throbber

`
`
`
`UNITED STATES PATENT AND TRADEMARK OFFICE
`_______________
`BEFORE THE PATENT TRIAL AND APPEAL BOARD
`_____________
`VMWARE, INC.,
`Petitioner,
`v.
`CIRBA IP, INC.,
`Patent Owner.
`_______________
`Case: PGR2021-00098
`Patent: 10,951,459
`____________________________________________________________
`DECLARATION OF DR. EREZ ZADOK, PH.D.
`
`
`
`
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 1
`
`

`

`
`
`TABLE OF CONTENTS
`Qualifications ................................................................................................... 2
`I.
`II. Materials Considered ..................................................................................... 12
`III. Understanding of Relevant Legal Principles ................................................. 12
`Claim Construction Standard .............................................................. 12
` Written Description ............................................................................. 13
`IV. Background .................................................................................................... 14
`Technical Background ......................................................................... 14
`Overview of the ’459 Patent ................................................................ 18
`1.
`System Parameters .................................................................... 20
`2.
`Compatibility Analyses ............................................................. 21
`3.
`Consolidation Analyses ............................................................ 23
`4.
`Visualization ............................................................................. 26
`5.
`Summary of the ’459 Patent Prosecution History .................... 26
`Level of Skill in the Art ................................................................................. 28
`V.
`VI. Claim Construction ........................................................................................ 29
`VII. The ’459 Patent Specification Does Not Describe Claims 1-63 Such That a
`POSITA Would Understand the ’459 patent Inventors Were in Possession of
`the Claimed Systems, Methods, or Computer Readable Medium ................ 30
`“Already Placed” ................................................................................. 30
`1.
`Analysis Types .......................................................................... 32
`1-to-1 Compatibility Analysis................................................... 32
`N-to-1 Compatibility Analysis .................................................. 33
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`i
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 2
`
`

`

`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`
`N-by-N Compatibility Analysis ................................................ 33
`Consolidation Analysis ............................................................. 34
`“Source System” ....................................................................... 35
`2.
`“Issue Instructions” ............................................................................. 37
`Incorporated Applications ................................................................... 41
`
`
`
`ii
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 3
`
`

`

`
`
`1. My name is Erez Zadok. I have been retained by Petitioner VMware
`
`Inc. (“Petitioner” or “VMware”) to assist regarding U.S. Patent No. 10,951,459
`
`(Ex. 1001, “the ’459 patent”). Specifically, I have been asked to consider the
`
`patentability of claims 1-63 of the ’459 patent (“the Challenged Claims”) in view of
`
`prior art and the understanding of a person of ordinary skill in the art (“POSITA”)
`
`as it relates to the ’459 patent. I understand that my opinions in this declaration are
`
`being submitted as part of the petition in PGR2021-00098. Additionally, I
`
`understand two other of my declarations that address the same claims of the ’459
`
`patent will be submitted in connection with two IPR petitions (IPR2021-01210 and
`
`IPR2021-01211).
`
`2.
`
`I have personal knowledge of the facts and opinions set forth in this
`
`declaration and believe them to be true. If called upon to do so, I would testify
`
`competently thereto. I have been warned that willful false statements and the like
`
`are punishable by fine or imprisonment, or both.
`
`3. My consulting company, Zadoks Consulting, LLC,
`
`is being
`
`compensated for my time at my standard consulting rate. I am also being reimbursed
`
`for expenses that I incur during the course of this work. My compensation is not
`
`contingent upon the results of my study and analysis, the substance of my opinions,
`
`or the outcome of any proceeding involving the Challenged Claims. I have no
`
`
`
` 1
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 4
`
`

`

`
`
`financial interest in the outcome of this matter or in any litigation involving the ’459
`
`patent.
`
`I.
`
`Qualifications
`
`4.
`
`I am a Professor in the Computer Science Department at Stony Brook
`
`University (part of the State University of New York (“SUNY”) system). I direct
`
`the File-systems and Storage Lab (FSL) at Stony Brook’s Computer Science
`
`Department. My research interests include file systems and storage systems,
`
`operating systems, information technology and system administration, security and
`
`information assurance, networking, energy efficiency, performance and
`
`benchmarking, virtualization, compilers, applied machine learning, and software
`
`engineering.
`
`5.
`
`I studied at a professional high school in Israel, focusing on electrical
`
`engineering (“EE”), and graduated in 1982. I spent one more year at the high
`
`school’s college division, receiving a special Certified Technician’s degree in EE. I
`
`then went on to serve in the Israeli Defense Forces for three years (1983-1986). I
`
`received my Bachelor of Science degree in computer science (“CS”) in 1991, my
`
`Master’s degree in CS in 1994, and my Ph.D. in CS in 2001—all from Columbia
`
`University in New York.
`
`6. When I began my undergraduate studies at Columbia University, I also
`
`started working as a student assistant in the various campus-wide computer labs,
`
`
`
` 2
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 5
`
`

