Patent ID: 8700768

Claim:
A method comprising: determining, by a host controller device, a time span in view of configurable timelines recorded in a plurality of timers stored in memory of the host controller device, wherein the time span comprises: a first time interval when a plurality of virtual machines (VMs) are at least one of suspended or shut down; the time interval when the plurality of VMs are not active; and the time interval prior to an active period of use of the plurality of VMs by users; starting, by the host controller device during the determined time span, the plurality of VMs on a plurality of host machines managed by the host controller device, wherein start times of each of the plurality of VMs are distributed across the determined time span, and wherein the plurality of VMs are evenly distributed across the plurality of host machines; and suspending, by the host controller device, the plurality of VMs at an end of the active period of use according to the configurable timeline, wherein the plurality of VMs includes more than two VMs.