG. 7 , the auto-discovery agent enables appliance  714  to automatically discover appliances  712  in network  710 , as described in detail herein. 
     In various embodiments, the auto-discovery agent is able to automatically discover other appliances and/or clusters of appliances in a local area network. However, in other embodiments, the auto-discovery agent is only able to automatically discover other appliances and/or clusters of appliances in the local area network that it is connected to or in communication with. That is, the auto-discovery agent is able to locate appliances/clusters of appliances in a first site (e.g., first geographical location, local area network) but unable to or not required to discover appliances/clusters of appliances in other sites (e.g., other geographical locations, other local area networks) connected to the first local network via wide area network (WAN). 
     Appliance  810 - 1  includes centralized management tool  830  for managing appliance  810 - 1  and/or cluster  800  of appliances. The centralized management tool, in one embodiment, is for the management of multiple ESX hosts and virtual machines (VMs) from different ESX hosts through a single console application. It should be appreciated that the virtualization infrastructure, or portions of the virtualization infrastructure (e.g., clusters of appliances, appliances, server nodes) may be managed by the centralized management tool via a user interface. 
     In one embodiment, centralized management tool  830  is included in a pre-configured software module (not shown) on one of the server nodes of the appliances, such as server node  820 - 1 . 
     Centralized management tool  830  includes auto-discovery agent  832  which is for auto-discovery of other appliances and/or clusters of appliances, as described in detail herein. 
     Centralized management tool  830  also includes peer-to-peer (P2P) communication agent  834 . In general, P2P communication agent  834  enables P2P communication between clusters of appliances, appliances or server nodes within a first LAN or geographical location to communicate with other clusters of appliances, appliances or server nodes within a second LAN or geographical location over a WAN. 
     The P2P protocol utilized by P2P communication agent  834  is a distributed P2P protocol. As a result, there is no centralized communication system that controls or manages the communication between the appliances over the WAN (which is in contrast to a conventional client-server model). In other words, the distributed P2P protocol provides for no single point of failure of communication between the appliances over the WAN. 
     The P2P protocol can be, but is not limited to a gossip P2P protocol. 
     The information communicated between the appliances via the P2P protocol can be, but is not limited to health metrics of the nodes/appliances, instructions, etc. For example, the health metrics can be, but are not limited to, CPU usage, memory usage, and/or storage usage pertaining to a server node, appliance and/or cluster of appliances, monitoring metrics, and networking metrics. 
     In another example, the information is updated software, such as an upgraded version of an ESX server. 
     In a further example, the information is instructions to put clusters, appliances and/or nodes into maintenance mode. 
     As a result, any information provided at a device (e.g. a server node) in network  900  is distributed, via the P2P protocol, to each and every functioning cluster, appliance and/or node that is communicatively coupled to sending device. 
     Examples of Clusters of Appliances in a Network 
       FIG. 9  depicts network  900  of clusters of appliances in disparate locations. As will be discussed in further detail below, the various appliances in network  900  located in various geographical locations are able to communicate with one another via a P2P protocol. As a result, information is communicated between appliances in various geographical locations without a single point of failure (or without a centralized network node such as in a conventional client-server network communication model). 
     Additionally, the information is communicated between appliances in various geographical locations without requiring the centralized management tools of the clusters of appliances being aware of each other. That is, clusters of appliances in a first location are not linked to or federated with clusters of appliances in a second location. More specifically, although the clusters of appliances in various geographical locations may communicate with each other via a P2P protocol, the clusters of appliances in various geographical locations are not linked in such a way as to enable load balancing between one another. 
     Network  900  includes location  910  and location  912 . Location  910  includes cluster  920 - 1  of appliances through cluster  920 -n of appliances, and location  912  includes cluster  922 - 1  of appliances through cluster  922 -n of appliances. It should be appreciated that location  910  is scalable to include any number of clusters such as a single cluster to any number of clusters. Similarly, location  912  is scalable to include any number of clusters such as a single cluster to any number of clusters. 
