Method and system for customer incentive-based management of computing resource utilization

• US 8,589,549 B1
• Filed: 06/21/2005
• Issued: 11/19/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/21/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vermeulen, Allan H., Bezos, Jeffrey P.
• Primary Examiner(s): GOODCHILD, WILLIAM J
• Application Number:
  US11/157,635
• Time in Patent Office: 3,073 Days
• Field of Search: 709/226, 709/225, 709/224, 709/223, 705/14
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/93 Document management systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/50 Allocation of resources, e.g. of the central processing unit [CPU]

Abstract

A method and system for customer incentive-based management of computing resource utilization. According to one embodiment, a method may include provisioning a computing resource according to a given level of resource utilization, and dynamically predicting utilization of the computing resource that is expected to occur during a given interval of time. In response to dynamically predicting that utilization of the computing resource will be less than the given level of resource utilization during the given interval of time, the method may further include offering an incentive to a customer to utilize the computing resource during at least a portion of the given interval of time.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

a computer system dynamically predicting utilization of a computing resource that is expected to occur during a given interval of time, wherein said computing resource is provisioned according to a given level of resource utilization;

dependent upon dynamically predicting the utilization of said computing resource, said computer system dynamically setting a current price associated with utilization of said computing resource;

said computer system conveying the current price associated with utilization of said computing resource to a customer via a web services interface, wherein the web services interface implements a platform-independent application programming interface (API);

said computer system receiving, via the web services interface, a request from the customer to utilize said computing resource, wherein the request indicates a specified price; and

dependent upon said computer system comparing the current price and the specified price, said computer system causing the customer'"'"'s request to utilize said computing resource to be performed.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said computing resource is a virtualized computing resource that includes at least one of a virtual storage device, a virtual network communication device, or a virtual processor.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said computing resource includes a human task performer.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said web services interface is configured to receive, via a web-based data transfer protocol, web services requests formatted as platform-independent structured data according to one or more of the following protocols:

HTML, XML, or SOAP.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising said computer system electronically offering an incentive to said customer that includes said computer system reducing a cost associated with said computing resource for utilization of said computing resource that occurs during said given interval of time.

6. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising said computer system electronically offering an incentive to said customer that includes said computer system offering said customer access to an expanded scope of features of said computing resource during said given interval of time.

7. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising said computer system electronically offering an incentive to said customer that includes said computer system offering said customer access to an improved level of quality of service relative to said customer'"'"'s default level of quality of service.

8. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said computer system dynamically predicting utilization of said computing resource is dependent upon historical utilization of said computing resource.

9. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said computer system dynamically predicting utilization of said computing resource is dependent upon current utilization of said computing resource.

10. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said computer system dynamically predicting utilization of said computing resource is dependent upon estimating effects of offering an incentive to utilize said computer resource upon said utilization.

11. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request from said customer to subscribe to an incentive notification service; and

said computer system electronically offering an incentive to said customer via said incentive notification service.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein said incentive notification service is implemented as a web service.

13. The method as recited in claim 11, wherein said customer'"'"'s request to subscribe to said incentive notification service includes said customer specifying one or more constraints, and wherein said computer system electronically offering said incentive to said customer is dependent upon whether said incentive satisfies said one or more constraints.

14. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

said computer system updating said current price and, subsequent to said updating, determining that said current price no longer satisfies the specified price; and

in response to determining that said current price no longer satisfies the specified price, said computer system causing the customer'"'"'s request to utilize said computing resource to be suspended.

15. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising:

said computer system detecting said customer utilizing said computing resource during said given interval of time;

in response to detecting that said customer'"'"'s utilization of said computing resource has continued beyond said given interval of time, said computer system increasing a cost associated with said customer'"'"'s utilization of said computing resource to a maximum rate.

16. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said given level of resource utilization corresponds to a total capacity of said computing resource.

17. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said given level of resource utilization corresponds to a maximum expected utilization of said computing resource.

18. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said given level of resource utilization is determined according to terms of service of a provider of said computing resource.

19. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising said computer system dynamically determining, dependent upon predicted utilization of the computing resource, one or more parameters other than price associated with utilization of the computing resource.

20. The method as recited in claim 19, wherein the one or more parameters other than price comprise one or more of:

a permitted amount of utilization of the computing device, a quality of service, a duration of utilization of the computing resource, or a granularity with which units of utilization of the computing resource are measured.

21. The method as recited in claim 20, wherein the customer'"'"'s request indicates one or more specified parameters other than price, and wherein said computer system'"'"'s causing the customer'"'"'s request to utilize said computing resource to be performed is further dependent upon comparing the dynamically determined one or more parameters other than price against the one or more specified parameters other than price included in the customer'"'"'s request.

22. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said computer system dynamically predicting utilization of said computing resource includes said computer system providing an explicit indication of a prediction of said utilization.

23. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said computer system dynamically predicting utilization of said computing resource includes said computer system providing an implicit indication of a prediction of said utilization.

24. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein said computer system dynamically predicting utilization of said computing resource includes said computer system providing a prediction based on at least one variable other than historical or current utilization of said computing resource.

25. A computer-readable storage medium storing program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable to:

dynamically predict utilization of a computing resource that is expected to occur during a given interval of time, wherein said computing resource is provisioned according to a given level of resource utilization; and

dependent upon dynamically predicting the utilization of said computing resource, dynamically set a current price associated with utilization of said computing resource;

convey the current price associated with utilization of said computing resource to a customer via a web services interface, wherein the web services interface implements a platform-independent application programming interface (API);

receive, via the web services interface, a request from the customer to utilize said computing resource; and

dependent upon the current price, cause the customer'"'"'s request to utilize said computing resource to be performed.

26. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein said computing resource is a virtualized computing resource that includes at least one of a virtual storage device, a virtual network communication device, or a virtual processor.

27. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein said computing resource includes a human task performer.

28. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein said program instructions are further executable to implement the web services interface, wherein said web services interface is configured to receive, via a web-based data transfer protocol, web services requests formatted as platform-independent structured data according to one or more of the following protocols:

HTML, XML, or SOAP.

29. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein the program instructions are further executable to offer an incentive to said customer that includes a reduction of a cost associated with said computing resource for utilization of said computing resource that occurs during said given interval of time.

30. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein the program instructions are further executable to offer an incentive to said customer that includes an offer of access to an expanded scope of features of said computing resource during said given interval of time.

31. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein the program instructions are further executable to offer an incentive to said customer that includes an offer of access to an improved level of quality of service relative to said customer'"'"'s default level of quality of service.

32. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein to dynamically predict utilization of said computing resource, the program instructions are further executable to predict said utilization dependent upon historical utilization of said computing resource.

33. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein to dynamically predict utilization of said computing resource, the program instructions are further executable to predict said utilization dependent upon current utilization of said computing resource.

34. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein to dynamically predict utilization of said computing resource, the program instructions are further executable to predict said utilization dependent upon estimating effects of offering an incentive to utilize said computer resource upon said utilization.

35. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein said program instructions are further executable to:

implement an incentive notification service;

detect that said customer has subscribed to said incentive notification service and

offer an incentive to said customer via said incentive notification service.

36. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 35, wherein said incentive notification service is implemented as a web service.

37. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 35, wherein to detect that said customer has subscribed to said incentive notification service, the program instructions are further executable to detect that said customer has specified one or more constraints, and wherein to offer said incentive to said customer, the program instructions are further executable to determine whether said incentive satisfies said one or more constraints.

38. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein the customer'"'"'s request to utilize the computing resource includes a specified price, wherein the program instructions are further executable to cause the customer'"'"'s request to utilize said computing resource to be performed dependent upon a comparison of the current price and the specified price, and wherein the program instructions are further executable to:

update said current price and, subsequent to an update of the current price, determine that said current price no longer satisfies the specified price; and

in response to determining that said current price no longer satisfies the specified price, cause the customer'"'"'s request to utilize said computing resource to be suspended.

39. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein the program instructions are further executable to:

detect said customer'"'"'s utilization of said computing resource during said given interval of time; and

in response to detecting that said customer'"'"'s utilization of said computing resource has continued beyond said given interval of time, increase a cost associated with said customer'"'"'s utilization of said computing resource to a maximum rate.

40. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein said given level of resource utilization corresponds to a total capacity of said computing resource.

41. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein said given level of resource utilization corresponds to a maximum expected utilization of said computing resource.

42. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein said given level of resource utilization is determined according to terms of service of a provider of said computing resource.

43. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein the program instructions are further executable to dynamically determine, dependent upon predicted utilization of the computing resource, one or more parameters other than price associated with utilization of the computing resource.

44. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 43, wherein the one or more parameters other than price comprise one or more of:

a permitted amount of utilization of the computing device, a quality of service, a duration of utilization of the computing resource, or a granularity with which units of utilization of the computing resource are measured.

45. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 44, wherein the customer'"'"'s request indicates one or more specified parameters other than price, and wherein to cause the customer'"'"'s request to utilize said computing resource to be performed, the program instructions are further executable to compare the dynamically determined one or more parameters other than price against the one or more specified parameters other than price included in the customer'"'"'s request.

46. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein to dynamically predict utilization of said computing resource, the program instructions are further executable to provide an explicit indication of a prediction of said utilization.

47. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein to dynamically predict utilization of said computing resource, the program instructions are further executable to provide an implicit indication of a prediction of said utilization.

48. The computer-readable storage medium as recited in claim 25, wherein to dynamically predict utilization of said computing resource, the program instructions are further executable to provide a prediction based on at least one variable other than historical or current utilization of said computing resource.

49. A system, comprising:

a system memory; and

a processor coupled to said system memory and configured to execute program instructions, wherein the program instructions are executable to;

dynamically predict utilization of a computing resource that is expected to occur during a given interval of time, wherein said computing resource is provisioned according to a given level of resource utilization; and

dependent upon dynamically predicting the utilization of said computing resource, dynamically set a current price associated with utilization of said computing resource;

receive, via a web services interface, a request from a customer to subscribe to a notification service, wherein the web services interface implements a platform-independent application programming interface (API);

convey, via the notification service, the current price associated with utilization of said computing resource to the customer;

receive, via the web services interface, a request from the customer to utilize said computing resource; and

dependent upon the current price, cause the customer'"'"'s request to utilize said computing resource to be performed.

50. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein said computing resource is a virtualized computing resource that includes at least one of a virtual storage device, a virtual network communication device, or a virtual processor.

51. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein said computing resource includes a human task performer.

52. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein said program instructions are further executable to implement the web services interface, wherein said web services interface is configured to receive, via a web-based data transfer protocol, web services requests formatted as platform-independent structured data according to one or more of the following protocols:

HTML, XML, or SOAP.

53. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein the program instructions are further executable to offer an incentive to said customer that includes a reduction of a cost associated with said computing resource for utilization of said computing resource that occurs during said given interval of time.

54. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein the program instructions are further executable to offer an incentive to said customer that includes an offer of access to an expanded scope of features of said computing resource during said given interval of time.

55. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein the program instructions are further executable to offer an incentive to said customer that includes an offer of access to an improved level of quality of service relative to said customer'"'"'s default level of quality of service.

56. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein to dynamically predict utilization of said computing resource, the program instructions are further executable to predict said utilization dependent upon historical utilization of said computing resource.

57. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein to dynamically predict utilization of said computing resource, the program instructions are further executable to predict said utilization dependent upon current utilization of said computing resource.

58. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein to dynamically predict utilization of said computing resource, the program instructions are further executable to predict said utilization dependent upon estimating effects of offering an incentive to utilize said computer resource upon said utilization.

59. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein the customer'"'"'s request to utilize the computing resource includes a specified price, wherein the program instructions are further executable to cause the customer'"'"'s request to utilize said computing resource to be performed dependent upon a comparison of the current price and the specified price, and wherein the program instructions are further executable to:

update said current price and, subsequent to an update of the current price, determine that said current price no longer satisfies the specified price; and

in response to determining that said current price no longer satisfies the specified price, cause the customer'"'"'s request to utilize said computing resource to be suspended.

60. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein the program instructions are further executable to:

detect said customer'"'"'s utilization of said computing resource during said given interval of time; and

in response to detecting that said customer'"'"'s utilization of said computing resource has continued beyond said given interval of time, increase a cost associated with said customer'"'"'s utilization of said computing resource to a maximum rate.

61. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein said given level of resource utilization corresponds to a total capacity of said computing resource.

62. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein said given level of resource utilization corresponds to a maximum expected utilization of said computing resource.

63. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein said given level of resource utilization is determined according to terms of service of a provider of said computing resource.

64. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein the program instructions are further executable to dynamically determine, dependent upon predicted utilization of the computing resource, one or more parameters other than price associated with utilization of the computing resource.

65. The system as recited in claim 64, wherein the one or more parameters other than price comprise one or more of:

a permitted amount of utilization of the computing device, a quality of service, a duration of utilization of the computing resource, or a granularity with which units of utilization of the computing resource are measured.

66. The system as recited in claim 65, wherein the customer'"'"'s request to utilize the computing resource indicates one or more specified parameters other than price, and wherein to cause the customer'"'"'s request to utilize said computing resource to be performed, the program instructions are further executable to compare the dynamically determined one or more parameters other than price against the one or more specified parameters other than price included in the customer'"'"'s request.

67. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein to dynamically predict utilization of said computing resource, the program instructions are further executable to provide an explicit indication of a prediction of said utilization.

68. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein to dynamically predict utilization of said computing resource, the program instructions are further executable to provide an implicit indication of a prediction of said utilization.

69. The system as recited in claim 49, wherein to dynamically predict utilization of said computing resource, the program instructions are further executable to provide a prediction based on at least one variable other than historical or current utilization of said computing resource.