Policy Store

• US 20170033996A1
• Filed: 08/17/2015
• Published: 02/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/31/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Burk, Gregory T., Coote, Lachlan T.
• Granted Patent: US 10,075,343 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/161 Computing infrastructure, e.g. computer clusters, blade chassis or hardware partitioning casings, cabinets, racks or drawers for data centers H05K5/00
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2365 Ensuring data consistency and integrity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/08 Configuration management of networks or network elements address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/20 Network management software packages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/762 triggered by the network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/827 Aggregation of resource allocation or reservation requests

Abstract

Some embodiments provide a method for managing policies for a set of computing resources. The method imports several sets of resource management policy rules from several heterogeneous sources. The method stores each set of imported policy rules as a primitive policy. The primitive policies are (i) applicable to resources in the set of computing resources and (ii) combinable into composite policies that are applicable to resources in the set of computing resources. Composite policies are combinable into additional composite policies with primitive policies and other composite policies.

Claims

1. A method for managing policies for a set of computing resources, the method comprising:

importing a plurality of sets of resource management policy rules from a plurality of heterogeneous sources; and

storing each set of imported policy rules as a primitive policy, wherein the primitive policies are (i) applicable to resources in the set of computing resources and (ii) combinable into composite policies that are applicable to resources in the set of computing resources, wherein composite policies are combinable into additional composite policies with primitive policies and other composite policies.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein different sets of policy rules are defined in a plurality of different languages.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein a first primitive policy is defined in an XML schema and a second primitive policy is defined in datalog.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein a particular composite policy comprises a first primitive policy defined in a first language and a second primitive policy defined in a second, different language.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein a first composite policy comprises a first primitive policy imported from a first source and a second primitive policy imported from a second source.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein a second composite policy comprises the first composite policy and a third atomic policy imported from a third source.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein importing a particular set of policy rules comprises:

receiving the particular set of policy rules as a policy from a particular source; and

defining a wrapper for the policy in a normalization language.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein a first policy from a first source is defined in a first language and a second policy from a second source is defined in a second language, wherein a same normalization language is used for the first and second policies.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein a particular composite policy comprises a reference to a first primitive policy and an inline definition of a second primitive policy.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the first primitive policy is defined in a first language and the second primitive policy is defined in a second, different language.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein a first composite policy comprises a reference to a second composite policy and a first primitive policy.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising applying the imported policies to the set of resources according to a set of binding rules, wherein the applied policies are used by a plurality of policy engines to manage the set of computing resources.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein at least a particular one of the heterogeneous sources of the policy rules is also one of the policy engines that uses the applied policies.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the particular heterogeneous source is also a source of information about at least one computing resource in the set of computing resources.

15. A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a program which when executed by at least one processing unit manages policies for a set of computing resources, the program comprising sets of instructions for:

importing a plurality of sets of resource management policy rules from a plurality of heterogeneous sources; and

storing each set of imported policy rules as a primitive policy, wherein the primitive policies are (i) applicable to resources in the set of computing resources and (ii) combinable into composite policies that are applicable to resources in the set of computing resources, wherein composite policies are combinable into additional composite policies with primitive policies and other composite policies.

16. The machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein different sets of policy rules are defined in a plurality of different languages.

17. The machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein a particular composite policy comprises a first primitive policy defined in a first language and a second primitive policy defined in a second, different language.

18. The machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein a first composite policy comprises a first primitive policy imported from a first source and a second primitive policy imported from a second source.

19. The machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein the set of instructions for importing a particular set of policy rules comprises sets of instructions for:

receiving the particular set of policy rules as a policy from a particular source; and

defining a wrapper for the policy in a normalization language.

20. The machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein a particular composite policy comprises a reference to a first primitive policy and an inline definition of a second primitive policy, wherein the first primitive policy is defined in a first language and the second primitive policy is defined in a second, different language.

21. The machine readable medium of claim 15, wherein the program further comprises a set of instructions for applying the imported policies to the set of resources according to a set of binding rules, wherein the applied policies are used by a plurality of policy engines to manage the set of computing resources.

22. The machine readable medium of claim 21, wherein at least a particular one of the heterogeneous sources of the policy rules is also one of the policy engines that uses the applied policies, wherein the particular heterogeneous source is also a source of information about at least one computing resource in the set of computing resources.