`

`
`
`eventually becoming an assistant to the head labs manager, who was managing all
`
`public computer labs on campus. During that time, I also became more involved
`
`with research within the CS Department at Columbia University, conducting
`
`research on operating systems, file and storage systems, distributed and networked
`
`systems, security, and other topics. I also assisted the CS department’s computer
`
`administrators in managing the department’s computers, which included storage, IT,
`
`networking, and cyber-security related duties.
`
`7.
`
`In 1991, I joined Columbia University’s CS department as a full-time
`
`systems administrator, studying towards my MS degree part-time. My MS thesis
`
`topic related to file system reliability, fault tolerance, replication, and failover in
`
`mobile networked storage systems using file virtualization. My main duties as a
`
`systems administrator involved installing, configuring, and managing many
`
`networked servers, proxies, and desktops running several operating systems, as well
`
`as network devices setup; this included many hardware upgrades, device upgrades,
`
`and BIOS firmware/chipset updates/upgrades. My duties also included ensuring
`
`reliable, secure, authenticated access to networked systems/storage and licensed
`
`software, as well as software updates, security and bug fixes. Examples of servers
`
`and their protocols included email (SMTP), file transfer (FTP), domain names
`
`(DNS), network file systems (NFS), network news systems (NNTP), and Web
`
`(HTTP).
`
`
`
` 3
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 6
`
`

`

`
`
`8.
`
`In 1994, I left my systems administrator position to pursue my doctoral
`
`studies at Columbia University. My Ph.D. thesis topic was on versatile file system
`
`development using stackable (virtualized) file systems, with examples in the fields
`
`of security and encryption, efficiency, reliability, and failover. I continued to work
`
`part-time as a systems administrator at the CS department, and eventually I was
`
`asked to serve as manager to the entire information technology (“IT”) staff. From
`
`1991 to 2001, I was a member of the faculty-level Facilities Committee that oversaw
`
`all IT operations at the CS department.
`
`9.
`
`As part of my Ph.D. studies at Columbia, I collaborated on projects to
`
`develop advanced AI-like techniques to detect previously unknown viruses (a.k.a.
`
`“zero-day malware”), using data mining and rule-based detection. This work led to
`
`several highly cited papers (over 1,300 citations for one of the papers alone), and
`
`two patents. I also became a Teaching Assistant (TA) for a first-ever Computer
`
`Security course given at Columbia University’s CS department with Dr. Matt Blaze
`
`as instructor.
`
`10. From 1990 to 1998, I consulted for SOS Corporation and HydraWEB
`
`Technologies, as a systems administrator and programmer, managing data storage
`
`use and backup/restore duties, as well as information assurance and cyber-security
`
`(e.g., malware protection, software licensing). From 1994 to 2000, I led projects at
`
`HydraWEB Technologies, and then became the Director of Software Development-
`
`
`
` 4
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 7
`
`

`

`
`
`overseeing the development of several products and appliances such as stateful
`
`firewalls and HTTP load-balancers, utilizing network-virtualization and high-
`
`availability techniques. Since 2009, I have consulted for Packet General Networks,
`
`a startup specializing in secure, virtualized, network storage and applications’ data
`
`security in the cloud.
`
`11.
`
`In 2001, I joined the faculty of Stony Brook University, a position I
`
`have held since that time. In 2002, I joined the Operations Committee, which
`
`oversees the IT operations of the CS department at Stony Brook University. From
`
`2006 to 2010, I was the Director of IT Operations of the CS department; my day-to-
`
`day duties included setting policies regarding computing, hiring and training new
`
`staff, assisting any staff with topics of my specialty, defining requirements for new
`
`software/hardware, and purchasing. From 2010 to 2015, I have served as the Co-
`
`Chair to the Operations Committee. From 2016 to 2019, I oversaw the IT Operations
`
`as the Chair of the Operations Committee. A significant component of these duties
`
`included defining and helping implement policies for data management, so as to
`
`ensure the security of users and their data, and data reliability and availability, while
`
`minimizing the inconvenience and performance impact to users. I personally helped
`
`setup and maintain an initial virtual host infrastructure in the department. Since late
`
`2019, I’ve been a member of the department’s Executive Committee that also
`
`oversees all IT operations.
`
`
`
` 5
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 8
`
`

