Providing configurable pricing for execution of software images

• US 8,788,379 B1
• Filed: 12/21/2007
• Issued: 07/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/21/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Sirota, Peter, Greenfield, James Alfred Gordon, Johnson, Don, Narin, Attila
• Primary Examiner(s): Kazimi, Hani M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Graham, Clement B
• Application Number:
  US11/963,331
• Time in Patent Office: 2,405 Days
• Field of Search: 705 35- 38
• US Class Current: 705/35
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45562 Creating, deleting, cloning virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/12 Protecting executable software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/63 Image based installation; Cloning; Build to order
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/10 specially adapted for electronic funds transfer [EFT] systems; specially adapted for home banking systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/145 Payments according to the detected use or quantity
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 20/3552 Downloading or loading of personalisation data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/06 Buying, selling or leasing transactions

Abstract

Techniques are described for facilitating sharing of executable software images between users in a configurable manner. In at least some situations, the executable software images are virtual machine images, and while executing may access and use remote network-accessible services (e.g., Web services). In addition, some or all shared executable software images may be made available in a fee-based manner by creator users, such that execution of such a fee-based software image by a software image execution service on behalf of a user other than the creator user is performed in exchange for fees from the other user as specified by the creator user. The creator user may further receive at least some of the specified fees paid by the other user, such as at least some of a difference between the specified fees and fees charged by the software image execution service for the execution.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for managing execution of software images, the method comprising:

registering, by one or more configured computing systems of a software image execution service, a first software virtual machine image from a first user that is available for execution via the software image execution service, the first software virtual machine image being a bootable image that includes operating system software and at least one application program, the registering including;

causing information to be communicated to the first user about one or more prices charged by the software image execution service for execution of software virtual machine images that vary based at least in part on amounts of use of resources of the software image execution service; and

receiving information for a usage model configured by the first user for the first software virtual machine image, the configured usage model specifying which other users are authorized to initiate execution of the first software virtual machine image, the configured usage model further specifying one or more prices to charge the other users for the execution of the first software virtual machine image that exceed the one or more prices charged by the software image execution service;

after the registering of the first software virtual machine image, receiving, by the one or more configured computing systems, an execution request from a second user to initiate execution of the first software virtual machine image, the first user being distinct from the second user;

determining, by the one or more configured computing systems, that the second user is authorized to initiate the execution of the first software virtual machine image based at least in part on the configured usage model;

executing, by the one or more configured computing systems, the first software virtual machine image on behalf of the second user by loading the first software virtual machine image on one of multiple virtual machines provided by the software image execution service;

determining, by the one or more configured computing systems, a first fee to be paid by the second user for the execution of the first software virtual machine image and automatically determining a second fee to be paid to the first user, the second fee being a portion of the first fee, the determining of the first and second fees being based at least in part on the configured usage model; and

providing one or more indications of the determined first and second fees.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the providing of the one or more indications of the determined first and second fees includes:

obtaining, by the one or more configured computing systems, the first fee from the second user; and

providing, by the one or more configured computing systems, the second fee to the first user.

3. A computer-implemented method for managing execution of software images for users of a software image execution service, the method comprising:

receiving, by one or more configured computing systems affiliated with a software image execution service, information from multiple users of the software image execution service regarding registering multiple shared software images, each of the multiple software images being created by one of the multiple users and being registered so as to be available for execution by at least some other users of the software image execution service, the software image execution service having a plurality of host computing systems for use in executing software images of users;

receiving, by the one or more configured computing systems, a request from a first user of the software image execution service to execute an indicated one of the multiple software images that was created by a second user distinct from the first user, the indicated software image being a bootable image that includes operating system software and that is executed by loading the indicated software image;

determining, by the one or more configured computing systems, that the first user is authorized to execute the indicated software image; and

initiating, by the one or more configured computing systems, execution of a copy of the indicated software image by the software image execution service on behalf of the first user, the execution of the indicated software image copy being performed by loading the indicated software image on at least one of the plurality of host computing systems.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the indicated software image is a virtual machine image registered by the second user as a fee-based software image, such that received information from the second user indicates a usage model configured by the second user for use in determining fees for other users who execute the indicated software virtual machine image via the software image execution service, the fees determined based on the configured usage model for use of the indicated software virtual machine image including one or more differences from usage fees charged by the software image execution service for execution of the indicated software virtual machine image.

5. The method of claim 4 further comprising providing capabilities for users of the software image execution service to subscribe to use the indicated software virtual machine image via the software image execution service by providing payment information for fees from execution of the indicated software virtual machine image by the software image execution service, and wherein the determining that the first user is authorized to execute the indicated software virtual machine image is based at least in part on whether the first user has subscribed to use the indicated software virtual machine image.

