Methods and apparatus to control a virtual machine

A cloud computing device, to control a virtual machine, comprising:

• a processor, configured to:
• send identification of virtual machines within a recovery domain comprising at least two virtual machines that are permitted to control each other;
• receive a request to control one of the virtual machines, after a determination that the one of the virtual machines needs to be shut down, restarted, or fenced;
• authorize the request wherein the processor is configured to authorize the request, based on an identity of the initiator of the request and the initiator is another of the virtual machines;
• and
• forward the request to a virtual machine manager of the one of the virtual machines.

A method, implemented by a computing device hosting a virtual machine, comprising:

• sending a request, for identification of virtual machines within a recovery domain comprising at least two virtual machines that are permitted to control each other, directly to a cloud computing device, without passing the request through another computing device;
• determining that one of the virtual machines needs to be controlled;
• and
• sending, after a determination that the one of the virtual machines needs to be shut down, restarted, or fenced, a request to control the one of the virtual machines directly to the cloud computing device, without passing the request through another computing device, wherein the request is configured to be authorized based on an identity of the initiator of the request and the initiator is another of the virtual machines.