`

`
`
`12.
`
`In 2017, I became the department’s Graduate Academic Adviser,
`
`advising all Masters students (over 400 annually on average) and many other
`
`graduate students on an assortment of academic matters.
`
`13. Since 2001, I personally configured and managed my own research
`
`lab’s network. This includes setting up and configuring multiple storage systems
`
`(e.g., NFS, CIFS/SMB, NAS), virtual and physical environments, applications such
`
`as database and mail servers, user access control (e.g., NIS, LDAP), backups and
`
`restores, snapshot policies, and more. I’ve personally installed, configured, changed,
`
`replaced parts, and upgraded components in numerous devices from laptops to
`
`servers, both physical and virtual.
`
`14. Since 1995, I have taught courses on operating systems, storage and file
`
`systems, advanced systems programming in Unix/C, systems administration, data
`
`structures, data/software security, and more. My courses often use storage, file
`
`systems, distributed systems, and system/network security as key teaching principles
`
`and practical examples for assignments and projects. I have taught these concepts
`
`and techniques to my students, both to my direct advisees as well as in my courses.
`
`For example, in my graduate Operating Systems course, I often cover Linux’s kernel
`
`mechanisms to protect users, applications, and data files, as well as distributed
`
`storage systems (e.g., NFS). And in the System Administration undergraduate
`
`
`
` 6
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 9
`
`

`

`
`
`course, I covered many topics such as networking, storage, backups, and configuring
`
`complex applications such as mail, web, and database servers.
`
`15. My research often investigates computer systems from many angles:
`
`security, efficiency, energy use, scalability, reliability, portability, survivability,
`
`usability, ease-of-use, versatility, flexibility, and more. My research gives special
`
`attention to balancing five often-conflicting aspects of computer systems:
`
`performance, reliability, energy use, security, and ease-of-use. Since joining Stony
`
`Brook University in 2001, my group in the File-systems and Storage Lab (FSL) has
`
`developed many file systems and operating system extensions; examples include a
`
`highly-secure cryptographic file system, a portable copy-on-write (COW)
`
`versioning file system, a tracing file system useful to detect intrusions, a replaying
`
`file system useful for forensics, a snapshotting and sandboxing file system, a
`
`namespace unification file system (that uses stackable, file-based COW), an anti-
`
`virus file system, an integrity-checking file system, a load balancing and
`
`replication/mirroring file system, network file system extensions for security and
`
`performance, distributed secure cloud-based storage systems, transactional key-
`
`value stores and file systems, OS level embedded databases, a compiler to convert
`
`user-level C code to in-kernel efficient yet safe code, GCC plugins, stackable file
`
`system templates, and a Web-based backup system. Many of these projects used
`
`
`
` 7
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 10
`
`

`

`
`
`one form of virtualization or another (storage, network, host, etc.). I continue to
`
`maintain and release newer versions of some of these file systems and software.
`
`16.
`
`I have published over 120 refereed publications (in ACM, IEEE,
`
`USENIX, and more). To date, my publications have been cited more than 8,700
`
`times (as per Google Scholar as of June 21, 2021). My papers cover a wide range
`
`of related technologies such as file systems, storage systems, transactional systems,
`
`security, performance benchmarking and optimization, energy efficiency, system
`
`administration, and more. I also published a book titled “Linux NFS and
`
`Automounter Administration” (Sybex, 2001), covering systems administration
`
`topics related to network storage and data security.
`
`17. Some of my research has led to public software releases that have been
`
`used worldwide. I have publicly maintained the Amd Berkeley Automounter in a
`
`package called “am-utils” since 1992; this software helps administrators manage the
`
`multitude of file system mounts on dozens of different Unix systems, especially
`
`helping to automate access to multiple NFS/NAS storage volumes. Since 1997, I
`
`have maintained and released several stackable (virtualized) file system software
`
`projects for Linux, FreeBSD, and/or Solaris, in a package called FiST. One of my
`
`stackable file system encryption projects, called Cryptfs, became the basis for IBM’s
`
`public release of eCryptfs, now part of Linux. Packet General Networks, for whom
`
`I have provided consulting services since 2009, licensed another encryption file
`
`
`
` 8
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 11
`
`

