Patent ID: 8332928

Claim:
A method, comprising: initiating, in a client computing device, a location attestation operation during a boot operation of the computing device prior to initiating an operating system of the computer device; in response to initiating the location attestation operation, requesting by the client computing device a location attestation certificate from a source external to the client computing device by transmitting an identifier associated with the client computing device to the source external to the client computing device; monitoring a status of the location attestation certificate, and when the location attestation certificate is invalid, requesting a new location attestation certificate; communicating with a location attestation service managing participation by the computing device as a blade computing device in a blade pool, wherein a set of certificate authorities is assigned as trusted third parties allowing the blade computing device and blades at different locations to join the blade pool; and completing the boot operation only after the location attestation certificate is granted, and terminating the boot operation when the location attestation certificate is not granted.