Service level backup using re-cloud network

• US 9,870,541 B2
• Filed: 11/26/2008
• Issued: 01/16/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2008
• 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
• Primary Examiner(s): MARCUS, LELAND R
• Application Number:
  US12/324,803
• Publication Number:
  US 20100131324A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,338 Days
• Field of Search: 705 8
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/0631 Resource planning, allocation, distributing or scheduling for enterprises or organisations

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for service level backup using a re-cloud network. A set of operating clouds can support many users. The users can accept service based on a service level agreement (SLA), according to which the user is assured a certain level of service or support from the cloud, such as a minimum amount of uptime, a minimum amount of processor cycles or network bandwidth, or other guaranteed parameters of the usage of their virtual machine. The set of operating clouds in which the user'"'"'s service is supported can be configured to communicate a service level augmentation request to a backup cloud to request additional resources to maintain the delivery of one or more SLA-specified support to users. The backup cloud network can in turn be nested with other backup clouds or resources.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

executing, by a processor of a backup cloud management system computing device, one or more virtual machines for limited durations for users of backup cloud systems managed by the backup cloud management system computing device, wherein resources of the backup cloud systems are managed separately from other resources of an operating cloud, the resources comprising at least processing power of processors of computing devices and memory of storage devices of the computing devices used to execute the one or more virtual machines under direction of the backup cloud management system computing device;

managing, by the processor of the backup cloud management system computing device, the resources of the backup cloud systems to provide backup support for the operating cloud;

receiving, by the processor of the backup cloud management system computing device, an augmentation request from an operating cloud management system computing device of the operating cloud, wherein the augmentation request comprises an indication of resources to upgrade service above a service level reflected in a set of service level agreements (SLAs) for users of the operating cloud, and wherein the operating cloud does not comprise the resources to upgrade the service above the service level reflected in the set of SLAs;

identifying, by the processor of the backup cloud management system computing device, supplemental resources of the resources of the backup cloud systems to upgrade the service above the service level reflected in the set of SLAs as indicated in the augmentation request, wherein the identifying comprises selecting at least one of the supplemental resources in view of a match between a time period to complete the upgrade as specified by the augmentation request and a set of determined time periods for which each of the supplemental resources is offered to be available;

activating, by the processor of the backup cloud management system computing device, the identified supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems in view of the augmentation request, wherein each of the backup cloud systems activate successive levels of the resources in the operating cloud to upgrade the service above the service level reflected in the set of SLAs;

communicating, by the processor of the backup cloud management system computing device to the operating cloud management system computing device, with each of the backup cloud systems to determine an availability of the activated supplemental resources;

responsive to receiving confirmation of which operating clouds indicate the availability of the activated supplemental resources, identifying information of the activated supplemental resources that allows the operating cloud to access and utilize the activated supplemental resources, wherein the identifying comprises updating resource configurations of one or more instantiated virtual machines in view of configuration parameters defined in the augmentation request, wherein the one or more instantiated virtual machines are associated with at least one operating cloud that confirmed availability of the activated supplemental resources;

causing, by the processor of the backup cloud management system computing device, the operating cloud management system computing device to instruct the operating cloud to augment resources provided by the instantiated virtual machines of the at least one operating cloud to upgrade the service above the service level reflected in the set of SLAs;

monitoring a virtual machine executing in the operating cloud to determine when the operating cloud can upgrade the service above the service level reflected in the set of SLAs without the supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems; and

in response to a determination that the operating cloud can upgrade the service above the service level reflected in the set of SLAs without the supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems, discontinuing an activation of the supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the service comprises a level of service designated in the set of SLAs.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the augmentation request comprises a request for at least one of processing cycles, memory allocation, or input/output (I/O) throughput.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the augmentation request is generated in view of a change in service level delivered to a user of the operating cloud.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the augmentation request is generated in view of a manual selection of a user.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising deactivating resources in the backup cloud in view of a change in level delivered to a user of the operating cloud.

7. A system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor, communicably coupled to the memory, to;

execute one or more virtual machines for limited durations for users of backup cloud systems managed by a backup cloud management system computing device, wherein resources of the backup cloud systems are managed separately from other resources of an operating cloud, the resources comprising at least processing power of processors of computing devices and memory of storage devices of the computing devices used to execute the one or more virtual machines under direction of the backup cloud management system computing device;

manage the resources of the backup cloud systems to provide backup support for the operating cloud;

receive an augmentation request from an operating cloud management computing device of the operating cloud, wherein the service level augmentation request comprises an indication of resources to upgrade service above a service level reflected in a set of service level agreements (SLAs) for users of the operating cloud, and wherein the operating cloud does not comprise the resources to upgrade the service above a service level reflected in the set of SLAs;

identify supplemental resources of the resources of the backup cloud systems to upgrade the service above the service level reflected in the set of SLAs as indicated in the augmentation request, wherein to identify, the processor to selecting at least one of the supplemental resources in view of a match between a time period to complete the upgrade as specified by the augmentation request and a set of determined time periods for which each of the supplemental resources is offered to be available;