     Moreover, network  900  depicts two separate or disparate geographical locations (i.e., location  910  and location  912 ). However, network  900  is scalable such that it can include any number of locations. 
     The locations in network  900 , in various embodiments, are LANs. For example, network  900  is a WAN. As such, location  910  is a first LAN and location  912  is a second LAN, wherein the LANs are communicatively coupled via the WAN. 
     In various embodiments, network  900  or WAN can be, but is not limited to, a public network (e.g., internet) or a private network. Additionally, network  900  can be a private, public or hybrid cloud. 
     It should be appreciated that clusters depicted in network  900 , as depicted in  FIG. 9 , such as cluster  920 - 1  and  922 - 1  are similar to at least cluster  800  described herein. 
     Moreover, nodes depicted in  FIG. 9 , such as nodes  930 - 1  through  930 -n and nodes  932 - 1  through nodes  932 -n, are similar to the nodes of cluster  800 , such as server node  820 - 1 , as described herein. For example, one or more appliances include the server nodes in network  900 , wherein each server node includes an auto-discovery agent, such as auto-discovery agent  832 - 1 . 
     As described above, the various appliances in network  900  located in various geographical locations are able to communicate with one another via a P2P protocol. More specifically, any node in an appliance located in a first location is able communicate with any other node in another location via a P2P protocol. 
     For example, node  930 - 1  (at location  910 ) is able to transmit information, via P2P communication agent  933 - 1 , to node  931 - 1  of cluster  922 - 1  (at location  912 ), which is able to receive the information via P2P communication agent  935 - 1 . 
     Similarly, node  930 - 1  (at location  910 ) is able to transmit information, via P2P communication agent  933 - 1 , to a node of cluster  922 -n (at location  912 ), which is able to receive the information via P2P communication agent  935 -n. 
     In another example, node  930 -n (at location  910 ) is able to transmit information, via P2P communication agent  933 -n, to node  931 - 1  of cluster  922 - 1  (at location  912 ), which is able to receive the information via P2P communication agent  935 - 1 . 
     Similarly, node  930 -n (at location  910 ) is able to transmit information, via P2P communication agent  933 -n, to a node of cluster  922 -n (at location  912 ), which is able to receive the information via P2P communication agent  935 -n. 
     Moreover, the appliances are able to transmit information to other appliances within the same geographical location or LAN. For example, node  930 - 1  (at location  910 ) is able to transmit information to any nodes in cluster  920 -n (at location  910 ). 
     It should be appreciated that prior to the sharing of information between appliances, the appliances are able to automatically discover other appliances in a location via an auto-discovery agent, such as auto-discovery agent  832 - 1 . For example, nodes in cluster  920 -n are able to discover nodes  930 - 1  through  930 -n of cluster  920 - 1  via auto-discovery agents in the nodes of cluster  920 -n. 
     In various embodiments, clusters, appliances, and/or nodes (or hosts) are able to locate a broker in the same manner as auto-discovery of appliances, described herein. For example, clusters/appliances/nodes in location  910  are able to auto-discover broker  950 - 1  via an auto-discovery agent. Similarly, clusters/appliances/nodes in location  912  are able to auto-discover broker  950 - 2  via an auto-discovery agent. The brokers may be auto-discoverable while in a public network or in a private or closed network. 
     Network  900  includes broker  950 - 1  and  950 - 2  which may reside in a demilitarized zone (DMZ). For example, broker  950 - 1  resides in DMZ  940 - 1  and broker  950 - 2  resides in DMZ  940 - 2 . 
     In general, a DMZ (or a perimeter network) is a physical or logical subnetwork that contains and exposes external-facing services to a larger and untrusted network, such as the Internet. The purpose of a DMZ is to add an additional layer of security to a LAN. As a result, there is only access to equipment in the DMZ, rather than any other part of the network. 
