USER-DEFINED POOLS

• US 20140297866A1
• Filed: 04/02/2013
• Published: 10/02/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/02/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Ennaji, Rachid, Kim, Jin Seop, Helfrich, Brian, Ward, David John Jr., Elliott, Stephen Alden, Zhai, Peng, Kapila, Dhanvi Harsha
• Granted Patent: US 9,645,840 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/08 Auctions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

One or more resource slots are allocated to a customer according to a first set of pricing policies. The customer is allowed to identify at least one of the resource slots and identify other users allowed to access the identified resource slots according to a second pricing policy, the second pricing policy being designated by the customer.

Claims

1. A system for allocating computing resources in a provider network, the system comprising:

one or more computing devices, the one or more computing devices comprising one or more resource slots, each resource slot configured to host a computing instance;

at least one memory having stored therein computer instructions that, upon execution by one or more processors of the system, at least cause the system to;

allocate a plurality of resource slots to a plurality of entities according to a first pricing policy;

receive an indication that at least a portion of the resource slots associated with a first entity of the plurality of entities is associated with a second pricing policy and accessible to one or more users identified by the first entity, the second pricing policy being designated by the first entity; and

allocate the indicated resource slots to the one or more users according to the second pricing policy.

2. The system according to claim 1, further comprising computer readable instructions that, upon execution by the one or more processors of the system, cause the system to at least allow the one or more users identified by the first entity to bid for the indicated resource slots in accordance with the second pricing policy.

3. The system according to claim 2, further comprising computer readable instructions that, upon execution by the one or more processors of the system, cause the system to at least provide a user interface for allowing the one or more users identified by the first entity to bid for the indicated resource slots.

4. The system according to claim 1, further comprising computer readable instructions that, upon execution by the one or more processors of the system, cause the system to at least provide a user interface for facilitating selection of the indicated resource slots, the one or more users identified by the first entity, and the second pricing policy.

5. A method for allocating computing resources in a provider network, the method comprising:

in a computing environment comprising a plurality of computing devices and where capacity of each computing device is logically segmented into one or more resource slots, associating a plurality of resource slots with a first user according to a first set of pricing policies; and

allowing the user to identify one or more of the associated resource slots and identify other users allowed to access the one or more of the associated resource slots according to a second set of pricing policies, the second set of pricing policies being designated by the user.

6. The method of claim 5, further comprising causing allocation of the one or more of the associated resource slots to the other users according to the second pricing policy.

7. The method of claim 5, further comprising allowing the other users to bid for the one or more of the associated resource slots in accordance with the second pricing policy.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising providing a user interface operable to receive indication of the one or more of the associated resource slots, the other users allowed to access the one or more of the associated resource slots, and the second pricing policy.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the second pricing policy indicates currency to use to acquire a resource slot, minimum/maximum currency levels, or a bidding algorithm.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the currency relates to monetary units.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein the currency relates to CPU cycles, storage, memory, or network bandwidth.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein said bid comprises bidding for CPU cycles or network bandwidth.

13. The method of claim 5, further comprising allowing the user to disallow some of the other users from accessing the one or more of the associated resource slots.

14. The method of claim 5, wherein said allowing comprises receiving a request to allocate the one or more of the associated resource slots, associating the request with a request identifier, and associating the one or more of the associated resource slots with a pool identifier.

15. The method of claim 5, further comprising determining billing information for accessing the one or more of the associated resource slots.

16. The method of claim 7, further comprising determining which of the other users have bid for at least one of the one or more of the associated resource slots in accordance with the second pricing policy and collecting billing information based on the determining.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising associating the determined other users with user identifiers and including the user identifiers with records associated with the determined other users.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the records are formed as key value pairs.

19. The method of claim 7, wherein the bid comprises a maximum price to be paid for one or more of the associated resource slots.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein one of the one or more of the associated resource slots is allocated to one of the other users when the maximum price exceeds a predetermined price.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein the predetermined price is based on supply and demand of the one or more of the associated resource slots.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the predetermined price is selectable by the user.

23. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored thereon computer-readable instructions, the computer-readable instructions comprising instructions that upon execution on one or more computing devices, to at least:

in a computing environment comprising a plurality of computing devices and where capacity of each computing device is logically segmented into one or more resource slots, generate a user interface allowing a user to identify one or more resource slots associated with the user and identify other users allowed to access the one or more resource slots associated with the user according to a pricing policy, the pricing policy being designated by the user; and

cause the computing environment to at least allow the other users to bid for the one or more resource slots associated with the user in accordance with the pricing policy.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, wherein the pricing policy comprises currency to use to acquire a resource slot, price levels, or a bidding algorithm.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 24, wherein the bidding algorithm comprises one of an ascending auction and a descending auction.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 23, comprising instructions that upon execution on one or more computing devices, at least cause determining billing information for allowing the other users to bid for the one or more resource slots associated with the user.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 26, comprising instructions that upon execution on one or more computing devices, at least cause determining which of the other users have bid for one or more of the one or more resource slots associated with the user in accordance with the pricing policy and determining billing information based on the determining.