Receiving bid requests and pricing bid responses for potential grid job submissions within a grid environment

• US 20060149652A1
• Filed: 01/06/2005
• Published: 07/06/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/06/2005
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hamilton, Rick Allen II, Seaman, James W., Joseph, Joshy, Fellenstein, Craig William
• Application Number:
  US11/031,489
• Publication Number:
  US 20060149652A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes

Abstract

A computer-implemented method, system, and program for receiving bid requests and pricing bid responses for potential grid job submissions within a grid environment are provided. The grid environment includes multiple grid resource nodes available for executing a grid job at a price. Clients submit bid requests for potential grid job submissions to a bid request portal of the grid environment. A workload factor is calculated for each bid request that indicates the estimated resource usage at a resource work unit level for the potential grid job. Next, a cost calculator calculates a price for the potential grid job submission based on the predicted workload factor and a cost per granular work unit, such that the price is available for an automated response to the bid request. The cost per resource work unit may be calculated based on the current and predicted workload on the resources available in the grid environment. Pricing may also be adjusted by available discounting or contractual pricing restraints.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, comprising:

enabling receipt of a bid request from a client system for a potential grid job submission via a grid environment submission portal, wherein said bid request specifies a plurality of characteristics of said potential grid job submission;

calculating a predicted workload factor for said potential grid job submission based on said plurality of characteristics of said potential grid job submission, wherein said predicted workload factor is based on at least one type of granular unit indicating usage of at least one type of resource subsystem; and

calculating a price for said potential grid job submission based on said predicted workload factor and a cost per said at least one granular unit, such that said price is available for inclusion in an automated response to said bid request.

2. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, further comprising:

calculating said cost per said at least one granular unit based on current and predicted workload on a plurality of resources available in said grid environment.

3. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, further comprising:

determining whether said potential grid job submission is eligible for discounting within said grid environment; and

responsive to determining that said potential grid job submission is eligible for discounting, adjusting said price by a discount amount.

4. The computer-implemented method according to claim 3 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, wherein said eligibility for discounting for said potential grid job submission is calculated based on at least one from among a type of said potential grid job submission, said predicted workload factor for said potential grid job submission, and a volume of grid jobs submitted by a client submitting said potential grid job submission.

5. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, further comprising:

adjusting said price for said potential grid job submission based on a contract setting said cost per said at least one granular unit for a client submitting said bid request.

6. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, wherein calculating said price for said potential grid job submission based on said predicted workload factor and a cost per said at least one granular unit, further comprises:

calculating a plurality of subprices, wherein each of said plurality of subprices is calculated for a predicted workload requirement for each of a plurality of subsystems described in said predicted workload factor; and

accumulating said price for said potential grid job submission from said plurality of subprices.

7. The computer-implemented method according to claim 1 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, wherein calculating said price for said potential grid job submission based on said predicted workload factor and a cost per said at least one granular unit, further comprises:

converting said predicted workload factor from said at least one type of granular unit into a second type of granular unit specified by a client submitting said bid request.

8. A system for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, comprising:

an automated grid management system for controlling a plurality of resources within a grid environment;

said automated grid management system further comprising;

means for enabling receipt of a bid request from a client system for a potential grid job submission via a grid environment submission portal, wherein said bid request specifies a plurality of characteristics of said potential grid job submission;

means for calculating a predicted workload factor for said potential grid job submission based on said plurality of characteristics of said potential grid job submission, wherein said predicted workload factor is based on at least one type of granular unit indicating usage of at least one type of resource subsystem; and

means for calculating a price for said potential grid job submission based on said predicted workload factor and a cost per said at least one granular unit, wherein said price is available for inclusion in an automated response to said bid request.

9. The system according to claim 8 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, said automated grid management system further comprising:

means for calculating said cost per said at least one granular unit based on current and predicted workload on a plurality of resources available in said grid environment.

10. The system according to claim 8 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, said automated grid management system further comprising:

means for determining whether said potential grid job submission is eligible for discounting within said grid environment; and

means, responsive to determining that said potential grid job submission is eligible for discounting, for adjusting said price by a discount amount.

