Application gateway for cloud computing systems

• US 10,049,033 B2
• Filed: 06/03/2014
• Issued: 08/14/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: SAP SE
• Original Assignee: SAP SE
• Inventors: Daute, Oliver
• Primary Examiner(s): Louie, Jue
• Application Number:
  US14/294,736
• Publication Number:
  US 20150350341A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,533 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3688 for test execution, e.g. scheduling of test suites
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1004 Server selection for load balancing

Abstract

The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer-implemented methods for certifying applications for execution in cloud computing systems. An example method includes identifying an application for execution in a cloud computing system; determining a set of application characteristics associated with the application based at least in part on an automatic analysis of the application; determining whether the application is suitable to be executed in the cloud computing system based at least in part on the determined set of application characteristics; and in response to determining that the application is suitable for use in the cloud computing system, storing the application and at least a portion of the determined set of application characteristics in an application repository.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method executed by one or more processors of an application gateway, the method comprising:

receiving, at the application gateway, an application package that includes;

i) an application for execution in a cloud computing system that is communicatively coupled to the application gateway and ii) at least one test scenario for testing whether the application is suitable to be executed in the cloud computing system;

determining, by the application gateway, a set of application characteristics associated with the application based at least in part on an automatic analysis of the application that includes performing a test execution of the application, in an environment of the application gateway that simulates the cloud computing system, to determine at least one communication protocol supported by the application, wherein the test execution includes applying the at least one test scenario, included in the application package, to attempt to communicate with the executing application using a plurality of different communication protocols and designating the at least one communication protocol as supported by the application in response to a successful attempt to use the at least one communication protocol to communicate with the application during the test execution, and wherein the testing included in the automatic analysis is based at least in part on a trust level associated with an author of the application;

determining by the application gateway, that the application is suitable to be executed in the cloud computing system based at least in part on the at least one communication protocol being supported by the cloud computing system; and

in response to determining that the application is suitable to be executed in the cloud computing system, storing, by the application gateway, the application and at least a portion of the determined set of application characteristics in an application repository of the application gateway, and checking in the application to a repository of the cloud computing system for execution in the cloud computing system.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the application repository is configured to store applications for use in the cloud computing system.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising, in response to determining that the application is not suitable for use in the cloud computing system, storing the application and the determined set of application characteristics in the application repository with an untrusted status, wherein the application repository is configured to restrict access to applications with the untrusted status.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the set of application characteristics further includes:

determining one or more test scenarios for the application; and

automatically performing the test execution of the application according to the one or more test scenarios to determine a set of test results associated with the application, wherein the set of application characteristics is determined based at least in part on the set of test results.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the application to be executed in the cloud computing system includes identifying a set of metadata associated with the application.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the automatic analysis of the application is based on an analysis of a set of metadata associated with the application.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the set of metadata includes the author of the application, and wherein the determination of whether the application is suitable for use in the cloud computing system is based at least in part on the trust level associated with the author of the application.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the set of metadata includes a set of application execution requirements associated with the application including at least one of:

a number of expected users, an expected reliability level, or an expected performance level.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the set of application characteristics is determined based at least in part on the set of metadata.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the set of application characteristics includes determining a set of communication characteristics associated with the application, and wherein determining whether the application is suitable for use in the cloud computing system includes determining whether the set of communication characteristics is compatible with the cloud computing system.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the set of application characteristics includes determining a set of management characteristics associated with the application including at least one of:

an interface for managing the application, an interface for monitoring the application, a set of dependencies for the application, or a restore procedure associated with the application.

12. A non-transitory, computer-readable medium storing instructions operable when executed to cause at least one processor of an application gateway to perform operations comprising:

receiving, at the application gateway, an application package that includes;

i) an application for execution in a cloud computing system that is communicatively coupled to the application gateway and ii) at least one test scenario for testing whether the application is suitable to be executed in the cloud computing system;

determining, by the application gateway, a set of application characteristics associated with the application based at least in part on an automatic analysis of the application that includes performing a test execution of the application, in an environment of the application gateway that simulates the cloud computing system, to determine at least one communication protocol supported by the application, wherein the test execution includes applying the at least one test scenario, included in the application package, to attempt to communicate with the executing application using a plurality of different communication protocols and designating the at least one communication protocol as supported by the application in response to a successful attempt to use the at least one communication protocol to communicate with the application during the test execution, and wherein the testing included in the automatic analysis is based at least in part on a trust level associated with an author of the application;

determining, by the application gateway, whether the application is suitable to be executed in the cloud computing system based at least in part on the at least one communication protocol being supported by the cloud computing system; and

in response to determining that the application is suitable to be executed in the cloud computing system, storing, by the application gateway, the application and at least a portion of the determined set of application characteristics in an application repository of the application gateway, and checking in the application to a repository of the cloud computing system for execution in the cloud computing system.

13. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the application repository is configured to store applications for use in the cloud computing system.

14. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, the operations further comprising, in response to determining that the application is not suitable for use in the cloud computing system, storing the application and the determined set of application characteristics in the application repository with an untrusted status, wherein the application repository is configured to restrict access to applications with the untrusted status.

15. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein determining the set of application characteristics further includes:

determining one or more test scenarios for the application; and

automatically performing the test execution of the application according to the one or more test scenarios to determine a set of test results associated with the application, wherein the set of application characteristics is determined based at least in part on the set of test results.

16. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein identifying the application to be executed in the cloud computing system includes identifying a set of metadata associated with the application.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 12, wherein the automatic analysis of the application is based on an analysis of a set of metadata associated with the application.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the set of metadata includes an author of the application, and wherein the determination of whether the application is suitable for use in the cloud computing system is based at least in part on a trust level associated with the author of the application.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 17, wherein the set of metadata includes a set of application execution requirements associated with the application including at least one of:

a number of expected users, an expected reliability level, or an expected performance level.

20. A system comprising:

memory for storing data; and

one or more processors of an application gateway operable to perform operations comprising;

receiving, at the application gateway, an application package that includes;

i) an application for execution in a cloud computing system that is communicatively coupled to the application gateway and ii) at least one test scenario for testing whether the application is suitable to be executed in the cloud computing system;

determining, by the application gateway, a set of application characteristics associated with the application based at least in part on an automatic analysis of the application that includes performing a test execution of the application, in an environment of the application gateway that simulates the cloud computing system, to determine at least one communication protocol supported by the application, wherein the test execution includes applying the at least one test scenario, included in the application package, to attempt to communicate with the executing application using a plurality of different communication protocols and designating the at least one communication protocol as supported by the application in response to a successful attempt to use the at least one communication protocol to communicate with the application during the test execution, and wherein the testing included in the automatic analysis is based at least in part on a trust level associated with an author of the application;

determining, by the application gateway, whether the application is suitable to be executed in the cloud computing system based at least in part on the at least one communication protocol being supported by the cloud computing system; and

in response to determining that the application is suitable to be executed in the cloud computing system, storing, by the application gateway, the application and at least a portion of the determined set of application characteristics in an application repository of the application gateway, and checking in the application to a repository of the cloud computing system for execution in the cloud computing system.