Aggregate monitoring of utilization data for vendor products in cloud networks

• US 9,202,225 B2
• Filed: 05/28/2010
• Issued: 12/01/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/28/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Ferris, James Michael, Riveros, Gerry Edward
• Primary Examiner(s): Iwarere, Seye
• Application Number:
  US12/790,039
• Publication Number:
  US 20110295727A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,013 Days
• Field of Search: 705/34
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/34 Recording or statistical evaluation of computer activity, e.g. of down time, of input/output operation ; Recording or statistical evaluation of user activity, e.g. usability assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3476 Data logging G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/04 Billing or invoicing
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/12 Accounting

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for the aggregate monitoring of utilization data for vendor products in cloud networks. A service can be abstracted and provided external to a set of cloud networks which can access the management system(s), vendor databases, or other resources in those clouds, and generate selective reports on application or other usage across those diverse cloud networks. A network user may wish to generate a report on the usage history of software or services in multiple host clouds, without establishing or accessing individual tracking servers or services in each of the host cloud networks. In aspects, the user may also wish to generate an aggregate report combining multiple vendors, user groups, software, or other attributes. The usage report(s) can be configured to use different criteria or generate different outputs on a dynamic basis, e.g. in different times frames, or altering reports under different usage conditions.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a processing device of a monitoring server, an identification of an application that is hosted by a first virtual machine in a first cloud-based network and a second virtual machine in a second cloud-based network, wherein the monitoring server is external to a first cloud management system that manages the first cloud-based network and to a second cloud management system that manages the second cloud-based network;

aggregating, by the processing device of the monitoring server, a plurality of usage histories for the application in view of operation of the application across the first cloud-based network and the second cloud-based network;

obtaining, by the processing device of the monitoring server, a software resource index and subscription data corresponding to the application, wherein the software resource index comprises an index of the application within a set of resources that are maintained by a user operating the application and subscribed by the user to the monitoring server, and wherein the subscription data comprises a set of at least one of user access rights, service level agreements, subscription rates, or entitlements at the monitoring server for the user operating the application;

generating, by the processing device of the monitoring server, a usage report for the application in view of the plurality of usage histories, the obtained software resource index, and the obtained subscription data corresponding to the application;

identifying, by the processing device, a usage pattern of the application in view of the usage report; and

causing, by the processing device in view of the usage pattern, configuration management to be performed on at least one of the first virtual machine or the second virtual machine in view of the usage pattern, the configuration management to increase at least one of processing power, memory, or bandwidth corresponding to the at least one of the first virtual machine or the second virtual machine to adjust the usage pattern of the application.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of usage histories comprises at least one of usage time of the application, a number of instances of the application, a number of registered users of the application, a number of support events associated with the application, an amount of bandwidth associated with usage of the application, or an amount of data consumption associated with the application.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification of the application is received via at least one of user input or an automatically generated identification.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of usage histories is received from a repository hosted by the first cloud-based network.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the application comprises a plurality of applications.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the plurality of applications are provided by a plurality of vendors.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the usage report is generated in view of the plurality of applications.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the generating of the usage report comprises applying a set of usage history search criteria to the plurality of usage histories.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the usage report comprises a report generated on at least one of a per-vendor, per-application, or per-cloud basis in view of the set of usage history search criteria.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the usage report comprises at least one of a billing report or a subscription report.

11. A system comprising:

a network interface to a first cloud-based network and a second cloud-based network; and

a processor, to communicate with the first cloud-based network and the second cloud-based network via the network interface, the processor to;

receive an identification of an application that is hosted by a first virtual machine in the first cloud-based network and a second virtual machine in the second cloud-based network, wherein the system is external to a first cloud management system that manages the first cloud-based network and to a second cloud management system that manages the second cloud-based network;

aggregate a plurality of usage histories for the application in view of operation of the application across the first cloud-based network and the second cloud-based network;

obtain a software resource index and subscription data corresponding to the application, wherein the software resource index comprises an index of the application within a set of resources that are maintained by a user operating the application and subscribed by the user to the monitoring server, and wherein the subscription data comprises a set of at least one of user access rights, service level agreements, subscription rates, or entitlements at the monitoring server for the user operating the application;

generate a usage report for the application in view of the plurality of usage histories, the obtained software resource index, and the obtained subscription data corresponding to the application;

identify a usage pattern of the application in view of the usage report; and

cause, in view of the usage pattern, configuration management to be performed on at least one of the first virtual machine or the second virtual machine in view of the usage pattern, the configuration management to increase at least one of processing power, memory, or bandwidth corresponding to the at least one of the first virtual machine or the second virtual machine to adjust the usage pattern of the application.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of usage histories comprises at least one of usage time of the application, a number of instances of the application, a number of registered users of the application, a number of support events associated with the application, an amount of bandwidth associated with usage of the application, or an amount of data consumption associated with the application.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the application comprises a plurality of applications.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the plurality of applications are provided by a plurality of vendors.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the usage report is generated in view of the plurality of applications.

16. The system of claim 15, wherein the processor is further to apply a set of usage history search criteria to the set of usage histories to generate the usage report.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the usage report comprises a report generated on at least one of a per-vendor, per-application, or per-cloud basis in view of the set of usage history search criteria.

18. The system of claim 11, wherein the usage report comprises at least one of a billing report or a subscription report.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the identification of the application is received via at least one of user input or an automatically generated identification.

20. The system of claim 11, wherein at least a portion of the plurality of usage histories is received from a repository hosted by the first cloud-based network.