UTILIZING PARTITION RESOURCE REQUIREMENTS FROM WORKLOAD ESTIMATION TO AUTOMATE PARTITION SOFTWARE CONFIGURATION AND VALIDATION

• US 20080148254A1
• Filed: 02/28/2008
• Published: 06/19/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: McManus, Jossie Maite, Hofer, Kent LeDel, Van Hove, Tammy Lynn, Rabe, Nathan Allan
• Granted Patent: US 8,140,816 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/174
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/44505 Configuring for program initiating, e.g. using registry, configuration files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5077 Logical partitioning of resources; Management or configuration of virtualized resources specific details on emulation or internal functioning of virtual machines G06F9/455

Abstract

A method and apparatus for utilizing partition resource requirements to automate computer partition configuration. Partition resource requirements that are collected by a workload estimator include the type and version of software that is to be run on each partition of the system and the minimum hardware resources needed for each of the plurality of partitions on a partition by partition basis. The partition resource requirements are included in a system plan that is passed to other tools to configure a system based on the system plan. The tools that use the system plan include a deployment wizard that uses the system plan file to configure a system upgrade, and an ordering tool that passes the partition resource requirements to the manufacturer to allow the manufacturer to configure a new system based on the workload information in the system plan file.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

at least one processor;

a memory coupled to the at least one processor; and

a system planning tool with a workload estimator in the memory and executed by the at least one processor, where the workload estimator;

(A) allows a user to specify one or more workloads to create partition resource requirements that includes a type and version of software to be stored in a plurality of partitions and minimum hardware resources for each of the plurality of partitions;

(B) stores the partition resource requirements in a system plan; and

(C) exports the system plan to automatically install and configure the software.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the system plan is an extensible markup language based document that complies with Common System Definition Markup Language (CSDML).

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the workload estimator is a web-based tool for a manufacturing customer to estimate computer needs prior to ordering a computer system.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the system plan is exported to a deployment wizard for installing, configuring and validating the system for the specified workloads on an existing computer system.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the system plan is exported to an ordering tool to allow the user to order a new computer system from a manufacturer where the manufacturer uses the partition resource requirements to pre-load the new computer system with the specified workloads and validate the system using the partition resource requirements.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein the system plan is exported to an ordering tool to allow the user to order a new computer system from a manufacturer where the user then uses a deployment wizard for installing, configuring and validating the system for the specified workloads on the new computer system.

7. A computer-implemented method for utilizing partition resource requirements from a workload estimator to automate computer partition configuration, the method comprising the steps of:

(A) specifying one or more workloads using a workload estimator to create partition resource requirements on a partition by partition basis that includes a type and version of software to be stored in a plurality of partitions and the minimum hardware resources needed for each of the plurality of partitions;

(B) storing the partition resource requirements in a system plan; and

(C) exporting the system plan to automatically install and configure the software.

8. The method of claim 7 further comprising the steps of:

(E) adding additional hardware and partition information to the system plan using a system planning tool to create an actual allocation of hardware resources for each partition; and

(F) validating the system plan by comparing the actual allocation of hardware resources with the minimum hardware resources stored in the system plan with the workload estimator.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the workload estimator is a web-based tool for a manufacturing customer to estimate computer needs prior to ordering a computer system.

10. The method of claim 7 wherein the system plan is exported to a deployment wizard for installing and configuring the software for the specified workloads on an existing computer system.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the system plan is exported to an ordering tool to allow the user to order a new computer system from a manufacturer where the manufacturer uses the partition resource requirements to pre-load the new computer system with the specified workloads.

12. A method for deploying computing infrastructure, comprising integrating computer readable code into a computing system, wherein the code in combination with the computing system perform the method of claim 7.

13. A computer-implemented method for utilizing partition resource requirements from a workload estimator to automate computer partition configuration, the method comprising the steps of:

(A) specifying one or more workloads using a workload estimator to create partition resource requirements on a partition by partition basis that includes a type and version of software to be stored in a plurality of partitions and the minimum hardware resources needed for each of the plurality of partitions, wherein the workload estimator is a web-based tool for a manufacturing customer to estimate computer needs prior to ordering a computer system;

(B) storing the partition resource requirements in a system plan;

(C) adding additional hardware and partition information to the system plan using a system planning tool;

(D) exporting the system plan to a deployment wizard to automatically install, configure and validate the system for the specified workloads on an existing computer system;

(E) adding additional hardware and partition information to the system plan using a system planning tool to create an actual allocation of hardware resources for each partition; and

(F) validating the system plan by comparing the actual allocation of hardware resources with the minimum hardware resources stored in the system plan with the workload estimator.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the system plan is exported to an ordering tool to allow the user to order a new computer system from a manufacturer where the manufacturer uses the partition resource requirements to pre-load the new computer system with the specified workloads.

15. An article of manufacture comprising:

a system planning tool with a workload estimator in the memory and executed by the at least one processor, where the workload estimator;

(A) allows a user to specify one or more workloads using a workload estimator to create partition resource requirements on a partition by partition basis that includes a type and version of software to be stored in a plurality of partitions and the minimum hardware resources needed for each of the plurality of partitions;

(B) stores the partition resource requirements in a system plan; and

(C) exports the system plan to automatically install and configure the software; and

computer-readable media bearing the system planning tool and the workload estimator.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 15 wherein the system plan is an extensible markup language based document that complies with Common System Definition Markup Language (CSDML).

17. The article of manufacture of claim 15 wherein the workload estimator is a web-based tool for a manufacturing customer to estimate computer needs prior to ordering a computer system.

18. The article of manufacture of claim 15 wherein the system plan is exported to a deployment wizard for installing and configuring the software for the specified workloads on an existing computer system.

19. The article of manufacture of claim 15 wherein the system plan is exported to an ordering tool to allow the user to order a new computer system from a manufacturer where the manufacturer uses the partition resource requirements to pre-load the new computer system with the specified workloads.

20. The article of manufacture of claim 15 wherein the system plan is exported to an ordering tool to allow the user to order a new computer system from a manufacturer where the user then uses a deployment wizard for installing and configuring the software for the specified workloads on the new computer system.