Generic control layer in a cloud environment

• US 8,886,806 B2
• Filed: 03/24/2011
• Issued: 11/11/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Original Assignee: Accenture Global Services Limited (Accenture PLC)
• Inventors: Tung, Teresa S., Swaminathan, Kishore S., Tobolski, Joseph F.
• Primary Examiner(s): Park, Jeong S
• Application Number:
  US13/071,442
• Publication Number:
  US 20120072581A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,328 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 709/226, 718/1, 718/104
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5027 the resource being a machine, e.g. CPUs, Servers, Terminals
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5019 Ensuring fulfilment of SLA
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1012 based on compliance of requirements or conditions with available server resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

A computing system implemented method, in one embodiment, can include a cloud control module receiving a constraint for cloud architecture. In addition, the method can include the cloud control module receiving a plurality of cloud service provider capabilities. Furthermore, the method can include the cloud control module filtering the plurality of cloud service provider capabilities to identify a cloud service provider capable of satisfying the constraint. Moreover, the method can include the cloud control module outputting an instruction for a resource from the cloud service provider.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method comprising:

obtaining, by a cloud management system that includes at least (i) a cloud control module, (ii) a cloud transformation module, and (iii) a cloud instantiation module, constraint information associated with a software application;

determining, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system and based on the constraint information associated with the software application, that a capacity of a cloud architecture is to be scaled by deploying instances of the software application across multiple cloud computing platforms that each are sourced by a different cloud computing platform provider;

receiving, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system, capability information associated with a set of available cloud computing platforms;

selecting, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system, a subset of the available cloud computing platforms based at least on the constraint information associated with the software application and the capability information associated with the set of available cloud computing platforms, wherein the subset includes at least two cloud computing platforms that are sourced by at least two different cloud computing platform providers;

obtaining, by the cloud transformation module of the cloud management system, for each of the cloud computing platforms of the subset, code for an instance of the software application on the cloud computing platform, where the code is specific to the cloud computing platform; and

providing, by the cloud instantiation module of the cloud management system, for each of the cloud computing platforms of the subset, (i) the code for the instance of the software application on the cloud computing platform and (ii) configuration information for configuring the cloud computing platform to execute the code.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein determining, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system and based on the constraint information associated with the software application, that a capacity of a cloud architecture is to be scaled by deploying instances of the software application across multiple cloud computing platforms that each are sourced by a different cloud computing platform provider, comprises:

determining that the cloud architecture is not satisfying a threshold indicated by the constraint information;

in response to determining that the cloud architecture is not satisfying the threshold indicated by the constraint information, determining a bottleneck in the cloud architecture is causing the cloud architecture to not satisfy the threshold; and

in response to determining the bottleneck in the cloud architecture is causing the cloud architecture to not satisfy the threshold, determining that scaling the capacity of the cloud architecture reduces an effect of the bottleneck on the cloud architecture not satisfying the threshold.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein determining that the cloud architecture is not satisfying a threshold indicated by the constraint information, comprises:

monitoring a performance statistic for the cloud architecture; and

determining that the performance statistic is not satisfying a corresponding threshold indicated by the constraint information for the performance statistic.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein determining a bottleneck in the cloud architecture is causing the cloud architecture to not satisfy the threshold, comprises:

identifying an instance of the software application that is causing the cloud architecture to not satisfy the threshold.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system, a subset of the available cloud computing platforms based at least on the constraint information associated with the software application and the capability information associated with the set of available cloud computing platforms, comprises:

determining that deploying the code for the instance of the software application on the subset of the available cloud computing platforms will satisfy the constraint information associated with the software application.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein obtaining, by the cloud transformation module of the cloud management system, for each of the cloud computing platforms of the subset, code for an instance of the software application on the cloud computing platform, where the code is specific to the cloud computing platform, comprises:

obtaining code for an instance of the software application where the code can not be executed by a particular cloud computing platform; and

transforming the code that can not be executed by the particular cloud computing platform into code that can be executed by the particular cloud computing platform.

7. A system comprising:

one or more computers; and

one or more storage devices storing instructions that are operable, when executed by the one or more computers, to cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising;

obtaining, by a cloud management system that includes at least (i) a cloud control module, (ii) a cloud transformation module, and (iii) a cloud instantiation module, constraint information associated with a software application;

determining, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system and based on the constraint information associated with the software application, that a capacity of a cloud architecture is to be scaled by deploying instances of the software application across multiple cloud computing platforms that each are sourced by a different cloud computing platform provider;

receiving, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system, capability information associated with a set of available cloud computing platforms;

selecting, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system, a subset of the available cloud computing platforms based at least on the constraint information associated with the software application and the capability information associated with the set of available cloud computing platforms, wherein the subset includes at least two cloud computing platforms that are sourced by at least two different cloud computing platform providers;

obtaining, by the cloud transformation module of the cloud management system, for each of the cloud computing platforms of the subset, code for an instance of the software application on the cloud computing platform, where the code is specific to the cloud computing platform; and

