System and method for metering of application services in utility computing environments
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A system, comprising:
- a plurality of host computers, each of which includes a processor coupled to memory, wherein each of at least two of the plurality of host computers stores program instructions executable to implement one of a plurality of application processes, wherein the plurality of application processes are included within an application service;
wherein each of the at least two host computers stores program instructions executable to implement a respective one of a plurality of meter agents;
wherein one of the plurality of host computers stores program instructions executable to implement a meter aggregator;
wherein each of the plurality of meter agents includes program instructions executable on a respective one of the at least two host computers to;
collect usage data indicative of usage, by one or more of the plurality of application processes, of one or more resources of the respective host computer; and
provide the collected usage data to the meter aggregator; and
wherein the meter aggregator includes program instructions executable to;
aggregate the usage data provided by each of the plurality of meter agents, wherein the aggregated usage data is indicative of aggregate usage of the one or more resources of each of the at least two host computers by at least two of the plurality of application processes within the application service; and
compute a billing amount for the application service based on the aggregated usage data;
wherein one of the plurality of host computers stores program instructions executable to implement a meter manager configured to provide centralized management for the plurality of meter agents;
wherein the meter manager includes program instructions executable to dynamically install meter agents on one or more of the plurality of host computers in response to a configuration command.
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Abstract
A system for metering of application services in utility computing environments includes one or more meter agents and a meter aggregator. A meter agent may be configured to periodically collect usage data corresponding to one or more resources, and provide the usage data to the meter aggregator. The meter aggregator may be configured to aggregate the usage data associated with an application service, where the application service includes a plurality of application processes. In addition, the meter aggregator may be configured to compute a billing amount based on an aggregate resource usage by the application service over a specified time period.
149 Citations
20 Claims
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1. A system, comprising:
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a plurality of host computers, each of which includes a processor coupled to memory, wherein each of at least two of the plurality of host computers stores program instructions executable to implement one of a plurality of application processes, wherein the plurality of application processes are included within an application service; wherein each of the at least two host computers stores program instructions executable to implement a respective one of a plurality of meter agents; wherein one of the plurality of host computers stores program instructions executable to implement a meter aggregator; wherein each of the plurality of meter agents includes program instructions executable on a respective one of the at least two host computers to; collect usage data indicative of usage, by one or more of the plurality of application processes, of one or more resources of the respective host computer; and provide the collected usage data to the meter aggregator; and wherein the meter aggregator includes program instructions executable to; aggregate the usage data provided by each of the plurality of meter agents, wherein the aggregated usage data is indicative of aggregate usage of the one or more resources of each of the at least two host computers by at least two of the plurality of application processes within the application service; and compute a billing amount for the application service based on the aggregated usage data; wherein one of the plurality of host computers stores program instructions executable to implement a meter manager configured to provide centralized management for the plurality of meter agents; wherein the meter manager includes program instructions executable to dynamically install meter agents on one or more of the plurality of host computers in response to a configuration command. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A method, comprising:
monitoring an application service including a plurality of application processes running on a plurality of computers each having one or more resources, including; a first one of the plurality of computers dynamically installing meter agents on each of at least two of the plurality of computers in response to a configuration command, wherein the first computer is configured to provide centralized management for a plurality of meter agents; receiving usage data at the first one of the plurality of computers, wherein the usage data is received from each of the at least two of the plurality of computers, and wherein for each of the at least two computers, the usage data is indicative of usage of one or more resources of that computer by one or more of the plurality of application processes running on that computer; and the first computer aggregating the received usage data for the application service; wherein the aggregated usage data is usable to compute a billing amount for the application service. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A computer readable medium having program instructions stored thereon that are executable on a first computer within a computer system having a plurality of computers to:
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monitor an application service including a plurality of application processes running on the plurality of computers, including; receiving usage data from each of at least two of the plurality of computers, wherein for each of the at least two computers, the usage data is indicative of usage of one or more resources of that computer by one or more of the plurality of application processes running on that computer; and aggregating the received usage data for the application service; and implement a meter manager configured to provide centralized management for a plurality of meter agents and dynamically install meter agents on one or more of the plurality of computers in response to a configuration command. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification