Microsoft is developing an auto-healing system that automatically repairs cloud virtual machines and it's a total game-changer

Microsoft recently introduced Windows 365 Switch to the business world, allowing organizations everywhere to run Windows 11 on almost every device, whether we’re talking about a Mac, iPad, or Android device. The system also has multiple capabilities, including the Desktop Indicator, allowing users to easily differentiate between cloud and local PCs.

Windows 365 Switch installs a cloud-based Windows 11 on a device and allows the owner of that device to switch between their local operating system and the cloud operating system. The latter is also called a Virtual Machine. Basically, when installing Windows 365 Switch, the local machine becomes a host for the virtual machine Windows 11.

Now, every time the VM Windows 11 runs into a problem, the IT manager of the organization deals with it by identifying the problem, and manually deploying updates through Microsoft Intune.

However, according to a patent Microsoft recently published, it seems that the Redmond-based tech giant might be coming up with a technology that would transform the IT management of cloud-based virtual machines, such as Windows 365 Switch, into an automatic process.

Microsoft the auto-repair VM system a PEER VIRTUAL MACHINE MONITORING AND AUTO-HEALING SYSTEM, and according to the paper, which can be read here, it functions as follows:

There is a system that keeps track of the health of virtual machines (VMs), by designating leader VMs responsible for keeping the other VMs safe, intact, and healthy.

First, it figures out how many leader VMs are needed for a group of VMs. These VMs are running on multiple computers. Then, it picks a certain number of VMs from the group to be the leaders. The number of leaders matches the count determined earlier.

This system regularly checks on the VMs. It stores health data for each VM in a database. The leader VMs then use this data to find any VMs that aren’t working well, which we can call “sick” VMs. Once these sick VMs are identified, the system automatically tries to fix them to make them perform better. This is known as the healing process.

Microsoft also envisions this auto-repair VM system as capable of auto-scaling the resources of each cloud device based on their current activity, intending to maintain and preserve the hardware of the device, without overworking it.

The cloud computing system may also include an autoscaler for adjusting the number of available computational resources. Autoscaler may be configured to monitor one of more metrics indicative of the load on the cloud computing system, such as processor usage, memory usage, number of connections, and the like, and then scale the resources accordingly.

If this system sees the light of day, it could potentially revolutionize VM health, and IT management, as a whole: it would not only become an automatic process, sparing time and financial resources for organizations, but its sustainable approach to the cloud environment coupled with the self-sufficient technology means that the system can repair itself even when one of the leader VMs becomes faulty.

With minimal human input, this means IT managers can focus elsewhere in the organization, such as security issues, and cyber threats.

Ultimately, the system can be updated to support newer cloud-based VMs, ensuring not only its longevity but its performance, as well. The future VMs can be built to fit the system’s technicalities: which means it could become the industry’s standard.

For now, the patent is published, as it can be read in its entirety here. The actual technology might take some time to be properly developed and implemented, but it could be done within a few years.