System and method for managing computing resource orders

• US 10,748,161 B1
• Filed: 12/31/2014
• Issued: 08/18/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VCE IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Norbeck, Jr., Donald, Andersen, Ryan J., Coleman, Kendrick A., Ellers, James A., Krottapalli, Praphul, Bonczkowski, Joshua L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Goldberg, Ivan R
• Assistant Examiner(s): Divelbiss, Matthew H
• Application Number:
  US14/588,021
• Time in Patent Office: 2,057 Days
• Field of Search: None
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0201 Market modelling; Market analysis; Collecting market data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0897 by horizontal or vertical scaling of resources, or by migrating entities, e.g. virtual resources or entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5032 Generating service level reports

Abstract

A system for determining when to order computing resources includes one or more processors to receive a request to determine when to order computing resources for a computing environment, receive at least one report for the computing environment, the report detailing past usage of at least one object included in the computing environment over a period of time, compute future usage of the at least one object included in the computing environment based on estimated growth of utilization of the at least one object included in the computing environment using data in the at least one usage report, determine at least one recommended reorder point for an upgrade to the at least one object and at least one recommended upgrade for the computing environment based on the past usage, the future usage, and a time to complete and deploy the at least one recommended upgrade to the computing environment.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

at least one processor to;

receive a request to determine when to order computing resources for a virtual computing environment comprising at least one virtual computing object that is dynamically configurable, the request associated with a unique order identifier;

receive at least one usage report for the virtual computing environment, the at least one usage report detailing past usage of the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment over a period of time, the at least one virtual computing object comprising at least one of a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, a storage device, a random access memory, a networking device, a software application, a firewall, a load balancer, a hypervisor, and a virtualization management system;

compute future usage of the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment based on estimated growth of utilization of at least one of compute, network, storage, and virtualization resources of the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment using data in the at least one usage report that indicates a continuous and real-time perspective of the compute, network, storage, and virtualization resources of the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment;

determine at least one recommended reorder point for an upgrade to the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment comprising a future date and at least one recommended upgrade for the virtual computing environment that is a weakest link to be upgraded or modified the soonest based on the past usage, the future usage, and a time to complete and deploy the at least one recommended upgrade to the virtual computing environment;

generate a graphical user interface representation of the at least one recommended reorder point with respect to time on a graph indicating the future date and an amount of time until the future date, the at least one recommended reorder point, the future date, and the amount of time until the future date changing on the graph in response to projected future growth input by a user selection comprising one of minimum future growth, average future growth, and maximum future growth;

generate a graphical user interface representation of the at least one recommended upgrade; and

receive a selection of the at least one recommended upgrade for the virtual computing environment that provisions and makes the at least one recommended upgrade to the virtual computing environment and dynamically reconfigures the at least one virtual computing object.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the estimated growth of utilization comprises one of minimum growth based on past usage over a particular period of time, average growth based on past usage over the particular period of time, and maximum growth based on past usage over the particular period of time.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the at least one recommended upgrade comprises at least one of an upgrade, a modification, and additional computing resources for the at least one virtual computing object of the virtual computing environment, the at least one processor further to:

receive an order for the at least one recommended upgrade, the order comprising a particular period of time of operation within a service level agreement (SLA) for the virtual computing environment.

4. The system of claim 1, the at least one processor further to:

receive a request to send a reminder at a later time to place an order for the at least one recommended upgrade before the future date and have the at least one recommended upgrade deployed just in time for use.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the reminder is sent via one of email and push notification.

6. The system of claim 1, the at least one processor further to:

determine the at least one recommended reorder point and the at least one recommended upgrade based on a service level agreement (SLA) for the virtual computing environment.

7. The system of claim 1, the at least one processor further to:

receive a request to upgrade the virtual computing environment, the virtual computing environment comprising a converged infrastructure;

assign the request to upgrade the unique order identifier;

store the unique order identifier in a data source along with an order time;

determine stock information and availability information for resources of the converged infrastructure from external providers and internal providers;

determine a period of time to complete the at least one recommended upgrade and have the at least one recommended upgrade deployed just in time for use using the stock information and the availability information; and

determine the at least one recommended reorder point using the period of time to complete the at least one recommended upgrade and have the at least one recommended upgrade deployed just in time for use.