6. The method of claim 4 further comprising:

determining, by the one or more configured computing systems, one or more fees for the initiated execution of the indicated software virtual machine image copy on behalf of the first user, the one or more determined fees being based at least in part on the configured usage model; and

providing payment to the second user for the initiated execution of the indicated software virtual machine image copy on behalf of the first user, the payment provided to the second user being based at least in part on the one or more differences between the determined one or more fees and the usage fees charged by the software image execution service for execution of the indicated software virtual machine image.

8. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

receiving information from a third user who provides fee-based functionality to other users who execute software images via the software image execution service, the third user being distinct from the first user and the second user, the received information including a usage model configured by the third user for use in determining fees for other users to whom the fee-based functionality is provided during execution of software images via the software image execution service on behalf of the other users;

receiving an indication from the first user for the fee-based functionality to be provided by the third user during the executing of the indicated software image on behalf of the first user; and

obtaining payment from the first user for one or more fees determined for the initiated execution of the indicated software image copy on behalf of the first user, the one or more determined fees being based at least in part on the configured usage model.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein the fee-based functionality provided by the third user is support services that are available upon request, wherein the providing of the fee-based functionality to the first user during the executing of the indicated software image on behalf of the first user includes making the support services available to the first user if the first user requests the support services, wherein the indication from the first user for the fee-based functionality to be provided is received as part of the received request from the first user, and wherein the method further comprises providing payment to the third user for the providing of the fee-based functionality to the first user during the executing of the indicated software image on behalf of the first user, the provided payment being at least a portion of the payment obtained from the first user.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising, after receiving the indication from the first user for the fee-based functionality to be provided by the third user, and before the third user makes the support services available to the first user:

receiving a request from the third user to determine if the payment has been obtained from the first user for the one or more fees determined for the initiated execution of the indicated software image copy based at least in part on the configured usage model of the third user; and

providing a response to the third user regarding whether the payment has been obtained from the first user, so that the third user may determine whether to make the support services available to the first user.

11. The method of claim 3 wherein the second user represents an entity that includes multiple users, wherein the indicated software image is registered by the second user as being a limited access software image such that the second user provides information to control which users of the software image execution service are allowed to execute the indicated software image, and wherein the determining that the first user is authorized to execute the indicated software image is based at least in part on the information provided by the second user.

12. The method of claim 3 further comprising:

determining that the copy of the indicated software image executing on behalf of the first user uses a remote third-party fee-based network-accessible service; and

obtaining payment from the first user for one or more fees determined for the use of the remote third-party fee-based network-accessible service, the one or more determined fees being based at least in part on a usage model configured by a provider of the third-party fee-based network-accessible service.

13. The method of claim 4 wherein the indicated software image further includes software for at least one application program, wherein the at least one host computing systems includes a computing system that hosts multiple virtual machines, and wherein the execution of the indicated software image copy includes use of one of the multiple hosted virtual machines.

14. The method of claim 3 wherein the one or more configured computing systems provide the software image execution service.

15. The method of claim 3 wherein the one or more configured computing systems provides a configuration facility separate from the software image execution service.

7. The method of claim wherein the determined one or more fees are variable fees that vary based on at least one of a group including an amount of time of the execution of the indicated software virtual machine image copy and amounts of use by the executing indicated software virtual machine image copy of resources of the software image execution service, and wherein the method further comprises obtaining payment from the first user for the determined one or more fees.

16. A non-transitory computer-readable medium whose contents configure a computing system to manage execution of software images for users of a software image execution service, by performing a method comprising:

receiving information from a first user of a software image execution service that indicates a software image available for execution by at least some other users of the software image execution service, the indicated software image being a bootable image that is executed by loading the indicated software image, the received information further indicating a usage model configured by the first user for use in determining fees for other users who execute the indicated software image via the software image execution service, such that the fees determined based on the configured usage model for use of the indicated software image differ from usage fees charged by the software image execution service for execution of the indicated software image;

after receiving a request from a second user distinct from the first user to execute the indicated software image, executing the indicated software image via the software image execution service on behalf of the second user, the executing being performed by at least one of a plurality of computing systems of the software image execution service;

determining a fee to be paid by the second user for the executing of the indicated software image on behalf of the second user, the determining being based at least in part on the configured usage model and at least in part on use of resources by the executing indicated software image; and

