Resolving information in a multitenant database environment

• US 9,037,722 B2
• Filed: 04/26/2011
• Issued: 05/19/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/07/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Jensen-Horne, Nathan, Burki, Dileep, Harley, Walter Sims, Small, Matthew, Scott, Kenneth Douglas, Brooks, David Andrew, Peddada, Prasad, Patel, Hemang, Chawla, Gaurav, Vietvu, Theresa, Gurram, Shriman
• Primary Examiner(s): Keehn, Richard G
• Application Number:
  US13/094,568
• Publication Number:
  US 20110276693A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,484 Days
• Field of Search: 709/226
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5061 Partitioning or combining of resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/70 Admission control; Resource allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/783 Distributed allocation of resources, e.g. bandwidth brokers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46

Abstract

Disclosed herein are techniques for provisioning computing services. In some implementations, a plurality of computing resources available within a computing environment are identified. The plurality of computing resources may be capable of being used to provide computing services via the computing environment. Each of the computing resources may comprise a respective unit of computing functionality available within the computing environment. A plurality of dependency relationships among the computing resources may be identified. Based on the identified dependency relationships, a first one or more of the computing resources may be selected for inclusion in a license definition. A license conforming to the license definition may provide an entity with access to the computing functionality associated with the first one or more computing resources.

Claims

1. A method of provisioning computing services, the method comprising:

identifying a plurality of computing resources available within a computing environment, the computing resources identifiable by one or more data objects stored in a database system, the computing resources capable of being accessed to provide computing services via the computing environment, each of the computing resources comprising a respective unit of computing functionality available within the computing environment, one or more of the computing resources each having one or more parameters associated with the respective computing resource, each parameter capable of being assigned a respective parameter state specifying a level of access to the computing resource associated with the parameter;

identifying a plurality of dependency relationships among the computing resources, each dependency relationship specifying a respective first parameter state for a first parameter associated with a first computing resource, each dependency relationship further specifying a respective second computing resource, a computing functionality of the first computing resource depending on access to a computing functionality of the second computing resource during a time while the first computing resource is accessed, the second computing resource capable of being accessed while the first parameter is assigned the first parameter state;

automatically generating a license definition based on a first set of two or more computing resources, the first set having a combined parameter state based on a combination of parameters of the two or more computing resources, at least one conflict between or among the two or more computing resources being resolved to remove overlapping computing resources from the first set, a license conforming to the license definition providing an entity with access to a computing functionality associated with the first set of two or more computing resources; and

receiving a request to access one or more computing resources, the request being grantable based on the license.

2. The method recited in claim 1, the method further comprising:

creating a plurality of components based on the identified dependency relationships, each of the components including a respective one or more of the computing resources, each of the components comprising a respective unit of computing functionality defined by an aggregation of the computing functionality associated with its constituent components.

3. The method recited in claim 2, wherein selecting the first set of two or more computing resources for inclusion in the license definition comprises selecting one or more of the components for inclusion in the license definition.

4. The method recited in claim 1, the method further comprising:

based on the license definition and on the identified dependency relationships, identifying a second set of one or more computing resources on which the license definition depends and which are not included in the license definition.

5. The method recited in claim 4, the method further comprising:

publishing a license description for the license, the license description comprising a description of the first and second identified sets of computing resources.

6. The method recited in claim 1, wherein identifying a dependency relationship comprises:

identifying a reference to the first computing resource within a software resource, the software resource being accessed to provide the computing functionality associated with the second computing resource.

7. The method recited in claim 1, the method further comprising:

making the license available to a plurality of entities, data associated with two or more of the entities being stored in a multitenant database.

8. A computing system comprising:

one or more hardware computing devices configured to;

identify a plurality of computing resources available within a computing environment, the computing resources identifiable by one or more data objects stored in a database system, the computing resources capable of being accessed to provide computing services via the computing environment, each of the computing resources comprising a respective unit of computing functionality available within the computing environment, one or more of the computing resources each having one or more parameters associated with the respective computing resource, each parameter capable of being assigned a respective parameter state specifying a level of access to the computing resource associated with the parameter;

identify a plurality of dependency relationships among the computing resources, each dependency relationship specifying a respective first parameter state for a first parameter associated with a first computing resource, each dependency relationship further specifying a respective second computing resource, a computing functionality of the first computing resource depending on access to a computing functionality of the second computing resource during a time while the first computing resource is accessed, the second computing resource capable of being accessed while the first parameter is assigned the first parameter state;

automatically generate a license definition based on a first set of two or more computing resources, the first set having a combined parameter state based on a combination of parameters of the two or more computing resources, at least one conflict between or among the two or more computing resources being resolved to remove overlapping computing resources from the first set, a license conforming to the license definition providing an entity with access to a computing functionality associated with the first set of two or more computing resources; and

receive a request to access one or more computing resources, the request being grantable based on the license.

9. The computing system recited in claim 8, the one or more computing hardware devices being configured to:

create a plurality of components based on the identified dependency relationships, each of the components including a respective one or more of the computing resources, each of the components comprising a respective unit of computing functionality defined by an aggregation of the computing functionality associated with its constituent components.

10. The computing system recited in claim 9, wherein selecting the first set of two or more of the computing resources for inclusion in the license definition comprises selecting one or more of the components for inclusion in the license definition.

