System to generate a deployment plan for a cloud infrastructure according to logical, multi-tier application blueprint

• US 9,052,961 B2
• Filed: 03/02/2012
• Issued: 06/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Mangtani, Komal, Jalagam, Sesh, Nagaraja, Vishwas, Winterfeldt, David
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, Adam
• Application Number:
  US13/411,385
• Publication Number:
  US 20130232498A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,194 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5038 considering the execution order of a plurality of tasks, e.g. taking priority or time dependency constraints into consideration scheduling strategies G06F9/4881 and subgroups
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5077 Logical partitioning of resources; Management or configuration of virtualized resources specific details on emulation or internal functioning of virtual machines G06F9/455

Abstract

A deployment system enables a developer to generate a deployment plan according to a logical, multi-tier application blueprint defined by application architects. The deployment plan includes tasks to be executed for deploying application components on virtual computing resource provided in a cloud infrastructure. The deployment plan includes time dependencies that determine an execution order of the tasks according to dependencies between application components specified in the application blueprint. The deployment plan enables system administrators to view the application blueprint as an ordered workflow view that facilitates collaboration between system administrators and application architects.

Claims

1. A method of managing deployment of an application in a cloud environment having virtual computing resources, the method comprising:

generating an application blueprint from user interaction with a graphical user interface comprising a canvas and a presentation of a catalog of the virtual computing resources and application components of the application, wherein the user interaction generates the application blueprint on the canvas by specifying one or more of the virtual computing resources and application components from the catalog and defines a topology of the specified application components to execute on the specified virtual computing resources;

determining tasks of the specified application components to be executed for deploying the specified application components on the specified virtual computing resources; and

generating a deployment plan specifying execution of the tasks in an order determined by the topology, wherein the topology specifies one or more dependencies between the specified application components.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating the deployment plan further comprises:

determining that a task of a first specified application component is to be completed prior to execution of a task of a second specified application component.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of generating the deployment plan further comprises:

determining that all tasks for deploying the first specified application component are to be completed prior to execution of any task of the second specified application component, wherein the topology of the specified application components specifies that the second specified application component is contained within the first specified application component.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the first specified application component and the second specified application component are hosted on different virtual computing resources.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of generating the deployment plan further comprises:

determining that a plurality of tasks of a first application specified component is to be completed on each specified virtual computing resource in a cluster of specified virtual computing resources prior to execution of a task of a second specified application component.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining tasks further comprises:

for each specified application component in the application blueprint, retrieving at least one task comprising an action script corresponding to an application lifecycle stage defined for the specified application component in the catalog of application components.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of determining tasks further comprises:

generating a provisioning request for each virtual resource specified in the topology, wherein the provisioning request specifies a definition of cloud computing resources mapped to virtual computing resources defined in the topology.

8. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed in a computing device, manage deployment of an application in a cloud environment having virtual computing resources, by performing the steps of:

generating an application blueprint from user interaction with a graphical user interface comprising a canvas and a presentation of a catalog of the virtual computing resources and application components of the application, wherein the user interaction generates the application blueprint on the canvas by specifying one or more of the virtual computing resources and application components from the catalog and defines a topology of the specified application components to execute on the specified virtual computing resources;

determining tasks of the specified application components to be executed for deploying the specified application components on the specified virtual computing resources; and

generating a deployment plan specifying execution of the tasks in an order determined by the topology, wherein the topology specifies one or more dependencies between the specified application components.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions for generating the deployment plan further comprise instructions for:

determining that a task of a first specified application component is to be completed prior to execution of a task of a second specified application component.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the instructions for generating the deployment plan further comprise instructions for:

determining that all tasks for deploying the first specified application component are to be completed prior to execution of any task of the second specified application component, wherein the topology of the specified application components specifies that the second specified application component is contained within the first specified application component.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the first specified application component and the second specified application component are hosted on different virtual computing resources.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions for generating the deployment plan further comprise instructions for:

determining that a plurality of tasks of a first specified application component is to be completed on each specified virtual computing resource in a cluster of specified virtual computing resources prior to execution of a task of a second specified application component.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions for determining the tasks further comprise instructions for:

for each specified application component in the application blueprint, retrieving at least one task comprising an action script corresponding to an application lifecycle stage defined for the specified application component in the catalog of application components.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 8, wherein the instructions for determining the tasks further comprise instructions for:

generating a provisioning request for each virtual resource specified in the topology, wherein the provisioning request specifies a definition of cloud computing resources mapped to virtual computing resources defined in the topology.

15. A computer system for managing deployment of an application in a cloud environment having virtual computing resources, the computer system comprising a system memory and a processor programmed to carry out the steps of:

generating an application blueprint from user interaction with a graphical user interface comprising a canvas and a presentation of a catalog of the virtual computing resources and application components of the application, wherein the user interaction generates the application blueprint on the canvas by specifying one or more of the virtual computing resources and application components from the catalog and defines a topology of the specified application components to execute on the specified virtual computing resources;

determining tasks of the specified application components to be executed for deploying the specified application components on the specified virtual computing resources; and

generating a deployment plan specifying execution of the tasks in an order determined by the topology, wherein the topology specifies one or more dependencies between the specified application components.

16. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further programmed to carry out the step of:

determining that all tasks for deploying a first specified application component are to be completed prior to execution of any task of a second specified application component, wherein the topology of the specified application components specifies that the second specified application component is contained within the first specified application component.

17. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further programmed to carry out the step of:

determining that a task of a first specified application component is to be completed prior to execution of a task of a second specified application component, wherein the first specified application component and the second specified application component are hosted on different virtual computing resources.

18. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further programmed to carry out the step of:

determining that a plurality of tasks of a first specified application component is to be completed on each specified virtual computing resource in a cluster of specified virtual computing resources prior to execution of a task of a specified second application component.

19. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further programmed to carry out the step of:

for each specified application component in the application blueprint, retrieving at least one task comprising an action script corresponding to an application lifecycle stage defined for the specified application component in the catalog of application components.

20. The computer system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further programmed to carry out the step of:

generating a provisioning request for each virtual resource specified in the topology, wherein the provisioning request specifies a definition of cloud computing resources mapped to virtual computing resources defined in the topology.