This invention relates generally to products and services, more particularly, to systems and methods for cloud computing related services and products.
The advent of cloud-based computing architectures has opened new possibilities for the rapid and scalable deployment of virtual Web stores, media outlets, and other on-line sites or services. In general, a cloud-based architecture deploys a set of hosted resources such as processors, operating systems, software and other components that can be combined or strung together to form virtual machines. A user or customer can request the instantiation of a virtual machine or set of machines from those resources from a central server or management system to perform intended tasks or applications. For example, a user may wish to set up and instantiate a virtual server from the cloud to create a storefront to market products or services on a temporary basis, for instance, to sell tickets to an upcoming sports or musical performance. The user can lease or subscribe to the set of resources needed to build and run the set of instantiated virtual machines on a comparatively short-term basis, such as hours or days, for their intended application.
When a user subscribes to a cloud, the user typically provides the software that to be executed by the virtual machines or utilizes pre-configured software available in the cloud. As such, the user must separately acquire and purchase their own software to be executed by the virtual machines or be limited to the pre-configured software. Thus, there is a need in the art for methods and system that allow a user to customize, on-demand, a software solution in a cloud.
Various features of the embodiments can be more fully appreciated, as the same become better understood with reference to the following detailed description of the embodiments when considered in connection with the accompanying figures, in which:
For simplicity and illustrative purposes, the principles of the present invention are described by referring mainly to exemplary embodiments thereof. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would readily recognize that the same principles are equally applicable to, and can be implemented in, all types of information and service portals, and that any such variations do not depart from the true spirit and scope of the present invention. Moreover, in the following detailed description, references are made to the accompanying figures, which illustrate specific embodiments. Electrical, mechanical, logical and structural changes may be made to the embodiments without departing from the spirit and scope of the present invention. The following detailed description is, therefore, not to be taken in a limiting sense and the scope of the present invention is defined by the appended claims and their equivalents.
Embodiments of the present teachings relate to systems and methods for providing custom appliances. More particularly, embodiments relate to platforms and techniques in which a cloud management system can enable a user to build, on-demand, a custom appliance from a repository software modules located in a cloud computing environment.
According to embodiments, in general, a user can request to build a custom appliance to be instantiated in a cloud computing environment. To provide the building service, the cloud management system can be configured to maintain a repository of software modules, which can be used to create the appliance. In response to the request, the cloud management system can be configured to provide a list of the available software modules to the user. The user can select the desired software modules and send the selection of software modules to the cloud management system. The user can also send configuration information to the cloud management system.
Once received, the cloud management system can build the custom appliance based on the user's request. The cloud management system can retrieve the selected software modules according to the request and construct the software modules according to the request. Once constructed, the cloud management system can be configured to instantiate the custom appliance in the cloud.
The cloud management system can also be configured to determine and bill the user for charges associated with building and instantiating the custom appliance. The charge can include a fee for building the appliance based on each software module included in the appliance. Likewise, the charge for building the appliance can be based on the instantiation of the custom appliance in the cloud computing environment, such as utilization of the custom appliance. To determine the charge, the cloud management system can maintain a list of rates for the software modules and instantiation of the custom appliance.
By providing the option of building an appliance, the user can construct a custom appliance, on-demand, without acquiring the software separately. Additionally, the cost to the user can be reduced by charging only for the cost of the appliance, as a whole, instantiated in the cloud and not for each individual component.
In embodiments, the entire set of resource servers 108 or other hardware or software resources used to support the cloud 102 along with its instantiated virtual machines is managed by a cloud management system 104. The cloud management system 104 can comprise a dedicated or centralized server and/or other software, hardware, and network tools that communicate via one or more networks 106 such as the Internet or other public or private network with all sets of resource servers to manage the cloud 102 and its operation. To instantiate a new set of virtual machines, a user can transmit an instantiation request to the cloud management system 104 for the particular type of virtual machine they wish to invoke for their intended application. A user can for instance make a request to instantiate a set of virtual machines configured for email, messaging or other applications from the cloud 102. The request can be received and processed by the cloud management system 104, which identifies the type of virtual machine, process, or other resource being requested. The cloud management system 104 can then identify the collection of resources necessary to instantiate that machine or resource. In embodiments, the set of instantiated virtual machines or other resources can for example comprise virtual transaction servers used to support Web storefronts, or other transaction sites.