`

`
`
`system called Ncryptfs. Another popular file system released in 2003, called
`
`Unionfs, offers virtual namespace unification, transparent shadow copying (a.k.a.
`
`copy-on-write or COW), file system snapshotting (e.g., useful for forensics and
`
`disaster recovery), and the ability to save disk space by sharing a read-only copy of
`
`data among several computers, among other features.
`
`18. My research and teaching make extensive use of data security features.
`
`For example, each time I taught the graduate operating system course, the first
`
`homework assignment includes the creation of a new system call that performs new
`
`or added functionality, often for encrypting a file or verifying its integrity; many of
`
`my other assignments cover topics of user/process access control, anti-virus filtering,
`
`and more. Since 2001, over 1,000 graduate students were exposed to these simple
`
`principles directly through my teaching and research at Stony Brook University.
`
`19. Moreover, in an undergraduate course titled “Advanced Systems
`
`Programming in Unix/C,” I cover many topics of system security and vulnerabilities,
`
`such as the structure of UNIX processes, and memory segments such as the heap and
`
`stack. Often, the first assignment for this course is to develop a tool to
`
`encrypt/decrypt files using advanced ciphers, use digital signatures to certify the
`
`cipher keys used, and reliably recover files in case of failures. Since 2001, several
`
`hundred undergraduate students were exposed to these principles directly through
`
`my teaching and research at Stony Brook University.
`
`
`
` 9
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 12
`
`

`

`
`
`20.
`
`In another undergraduate course, System Administration, I taught
`
`network configuration, security, and storage configuration and reliability. In a
`
`special topics course on Storage Systems, I covered many topics such as data
`
`deduplication, RAID, transactional storage, storage hardware including modern
`
`Flash based ones, virtual storage, backup/restore, snapshots and continuous data
`
`protection (CDP), NAS and SAN, and NFS.
`
`21. Overall , in addition to the aforementioned experience, my technical
`
`experience relevant to this patent at the time of the alleged invention included the
`
`following: configuring and running hypervisors on Linux, Windows, and Mac OS
`
`X; experimenting with and/or using products from VMware (ESX, GSX, Fusion,
`
`Workstation), Sun Microsystems (VirtualBox), Linux (open-source Xen and KVM),
`
`and others (e.g., Parallels); installed and ran numerous virtual machines (VMs) on
`
`these hypervisors, setup storage backends, configured and executed VM migration,
`
`manually load-balanced and consolidated VMs and hosts, evaluated hardware
`
`capabilities of hosts and VMs, and optimized my VM clusters. I’ve also studied,
`
`researched, taught and published on topics of operating system and storage system
`
`optimizations using complex algorithms.
`
`22. My research has been supported by many federal and state grants as
`
`well as industry awards, including an NSF CAREER award, two IBM Faculty
`
`awards, two NetApp Faculty awards, a Western Digital award, a Facebook award,
`
`
`
` 10
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 13
`
`

`

`
`
`several Dell-EMC awards, and several equipment gifts. I was the winner of the 2004
`
`Computer Science Department bi-annual Graduate Teaching Award, the winner of
`
`the 2006 Computer Science Department bi-annual Research Excellence Award, and
`
`a recipient of the 2008 SUNY Chancellor’s Excellence in Teaching award (an award
`
`that can be given only once a lifetime).
`
`23. My service record to the community includes being the co-chair for the
`
`USENIX Annual Technical Conference in 2020 (ATC’20); being the co-chair for
`
`USENIX File and Storage Technologies (FAST) in 2015 and being on the FAST
`
`Steering Committee since 2015; joining the ACM HotStorage Steering Committee
`
`in 2021; and being the co-chair in 2012 and on the Steering Committee of the ACM
`
`SYSTOR conference. I have also been an Associate Editor to the ACM Transactions
`
`on Storage (TOS) journal since 2009.
`
`24.
`
`I am a named inventor on four patents, two titled “Systems and Methods
`
`for Detection of New Malicious Executables” (U.S. Patent No. 7,487,544, issued
`
`February 3, 2009; and U.S. Patent No. 7,979,907, issued July 12, 2011); and two
`
`more titled “Multi-Tier Caching,” (U.S. Patent No. 9,355,109, issued May 31, 2016;
`
`and U.S. Patent 9,959,279, issued May 1, 2018).
`
`25.
`
`I have been disclosed as a testifying expert in 13 cases (including inter
`
`partes review (IPR) proceedings) in the past four years. I have been deposed 11
`
`times and testified in trial twice. A complete copy of my curriculum vitae, which
`
`
`
` 11
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 14
`
`

