Patent ID: 7647461

Claim:
A method for maintaining a plurality of virtual servers on a computer, comprising: storing external configuration information of a selected virtual server of the plurality of virtual servers in a global repository maintained on a storage device of the computer, the external configuration information describing external resources assigned to a virtual server of the plurality of virtual servers; storing internal configuration information of the selected virtual server of the plurality of virtual servers in a private repository, the private repository stored in one or more units of storage assigned to the virtual server, the internal configuration information used to control operation of the selected virtual server, the private repository maintained on a private repository storage device of the computer; storing soft objects in the private repository of the selected virtual server, the soft objects mapped to one or more selected storage devices of the server to assign the one or more selected storage devices to the selected virtual server; and executing a command on a processor of the computer, the command to change a mapping in the soft objects to change an assignment of storage devices to the selected virtual server.