In embodiments, the user's instantiation request can specify a variety of parameters defining the operation of the set of virtual machines to be invoked. The instantiation request, for example, can specify a defined period of time for which the instantiated machine or process is needed. The period of time can be, for example, an hour, a day, or other increment of time. In embodiments, the user's instantiation request can specify the instantiation of a set of virtual machines or processes on a task basis, rather than for a predetermined amount of time. For instance, a user could request resources until a software update is completed. The user's instantiation request can specify other parameters that define the configuration and operation of the set of virtual machines or other instantiated resources. For example, the request can specify an amount of processing power or input/output (I/O) throughput the user wishes to be available to each instance of the virtual machine or other resource. In embodiments, the requesting user can for instance specify a service level agreement (SLA) acceptable for their application. Other parameters and settings can be used. One skilled in the art will realize that the user's request can likewise include combinations of the foregoing exemplary parameters, and others.
When the request to instantiate a set of virtual machines or other resources has been received and the necessary resources to build that machine or resource have been identified, the cloud management system 104 can communicate with one or more set of resource servers 108 to locate resources to supply the required components. The cloud management system 104 can select providers from the diverse set of resource servers 108 to assemble the various components needed to build the requested set of virtual machines or other resources. It may be noted that in some embodiments, permanent storage such as hard disk arrays may not be included or located within the set of resource servers 108 available to the cloud management system 104, since the set of instantiated virtual machines or other resources may be intended to operate on a purely transient or temporary basis. In embodiments, other hardware, software or other resources not strictly located or hosted in the cloud can be leveraged as needed. For example, other software services that are provided outside of the cloud 102 and hosted by third parties can be invoked by in-cloud virtual machines. For further example, other non-cloud hardware and/or storage services can be utilized as an extension to the cloud 102, either on an on-demand or subscribed or decided basis.
With the resource requirements identified, the cloud management system 104 can extract and build the set of virtual machines or other resources on a dynamic or on-demand basis. For example, one set of resource servers 108 can respond to an instantiation request for a given quantity of processor cycles with an offer to deliver that computational power immediately and guaranteed for the next hour. A further set of resource servers 108 can offer to immediately supply communication bandwidth, for example on a guaranteed minimum or best-efforts basis. In other embodiments, the set of virtual machines or other resources can be built on a batch basis or at a particular future time. For example, a set of resource servers 108 can respond to a request for instantiation at a programmed time with an offer to deliver the specified quantity of processor cycles within a specific amount of time, such as the next 12 hours.
The cloud management system 104 can select group of servers in the set of resource servers 108 that match or best match the instantiation request for each component needed to build the virtual machine or other resource. The cloud management system 104 can then coordinate the integration of the completed group of servers from the set of resource servers 108, to build and launch the requested set of virtual machines or other resources. The cloud management system 104 can track the combined group of servers selected from the set of resource servers 108, or other distributed resources that are dynamically or temporarily combined, to produce and manage the requested virtual machine population or other resources.
In embodiments, the cloud management system 104 can generate a resource aggregation table that identifies the various sets of resource servers that will be used to supply the components of the virtual machine or process. The sets of resource servers can be identified by unique identifiers such as, for instance, Internet Protocol (IP) addresses or other addresses. The cloud management system 104 can register the finalized group of servers in the set resource servers 108 contributing to an instantiated machine or process.
The cloud management system 104 can then set up and launch the initiation process for the virtual machines, processes, or other resources to be delivered from the cloud. The cloud management system 104 can for instance transmit an instantiation command or instruction to the registered group of servers in set of resource servers 108. The cloud management system 104 can receive a confirmation message back from each participating server in set of resource servers 108 indicating a status regarding the provisioning of their respective resources. Various sets of resource servers can confirm, for example, the availability of a dedicated amount of processor cycles, amounts of electronic memory, communications bandwidth, or applications or other software prepared to be served.