`

`
`
`includes a list of my publications and contains further details on my education,
`
`experience, publications, patents, and other qualifications to render an expert
`
`opinion, is attached as Exhibit 1007.
`
`II. Materials Considered
`
`26.
`
`In performing my analysis and forming the opinions below, I
`
`considered the ’459 patent, its prosecution history, the applications that it
`
`incorporates by reference, and the materials listed as exhibits to the petition in (this)
`
`PGR2021-00098.
`
`III. Understanding of Relevant Legal Principles
`
`27.
`
`I am not a lawyer, and I will not provide any legal opinions. Rather, I
`
`have been asked to provide my technical opinions based on how a person of ordinary
`
`skill in the art would have understood the claims of the ’459 patent, in light of its
`
`disclosure and prosecution history, as of the patent’s priority date. Although I am
`
`not a lawyer, I have been advised that certain legal standards are to be applied by
`
`technical experts in forming opinions regarding the meaning and validity of patent
`
`claims.
`
` Claim Construction Standard
`
`28.
`
`I understand that claim terms are given their ordinary and customary
`
`meaning, as would be understood by a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art in
`
`the context of the patent’s entire disclosure and prosecution history. A claim term,
`
`
`
` 12
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 15
`
`

`

`
`
`however, will not receive its ordinary meaning if the patentee acted as his own
`
`lexicographer and clearly set forth a definition of the claim term in the specification.
`
`In that case, the claim term will receive the definition set forth in the patent.
`
`29. The face of the ’459 patent claims priority to a series of applications,
`
`the earliest of which was filed April 21, 2006. As I explain below, none of the
`
`applications in this priority chain provide written description support to the
`
`challenged claims. I understand that this means the ’459 patent’s priority date is its
`
`November 19, 2019 filing date. Even if, however, an earlier priority date—up to
`
`and including the earliest April 21, 2006 date listed on the face of the ’459 patent—
`
`were considered for purposes of determining the level of ordinary skill in the art and
`
`interpreting the ’459 patent, my opinions below would not change.
`
` Written Description
`
`30.
`
`I have been informed that 35 U.S.C. § 112 requires patents to contain
`
`an adequate written description of the claimed invention. I understand that the
`
`purpose of the written description requirement is to demonstrate that the inventor
`
`was in possession of the invention at the time the patent application was filed, even
`
`though subsequently the claims may have been changed or new claims may have
`
`been added. I understand that this requirement is met if, at the time of filing the
`
`patent application, a person of ordinary skill in the art reading that application would
`
`have recognized that it described the invention as claimed. I understand that the
`
`
`
` 13
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 16
`
`

`

`
`
`application does not need to specifically disclose a claim limitation as long as a
`
`person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that the missing requirement is
`
`necessarily implied in the application as originally filed. I understand that the
`
`written description inquiry must take into account the entirety of what is disclosed
`
`within the specification. I understand that it is insufficient that undisclosed subject
`
`matter would have been obvious to a person of ordinary skill in the art.
`
`IV. Background
`
` Technical Background
`
`31. To carry out their day-to-day operations, businesses and other
`
`organizations typically require an information technology (“IT”) infrastructure to
`
`provide computing and data processing services. IT infrastructures frequently
`
`include one or more “data centers,” where computing and networking equipment is
`
`concentrated for the purpose of collecting, storing, processing, or permitting access
`
`to data, software, or other computing resources. (Ex. 1013 (Wood) at p. 229 (“Data
`
`centers—server farms that run networked applications—have become popular in a
`
`variety of domains such as web hosting, enterprise systems, and e-commerce
`
`sites.”).)
`
`32.
`
`In the early days of computing, such a data center might have contained
`
`a single, powerful “mainframe” computer with enough resources to store large
`
`amounts of data and provide services to the organization’s users. But as computing
`
`
`
` 14
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 17
`
`