providing an indication of the determined fee.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the indicated software image is created by the first user, wherein the usage model configured by the first user includes one or more prices that exceed one or more other prices charged by the software image execution service, and wherein the determined fee to be paid by the second user is based at least in part on the one or more prices of the configured usage model.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the indicated software image is a loadable virtual machine image, wherein the plurality of computing systems include one or more computing systems that each host at least one virtual machine that are each capable of executing a virtual machine image, and wherein the executing of the indicated software image by the at least one computing system includes executing the indicated virtual machine image on at least one of the hosted virtual machines.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the configured usage model further includes indications of which users of the software image execution service are allowed to execute the indicated software image, and wherein the method further comprises, after receiving the request from the second user and before the executing of the indicated software image, automatically determining that the second user is allowed to execute the indicated software image based at least in part on the configured usage model.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the contents are instructions that when executed program the configured computing system to perform the method.

21. A computing system configured to manage execution of software programs by users of a software execution service, comprising:

one or more memories; and

a system manager component that is configured to manage execution of software virtual machine programs for users of a software execution service, the software execution service having a plurality of computing systems for use in executing software programs of users such that one or more of the plurality of computing systems each hosts one or more virtual machines that are each capable of executing at least one software virtual machine program, the managing of the execution of the software virtual machine programs including;

receiving information from multiple users regarding multiple shared software virtual machine programs created by the multiple users, the multiple software virtual machine programs being available for execution by other users via the software execution service, the received information indicating a usage model configured by one of the multiple users for use in determining fees for other users to execute an indicated one of the multiple software virtual machine programs via the software execution service, such that at least a portion of the fees determined based on the configured usage model are provided to the one user;

after receiving a request to execute the indicated one software virtual machine program via the software execution service on behalf of a first user who is distinct from the one user, initiating execution of the indicated one software virtual machine program by at least one of the hosted virtual machines of the software execution service on behalf of the first user; and

automatically determining a first fee to be paid by the first user for the executing of the indicated one software virtual machine program on behalf of the first user and automatically determining a second fee to be paid to the one user for the executing of the indicated one software virtual machine program on behalf of the first user, the second fee being at least a portion of the first fee, the determining of the first and second fees being based at least in part on the usage model configured by the one user.

22. The computing system of claim 21 wherein the indicated one software virtual machine program includes at least one application program.

23. The computing system of claim 22 wherein the indicated one software virtual machine program is a bootable virtual machine image created by the one user that further includes operating system software, wherein the software execution service is a software image execution service that charges variable fees to users for executing software programs such that the charged fees vary based at least in part on amounts of use by the executing software programs of resources of the software image execution service, the resources including at least one of an amount of use of processor time, an amount of use of network bandwidth to transfer data to the executing software programs, and an amount of use of network bandwidth to transfer data from the executing software programs, wherein the configured usage model specifies variable fees to charge users for executing the indicated one software virtual machine program via the software execution service such that the specified variable fees of the configured usage model vary based at least in part on amounts of use by the indicated one software virtual machine program of the resources of the software image execution service and further such that the specified variable fees of the configured usage model differ from fees charged by the software image execution service for executing the indicated one software virtual machine program, and wherein the configured usage model further specifies access criteria to control which other users are allowed to execute the indicated one software virtual machine program via the software execution service, such that the execution of the indicated one software virtual machine program on behalf of the first user is initiated only after the system manager component automatically determines that the first user satisfies the specified access criteria.

24. The computing system of claim 21 wherein the system manager component includes software instructions for execution by the computing system.

25. The computing system of claim 21 wherein the system manager component consists of a means for managing execution of software virtual machine programs for users of a software execution service, the software execution service having a plurality of computing systems for use in executing software programs of users such that one or more of the plurality of computing systems each hosts one or more virtual machines that are each capable of executing at least one software virtual machine program, the managing of the execution of the software virtual machine programs including:

receiving information from multiple users regarding multiple shared software virtual machine programs created by the multiple users, the multiple software virtual machine programs being available for execution by other users via the software execution service, the received information indicating a usage model configured by one of the multiple users for use in determining fees for other users to execute an indicated one of the multiple software virtual machine programs via the software execution service, such that at least a portion of the fees determined based on the configured usage model are provided to the one user;

after receiving a request to execute the indicated one software virtual machine program via the software execution service on behalf of a first user who is distinct from the one user, initiating execution of the indicated one software virtual machine program by at least one of the hosted virtual machines of the software execution service on behalf of the first user; and

automatically determining a first fee to be paid by the first user for the executing of the indicated one software virtual machine program on behalf of the first user and automatically determining a second fee to be paid to the one user for the executing of the indicated one software virtual machine program on behalf of the first user, the second fee being at least a portion of the first fee, the determining of the first and second fees being based at least in part on the usage model configured by the one user.