providing, by the cloud instantiation module of the cloud management system, for each of the cloud computing platforms of the subset, (i) the code for the instance of the software application on the cloud computing platform and (ii) configuration information for configuring the cloud computing platform to execute the code.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein determining, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system and based on the constraint information associated with the software application, that a capacity of a cloud architecture is to be scaled by deploying instances of the software application across multiple cloud computing platforms that each are sourced by a different cloud computing platform provider, comprises:

determining that the cloud architecture is not satisfying a threshold indicated by the constraint information;

in response to determining that the cloud architecture is not satisfying the threshold indicated by the constraint information, determining a bottleneck in the cloud architecture is causing the cloud architecture to not satisfy the threshold; and

in response to determining the bottleneck in the cloud architecture is causing the cloud architecture to not satisfy the threshold, determining that scaling the capacity of the cloud architecture reduces an effect of the bottleneck on the cloud architecture not satisfying the threshold.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein determining that the cloud architecture is not satisfying a threshold indicated by the constraint information, comprises:

monitoring a performance statistic for the cloud architecture; and

determining that the performance statistic is not satisfying a corresponding threshold indicated by the constraint information for the performance statistic.

10. The system of claim 8, wherein determining a bottleneck in the cloud architecture is causing the cloud architecture to not satisfy the threshold, comprises:

identifying an instance of the software application that is causing the cloud architecture to not satisfy the threshold.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein selecting, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system, a subset of the available cloud computing platforms based at least on the constraint information associated with the software application and the capability information associated with the set of available cloud computing platforms, comprises:

determining that deploying the code for the instance of the software application on the subset of the available cloud computing platforms will satisfy the constraint information associated with the software application.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein obtaining, by the cloud transformation module of the cloud management system, for each of the cloud computing platforms of the subset, code for an instance of the software application on the cloud computing platform, where the code is specific to the cloud computing platform, comprises:

obtaining code for an instance of the software application where the code can not be executed by a particular cloud computing platform; and

transforming the code that can not be executed by the particular cloud computing platform into code that can be executed by the particular cloud computing platform.

13. A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing software comprising instructions executable by one or more computers which, upon such execution, cause the one or more computers to perform operations comprising:

obtaining, by a cloud management system that includes at least (i) a cloud control module, (ii) a cloud transformation module, and (iii) a cloud instantiation module, constraint information associated with a software application;

determining, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system and based on the constraint information associated with the software application, that a capacity of a cloud architecture is to be scaled by deploying instances of the software application across multiple cloud computing platforms that each are sourced by a different cloud computing platform provider;

receiving, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system, capability information associated with a set of available cloud computing platforms;

selecting, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system, a subset of the available cloud computing platforms based at least on the constraint information associated with the software application and the capability information associated with the set of available cloud computing platforms, wherein the subset includes at least two cloud computing platforms that are sourced by at least two different cloud computing platform providers;

obtaining, by the cloud transformation module of the cloud management system, for each of the cloud computing platforms of the subset, code for an instance of the software application on the cloud computing platform, where the code is specific to the cloud computing platform; and

providing, by the cloud instantiation module of the cloud management system, for each of the cloud computing platforms of the subset, (i) the code for the instance of the software application on the cloud computing platform and (ii) configuration information for configuring the cloud computing platform to execute the code.

14. The medium of claim 13, wherein determining, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system and based on the constraint information associated with the software application, that a capacity of a cloud architecture is to be scaled by deploying instances of the software application across multiple cloud computing platforms that each are sourced by a different cloud computing platform provider, comprises:

determining that the cloud architecture is not satisfying a threshold indicated by the constraint information;

in response to determining that the cloud architecture is not satisfying the threshold indicated by the constraint information, determining a bottleneck in the cloud architecture is causing the cloud architecture to not satisfy the threshold; and

in response to determining the bottleneck in the cloud architecture is causing the cloud architecture to not satisfy the threshold, determining that scaling the capacity of the cloud architecture reduces an effect of the bottleneck on the cloud architecture not satisfying the threshold.

15. The medium of claim 14, wherein determining that the cloud architecture is not satisfying a threshold indicated by the constraint information, comprises:

monitoring a performance statistic for the cloud architecture; and

determining that the performance statistic is not satisfying a corresponding threshold indicated by the constraint information for the performance statistic.

16. The medium of claim 14, wherein determining a bottleneck in the cloud architecture is causing the cloud architecture to not satisfy the threshold, comprises:

identifying an instance of the software application that is causing the cloud architecture to not satisfy the threshold.

17. The medium of claim 13, wherein selecting, by the cloud control module of the cloud management system, a subset of the available cloud computing platforms based at least on the constraint information associated with the software application and the capability information associated with the set of available cloud computing platforms, comprises:

determining that deploying the code for the instance of the software application on the subset of the available cloud computing platforms will satisfy the constraint information associated with the software application.

18. The medium of claim 13, wherein obtaining, by the cloud transformation module of the cloud management system, for each of the cloud computing platforms of the subset, code for an instance of the software application on the cloud computing platform, where the code is specific to the cloud computing platform, comprises:

obtaining code for an instance of the software application where the code can not be executed by a particular cloud computing platform; and

transforming the code that can not be executed by the particular cloud computing platform into code that can be executed by the particular cloud computing platform.