11. The system according to claim 10 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, wherein said eligibility for discounting for said potential grid job submission is calculated based on at least one from among a type of said potential grid job submission, said predicted workload factor for said potential grid job submission, and a volume of grid jobs submitted by a client submitting said potential grid job submission.

12. The system according to claim 8 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, said automated grid management system further comprising:

means for adjusting said price for said potential grid job submission based on a contract setting said cost per said at least one granular unit for a client submitting said bid request.

13. The system according to claim 8 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, wherein said means for calculating said price for said potential grid job submission based on said predicted workload factor and a cost per said at least one granular unit, further comprises:

means for calculating a plurality of subprices, wherein each of said plurality of subprices is calculated for a predicted workload requirement for each of a plurality of subsystems described in said predicted workload factor; and

means for accumulating said price for said potential grid job submission from said plurality of subprices.

14. The system according to claim 8 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, wherein said means for calculating said price for said potential grid job submission based on said predicted workload factor and a cost per said at least one granular unit, further comprises:

means for converting said predicted workload factor from said at least one type of granular unit into a second type of granular unit specified by a client submitting said bid request.

15. A computer program product, residing on a computer readable medium, for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, comprising:

means for enabling receipt of a bid request from a client system for a potential grid job submission via a grid environment submission portal, wherein said bid request specifies a plurality of characteristics of said potential grid job submission;

means for calculating a predicted workload factor for said potential grid job submission based on said plurality of characteristics of said potential grid job submission, wherein said predicted workload factor is based on at least one type of granular unit indicating usage of at least one type of resource subsystem; and

means for calculating a price for said potential grid job submission based on said predicted workload factor and a cost per said at least one granular unit.

16. The computer program product according to claim 15 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, further comprising:

means for calculating said cost per said at least one granular unit based on current and predicted workload on a plurality of resources available in said grid environment.

17. The computer program product according to claim 15 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, further comprising:

means for controlling a determination whether said potential grid job submission is eligible for discounting within said grid environment; and

means, responsive to determining that said potential grid job submission is eligible for discounting, for controlling an adjustment of said price by a discount amount.

18. The computer program product according to claim 15 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, further comprising:

means for controlling an adjustment of said price for said potential grid job submission based on a contract setting said cost per said at least one granular unit for a client submitting said bid request.

19. The computer program product according to claim 15 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, wherein said means for calculating said price for said potential grid job submission based on said predicted workload factor and a cost per said at least one granular unit further comprises:

means for calculating a plurality of subprices, wherein each of said plurality of subprices is calculated for a predicted workload requirement for each of a plurality of subsystems described in said predicted workload factor; and

means for accumulating said price for said potential grid job submission from said plurality of subprices.

20. The computer program product according to claim 15 for calculating a price for a potential grid job submission, wherein said means for calculating said price for said potential grid job submission based on said predicted workload factor and a cost per said at least one granular unit, further comprises:

means for converting said predicted workload factor from said at least one type of granular unit into a second type of granular unit specified by a client submitting said bid request.

21. A computer-implemented method for closed-loop automated management of a grid job received at a grid environment, said method comprising:

responsive to receiving a grid job at a grid portal of said grid environment from a client, accessing a bid request and bid previously agreed to for said grid job;

analyzing said bid for said grid job to determine a resource node requirement for said grid job;

surveying a current activity level in said grid environment to detect whether a selection of available resource nodes meeting said resource node requirement are available;

responsive to detecting said selection of available resource nodes meeting said resource node requirement, allocating said selection of resource nodes for said grid job;

routing said grid job to said allocated selection of resource nodes for said grid job;

monitoring a status of said grid job according to the workload detected from said allocated selection of resource nodes;

responsive to verifying a completion of said grid job, routing at least one result of said grid job to said client via said grid portal, such that automated management in a closed-loop path is provided for each grid job received via said grid portal.