`

`
`
`equipment got smaller and cheaper, organizations began to replace these large
`
`monolithic mainframe computers with compute “clusters” made up of many
`
`(hundreds or even thousands of) smaller, cheaper computer servers, networked
`
`together. (Ex. 1014 (Baker) at p. 1 (“there has been a dramatic shift from mainframe
`
`or ‘host-centric’ computing to a distributed ‘client-server’ approach” due to “the
`
`realisation that clusters of high−performance workstations can be realistically used
`
`for a variety of applications either to replace mainframes, vector supercomputers and
`
`parallel computers or
`
`to better manage already
`
`installed collections of
`
`workstations.”).)
`
`33. Like the monolithic mainframe had, the cluster would provide users
`
`with the perception of single computing resource. (Ex. 1020 (PlateSpin) at p. xxiv
`
`(“Clustering allows several physical machines to collectively host one or more
`
`virtual servers.”).) Users could connect to that resource over a network to access
`
`data and computing services as before. (Ex. 1020 (PlateSpin) at p. xxiv (“With
`
`clustering, clients won’t connect to a physical computer but instead connect to a
`
`logical virtual server running on top of one or more physical computers.”).)
`
`34. As data centers grew and changed over time, one problem that arose is
`
`“server sprawl.” (Ex. 1018 (Khanna) at Abstract, p. 373 (“As businesses have
`
`grown, so has the need to deploy I/T applications rapidly to support the expanding
`
`business processes. Often, this growth was achieved in an unplanned way,” which
`
`
`
` 15
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 18
`
`

`

`
`
`“has led to what is often referred to as ‘server and storage sprawl’, i.e., many
`
`underutilized servers, with heterogeneous storage elements.”).)
`
`35. Over time, as data centers grew, they frequently came to include “an
`
`increasingly complex mixture of server platforms, hardware, operating systems, and
`
`applications.” (Ex. 1020 (PlateSpin) at p. 505.) But as new servers and software
`
`were added, it quickly became difficult to track them all and to ensure that they
`
`remained sufficiently utilized. (Ex. 1020 (PlateSpin) at p. 513 (“Today’s data center
`
`is riddled with production servers that are underutilized and that therefore represents
`
`a large amount of potential savings”).) For example, legacy technologies persisted
`
`long after they were no longer needed, and underutilized servers imposed significant
`
`unnecessary cost in terms of power, temperature conditioning, floor space, licensing,
`
`and other costs of maintenance and ownership. (Ex. 1020 (PlateSpin) at p. 505
`
`(“Data centers have accumulated and assimilated a large variety of new technologies
`
`that over time have become ‘legacy’ technologies that never go away” and they
`
`“collectively increase data center costs because of power consumption, temperature
`
`conditioning, and floor space.”).)
`
`36.
`
`In light of the above issues, before the ’459 patent’s earliest priority
`
`date, the advantages of server consolidation were well-known. For example, a patent
`
`assigned to IBM and filed in June 2005 recognized the importance of consolidation
`
`analysis and the cost benefits of consolidation:
`
`
`
` 16
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 19
`
`

`

`
`
`It was also known that in some cases where the customer
`is currently using two or more of its own servers, these
`can be consolidated into one dedicated server in an “on
`demand” or “utility” model. For example, if the customer
`was only using a small percentage of the capacity of its
`current servers, these may be consolidated into one vendor
`server of similar or equal power in an “on demand” or
`“utility” model. The cost savings result from a reduction
`in (a) number of operating systems, (b) virtual memory,
`(c) real memory, (d) swap disk space, (e) system manage-
`ment software licenses, (f) customer application software
`licenses, (g) systems administration and support, (h) floor
`space, and/or (i) electricity and cooling costs.
`
`
`(Ex. 1015 (Taylor) at 2:1-13 (emphases added); see also 11:43-15:5 referring to Figs.
`
`4(A)-(E) describing a program that “determines whether two customer servers can
`
`be consolidated into one vendor server.”) Similarly, there were known techniques
`
`for “costing and planning the consolidation of multiple source server computers or
`
`other source computer hardware devices to fewer target server computers or other
`
`target hardware devices.” (Ex. 1016 (Power) at 3:22-26.) And others were
`
`describing how to identify “different possible configurations [of communications
`
`systems] that consolidate some or all of two or more of servers in the system.” (Ex.
`
`1017 (Van Hoose) at Abstract).)
`
`37.
`
`It also was well-known that one way to combat server sprawl is by using
`
`virtualization to perform “server consolidation.” (Ex. 1019 (Menascé) at p. 1
`
`(“Virtualization may be used for server consolidation”); Ex. 1020 (PlateSpin) at p.
`
`505 (“server virtualization alleviates the complexity of the data center to some extent
`
`
`
` 17
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 20
`
`