     Since the brokers are in a DMZ they are not in a LAN. As such, the brokers are not discoverable via auto-discovery. However, in order for network  900  to function properly, each centralized management tool is configured to know about at least one broker. Additionally, each broker is known to appliances in at least two LANs. 
     Alternatively, a broker may be in a LAN. In such a scenario, it either provides a path to a broker that is or itself is in contact with appliances in another LAN. 
     Broker  950 - 1  and broker  950 - 2  are communicatively coupled to exchange  960 . As a result, information is able to be shared between location  910  and location  912  via the distributed P2P protocol. The brokers may include manual firewall and configuration. 
     For example, when nodes in cluster  920 - 1  share information with one another (via the P2P protocol), the information is also shared with broker  950 - 1  via P2P communication agent  933 - 1 . The information shared with broker  950 - 1  is then broadcasted to exchange  960  via the P2P protocol utilized in network  900 . The information broadcasted to exchange  960  is then transmitted, from exchange  960 , to the nodes in location  912  via the P2P protocol. 
     Accordingly, clusters/appliances/nodes are able to share information with every other clusters/appliances/nodes in both the local site and every other location or LAN without being linked or federated with one another, as described above. For example, information is transmitted from cluster  920 - 1  to cluster  922 - 1  and cluster  922 -n without centralized management tool  932 - 1  linked or federated with centralized management tool  934 - 1  of cluster  922 - 1  or with centralized management tool  934 -n of cluster  922 -n. 
     As described above, there is no single point of failure for accessing and viewing the information over the WAN. As a result, a user is able access network  900  at any device (e.g., cluster, appliance, node) and access the information that is transmitted over the network via the P2P protocol. In one embodiment, a user is able to access information about any device on the network at any device, but not information particular to the network itself. 
     In particular, network  900  utilizes a platform services controller or federated single sign-on (SSO) that provides various functionality for network support and management such as enabling no single point of failure for sharing information between nodes in the network and for accessing and viewing the information over the WAN. 
     The federated SSO enables a distributed authentication system such as authentication between centralized management tools in network  900 . For example, a federated SSO enables authentication of centralized management tools  932 - 1 ,  932 -n,  934 - 1 , and  934 -n in network  900 . The authentication, in one embodiment, is between the centralized management tools of each cluster in network  900 . In one embodiment, each of the centralized management tools includes an SSO agent (e.g., SSO agent  833 ) configured to implement the authentication between the centralized management tools in the network as described herein. 
     Additionally, the federated SSO enables storage of static information and the distribution of the static information over network  900 . The static information, can be, but is not limited to, IP addresses, host names, DNS settings, uptime, etc. In one embodiment, network  900  utilizes a lotus protocol for sharing the static information. 
     Based, in part, on the P2P protocol and the federated SSO, information (e.g., metrics, updated software, etc.) is able to be distributed, without a single point of failure, between appliances. For example, information, such as an updated auto-discovery agent for node  930 - 1   9  (at location  910 ), is provided at node  931 - 1  (at location  912 ). As a result, the auto-discovery agent at node  930 - 1  is updated. Moreover, the information is distributed via the P2P protocol to all other nodes in network  900 . As a result, the auto-discovery agents in all the functioning nodes that receive the information also update the auto-discovery agent. 
     In another example, information is provided to cluster  922 - 1  (at location  912 ) that cluster  920 - 1  (at location  910 ) is to be switched to maintenance mode. The information is distributed throughout network  900  via the P2P protocol until cluster  920 - 1  receives the information. As a result, cluster  920 - 1  switches to maintenance mode in response to receiving the information via the P2P protocol. 
     Additionally, based in part on the P2P protocol and the federated SSO, a user is able to view the information (e.g. metrics) at any location (e.g., cluster, appliance, node) without a single point of failure. As a result, there is a single point of visibility across the entire network  900  to all of the distributed information. 