8. A method, comprising:

receiving, by at least one processor, a request to determine when to order computing resources for a virtual computing environment comprising at least one virtual computing object that is dynamically configurable, the request associated with a unique order identifier;

receiving, by the at least one processor, at least one usage report for the virtual computing environment, the at least one usage report detailing past usage of the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment over a period of time, the at least one virtual computing object comprising a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, a storage device, a random access memory, a networking device, a software application, a firewall, a load balancer, a hypervisor, and a virtualization management system;

computing, by the at least one processor, future usage of the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment based on estimated growth of utilization of at least one of compute, network, storage, and virtualization resources, the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment using data in the at least one usage report that indicates a continuous and real-time perspective of the compute, network, storage, and virtualization resources of the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment;

determining, by the at least one processor, at least one recommended reorder point for an upgrade to the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment comprising a future date and at least one recommended upgrade for the virtual computing environment that is a weakest link to be upgraded or modified the soonest based on the past usage, the future usage, and a time to complete and deploy the at least one recommended upgrade to the virtual computing environment;

generating, by the at least one processor, a graphical user interface representation of the at least one recommended reorder point with respect to time on a graph indicating the future date and an amount of time until the future date, the at least one recommended reorder point, the future date, and the amount of time until the future date changing on the graph in response to projected future growth input by a user selection comprising one of minimum future growth, average future growth, and maximum future growth;

generating, by the at least one processor, a graphical user interface representation of the at least one recommended upgrade; and

receiving, by the at least one processor, a selection of the at least one recommended upgrade for the virtual computing environment that provisions and makes the at least one recommended upgrade to the virtual computing environment and dynamically reconfigures the at least one virtual computing object.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising computing the future usage, the estimated growth of utilization comprising one of minimum growth based on past usage over a particular period of time, average growth based on past usage over the particular period of time, and maximum growth based on past usage over the particular period of time.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

determining the at least one recommended upgrade, the at least one recommended upgrade comprising at least one of an upgrade, a modification, and additional computing resources for the at least one virtual computing object of the virtual computing environment; and

receiving an order for the at least one recommended upgrade, the order comprising a particular period of time of operation within a service level agreement (SLA) for the virtual computing environment.

11. The method of claim 8, further comprising receiving a request to send a reminder at a later time to place an order for the at least one recommended upgrade before the future date and have the at least one recommended upgrade deployed just in time for use.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising sending the reminder via one of email and push notification.

13. The method of claim 8, further comprising determining the at least one recommended reorder point and the at least one recommended upgrade based on a service level agreement (SLA) for the virtual computing environment.

14. The method of claim 8, further comprising:

receiving a request to upgrade the virtual computing environment, the virtual computing environment comprising a converged infrastructure;

assigning the request to upgrade the unique order identifier;

storing the unique order identifier in a data source along with an order time;

determining stock information and availability information for resources of the converged infrastructure from external providers and internal providers;

determining a period of time to complete the at least one recommended upgrade and have the at least one recommended upgrade deployed just in time for use using the stock information and the availability information; and

determining the at least one recommended reorder point using the period of time to complete the at least one recommended upgrade and have the at least one recommended upgrade deployed just in time for use.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving a request to determine when to order computing resources for a virtual computing environment comprising at least one virtual computing object that is dynamically configurable, the request associated with a unique order identifier;

receiving at least one usage report for the virtual computing environment, the at least one usage report detailing past usage of the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment over a period of time, the at least one virtual computing object comprising a central processing unit, a graphics processing unit, a storage device, a random access memory, a networking device, a software application, a firewall, a load balancer, a hypervisor, and a virtualization management system;

computing future usage of the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment based on estimated growth of utilization of at least one of compute, network, storage, and virtualization resources of the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment using data in the at least one usage report that indicates a continuous and real-time perspective of the compute, network, storage, and virtualization resources of the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment;

determining at least one recommended reorder point for an upgrade to the at least one virtual computing object included in the virtual computing environment comprising a future date and at least one recommended upgrade for the virtual computing environment that is a weakest link to be upgraded or modified the soonest based on the past usage, the future usage, and a time to complete and deploy the at least one recommended upgrade to the virtual computing environment;

generating a graphical user interface representation of the at least one recommended reorder point with respect to time on a graph indicating the future date and an amount of time until the future date, the at least one recommended reorder point, the future date, and the amount of time until the future date changing on the graph in response to projected future growth input by a user selection comprising one of minimum future growth, average future growth, and maximum future growth;

generating a graphical user interface representation of the at least one recommended upgrade; and

receiving a selection of the at least one recommended upgrade for the virtual computing environment that provisions and makes the at least one recommended upgrade to the virtual computing environment and dynamically reconfigures the at least one virtual computing object.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising computing the future usage, the estimated growth of utilization comprising one of minimum growth based on past usage over a particular period of time, average growth based on past usage over the particular period of time, and maximum growth based on past usage over the particular period of time.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising:

determining the at least one recommended upgrade, the at least one recommended upgrade comprising at least one of an upgrade, a modification, and additional computing resources for the at least one virtual computing object of the virtual computing environment; and

receiving an order for the at least one recommended upgrade, the order comprising a particular period of time of operation within a service level agreement (SLA) for the virtual computing environment.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising receiving a request to send a reminder at a later time to place an order for the at least one recommended upgrade before the future date and have the at least one recommended upgrade deployed just in time for use.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, the operations further comprising sending the reminder via one of email and push notification.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 15, the operations further comprising determining the at least one recommended reorder point and the at least one recommended upgrade based on a service level agreement (SLA) for the virtual computing environment.