`

`
`
`through consolidation”).) Server consolidation refers to the process of converting
`
`some physical machines into VMs and consolidating those VMs onto remaining
`
`physical machines, which act as hosts. (See Ex. 1018 (Khanna) at pp. 373-74
`
`(illustrating five steps of “a simple algorithm for server consolidation” using
`
`virtualization).)
`
` Overview of the ’459 Patent
`
`38.
`
`I have reviewed the overview of the ’459 patent from the corresponding
`
`petition and incorporate it below.
`
`39. The ’459 patent presents techniques for calculating “consolidation
`
`solutions” that can allegedly improve the efficiency of a computing environment
`
`with multiple computer systems. (’459 patent at 2:5-13, 2:66-3:10.) Specifically,
`
`these consolidation solutions are recommendations on where to move existing
`
`applications and data from certain systems (called “source systems”) to other
`
`systems (called “target systems”) in order to reduce the number of systems in the
`
`overall environment. (’459 patent at 5:16-24, 5:55-64, 6:35-51, 8:17-25.)
`
`40. The ’459 patent explains that a “system” can be a “physical system,” a
`
`“virtual system,” or a “hypothetical system” (i.e., a system that does not currently
`
`exist in the environment but is useful for analyzing hypothetical situations). (’459
`
`patent at 5:65-6:10.) According to the ’459 patent, managing an environment with
`
`many of these systems presents challenges in “optimizing efficiency” and
`
`
`
` 18
`
`VMware, Inc. Exhibit 1006 Page 21
`
`

`

`
`
`“avoid[ing] redundancies and/or under-utilized hardware.” (’459 patent at 1:47-52.)
`
`For example, a sub-optimal environment may include “additional hardware” with
`
`“separate maintenance considerations” that require costly “incidental attention[.]”
`
`(’459 patent at 1:63-67.) Too many systems means that “[h]eat production and
`
`power consumption can also be a concern.” (’459 patent at 1:67-2:1.)
`
`41. The ’459 patent discloses analytical techniques that purportedly address
`
`these problems by calculating “roadmaps” for efficiently reducing the number of
`
`systems. (’459 patent at 5:16-24.) The roadmaps identify “source” systems, “from
`
`which applications and/or data are to be moved,” and “target” systems, “to which
`
`applications and/or data are to be moved.” (’459 patent at 5:57-60, 6:46-51.) Thus,
`
`for example, “an underutilized environment having two systems [] can be
`
`consolidated to a target system (one of the syst

This document is available on Docket Alarm but you must sign up to view it.


Or .

Accessing this document will incur an additional charge of $.

After purchase, you can access this document again without charge.

Accept $ Charge
throbber

Still Working On It

This document is taking longer than usual to download. This can happen if we need to contact the court directly to obtain the document and their servers are running slowly.

Give it another minute or two to complete, and then try the refresh button.

throbber

A few More Minutes ... Still Working

It can take up to 5 minutes for us to download a document if the court servers are running slowly.

Thank you for your continued patience.

This document could not be displayed.

We could not find this document within its docket. Please go back to the docket page and check the link. If that does not work, go back to the docket and refresh it to pull the newest information.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

You need a Paid Account to view this document. Click here to change your account type.

Your account does not support viewing this document.

Set your membership status to view this document.

With a Docket Alarm membership, you'll get a whole lot more, including:

  • Up-to-date information for this case.
  • Email alerts whenever there is an update.
  • Full text search for other cases.
  • Get email alerts whenever a new case matches your search.

Become a Member

One Moment Please

The filing “” is large (MB) and is being downloaded.

Please refresh this page in a few minutes to see if the filing has been downloaded. The filing will also be emailed to you when the download completes.

Your document is on its way!

If you do not receive the document in five minutes, contact support at support@docketalarm.com.

Sealed Document

We are unable to display this document, it may be under a court ordered seal.

If you have proper credentials to access the file, you may proceed directly to the court's system using your government issued username and password.


Access Government Site

We are redirecting you
to a mobile optimized page.





Document Unreadable or Corrupt

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket

We are unable to display this document.

Refresh this Document
Go to the Docket