US Patent 7761573 Seamless live migration of virtual machines across optical networks

Described are a network and method for performing live migration of a virtual machine (VM) executing at a source site to at least one destination site over an optical network. An application program executes on the VM on behalf of a client system. In the event of a VM migration, a virtual machine turntable control agent coordinates the resource allocation with the VM data transfer. One or more lightpaths are dynamically and securely established through the optical network between the source site and the destination site(s). The VM migration from the source site to multiple destination sites occurs simultaneously, while the application program executes on the VM. After the VM migration, the application resumes at the destination site(s).