Method and apparatus for account virtualization

A computer program product, comprising a non-transitory computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, the computer readable program code comprising:

• (A) code for creating a virtual account in a directory service having access to a plurality of servers, wherein the virtual account is not specifically associated with any one of the servers;
• (B) code for modifying authentication credentials of a first server and/or the virtual account so that the authentication credentials of the first server and the virtual account match;
• (C) code for logging an application program, executing on the first server, into the directory service using the authentication credentials of the virtual account;
• and
• (D) code for managing the relocation of an application program between the first server and a second server to maintain availability of the application program using the virtual account.

At least one computer for use in a computer system comprising a plurality of servers, the plurality of servers comprising at least a first server and a second server, the at least one computer comprising at least one processor programmed to:

• create a virtual account in a directory service having access to a plurality of servers, wherein the virtual account is not specifically associated with any one of the plurality of servers;
• modify authentication credentials of the first server and/or the virtual account so that the authentication credentials of the first server and the virtual account match;
• log an application program, executing on the first server, into the directory service using the authentication credentials of the virtual account;
• and
• manage the relocation of an application program between the first server and a second server to maintain availability of the application program using the virtual account.