Patent ID: 8078717

Claim:
A system for controlling virtual servers comprising: a plurality of virtual servers running on a clustered computer system having multiple hardware servers tied together, the virtual servers sharing an operating system handling the cluster; each virtual server having an associated address and a unique system-wide identifier; each virtual server responding to requests from clients; each virtual server including an internal control procedure operable inside the virtual server for control of that virtual server using the associated address and the unique system-wide identifier; and an external control interface operable outside the virtual server for control of the virtual server in response to commands sent by a remote user using the associated address and the unique system-wide identifier, wherein, if a particular virtual server is non-responsive, the external control interface can be used to manage that virtual server using the associated address and the unique system-wide identifier associated with that virtual server, wherein the external control interface is executed on any of the hardware server of the cluster and is available to the remote user when a particular virtual server is unresponsive, or when the internal control procedure of that virtual server is unreachable, or when services provided by the internal control procedure are unreachable.