Patent ID: 7299468

Claim:
A process for utilizing resources by a virtual machine operating system, said virtual machine operating system defining a multiplicity of virtual machines, a share of resources being allocated to each of said virtual machines, said process comprising the steps of: automatically monitoring utilization by one of said virtual machines of the resources allocated to said one virtual machine, and determining that said one virtual machine needs additional resources to effectively perform work items on a work queue, and in response, automatically cloning said one virtual machine, said clone being allocated a share of said resources taken from the shares of other of said virtual machines, such that the resultant shares allocated to said one virtual machine and the clone of said one virtual machine together are greater than the share allocated to said one virtual machine before said one virtual machine was cloned; and wherein said one virtual machine and said clone share said work queue, such that both said one virtual machine with its resources and said clone with its resources perform said work items on said shared work queue.