Allocating resources in a distributed computing environment

• US 8,266,254 B2
• Filed: 08/19/2008
• Issued: 09/11/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Garrison, John M., Hayes, Kent F. Jr., Jeffrey, Brian D., Tan, Yih-Shin
• Primary Examiner(s): Chan, Wing
• Assistant Examiner(s): Baturay, Alicia
• Application Number:
  US12/194,381
• Publication Number:
  US 20100049851A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,484 Days
• Field of Search: 709/220
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5061 Partitioning or combining of resources
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management

Abstract

A solution in a distributed computing environment is deployed and includes selecting a solution template corresponding to the solution, the solution template defining requirements for a plurality of computing elements; selecting resources within a computing infrastructure which match the requirements; and deploying the solution by configuring the resources according to the solution template.

Claims

1. A method for deploying a solution in a distributed computing environment comprising:

selecting a solution template corresponding to said solution, said solution template defining minimum eligibility requirements for a plurality of computing resources and a procedure for deploying said solution to said plurality of computing resources;

selecting a resource within a computing infrastructure which matches at least one of said requirements; and

deploying said solution by configuring said resource according to said solution template;

wherein selecting a resource within a computing infrastructure comprises evaluating and selecting between alternative resources based upon a measure of an environmental impact associated with using a selected one of said alternative resources in the solution.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising searching said computer infrastructure for an available physical resource which matches at least one of said requirements.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said requirements are contained within Standard Operating Unit (SOU) pattern, said SOU pattern defining a processor capability and a memory capacity of said computing element.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising reserving said resource.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising setting a reservation start date and a reservation end date for a selected resource.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein said reservation start date and said reservation end data are criteria for selecting said resource defined in said template.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein said environmental impact being measured by at least one of:

a source of electrical energy consumed by said particular resource, an energy consumption efficiency of said particular resource, and a carbon footprint associated with said particular resource.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein one of said alternative resources is selected based on a cost associated with deploying said solution using a particular resource.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating a plurality of alternative deployment plans according to said solution template, each deployment plan using a different set of resources; and

comparing said plurality of deployment plans to select one of said deployment plans.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising defining monitored parameters, ranges, and actions to be taken when monitored parameters deviate from said ranges.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

monitoring said computing resources according to said monitoring parameters;

taking said action when said monitored parameters depart from said ranges.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein said monitoring parameters comprise a measure of an environmental impact of operating said resource, said environmental impact being measured by at least one of:

a source of electrical energy consumed by said resource, an energy consumption efficiency of said resource, and a carbon footprint associated with said resource.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of said computing resources comprise virtual computing machines.

14. A system for allocating resources in a distributed computing environment, wherein a desired solution is to be implemented using said resources of said distributed computing environment, said system comprising:

a computing device hosting a database of solution templates, each solution template in said database specifying minimum computing resources needed for a particular solution to be deployed and a procedure for deploying said solution to said computing resources,

wherein said computing device, when operated;

selectively provides a solution template corresponding to said desired solution; and

identifies resources in said computing environment that match said resources specified in a selected solution template from said database;

wherein identifying a resource within said computing environment comprises evaluating and selecting between alternative resources based upon a measure of an environmental impact associated with using a selected one of said alternative resources in the desired solution.

15. The system of claim 14, further comprising a user interface that allows a user to select between alternative resources that match a resource specified in said selected solution template.

16. The system of claim 15, further comprising a comparison module that compares said alternative resources based on specified criteria and displays results of said comparison in said user interface.

17. The system of claim 14, further comprising a reservation module that accepts reservations through said user interface for selected resources to be used in deploying said desired solution.

18. A computer program product for allocating resources in a distributed computing environment, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transmissible computer readable storage medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising;

computer usable program code configured to supply a solution template, said solution template specifying minimum computing resources necessary for deploying a solution and a procedure for deploying said solution to computing resources;

computer usable program code configured to search a computer infrastructure for available resources capable of conforming to said minimum computing resources specified by said solution template;

computer usable program code configured to compare and allow a user to select between alternative resources capable of conforming to a resource specified by said solution template;

wherein selecting a resource comprises evaluating and selecting between alternative resources based upon a measure of an environmental impact associated with using a selected one of said alternative resources in the solution.