activate the identified supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems in view of the augmentation request, wherein each of the backup cloud systems activate successive levels of the resources in the operating cloud to upgrade the service above a service level reflected in the set of SLAs;

communicate, by the operating cloud management system computing device, with each of the backup cloud systems to determine an availability of the activated supplemental resources;

responsive to receiving confirmation of which operating clouds indicate the availability of the activated supplemental resources, identify information of the activated supplemental resources that allows the operating cloud to access and utilize the activated supplemental resources, wherein to identify comprises updating resource configurations of one or more instantiated virtual machines in view of configuration parameters defined in the augmentation request, wherein the one or more instantiated virtual machines are associated with at least one operating cloud that confirmed availability of the activated supplemental resources;

cause the operating cloud management system computing device to instruct the operating cloud to augment resources provided by the instantiated virtual machines of the at least one operating cloud to upgrade the service above a service level reflected in the set of SLAs;

monitor a virtual machine that executes in the operating cloud to determine when the operating cloud can upgrade the service above a service level reflected in the set of SLAs without the supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems; and

in response to a determination that the operating cloud can upgrade the service above a service level reflected in the set of SLAs without the supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems, discontinue an activation of the supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the service comprises a level of service designated in the set of SLAs.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein the augmentation request comprises a request for at least one of processing cycles, memory allocation, or input/output (I/O) throughput.

10. The system of claim 7, wherein the augmentation request is generated in view of a change in service level delivered to a user of the operating cloud.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the augmentation request is generated in view of a manual selection of a user.

12. The system of claim 7, further comprising deactivating resources in the backup cloud in view of a change in level delivered to a user of the operating cloud.

13. A non-transitory machine-readable storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to:

execute, by the processor of a backup cloud management system computing device, one or more virtual machines for limited durations for users of backup cloud systems managed by the backup cloud management system computing device, wherein resources of the backup cloud systems are managed separately from other resources of an operating cloud, the resources comprising at least processing power of processors of computing devices and memory of storage devices of the computing devices used to execute the one or more virtual machines under direction of the backup cloud management system computing device;

manage, by the processor of the backup cloud management system computing device, the resources of the backup cloud systems to provide backup support for the operating cloud;

receive, by the processor of the backup cloud management system computing device, an augmentation request from an operating cloud management system computing device of the operating cloud, wherein the augmentation request comprises an indication of resources to upgrade service above a service level reflected in a set of service level agreements (SLAs) for users of the operating cloud, and wherein the operating cloud does not comprise the resources to upgrade the service above a service level reflected in the set of SLAs;

identify, by the processor of the backup cloud management system computing device, supplemental resources of the resources of the backup cloud systems to upgrade the service above the service level reflected in the set of SLAs as indicated in the augmentation request, wherein to identify, the processor to selecting at least one of the supplemental resources in view of a match between a time period to complete the upgrade as specified by the augmentation request and a set of determined time periods for which each of the supplemental resources is offered to be available;

activate, by the processor of the backup cloud management system computing device, the identified supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems in view of the augmentation request, wherein each of the backup cloud systems activate successive levels of the resources in the operating cloud to upgrade the service above a service level reflected in the set of SLAs;

communicate, by the processor of the backup cloud management system computing device to the operating cloud management system computing device, with each of the backup cloud systems to determine an availability of the activated supplemental resources;

responsive to receiving confirmation of which operating clouds indicate the availability of the activated supplemental resources, identify information of the activated supplemental resources that allows the operating cloud to access and utilize the activated supplemental resources, wherein to identify comprises updating resource configurations of one or more instantiated virtual machines in view of configuration parameters defined in the augmentation request, wherein the one or more instantiated virtual machines are associated with at least one operating cloud that confirmed availability of the activated supplemental resources;

cause, by the processor of the backup cloud management system computing device, the operating cloud management system computing device to instruct the operating cloud to augment resources provided by the instantiated virtual machines of the at least one operating cloud with the activated supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems in order to upgrade the service above a service level reflected in the set of SLAs;

monitor a virtual machine that executes in the operating cloud to determine when the operating cloud can upgrade the service above a service level reflected in the set of SLAs without the supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems; and

in response to a determination that the operating cloud can upgrade the service above a service level reflected in the set of SLAs without the supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems, discontinue an activation of the supplemental resources of the backup cloud systems.

14. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium set of claim 13, wherein the service comprises a level of service designated in the set of SLAs.

15. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium set of claim 13, wherein the augmentation request comprises a request for at least one of processing cycles, memory allocation, or input/output (I/O) throughput.

16. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium set of claim 13, wherein the augmentation request is generated in view of a change in service level delivered to a user of the operating cloud.

17. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium set of claim 13, wherein the augmentation request is generated in view of a manual selection of a user.

18. The non-transitory machine-readable storage medium set of claim 13, further comprising the processor to deactivate resources in the backup cloud in view of a change in level delivered to a user of the operating cloud.