11. The computing system recited in claim 8, the one or more computing hardware devices being configured to:

determine, based on the identified dependency relationships, whether the license definition depends on computing resources not included in the license definition; and

when it is determined that there are computing resources upon which the license definition depends that were not included in the license definition, identify a second set of one or more computing resources on which the license definition depends and which are not included in the license definition.

12. The computing system recited in claim 11, the one or more computing hardware devices being configured to:

publish a license description for the license, the license description comprising a description of the first and second identified sets of computing resources.

13. The computing system recited in claim 8, wherein identifying a dependency relationships comprises:

identifying a reference to the first computing resource within a software resource, the software resource being accessed to provide the computing functionality associated with the second computing resource.

14. The computing system recited in claim 8, the one or more computing hardware devices being configured to:

make the license available to a plurality of entities, data associated with two or more of the entities being stored in a multitenant database.

15. A method of providing computing services, the method comprising:

providing a first entity with access to a first computing service within a first computing environment associated with the first entity, access to the first computing service depending on a first variable be assigned a first state within the first computing environment;

activating a second computing service for use by the first entity within the first computing environment, activation of the second computing service depending on the first variable be assigned a second state within the first computing environment, the second state being inconsistent with the first state, the first variable defining a service level for a first computing resource, the first computing resource being accessed when providing one or both of the first and second computing services;

establishing a first feature scope within the first computing environment, the first feature scope defining a first set of variable states for accessing the first computing service, the first variable being assigned the first state within the first feature scope; and

establishing a second feature scope within the first computing environment, the second feature scope defining a second set of variable states for accessing the second computing service, the first variable being assigned the second state within the second feature scope; and

wherein;

at least one conflict between or among two or more computing resources is resolved to remove overlapping computing resources,

the first computing service is provided to the first entity according to the first feature scope, and

the second computing service is provided to the first entity according to the second feature scope.

16. The method recited in claim 15, the method further comprising:

providing a plurality of entities with access to computing services, each of the entities having associated therewith a respective computing environment, the plurality of entities including the first entity.

17. The method recited in claim 16, wherein data associated with the plurality of entities is stored in an multitenant database system, the multitenant database system being accessible to the entities via their respective computing environments.

18. The method recited in claim 15, the method further comprising:

analyzing the first computing service to identify a first set of one or more variables that must be assigned respective variable states in the first set of variable states in order to provide the first computing service, the first one or more variables including the first variable; and

analyzing the second computing service to identify a second set of one or more variables that must be assigned respective second one or more variable states in the second set of variable states in order to provide the second computing service, the second one or more variables including the first variable.

19. The method recited in claim 18, the method further comprising:

comparing the first set of one or more variable states with the second set of one or more variable states; and

identifying at least one variable state in the first set of one or more variable states that conflicts with at least one variable state in the second set of one or more variable states.

20. The method recited in claim 18, wherein the first and second computing services are analyzed by identifying variable states specified by metadata models associated with the first and second computing services, the first and second metadata models describing variable state requirements associated with computing components capable of being accessed when providing the first and second computing services.

21. A computing system comprising:

one or more computing hardware devices configured to;

provide a first entity with access to a first computing service within a first computing environment associated with the first entity, access to the first computing service depending on a first variable be assigned a first state within the first computing environment;

activate a second computing service for use by the first entity within the first computing environment, activation of the second computing service depending on the first variable be assigned a second state within the first computing environment, the second state being inconsistent with the first state, the first variable defining a service level for a first computing resource, the first computing resource being accessed when providing one or both of the first and second computing services;

establish a first feature scope within the first computing environment, the first feature scope defining a first set of variable states for accessing the first computing service, the first variable being assigned the first state within the first feature scope; and

establish a second feature scope within the first computing environment, the second feature scope defining a second set of variable states for accessing the second computing service, the first variable being assigned the second state within the second feature scope; and

wherein;

at least one conflict between or among two or more computing resources is resolved to remove overlapping computing resources,

the first computing service is provided to the first entity according to the first feature scope, and

the second computing service is provided to the first entity according to the second feature scope.

22. The computing system recited in claim 21, the one or more computing hardware devices being configured to:

provide a plurality of entities with access to computing services, each of the entities having associated therewith a respective computing environment, the plurality of entities including the first entity.

23. The computing system recited in claim 22, wherein data associated with the plurality of entities is stored in an on-demand database system, the on-demand database system being accessible to the entities via their respective computing environments.

24. The computing system recited in claim 21, the one or more computing hardware devices being configured to:

analyze the first computing service to identify a first set of one or more variables that must be assigned respective variable states in the first set of variable states in order to provide the first computing service, the first one or more variables including the first variable; and

analyze the second computing service to identify a second set of one or more variables that must be assigned respective variable states in the second set of variable states in order to provide the second computing service, the second one or more variables including the first variable.

25. The computing system recited in claim 24, the one or more computing hardware devices being configured to:

compare the first set of one or more variable states with the second set of one or more variable states; and

identify at least one variable state in the first set of one or more variable states that conflicts with at least one variable state in the second set of one or more variable states.

26. The computing system recited in claim 24, wherein the first and second computing services are analyzed by identifying variable states specified by metadata models associated with the first and second computing services, the first and second metadata models describing variable state requirements associated with computing components capable of being accessed when providing the first and second computing services.