Systems, methods, and articles of manufacture for aligning service containers

• US 7,284,054 B2
• Filed: 04/11/2003
• Issued: 10/16/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 04/11/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Radhakrishnan, Rakesh
• Primary Examiner(s): VU, THONG H
• Application Number:
  US10/411,157
• Publication Number:
  US 20040205101A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,649 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/206, 709/223, 709/226, 705/10, 705/26, 705/30, 455/453, 706/46, 701/33
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5016 the resource being the memory
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5083 Techniques for rebalancing the load in a distributed system
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0207 Discounts or incentives, e.g. coupons or rebates
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0277 Online advertisement
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

Methods and systems consistent with certain aspects related to the present invention provide a process for aligning service containers in a system environment. In one aspect of the invention, the process may include receiving first event data from an application service container providing application services during runtime of a web service and receiving second event data from a system service container providing system services during runtime of the web service. The process may also dynamically align the system and application services such that a predetermined service level associated with the web service is met during runtime based on at least one of the first and second event data.

Claims

1. A method for deploying a container alignment environment including service containers distributed across resources in the environment that provides one or more services to a consumer, the method including:

defining one or more macro-level service patterns representing predetermined resource configurations in the environment;

defining, based on the defined one or more macro-level patterns, one or more micro-level service patterns representing additional resource configurations within a corresponding macro-level service pattern;

defining one or more application service metrics associated with an application service container distributed across the resources;

defining one or more system service metrics associated with a system service container distributed across the resources;

defining one or more container rules that initiate an action based on a detected event by at least one of the application service container and the system service container; and

providing the one or more services to the consumer, such that the one or more container rules are used to maintain a predetermined service level for the one or more services.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein defining the micro-level service patterns is automatically performed by a container alignment engine that is distributed across one or more of the resources included in the environment.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein defining one or more container rules includes:

storing the one or more container rules in a database that is accessed by a container alignment engine configured to align the application and system service containers while providing the one or more services to the consumer.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the container alignment engine is configured to align the application and system service containers by adjusting at least one of dependencies between the application and system service containers, scaling characteristics, availability characteristics, and security characteristics associated with a resource that hosts at least one of the application and system service containers.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein defining one or more macro-level service patterns includes:

defining the one or more macro-level service patterns based on a type of service provided by one or more of the resources in the environment.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the application service metrics are associated with one or more application service attributes corresponding to a type of service hosted by the application service container.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the system service metrics are associated with one or more system service attributes corresponding to one or more of the application service attributes.

8. The method of claim 1, further including:

determining one or more alignment scenarios for the system service and application service containers.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the one or more alignment scenarios includes at least one of aligning a single application service container to a single system service container, aligning multiple application service containers to a single system service container, aligning a single application service container to multiple system service containers, and aligning multiple application service containers to multiple system service containers.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein defining the one or more container rules includes:

defining the one or more container rules based on at least one of a service level agreement associated with a service and a business goal provided to the environment from an external source.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the application service and system service containers are service containers associated with an open network architecture.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the application service container is a service container associated with a Sun ONE architecture.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the system service container is a service container provided by an operating system.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the operating system is a Solaris operating system.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein the operating system is deployed on a distributed platform operating in an N1 architecture.

16. A system for deploying a container alignment environment including service containers distributed across resources in the environment that provides one or more services to a consumer, the system including:

means for defining one or more macro-level service patterns representing predetermined resource configurations in the environment;

means for defining, based on the defined one or more macro-level patterns, one or more micro-level service patterns representing additional resource configurations within a corresponding macro-level service pattern;

means for defining one or more application service metrics associated with an application service container distributed across the resources;

means for defining one or more system service metrics associated with a system service container distributed across the resources;

means for defining one or more container rules that initiate an action based on a detected event by at least one of the application service container and the system service container; and

means for providing the one or more services to the consumer, such that the one or more container rules are used to maintain a predetermined service level for the one or more services.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the means for defining the micro-level service patterns is automatically performed by a container alignment engine that is distributed across one or more of the resources included in the environment.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the means for defining one or more container rules includes:

means for storing the one or more container rules in a database that is accessed by a container alignment engine configured to align the application and system service containers while providing the one or more services to the consumer.

19. The system of claim 18, wherein the container alignment engine is configured to align the application and system service containers by adjusting at least one of dependencies between the application and system service containers, scaling characteristics, availability characteristics, and security characteristics associated with a resource that hosts at least one of the application and system service containers.

20. The system of claim 16, wherein the means for defining one or more macro-level service patterns includes:

means for defining the one or more macro-level service patterns based on a type of service provided by one or more of the resources in the environment.

21. The system of claim 16, wherein the application service metrics are associated with one or more application service attributes corresponding to a type of service hosted by the application service container.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the system service metrics are associated with one or more system service attributes corresponding to one or more of the application service attributes.

23. The system of claim 16, further including:

means for determining one or more alignment scenarios for the system service and application service containers.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the one or more alignment scenarios includes at least one of aligning a single application service container to a single system service container, aligning multiple application service containers to a single system service container, aligning a single application service container to multiple system service containers, and aligning multiple application service containers to multiple system service containers.

25. The system of claim 16, wherein the means for defining the one or more container rules includes:

means for defining the one or more container rules based on at least one of a service level agreement associated with a service and a business goal provided to the environment from an external source.

26. The system of claim 16, wherein the application service and system service containers are service containers associated with an open network architecture.

27. The system of claim 16, wherein the application service container is a service container associated with a Sun ONE architecture.

28. The system of claim 16, wherein the system service container is a service container provided by an operating system.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the operating system is a Solaris operating system.

30. The system of claim 28, wherein the operating system is deployed on a distributed platform operating in an N1 architecture.

31. A computer-readable medium including instructions for performing a method, when executed by a processor, for deploying a container alignment environment including service containers distributed across resources in the environment that provides one or more services to a consumer, the method including:

defining one or more macro-level service patterns representing predetermined resource configurations in the environment;

defining, based on the defined one or more macro-level patterns, one or more micro-level service patterns representing additional resource configurations within a corresponding macro-level service pattern;

defining one or more application service metrics associated with an application service container distributed across the resources;

defining one or more system service metrics associated with a system service container distributed across the resources;

defining one or more container rules that initiate an action based on a detected event by at least one of the application service container and the system service container; and

providing the one or more services to the consumer, such that the one or more container rules are used to maintain a predetermined service level for the one or more services.