DISTRIBUTED CLOUD APPLICATION DEPLOYMENT SYSTEMS AND/OR ASSOCIATED METHODS

• US 20120102486A1
• Filed: 12/22/2011
• Published: 04/26/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Software AG USA Incorporated (Software AG)
• Original Assignee: Software AG
• Inventors: YENDLURI, Prasadarao
• Granted Patent: US 8,434,080 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/177
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5072 Grid computing

Abstract

In certain example embodiments, distributed cloud application deployment systems (DCADS), and/or associated methods are provided. A formal description of the cloud application is created. The cloud application'"'"'s formal representation, with its constituent nodes and their associated properties and interfaces, etc., is exported to a machine processable form. The exported DCADS machine processable rendition and any needed implementation artifacts are retrieved by a cloud application deployer that helps facilitate the deployment of the cloud application into the distributed and heterogeneous cloud environments as prescribed in the DCADS.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for setting up a cloud application in a heterogeneous distributed cloud provider environment including multiple computer systems, the computer systems being operated by different cloud providers, the method comprising:

defining the cloud application in terms of constituent nodes, each said node representing a part thereof that is to be deployed into a single one of said computer systems that satisfies deployment requirements of that node;

defining properties identifying deployment requirements of, and application level instantiation logic for, each said node;

exposing, for each said node, any interfaces that are invokable by one or more other nodes;

identifying, for each said node, any interfaces that it will invoke on one or more other nodes; and

matching exposed interfaces and complementary invokable interfaces.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the properties are defined as <

Name, Value>

pairs on the nodes.

3. The method of claim 1 or claim 2, wherein the properties of at least one said node include at least one pointer to an artifact associated with the at least one node.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one pointer refers to a standards-based policy when the associated property identifies a deployment requirement.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one pointer refers to executable code and/or executable components external to the at least one node when the associated property relates to application level instantiation logic.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the at least one pointer is a URI.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein, for each said node, all exposed interfaces are matched with complementary invokable interfaces.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising specifying a secure communication mechanism to be used for communications between at least two nodes via interfaces associated therewith.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising designating one node to serve as a coordinator node, the coordinator node being configured to influence the dynamic behavior of the application.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the coordinator node is configured to influence the dynamic behavior of the application via dynamic load-balancing and/or controlling fail-over.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein program logic for influencing the dynamic behavior of the application is built into or associated with the coordinator node, and/or associated with the computer system in which the coordinator node is located.

14. The method of claim 1, further comprising generating a machine processable rendering of the defined cloud application, the machine processable rendering including descriptions of the nodes constituting the cloud application including their respective properties and exposed and invokable interfaces, as well as the matches between the exposed interfaces and the complementary invokable interfaces.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the machine processable rendering is generated in an XML format.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising deploying the nodes to the computer systems in the heterogeneous distributed cloud provider environment based in part on the machine processable rendering.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the nodes are deployed to computer systems identified as being their preferred computer systems, if possible.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the multiple instances of a given node are creatable during deployment based on an initial instance cardinality property for that given node.

20. The method of claim 16, wherein the nodes are deployed in accordance with a specified deployment order.

21. The method of claim 1, further comprising retrieving supporting artifacts associated with the defined cloud application.

22. The method of claim 21, further comprising packaging together retrieved supporting artifacts.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein supporting artifacts are retrieved by dereferencing URIs associated therewith.

26. A non-transitory computer storage medium tangibly storing instructions that, when executed by at least one processor of a computer, perform the method of claim 1.

8. (canceled)

13. (canceled)

17. (canceled)

24. A computer-implemented method for setting up an application in a cloud computing network environment in which different cloud providers operate respective computer processing systems, the method comprising:

receiving a definition of the cloud application that includes a list of its constituent nodes, each said node representing a part thereof that is to be deployed into a single one of said computer processing systems, the definition including lists of predefined deployment requirements of, and application level instantiation logic for, each said node, as well as matches between exposed and invokable interfaces of complementary ones of said nodes; and

deploying the nodes to the computer processing systems in dependence on the definition of the cloud application, such that the nodes are able to operate on the computer processing systems to which they are deployed, given requirements of the nodes and capabilities of the computer processing systems, the capabilities of the computer processing systems depending at least in part on the processors and infrastructure configurations thereof.

25. (canceled)

27. (canceled)

28. A cloud application design system for setting up a cloud application in a heterogeneous distributed cloud provider environment including multiple computer systems, the computer systems being operated by different cloud providers, the cloud application design system comprising:

at least one processor;

a user interface operating under the control of the at least one processor and configured to receive input;

defining the cloud application in terms of constituent nodes, each said node representing a part thereof that is to be deployed into a single one of said computer systems that satisfies deployment requirements of that node,

defining properties identifying deployment requirements of, and application level instantiation logic for, each said node,

indicating, for each said node, one or more interfaces that are to be exposed as invokable by one or more other nodes,

identifying, for each said node, one or more interfaces that it will invoke on one or more other nodes, and

indicative of how exposed interfaces are to be matched to complementary invokable interfaces;

a first storage location configured to store the input in a predefined format; and

a second storage location configured to store artifacts used in supporting the application level instantiation logic of the nodes.

29. The system of claim 28, wherein the properties are defined as <

Name, Value>

pairs on the nodes.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein the value part of at least some of said pairs are URIs.

31. The system of claim 28, wherein the user interface is configured to accept further input specifying a secure communication mechanism to be used for communications between at least two nodes via interfaces associated therewith.

32. The system of claim 28, wherein the user interface is configured to accept further input designating one node to serve as a coordinator node to be configured to influence the dynamic behavior of the application by initiating dynamic load-balancing and/or controlling fail-over.

34. The system of claim 28, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to cause the nodes to be deployed to the computer systems in the heterogeneous distributed cloud provider environment based in part on the user input stored in the predefined format.

35. The system of claim 28, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to deploy the nodes to computer systems that it determines meet specified requirements for the nodes, optionally taking into account user specified preferences for individual node deployments.

36. The system of claim 28, wherein the at least one processor is further configured to create multiple instances of a node based on a user-specified cardinality property and/or deploy nodes in accordance with a user-specified deployment order.

33. (canceled)

37-52. -52. (canceled)