RESOURCE ALLOCATION AND MODIFICATION USING STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

• US 20100185768A1
• Filed: 01/21/2010
• Published: 07/22/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 01/21/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Juniper Networks Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Blackwave Inc. (Juniper Networks Incorporated)
• Inventors: Warres, Michael, Losso, Chris, Hurley, Jim, Hamedany, Allen, Colon, Louis M. JR., Medard, Muriel
• Granted Patent: US 9,066,141 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/23116 involving data replication, e.g. over plural servers synchronization of replicated data G06F11/1658; error detection or correction by means of data replication G06F11/2053; replication in distributed file systems G06F16/10; replication in distributed file systems G06F16/27; replication or mirroring of data in data networks H04L67/1095
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/26208 the scheduling operation being performed under constraints
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/47202 for requesting content on demand, e.g. video on demand
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 21/6125 involving transmission via Internet transmission by internet of broadcast information H04H60/82

Abstract

In one aspect, a computer-implemented method includes generating a workload using at least one schema defined by combinations of ranges of each of at least two attributes. The computer-implemented method also includes receiving a request to provide content. The computer-implemented method further includes provisioning the content based upon the workload.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

generating a workload using at least one schema defined by combinations of ranges of each of at least two attributes;

receiving a request to provide content; and

provisioning the content based upon the workload.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the at least two attributes are selected from:

popularity, resiliency, integrity, geographical affinity and exclusion, topological affinity and exclusion and power consumption.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the at least two attributes are resiliency and popularity.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3 wherein each of the at least one schema corresponds to a maximum bandwidth to access the content.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining whether a re-provisioning condition is satisfied based upon obtained information, the determining comprising;

forming a statistical representation of actual usage of a first item of the content using at least one set of usage data; and

comparing the statistical representation of the actual usage with a usage threshold associated with the first resource allocation arrangement; and

generating a specification of a re-provisioning operation if the re-provisioning condition is satisfied.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein provisioning the content based upon the workload comprises provisioning the content from a group of platforms.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6 wherein provisioning the content from a group of platforms comprises:

receiving at a first platform the request to provide the content; and

transferring the content from a second platform to the first platform.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein the workload is a prescriptive work load, and further comprising:

generating a model workload based upon empirical data; and

generating the prescriptive workload using the model workload.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8 wherein generating a model workload based upon empirical data comprises generating a model workload based upon empirical data comprising at least one of geographical profile of viewing habits of consumers and a statistical usage distribution characterizing a number of views over a specified period of time

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1 wherein generating a workload using at least one schema comprises generating a workload using at least one schema comprising at least one of title rank, disk span, disk region, number of primary copies of the content and bandwidth.

11. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining information characterizing a level of actual usage of a first item of content, comprising;

collecting successive sets of usage data over a sequence of time windows, each set corresponding to a respective time window,

wherein the first item of content is stored on a first set of elements of resources of a storage environment according to a first resource allocation arrangement;

based upon the obtained information, determining whether a re-provisioning condition is satisfied, comprising;

forming a statistical representation of the actual usage of the first item of content using at least one set of usage data; and

comparing the statistical representation of the actual usage with a usage threshold associated with the first resource allocation arrangement;

upon satisfaction of the re-provisioning condition, generating a specification of a re-provisioning operation to be executed in association with the resources of the storage environment.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 wherein forming a statistical representation of the actual usage includes computing a mean value of the set of usage data.

13. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 wherein forming a statistical representation of the actual usage includes identifying a P^th percentile value of the set of usage data.

14. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 wherein an arbitrary function is applied to the actual usage, the arbitrary function related to a resiliency required of the first item of content.

15. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 wherein generating the specification of the re-provisioning operation comprises:

identifying a second resource allocation arrangement for storing the first item of content; and

allocating a second set of elements of the resources of the storage environment according to the second resource allocation arrangement

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 15 wherein allocating a second set of elements of the resources of the storage environment according to the second resource allocation arrangement comprises allocating a second set of elements of the resources of the storage environment according to the second resource allocation arrangement that satisfies an arbitrary function applied to the actual usage that is related to a resiliency required of the first item of content.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 15, further comprising:

detecting a presence of an execution condition; and

executing the re-provisioning operation.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 17 wherein executing the re-provisioning operation comprises:

storing one or multiple new instances of the first item of content on the second set of elements of resources according to the second resource allocation arrangement; and

removing one or multiple previously-stored instances of the first item of content from the first set of elements of resources of the storage environment.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18 wherein the re-provisioning operation comprises:

an up-provisioning operation to be executed when the level of actual usage of the first item of content exceeds the provisioned level of usage by a first predetermined amount; and

a down-provisioning operation to be executed when the provisioned level of usage of the first item of content exceeds the level of actual usage by a second predetermined amount.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 11, further comprising:

obtaining information characterizing a respective level of actual usage of each item in a first group of items;

identifying one or more re-provisioning candidates in the first group of items based upon whether the re-provisioning condition satisfied; and

prioritizing the re-provisioning candidates according to a priority criterion.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 11 wherein prioritizing the re-provisioning candidates comprises, for each of the re-provisioning candidates, determining a relative urgency of the corresponding re-provisioning operation.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein determining the relative urgency of the corresponding re-provisioning operation includes comparing the urgency of the re-provisioning operation with an operation that does not involve re-provisioning.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein determining the relative urgency of the corresponding re-provisioning operation includes measuring a degree of discrepancy between the actual usage of a candidate and the usage threshold associated with the existing resource allocation arrangement of that candidate.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 21 wherein prioritizing the re-provisioning candidates also includes determining an availability of the resources of the storage environment.

25. A set of platforms, comprising:

hardware elements,

wherein the set of platforms are configured to;

generate a workload using at least one schema defined by combinations of ranges of each of at least two attributes;

receive a request to provide content; and

provision the content based upon the workload.

wherein the at least two attributes are selected from;

popularity, resiliency, integrity, geographical affinity and exclusion, topological affinity and exclusion and power consumption.

26. The set of platforms of claim 25 wherein each of the at least one schema corresponds to a maximum bandwidth to access the content.

27. The set of platforms of claim 25 wherein the set of platforms are further configured to:

determine whether a re-provisioning condition is satisfied based upon obtained information by;

forming a statistical representation of actual usage of a first item of the content using at least one set of usage data; and

comparing the statistical representation of the actual usage with a usage threshold associated with the first resource allocation arrangement; and

generate a specification of a re-provisioning operation if the re-provisioning condition is satisfied.