     For example, a user accesses node  930 - 1  and views all of the metrics (e.g., CPU usage, memory usage, storage usage) of each node in network  900  via a single user interface. Additionally, if various clusters, appliances and/or nodes in network  900  are off-line or have failed, the user is able to view all the metrics of each functioning node in network  900  due the distributed nature of the P2P communication throughout network  900 . 
     In another example, location  910  is an office building and location  912  is a submarine. As such, a user (who is not located at location  912 ) is able to access and view all the metrics of each cluster, appliance and/or node in network  900  by accessing a node in location  910 . 
     Continuing the above example, a user (who is not located at location  912 ) is able to access a node at location  910  and provide information (e.g., software updates) that is to be received and executed at location  912 . In particular, the information provided at location  910  is distributed via the P2P protocol through network  900  until it is received at location  912 . 
     Example Methods of Operation 
     The following discussion sets forth in detail the operation of some example methods of operation of embodiments. With reference to  FIGS. 10, 11 and 12 , flow diagrams  1000 ,  1100  and  1200  illustrate example procedures used by various embodiments. Flow diagrams  1000 ,  1100  and  1200  include some procedures that, in various embodiments, are carried out by a processor under the control of computer-readable and computer-executable instructions. In this fashion, procedures described herein and in conjunction with flow diagrams  1000 ,  1100  and  1200  are, or may be, implemented using a computer, in various embodiments. The computer-readable and computer-executable instructions can reside in any tangible computer readable storage media. Some non-limiting examples of tangible computer readable storage media include random access memory, read only memory, magnetic disks, solid state drives/“disks,” and optical disks, any or all of which may be employed with computer environments (e.g., cluster  800  and/or network  900 ). The computer-readable and computer-executable instructions, which reside on tangible computer readable storage media, are used to control or operate in conjunction with, for example, one or some combination of processors of the computer environments and/or virtualized environment. It is appreciated that the processor(s) may be physical or virtual or some combination (it should also be appreciated that a virtual processor is implemented on physical hardware). Although specific procedures are disclosed in flow diagrams  1000 ,  1100  and  1200  such procedures are examples. That is, embodiments are well suited to performing various other procedures or variations of the procedures recited in flow diagrams  1000 ,  1100  and  1200 . Likewise, in some embodiments, the procedures in flow diagrams  1000 ,  1100  and  1200  may be performed in an order different than presented and/or not all of the procedures described in one or more of these flow diagrams may be performed. It is further appreciated that procedures described in flow diagrams  1000 ,  1100  and  1200  may be implemented in hardware, or a combination of hardware with firmware and/or software provided by appliances or clusters of appliances. 
       FIG. 10  depicts a process flow diagram  1000  for sharing information between pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices over a wide area network via a distributed peer-to-peer protocol, according to various embodiments. 
     At  1010  of flow diagram  1000 , pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices are automatically discovered in a local area network. For example, appliance  925 - 1  in cluster  920 - 1  automatically discovers other appliances in clusters  920 - 1  and  920 -n at location  910  via an auto-discovery agent, such as auto-discovery agent  832 - 1 . 
     At  1020 , information is shared between pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices over a wide area network via a distributed peer-to-peer protocol such that there is no single point of failure for the sharing information between the pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices over the wide area network. For example, information such as operational metrics of nodes in appliance  925 - 1  (at location  910 ) is shared over network  900  with other appliances in location  910  and other appliances in location  912  (e.g., appliance  927 - 1 ) via a distributed P2P communication protocol implemented by network  900 . As a result, there is no single point of failure for the sharing and distribution of the operational metrics throughout network  900 . 
     Moreover, network  900  does not require a universal resource usage and monitoring feature to view and monitor the operational metrics of the appliances in network  900  because of the utilization of distributed sharing of the operation metrics via the P2P protocol. 
