METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DYNAMICALLY PROVISIONING RESOURCES FOR ON-DEMAND COURSES

• US 20140025827A1
• Filed: 07/17/2013
• Published: 01/23/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Google LLC (Alphabet Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cloud Vlab, Inc. (Alphabet Inc.)
• Inventors: Konuk, Enis, Aggarwal, Nidhi, Sauter, Kenneth, Shetty, Jitesh, Chen, David Tzu-Wei
• Granted Patent: US 9,674,270 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/826 Involving periods of time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1012 based on compliance of requirements or conditions with available server resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1036 Load balancing of requests to servers for services different from user content provisioning, e.g. load balancing across domain name servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/568 Storing data temporarily at an intermediate stage, e.g. caching

Abstract

A method for creating a course for dynamic provisioning includes receiving, by a creation engine, from a second computing device associated with a user, a request to create a course. The creation engine receives, from the second computing device, an identification of a type of computing resource for use during the course. A service provider computing device is selected from a plurality of service provider computing devices based upon an ability to provide access to the identified type of computing resource. The service provider computing device is instructed to provision a computing resource of the identified type. The second computing device is directed to connect to the provisioned computing resource. The method includes receiving, from the second computing device, an indication that the user configured the provisioned computing resource for use during the course. A state management engine is directed to save a state of the provisioned computing resource.

Claims

1. A method for creating a course for dynamic provisioning, the method comprising:

receiving, by a creation engine executing on a first computing device, from a second computing device associated with a user, a request to create a course;

receiving, by the creation engine, from the second computing device, an identification of a type of computing resource for use during the course;

selecting, by the creation engine, a service provider computing device from a plurality of service provider computing devices based upon an ability of the selected service provider computing device to provide, to the second computing device, access to the identified type of computing resource;

instructing, by the creation engine, the service provider computing device to provision a computing resource of the identified type;

directing, by the creation engine, the second computing device to connect to the provisioned computing resource;

receiving, by the creation engine, from the second computing device, an indication that the user configured the provisioned computing resource for use during the course; and

directing, by the creation engine, a state management engine to save a state of the provisioned computing resource, responsive to the received indication.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing, by the creation engine, a copy of the state of the provisioned computing resource.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing, by the state management engine, a copy of the state of the provisioned computing resource.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising storing, by the state management engine, metadata associated with the course.

5. A system comprising a memory and a processor, the system operable to perform a method comprising:

receiving, by a creation engine executing on a first computing device, from a second computing device associated with a user, a request to create a course;

receiving, by the creation engine, from the second computing device, an identification of a type of computing resource for use during the course;

selecting, by the creation engine, a service provider computing device from a plurality of service provider computing devices based upon an ability of the selected service provider computing device to provide, to the second computing device, access to the identified type of computing resource;

instructing, by the creation engine, the service provider computing device to provision a computing resource of the identified type;

directing, by the creation engine, the second computing device to connect to the provisioned computing resource;

receiving, by the creation engine, from the second computing device, an indication that the user configured the provisioned computing resource for use during the course; and

directing, by the creation engine, a state management engine to save a state of the provisioned computing resource, responsive to the received indication.

6. A method for dynamically provisioning resources for an on-demand course, the method comprising:

receiving, by an instantiation engine executing on a first computing device, from a second computing device associated with a user, a request to access a course;

identifying, by the instantiation engine, a type of computing resource for use during the course;

selecting, by the instantiation engine, a service provider computing device from a plurality of service provider computing devices, based upon an ability of the selected service provider computing device to provide, to the second computing device, access to the identified type of computing resource;

instructing, by the instantiation engine, the selected service provider computing device to provision a computing resource of the identified type; and

transmitting, by the instantiation engine, to the second computing device, an instruction to establish a connection to the provisioned computing resource.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising identifying, by the instantiation engine, a plurality of types of computing resources for use during the course.

8. The method of claim 6 wherein identifying further comprises identifying a type of virtual machine on which to execute the course.

9. The method of claim 6 further comprising determining, by the instantiation engine, that the selected service computing device provides access to the identified type of computing resource at a lower price than a second service provider computing device in the plurality of service provider computing devices.

10. The method of claim 6 further comprising instructing, by the instantiation engine, the service provider computing device to execute a version of the course on the provisioned computing resource.

11. The method of claim 6 further comprising instructing, by the instantiation engine, a state management engine to store a state of the course upon modification of the course by the user.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising:

receiving, by the instantiation engine, from third computing device associated with the user, a second request to access the course;

selecting, by the instantiation engine, a second service provider computing device from the plurality of service provider computing devices, based upon an ability of the second service provider computing device to provide, to the third computing device, access to the identified type of computing resource used during the course;

instructing, by the instantiation engine, the second service provider computing device to provision a second computing resource of the identified type;

instructing, by the instantiation engine, the second service provider computing device to retrieve the stored state of the course; and

transmitting, by the instantiation engine, to the third computing device, an instruction to establish a connection to the provisioned second computing resource.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein instructing further comprises directing, by the instantiation engine, the second service provider computing device to connect to the state management engine in order to retrieve the stored state of the course.

14. A system comprising a memory and a processor, the system operable to perform a method comprising:

receiving, by an instantiation engine executing on a first computing device, from a second computing device associated with a user, a request to access a course;

identifying, by the instantiation engine, a type of computing resource for use during the course;

selecting, by the instantiation engine, a service provider computing device from a plurality of service provider computing devices, based upon an ability of the selected service provider computing device to provide, to the second computing device, access to the identified type of computing resource;

instructing, by the instantiation engine, the selected service provider computing device to provision a computing resource of the identified type; and

transmitting, by the instantiation engine, to the second computing device, an instruction to establish a connection to the provisioned computing resource.