US Patent 10289400 Outdated resource handling and multiple-version upgrade of cloud software

A system and method for seamlessly and automatically handling outdated resources in a cloud and/or performing a multiple-version upgrade within the cloud with little visibility of interim operations to end users are presented. Mechanisms ensure that outdated resources do not communicate with the rest of the cloud (for example, via distributed data models and Application Programming Interfaces (APIs) before they are upgraded to a target software level. A multiple-version upgrade is implemented in the cloud by a single upgrade operation, by which internal paths for upgrading through various interim versions of software are concealed from end users of the cloud.