As shown for example in
In embodiments, the cloud management system 104 can further store, track and manage a user's identity and associated set of rights or entitlements to software, hardware, and other resources. Each user that populates a set of virtual machines in the cloud can have specific rights and resources assigned and made available to them. The cloud management system 104 can track and configure specific actions that a user can perform, such as provision a set of virtual machines with software applications or other resources, configure a set of virtual machines to desired specifications, submit jobs to the set of virtual machines or other host, manage other users of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116 or other resources, and other privileges or actions. The cloud management system 104 can further generate records of the usage of instantiated virtual machines to permit tracking, billing, and auditing of the services consumed by the user. In embodiments, the cloud management system 104 can for example meter the usage and/or duration of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116, to generate subscription billing records for a user that has launched those machines. Other billing or value arrangements are possible.
The cloud management system 104 can configure each virtual machine to be made available to users of the one or more networks 106 via a browser interface, or other interface or mechanism. Each instantiated virtual machine can communicate with the cloud management system 104 and the underlying registered set of resource servers 108 via a standard Web application programming interface (API), or via other calls or interfaces. The set of instantiated virtual machines 116 can likewise communicate with each other, as well as other sites, servers, locations, and resources available via the Internet or other public or private networks, whether within a given cloud 102 or between clouds.
It may be noted that while a browser interface or other front-end can be used to view and operate the set of instantiated virtual machines 116 from a client or terminal, the processing, memory, communications, storage, and other hardware as well as software resources required to be combined to build the virtual machines or other resources are all hosted remotely in the cloud 102. In embodiments, the set of virtual machines 116 or other resources may not depend on or require the user's own on-premise hardware or other resources. In embodiments, a user can therefore request and instantiate a set of virtual machines or other resources on a purely off-premise basis, for instance to build and launch a virtual storefront or other application.
Because the cloud management system 104 in one regard specifies, builds, operates and manages the set of instantiated virtual machines 116 on a logical level, the user can request and receive different sets of virtual machines and other resources on a real-time or near real-time basis, without a need to specify or install any particular hardware. The user's set of instantiated virtual machines 116, processes, or other resources can be scaled up or down immediately or virtually immediately on an on-demand basis, if desired. In embodiments, the various sets of resource servers that are accessed by the cloud management system 104 to support a set of instantiated virtual machines 116 or processes can change or be substituted, over time. The type and operating characteristics of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116 can nevertheless remain constant or virtually constant, since instances are assembled from abstracted resources that can be selected and maintained from diverse sources based on uniform specifications.
In terms of network management of the set of instantiated virtual machines 116 that have been successfully configured and instantiated, the cloud management system 104 can perform various network management tasks including security, maintenance, and metering for billing or subscription purposes. The cloud management system 104 of a given cloud 102 can, for example, install or terminate applications or appliances on individual machines. The cloud management system 104 can monitor operating virtual machines to detect any virus or other rogue process on individual machines, and for instance terminate the infected application or virtual machine. The cloud management system 104 can likewise manage an entire set of instantiated virtual machines 116 or other resources on a collective basis, for instance, to push or delivery a software upgrade to all active virtual machines. Other management processes are possible.
In embodiments, more than one set of virtual machines can be instantiated in a given cloud at the same, overlapping or successive times. The cloud management system 104 can, in such implementations, build, launch and manage multiple sets of virtual machines based on the same or different underlying set of resource servers 108, with populations of different sets of instantiated virtual machines 116 such as may be requested by different users. The cloud management system 104 can institute and enforce security protocols in a cloud 102 hosting multiple sets of virtual machines. Each of the individual sets of virtual machines can be hosted in a respective partition or sub-cloud of the resources of the cloud 102. The cloud management system 104 of a cloud can for example deploy services specific to isolated or defined sub-clouds, or isolate individual workloads/processes within the cloud to a specific sub-cloud. The subdivision of the cloud 102 into distinct transient sub-clouds or other sub-components which have assured security and isolation features can assist in establishing a multiple user or multi-tenant cloud arrangement. In a multiple user scenario, each of the multiple users can use the cloud platform as a common utility while retaining the assurance that their information is secure from other users of the overall cloud system. In further embodiments, sub-clouds can nevertheless be configured to share resources, if desired.
