System and method for automated configuration of hosting resources

A method for automated configuration of a set of resources for hosting a virtual machine in a hosting system, the method comprising:

• providing a plurality of hardware nodes with resources for hosting a plurality of virtual machines;
• and
• providing a utility management module operating as a first virtual machine, separate from the hosted virtual machines, using a first set of virtualized hardware resources of a particular hardware node, said utility management module for (i) receiving a user-specified configuration for a second virtual machine to be created on a second set of virtualized hardware resources of the same particular hardware node, (ii) partitioning the second set of virtualized hardware resources of the particular hardware node according to the user-specified configuration to implement a file system for the second virtual machine, the file system for storing data for the second virtual machine, the second virtual machine to operate on the second set of virtualized hardware resources, and (iii) formatting the file system for the second virtual machine in order to create the second virtual machine on the file system.

A hosting system for hosting a plurality of virtual machine configurations for a plurality of users, the hosting system comprising:

• a plurality of hardware nodes, each particular hardware node comprising resources to host at least one virtual machine;
• and
• a utility management module operating as a first virtual machine, separate from the hosted virtual machines, on a first set of resources of a particular one of the hardware nodes, said utility management module to (i) receive, from a hypervisor management module, a user-specified configuration for a second virtual machine to be created on a second set of resources of the particular hardware node, (ii) access the second set of resources of the particular hardware node, (iii) partition the second set of resources based on the user-specified configuration to create a file system for storing data of the second virtual machine, and (iv) configure the file system for the second virtual machine according to the user-specified configuration in order to create the second virtual machine on the file system.