     At  1030 , control a centralized management tool of a cluster of pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices based on the information shared between the pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices. For example, a user provides software updates for centralized management tool  932 - 1  at any point (e.g., cluster, appliance, node) in network  900 . As a result, centralized management tool  932 - 1  is able to be updated (or controlled) by receiving the updated software via the distributed P2P protocol implemented in network  900 . 
     At  1040 , a federated single sign-on to the wide area network is enabled. For example, network  900  implements a federated SSO such that various central management tools of each cluster of appliances are authenticated with one another. 
     At  1050 , distributed monitoring of any of the pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices in the wide area network is provided based on the distributed P2P protocol and a federated SSO such that there is no single point of failure for the distributed monitoring. For example, operational metrics is shared among appliances in network  900  across various geographical locations using a distributed P2P protocol (e.g., gossip protocol). Additionally, a federated SSO is utilized to enable a distributed authentication system. As a result, the operations metrics of each appliance in network  900  are distributed across the network to each of the other appliances such that there is no single point of failure for the distribution and monitoring of the operational metrics within network  900 . 
     At  1060 , distributed monitor of any independent server node of any of the pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices in the wide area network based on the distributed peer-to-peer protocol and a federated single sign-on such that there is no single point of failure for the distributed monitoring. For example, operational metrics of each functioning server node in network  900  is shared with each of the other functioning server nodes in network  900  using a distributed P2P protocol (e.g., gossip protocol). Additionally, a federated SSO is utilized to enable a distributed authentication system. As a result, the operations metrics of each server node in network  900  are distributed across the network to each of the other nodes such that there is no single point of failure for the distribution and monitoring of the operational metrics within network  900 . 
     It is noted that any of the procedures, stated above, regarding flow diagram  1000  may be implemented in hardware, or a combination of hardware with firmware and/or software. For example, any of the procedures are implemented by a processor(s) of a cloud environment and/or a computing environment. 
       FIG. 11  depicts a process flow diagram  1100  for sharing information between pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices over a wide area network via a distributed peer-to-peer protocol, according to various embodiments. 
     At  1110  of flow diagram  1100 , metrics are shared between pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices over a wide area network via a distributed peer-to-peer protocol, wherein at least some of the pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices are located in separate geographical locations. For example, appliance  925 - 1  is located in a first LAN at location  910  and appliance  927 - 1  is located in a second LAN at location  912 . Operational metrics of each appliance are shared with one another over network  900  via a distributed P2P protocol. 
     At  1120 , distributed monitoring of any of the pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices in the wide area network is provided based on the distributed peer-to-peer protocol and a federated single sign-on such that there is no single point of failure for the distributed monitoring. For example, operational metrics is shared among appliances in network  900  across various geographical locations using a distributed P2P protocol (e.g., gossip protocol). Additionally, a federated SSO is utilized to enable a distributed authentication system. As a result, the operations metrics of each appliance in network  900  are distributed across the network to each of the other appliances such that there is no single point of failure for the distribution and monitoring of the operational metrics within network  900 . 
     At  1122 , distributed monitoring of any independent server node of any of the pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices in the wide area network is provided. For example, operational metrics of each functioning server node in network  900  is shared with each of the other functioning server nodes in network  900  using a distributed P2P protocol (e.g., gossip protocol). Additionally, a federated SSO is utilized to enable a distributed authentication system. As a result, the operations metrics of each server node in network  900  are distributed across the network to each of the other nodes such that there is no single point of failure for the distribution and monitoring of the operational metrics within network  900 . 
     At  1130 , the pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices are automatically discovered in a local area network. For example, appliance  925 - 1  in cluster  920 - 1  automatically discovers other appliances in clusters  920 - 1  and  920 -n at location  910  via an auto-discovery agent, such as auto-discovery agent  832 - 1 . 
     At  1140 , a centralized management tool of a cluster of pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices is controlled based on the information shared between the pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices. For example, a user provides software updates for centralized management tool  932 - 1  at any point (e.g., cluster, appliance, node) in network  900 . As a result, centralized management tool  932 - 1  is able to be updated (or controlled) by receiving the updated software via the distributed P2P protocol implemented in network  900 . 
