SYSTEMS AND METHODS FOR CROSS-VENDOR MAPPING SERVICE IN CLOUD NETWORKS

• US 20110296022A1
• Filed: 05/28/2010
• Published: 12/01/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Ferris, James Michael, Riveros, Gerry Edward
• Granted Patent: US 8,364,819 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for a cross-vendor mapping service in cloud networks. A mapping service can be provided external to one or more sets of clouds which can access vendor databases in those clouds, and generate reports on software compatibility for software resources available in those diverse cloud networks. A user in an original cloud may wish to construct an image of a set of appliances or other services or entities in a second, external cloud or clouds. The external target cloud(s) may have different application sets, and/or applications available from different vendors, than those software resources hosted in the original cloud. A mapping service external to the participating clouds can enumerate the applications or other resources available in an external cloud, and generate a mapping or translation of those components to construct desired appliance images in that destination. Subscription terms can also be translated between clouds.

Claims

1. A method of determining software compatibility in a cloud environment, comprising:

identifying a first set of cloud-based software resources hosted in a first cloud-based network;

extracting a set of attributes for a second set of cloud-based software resources in a second cloud-based network external to the first cloud-based network;

generating a compatibility mapping between—

a set of target software entities to be instantiated in the second cloud-based network based on the first set of cloud-based software resources, and

the second set of cloud-based software resources; and

coupling the compatibility mapping to a user-accessible service external to the first cloud-based network and the second cloud-based network,

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the second cloud-based network is selected via user input from a user of the first cloud-based network.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the set of target software entities comprises at least one of a set of applications, a set of appliances, or a set of services to be hosted in the second cloud-based network.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first set of software-based resources comprises a set of configuration settings for at least one of a set of applications, a set of appliances, or a set of services originally hosted in the first cloud-based network.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the set of target software entities comprises a set of target appliances, and generating a compatibility mapping comprises generating a list of applications available in the second cloud-based network which are compatible to construct the set of target appliances in the second cloud-based network.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the set of target appliances in the second cloud-based network is configured to operate with the first set of software resources hosted in the first cloud-based network.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the set of target appliances in the second cloud-based network comprises a set of backup target appliances whose use is triggered by at least one of a failover condition or a network capacity condition.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising generating an additional set of appliances in the second cloud based-network based on the first set of cloud-based software resources.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the first cloud-based network and the second cloud-based network are managed by a respective separate cloud management system.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one of the first cloud-based network or the second cloud-based network comprises a plurality of clouds.

11. A system for of determining software compatibility in a cloud environment, comprising:

a network interface to a first cloud-based network and a second cloud-based network; and

a processor, communicating with the first cloud-based network and the second cloud-based network, the processor being configured to—

extract a set of attributes for a second set of cloud-based software resources in a second cloud-based network external to the first cloud-based network,

generate a compatibility mapping between—

a set of target software entities to be instantiated in the second cloud-based network based on the first set of cloud-based software resources, and

the second set of cloud-based software resources, and

couple the compatibility mapping to a user-accessible service external to the first cloud-based network and the second cloud-based.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the second cloud-based network is selected via user input from a user of the first cloud-based network.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the set of target software entities comprises at least one of a set of applications, a set of appliances, or a set of services to be hosted in the second cloud-based network.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the first set of software-based resources comprises a set of configuration settings for at least one of a set of applications, a set of appliances, or a set of services originally hosted in the first cloud-based network.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the set of target software entities comprises a set of target appliances, and generating a compatibility mapping comprises generating a list of applications available in the second cloud-based network which are compatible to construct the set of target appliances in the second cloud-based network.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the set of target appliances in the second cloud-based network is configured to operate with the first set of software resources hosted in the first cloud-based network.

17. The system of claim 15, wherein the set of target appliances in the second cloud-based network comprises a set of backup target appliances whose use is triggered by at least one of a failover condition or a network capacity condition.

18. The system of claim 15, further comprising generating an additional set of appliances in the second cloud based-network based on the first set of cloud-based software resources.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein each of the first cloud-based network and the second cloud-based network are managed by a respective separate cloud management system.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein at least one of the first cloud-based network or the second cloud-based network comprises a plurality of clouds.