METHOD, SYSTEM AND COMPUTER PROGRAM FOR DYNAMIC RESOURCES ALLOCATION

Abstract

A provisioning method and a corresponding apparatus for managing a data processing system including a plurality of exploiter entities and a plurality of resources, the system maintaining a repository with system requirements of the plurality of exploiter entities. The provisioner monitors any possible needs for further resources of the exploiters. When such needs arises the provisioner select an available resource within a pool of possible available resources. Such selection is done so that the effort for configuring the resource according to exploiter requirements is reduced. One feature of the method of the present invention is that two levels of requirements are defined: the “Hard Properties”, i.e. those system features which cannot be easily configured; and the “Soft Properties”, i.e. those features which can be easily configured. Of course the definition of Hard and Soft can be customized according to predetermined conditions. According to a preferred embodiment of the present invention, Hard Properties are those features which cannot be automatically configured and which may require an operator intervention or long awaiting times, while Soft Properties are those which can be automatically modified.

Description

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic block diagram of a computer network in which the method of the invention is applicable;

FIG. 2 shows the functional blocks of a generic computer of the system;

FIG. 3 depicts the main components that can be used for practicing the method;

FIG. 4 show a diagram describing the flow of activities relating to an illustrative implementation of the method.

Claims

1. A provisioning method for managing a data processing system including a plurality of exploiter entities and a plurality of resources, the data processing system maintaining a repository with system requirements of the plurality of exploiter entities, a set of the plurality of resources being available for assignment to the plurality of exploiter entities, the method including the steps of: detecting the need for at least one of the plurality of exploiter entities of at least one resource;assigning a score to each of the available resources, the score being indicative of the effort required to configure the resource to the requirements of the at least one exploiter entity;selecting at least one available resource according to the assigned score, so that the configuring effort is minimized.

2. The method of claim 1 further including: preselecting a subset of available resources which do not need manual configuration activity;applying the step of assigning a score to the subset of available resources.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein each resource has a plurality of properties, each property being assigned a value indicative of the effort required to modify the property according to the requirements of the at least one exploiter entity.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the assigned value includes a Preparation Time indicative of the expected time required to modify the property according to the requirements of the at least one exploiter entity.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein the assigned value includes a Resource Value indicative of the business value of the property.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the score includes a value calculated with the following formula F(V,T)=KV*V+KT*T*

7. The method of claim 1 further including: identifying for each available resource at least a first and a second level of properties, the first level being indicative of a resource property requiring a configuring effort exceeding a predetermined threshold;applying the step of assigning only to those resources having first level properties satisfying the requirements of the at least one exploiter entity.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the Preparation Time is calculated only for second level properties.

9. A computer program product in a computer readable medium for managing a data processing system including a plurality of exploiter entities and a plurality of resources, comprising:instructions for detecting the need for at least one of the plurality of exploiter entities of at least one resource;instructions for assigning a score to each of the available resources, the score being indicative of the effort required to configure the resource to the requirements of the at least one exploiter entity;instructions for selecting at least one available resource according to the assigned score, so that the configuring effort is minimized.

10. A system for managing a data processing system including a plurality of exploiter entities and a plurality of resources comprising: means for detecting the need for at least one of the plurality of exploiter entities of at least one resource;means for assigning a score to each of the available resources, the score being indicative of the effort required to configure the resource to the requirements of the at least one exploiter entity;means for selecting at least one available resource according to the assigned score, so that the configuring effort is minimized.