In embodiments, and as also shown in
In the foregoing and other embodiments, the user making an instantiation request or otherwise accessing or utilizing the cloud network can be a person, customer, subscriber, administrator, corporation, organization, or other entity. In embodiments, the user can be or include another virtual machine, application or process. In further embodiments, multiple users or entities can share the use of a set of virtual machines or other resources.
In embodiments, the cloud management system 104 can be configured to maintain a repository of software modules. For example, the management engine 118 can be configured to maintain the repository in cloud management store 120. The software modules can be any type of software capable of executing on a computing platform. For example, the software modules can include operating systems and applications.
In embodiments, to allow users to build custom appliances, the cloud management system 104 can be configured to communicate with the user 112 in order to allow the user 112 to select software modules to be included in the custom appliance. The cloud management system 104 can be configured to communicate with the user 112 via an interface 114 to allow the user to request and provide specifications for the custom appliance. The interface 114 can be any type of interface to allow the user to communicate information to the cloud management system 104. For example, the interface 114 can be a specific graphical, command-line, or other interface generated by a program or application designed to communicate with the cloud management system 104. Likewise, the interface 114 can be an interface generated in conventional formats, such as .html, capable of being executed in network programs and applications, such as a web browser.
To select and configure the custom appliance, the management engine 118 can provide a list of available software modules, and the interface 114 can be configured to display the list. As such, the user 112 can select the software modules to be included in the custom appliance. For example, if the user desires to request a Web storefront, the user 112 can select an operating system and web site hosting application. In addition to selecting the software modules to include, the user 112 can specify configuration information for the custom appliance. The configuration information can be settings for the appliance that define how the custom appliance will function. For example, if the user requests an e-mail server, the user can specify the domain name of the server and email addresses associated with the server.
In addition, the cloud management system 104 can collect information from the user 112 in order to track the user's custom appliance. The cloud management system 104 can collect information such as identity, payment and billing information via interface 114.
Once the cloud management system 104 receives the specifications and configuration information for the custom appliance, the cloud management system 104 can be configured to build the custom appliance according to the user's specification. To build the custom appliance, the management engine 118 can retrieve the selected software modules from cloud management store 120. Once retrieved, the management engine 118 can combine the software modules and apply the user 112 configuration information in order to build the appliance. An appliance comprise one or more software modules combined with a “minimum amount of an operating system” (MiniOS) to allow the software modules to run on virtual machines executing in cloud 102. An appliance can be any type of software appliance such as those described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/040,831 filed Feb. 29, 2008, entitled “METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DYNAMICALLY BUILDING A SOFTWARE APPLIANCE”, the entirety of which is incorporated herein by reference.
Once built, the cloud management system 104 can instantiate the custom appliance in the virtual machines 116 or create a new set of virtual machines to support the custom appliance. The virtual machines 116 can be or include, for instance, a set of virtual servers that can support custom appliance.
As part of the process of building the custom appliance, the cloud management system 104 embed a management ID into each custom appliance. The management ID can be, for instance, a file, certificate, cookie, or other identification object encoding a unique identifier for that custom appliance. The incorporation of management ID into the custom appliance can permit cloud management system 104 to directly configure, manage, store and track the custom appliance.
After building, the cloud management system 104 can determine a charge for the building and/or instantiating the custom appliance in cloud 102. The charge for building the appliance can be based on an individual charge for each software module included in the custom appliance.
Additionally, the cloud management system 104 can base the charge for the custom appliance on the instantiation of the custom appliance in the cloud 102. As such, the cloud management system 104 can track the utilization of the custom appliance in order to determine the charge. For example, the management engine 118 can track such data as the duration the custom appliance is instantiated in the cloud 102, the time period that the custom appliance is instantiated (peak or off-peak times), and the computing resources consumed by the custom appliance (number of resource servers, computing cycles, bandwidth, memory usage, storage usage). To track the usage, the management engine 128 can communicate with the cloud 102 via network 106 to monitor the virtual machines 116.