     It is noted that any of the procedures, stated above, regarding flow diagram  1100  may be implemented in hardware, or a combination of hardware with firmware and/or software. For example, any of the procedures are implemented by a processor(s) of a cloud environment and/or a computing environment. 
       FIG. 12  depicts a process flow diagram  1200  for peer-to-peer communication outside of a local area network via a network broker, according to various embodiments. 
     At  1210 , a computing device automatically discovers other computing devices in a local area network. For example, an auto-discovery agent (e.g., auto-discovery agent  832 ) of appliance  925 - 1  (e.g., a pre-configured hyper-converged computing device) automatically discovers other similar appliances in a LAN, such as a LAN in location  910 . 
     At  1220 , a computing device peer-to-peer communicates with another computing device outside of the local area network via a network broker. For example, node  930 -n of appliance  925 - 1  (at a LAN in location  910 ) communicates with node  931 -n of appliance  927 - 1 , wherein appliance  927 - 1  is at location  912  and not a part of the LAN at location  910 . 
     Moreover, the peer-to-peer communication is enabled by network brokers. For example, node  930 -n is able to share information with broker  950 - 1 , which is then broadcasted to exchange  960  via the P2P protocol utilized in network  900 . The information broadcasted to exchange  960  is then transmitted, from exchange  960 , to at least node  931 -n in location  912  via the P2P protocol. 
     At  1222 , in one embodiment, metrics are shared between pre-configured hyper-converged computing devices over a wide area network via a distributed peer-to-peer protocol. For example, computing metrics appliances in location  910  are shared with appliances in location  912  via the P2P protocol as described herein. 
     One or more embodiments of the present invention may be implemented as one or more computer programs or as one or more computer program modules embodied in one or more computer readable media. The term computer readable medium refers to any data storage device that can store data which can thereafter be input to a computer system—computer readable media may be based on any existing or subsequently developed technology for embodying computer programs in a manner that enables them to be read by a computer. Examples of a computer readable medium include a hard drive, network attached storage (NAS), read-only memory, random-access memory (e.g., a flash memory device), a CD (Compact Discs)—CD-ROM, a CD-R, or a CD-RW, a DVD (Digital Versatile Disc), a magnetic tape, and other optical and non-optical data storage devices. The computer readable medium can also be distributed over a network coupled computer system so that the computer readable code is stored and executed in a distributed fashion. 
     Although one or more embodiments of the present invention have been described in some detail for clarity of understanding, it will be apparent that certain changes and modifications may be made within the scope of the claims. Accordingly, the described embodiments are to be considered as illustrative and not restrictive, and the scope of the claims is not to be limited to details given herein, but may be modified within the scope and equivalents of the claims. In the claims, elements and/or steps do not imply any particular order of operation, unless explicitly stated in the claims. 
     Virtualization systems in accordance with the various embodiments may be implemented as hosted embodiments, non-hosted embodiments or as embodiments that tend to blur distinctions between the two, are all envisioned. Furthermore, various virtualization operations may be wholly or partially implemented in hardware. For example, a hardware implementation may employ a look-up table for modification of storage access requests to secure non-disk data. 
     Many variations, modifications, additions, and improvements are possible, regardless the degree of virtualization. The virtualization software can therefore include components of a host, console, or guest operating system that performs virtualization functions. Plural instances may be provided for components, operations or structures described herein as a single instance. Finally, boundaries between various components, operations and data stores are somewhat arbitrary, and particular operations are illustrated in the context of specific illustrative configurations. Other allocations of functionality are envisioned and may fall within the scope of the invention(s). In general, structures and functionality presented as separate components in exemplary configurations may be implemented as a combined structure or component. Similarly, structures and functionality presented as a single component may be implemented as separate components. These and other variations, modifications, additions, and improvements may fall within the scope of the appended claims(s).