Patent ID: 8595714

Claim:
A method for controlling application and operating system distribution in a distributed computing environment including a plurality of virtual servers, comprising: providing a plurality of operating environments, each operating environment including at least an operating system and an application; receiving a first request for a virtual server using a selected operating environment from the plurality of operating environments; creating a virtual server using the selected operating environment; providing a test environment for testing the virtual server; receiving a second request to update a set of virtual servers to use the selected operating environment, the set of virtual servers associated with service requirements indicating at least in part a threshold level of service provided by the set of virtual servers which must be available at a specified time; determining a maximum number of new virtual servers capable of being created in a production environment while maintaining at least the threshold level of service indicated by the service requirements; and until a number of the new virtual servers equals a number of the set of virtual servers, creating at most the maximum number of the new virtual servers to use the selected operating environment; deploying the number, equal to the at most the maximum number, of the new virtual servers in the production environment; and destroying the number, equal to the at most the maximum number, of the set of virtual servers.