For the instantiation charge, the cloud management system 104 can determine a fee or charge for the virtual machines 116 instantiated in the cloud 102 based on the tracked usage. For example, the cloud management system 104 can base the fee for each individual virtual machines 116 on the instantiation time, such as hours instantiated, of each virtual machine 116. Additionally, the cloud management system 104 can base the fee of the amount of resources utilized by each individual virtual machine 116. For example, the cloud management system 104 can base the fees on computing resources, for instance computer cycles, bandwidth, memory utilization, storage utilization, consumed by a virtual machine 116. Likewise, the cloud management system 104 can base the fee on a combination of instantiation time and consumed computing resources.
Additionally, the cloud management system 104 can base the fees charged on the time period in which each virtual machine 116 is instantiated. For example, the cloud management system can charge different rates for peak time periods (e.g. time periods when the cloud 102 is heavily utilized) and off-peak time periods. Likewise, the cloud management system 104 can base the fee on a combination of the tracked time period, the tracked instantiation time and the consumed computing resources.
In order to determine the charge, in embodiments, the cloud management system 104 can maintain a list of rates for individual components, the various usages, such as instantiation duration, computing resources consumed, and instantiation time period. Additionally, the cloud management system 104 can maintain a list of discounts available based on the usage of the cloud 102. For example, the cloud management system 104 can maintain a list of discounts for volume usage of the cloud computing environment or reduced rates based on the amount of usage by the user. The cloud management system 104 can maintain the list of rates and discounts in cloud management store 126. To determine the fees, the cloud management system 104 can retrieve the list of rates and calculate the charges based on the individual components or the tracked usage.
In embodiments, the cloud management system 104 can bill the user 112 for the charges associated with building and/or instantiating the virtual appliance. The cloud management system 104 can initiate a payment process, via any electronic or physical payment process, for the extracted fees. For example, the management engine 118 can generate a bill to be transmitted to user 112 or can initiate automatic payment if the user 112 has provided payment information. The cloud management system 104 can perform the billing process on-demand or in a periodic manner.
In 506, the cloud management system 104 can provide a list of available software modules to the user. In 508, the cloud management system 104 can receive the user's specification and configuration information for the custom appliance. This can include the software modules selected by the user and configuration information for the completed appliance.
Then, in 510, the cloud management system 104 can build the appliance based on the user's specification and configuration information. For example, the cloud management system 104 can retrieve the selected software modules and combine the software modules. Then, in 512, the cloud management system 104 can instantiate the custom appliance in the cloud 102.
After building, in 514, the cloud management system 104 can determine and bill the user for the charges associated with the custom appliance. The cloud management system 104 can perform the billing process on-demand or in a periodic manner.
Then, in 518, if the cloud 102 terminates, the process can end, but the process can return to any point and repeat.
In the foregoing and other embodiments, the user making an instantiation request or otherwise accessing the cloud network can be a person, customer, subscriber, corporation, organization, or other entity. In embodiments, the user can be or include another virtual machine, application or process. In further embodiments, multiple users or entities can share the use of a set of virtual machines or other resources.
While the invention has been described with reference to the exemplary embodiments thereof, those skilled in the art will be able to make various modifications to the described embodiments without departing from the true spirit and scope. The terms and descriptions used herein are set forth by way of illustration only and are not meant as limitations. In particular, although the method has been described by examples, the steps of the method may be performed in a different order than illustrated or simultaneously. Those skilled in the art will recognize that these and other variations are possible within the spirit and scope as defined in the following claims and their equivalents.
This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/128,787, filed on May 29, 2008, and issued as U.S. Pat. No. 10,657,466 on May 19, 2020, the entire contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
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Number | Date | Country | |
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Parent | 12128787 | May 2008 | US |
Child | 15929691 | US |