22. The computer-implemented method according to claim 21 for closed-loop automated management of a grid job received at a grid environment, further comprising:

responsive to verifying a completion of said grid job, updating a billing service with said workload detected from said allocated selection of resource nodes.

23. The computer-implemented method according to claim 21 for closed-loop automated management of a grid job received at a grid environment, further comprising:

recording an image of said resource node requirement in an environment catalog, wherein responsive to receiving a next grid job matching said grid job, said image of said resource node requirement is retrievable.

24. The computer-implemented method according to claim 21 for closed-loop automated management of a grid job received at a grid environment, further comprising:

responsive to detecting that said selection of available resource nodes are unavailable, building at least one resource node required to make said selection of available resource nodes.

25. A system for closed-loop automated management of a grid job received at a grid environment, said system comprising:

an automated grid management system for controlling a path of each grid job from among a plurality of grid jobs through a plurality of resources within a grid environment;

said automated grid management system further comprising;

means, responsive to receiving a grid job at a grid portal of said grid environment from a client, for accessing a bid request and bid previously agreed to for said grid job;

means for analyzing said bid for said grid job to determine a resource node requirement for said grid job;

means for surveying a current activity level in said grid environment to detect whether a selection of available resource nodes meeting said resource node requirement are available;

means, responsive to detecting said selection of available resource nodes meeting said resource node requirement, for allocating said selection of resource nodes for said grid job;

means for routing said grid job to said allocated selection of resource nodes for said grid job;

means for monitoring a status of said grid job according to the workload detected from said allocated selection of resource nodes;

means, responsive to verifying a completion of said grid job, for routing at least one result of said grid job to said client via said grid portal.

26. The system according to claim 25 for closed-loop automated management of a grid job received at a grid environment, said automated grid management system further comprising:

means, responsive to verifying a completion of said grid job, for updating a billing service with said workload detected from said allocated selection of resource nodes.

27. The system according to claim 25 for closed-loop automated management of a grid job received at a grid environment, said automated grid management system further comprising:

means for recording an image of said resource node requirement in an environment catalog, wherein responsive to receiving a next grid job matching said grid job, said image of said resource node requirement is retrievable.

28. The system according to claim 25 for closed-loop automated management of a grid job received at a grid environment, said automated grid management system further comprising:

means, responsive to detecting that said selection of available resource nodes are unavailable, for building at least one resource node required to make said selection of available resource nodes.

29. A computer program product, residing on a computer readable medium, for closed-loop automated management of a grid job received at a grid environment, comprising:

means, responsive to receiving a grid job at a grid portal of said grid environment from a client, for controlling retrieval of a bid request and bid previously agreed to for said grid job;

means for analyzing said bid for said grid job to determine a resource node requirement for said grid job;

means for controlling a survey of a current activity level in said grid environment to detect whether a selection of available resource nodes meeting said resource node requirement are available;

means, responsive to detecting said selection of available resource nodes meeting said resource node requirement, for controlling allocation of said selection of resource nodes for said grid job;

means for controlling routing of said grid job to said allocated selection of resource nodes for said grid job;

means for monitoring a status of said grid job according to the workload detected from said allocated selection of resource nodes;

means, responsive to verifying a completion of said grid job, for controlling routing of at least one result of said grid job to said client via said grid portal.

30. The computer program product according to claim 29 for closed-loop automated management of a grid job received at a grid environment, said automated grid management system further comprising:

means, responsive to verifying a completion of said grid job, for updating a billing service with said workload detected from said allocated selection of resource nodes.

31. The computer program product according to claim 29 for closed-loop automated management of a grid job received at a grid environment, said automated grid management system further comprising:

means for recording an image of said resource node requirement in an environment catalog, wherein responsive to receiving a next grid job matching said grid job, said image of said resource node requirement is retrievable.

32. The computer program product according to claim 29 for closed-loop automated management of a grid job received at a grid environment, said automated grid management system further comprising:

means, responsive to detecting that said selection of available resource nodes are unavailable, for building at least one resource node required to make said selection of available resource nodes.