System and method for logical modeling of distributed computer systems

• US 7,113,900 B1
• Filed: 10/24/2000
• Issued: 09/26/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Tabbara, Bassam, Hunt, Galen C., Welland, Robert V., Hydrie, Aamer, Rehof, Jakob, Levi, Steven P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Rodriguez, Paul L.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Craig, Dwin M.
• Application Number:
  US09/695,813
• Time in Patent Office: 2,163 Days
• Field of Search: 703/13, 709/203, 709/226, 709/229
• US Class Current: 703/13
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/024 using relational databases for representation of network management data, e.g. managing via structured query language [SQL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

A modeling system permits developers of applications for distributed computer system, such as those used in server data centers or Internet data centers (IDCs), to architect their hardware and software in an abstract manner. The modeling system defines a set of components that represent abstract functional operations of the application that will eventually be physically implemented by one or more computers and one or more software programs executing on the computers. Associated with the model components is a schema that dictates how the functional operations are to be specified. From the model components, the developers can create logical, scale-independent models of the applications that may be implemented by the distributed computer system. The application is scale-independent in that the application is invariant in respect to the number of computers and software programs that my eventually be used to implement it. The application may subsequently be converted to a physical blueprint that specifies the number and type of hardware/software resources and the physical layout of the distributed computer system.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

designing a distributed computer system at least in part by representing hardware and software resources of the distributed computer system as model components to be included in a design for the distributed computer system, wherein the model components are selected from a group comprising;

a module that is representative of a behavior of an application that is implemented using the hardware and software resources and is to be implemented by the distributed computer system under design;

a port that is representative of a service access point for the module; and

a wire that is representative of an allowable communication connection between two or more ports; and

forming, from the model components included in the design, a logical scale-independent model of the application to be implemented by the distributed computer system under design.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein each model component represents one or more similar resources.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein each model component is depicted in a graphical user interface as a graphical icon.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the model components have an associated schema that specifies the hardware and software resources represented by the model components.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the group of the model components further comprises a store that is representative of persistent data storage.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the group of the model components further comprises at least one of:

a store that is representative of persistent data storage;

an event source that is representative of a logical connection point for the module or the store from which event messages originate;

an event sink that is representative of a logical connection point for the module or the store to receive the event messages; and

an event wire that is representative of an interconnection between the event source and the event sink.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising storing the scale-independent model on a computer-readable medium.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising converting the scale-independent model into a blueprint of a server data center, the blueprint specifying the hardware and software resources used to physically implement the application.

9. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computer, perform the method of claim 1.

10. A method comprising:

designing a distributed computer system at least in part by;

defining individual model components as abstract functional operations that are physically implemented by one or more computers to be included in a design of the distributed computer system and one or more software programs executing on the computers, the model components having an associated schema dictating how the functional operations are specified;

interconnecting the model components to logically connect the functional operations; and

generating a scale-independent application from the interconnected model components and the associated schema; and

converting the scale-independent application into a blueprint that specifies the computers and the software programs used to physically implement the application.

11. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein each model component is depicted in a graphical user interface as a graphical icon.

12. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the defining comprises entering, via a user interface, a description of elements needed to implement the functional operations.

13. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein each model component represents a set of resources provided by the computers and the software programs, the resources being scalable from one to many.

14. A method as recited in claim 10, wherein the model components are selected from a group comprising:

a module that is representative of a behavior of the application;

a port that is representative of a communication access point for the module; and

a wire that is representative of an interconnection between two or more ports.

15. A method as recited in claim 14, wherein the group of the model components further comprises:

a store that is representative of persistent data storage;

an event source that is representative of a logical connection point for the module or the store from which event messages originate;

an event sink that is representative of a logical connection point for the module or the store to receive the event messages; and

an event wire that is representative of an interconnection between the event source and the event sink.

16. A method as recited in claim 10, further comprising storing the application on a computer-readable medium.

17. A computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed on a computer, perform the method of claim 10.

18. A method comprising:

designing a distributed computer system at least in part by representing hardware and software resources of the distributed computer system as model components to be included in a design for the distributed computer system, wherein the model components are selected from a group comprising;

a module that is representative of a behavior of an application that is implemented using the hardware and software resources and is to be implemented by the distributed computer system under design;

a port that is representative of a communication access point for the module; and

a wire that is representative of an interconnection between two or more ports; and

associating the model components included in the design with a schema dictating how the hardware and software resources are specified.

19. A method as recited in claim 18, wherein the group of the model components further comprises:

a store that is representative of persistent data storage;

an event source that is representative of a logical connection point for the module or the store from which event messages originate;

an event sink that is representative of a logical connection point for the module or the store to receive the event messages; and

an event wire that is representative of an interconnection between the event source and the event sink.

20. A method as recited in claim 18, further comprising creating a scale-independent application from the model components and the associated schema.

21. A method as recited in claim 20, further comprising converting the scale-independent application into a blueprint that specifies the hardware and software resources used to physically implement the application on the distributed computer system.

22. A modeling system for designing a distributed computer system, comprising:

a set of model components that represent hardware and software resources to be included in a design for the distributed computer system of the distributed computer system;

a schema associated with the model components that dictate how the resources are specified in the design;

a user interface to enable a developer to create a design for an application that is to be implemented by the hardware and software resources by selecting and interconnecting the model components and specifying the functionality of the model components in accordance with the schema; and

a converter to convert the application to a blueprint that specifies the hardware and software resources used to physically implement the application on the distributed computer system.

23. A computer-readable medium comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed on one or more processors, direct a computing device to:

enable a developer to design a distributed computer system at least in part by representing hardware and software resources of the distributed computer system as model components to be included in a design for the distributed computer system;

associate the model components with a schema dictating how the hardware and software resources are specified;

create an application to be implemented by the distributed computer system by specifying the functionality of the model components in accordance with the schema and interconnecting the model components; and

convert the application to a blueprint that specifies the hardware and software resources used to physically implement the application on the distributed computer system.

24. A system comprising:

means for enabling a developer to design a distributed computer system at least in part by representing hardware and software resources as model components to be included in a design for the distributed computer system;

means for specifying how the hardware and software resources represented by the model components are specified; and

means for selecting and interconnecting the model components and specifying the functionality of the model components to create an application to be implemented by the distributed computer system under design; and

means for converting the application to a blueprint that specifies the hardware and software resources used to physically implement the application on the distributed computer system.