Methods and apparatus for dynamic allocation of servers to a plurality of customers to maximize the revenue of a server farm
First Claim
1. A method for optimizing server farm resource usage among a plurality of contract customers comprising the steps of:
- providing a long term forecast of server resource workload for each contract customer;
building a resource allocation plan for allocation of server resources based on the long term forecast;
controlling the allocation of server resources in accordance with the resource allocation plan;
providing a short term forecast based on monitored workload conditions at said server resources; and
evaluating refinement of the resource allocation plan in accordance with said short term forecast.
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Abstract
A method and structure for dynamic allocation of servers to customers in a server farm which supports a flexible contract structure such that the total revenue of the farm is maximized. The invention creates a resource allocation plan based on a long term forecast for the server farm, taking into account traffic, number of servers, customers'"'"' contracts and revenue optimization algorithms. The plan is then modified as indicated by short term forecasting using currently monitored load metrics to reallocate to maximize revenue for particular time periods.
114 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method for optimizing server farm resource usage among a plurality of contract customers comprising the steps of:
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providing a long term forecast of server resource workload for each contract customer;
building a resource allocation plan for allocation of server resources based on the long term forecast;
controlling the allocation of server resources in accordance with the resource allocation plan;
providing a short term forecast based on monitored workload conditions at said server resources; and
evaluating refinement of the resource allocation plan in accordance with said short term forecast. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A system for optimizing server farm resource usage among a plurality of contract customers comprising:
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a long term forecasting component for generating a long term forecast of server resource workload;
a resource allocation planning component for constructing a resource allocation plan for allocation of server resources based on the long term forecast;
a short term forecasting component for generating a short term forecast of server resource workload; and
a resource manager for controlling the allocation of server resources in accordance with the resource allocation plan and for evaluating refinement of said resource allocation plan based on the short term forecast. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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20. A program storage device readable by machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions for said machine to execute a method for optimizing server farm resource usage among a plurality of contract customers, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a long term forecast of server resource workload for each contract customer;
building a resource allocation plan for allocation of server resources based on the long term forecast;
controlling the allocation of server resources in accordance with the resource allocation plan;
providing a short term forecast based on monitored workload conditions at said server resources; and
evaluating refinement of the resource allocation plan in accordance with said short term forecast.
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Specification