System and method providing automatic policy enforcement in a multi-computer service application

• US 7,096,258 B2
• Filed: 05/12/2004
• Issued: 08/22/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 10/24/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Tabbara, Bassam, Hunt, Galen C., Van Antwerp, Mark D., Welland, Robert V., Hydrie, Aamer, Levi, Steven P.
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar, Saleh
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, THU HA T
• Application Number:
  US10/845,324
• Publication Number:
  US 20050021697A1
• Time in Patent Office: 832 Days
• Field of Search: 709/220, 709/221, 709/223, 709/224, 709/246, 717/120, 717/121, 713/100, 713/210, 370/389
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5066 Algorithms for mapping a plurality of inter-dependent sub-tasks onto a plurality of physical CPUs mappping at compile time, see G06F8/451

Abstract

Systems and methods to enforce policy in a multi-computer service application are described. In one aspect, a scale-independent logical model of an application is generated. The application is for implementation in a distributed computing system. The scale-independent logical model includes multiple components representing logical functions of the application and intercommunication protocols. The model components are converted into one or more instances representative of physical resources used to implement the logical functions. The instances specify information such as communication ports on the physical resources and communication paths that link the physical resources.

Claims

1. A computer-based method comprising:

forming, by modeling logic, a scale-independent logical model of multi-computer service application comprising a plurality of software modules that execute on a plurality of computers coupled to one another across a communication network, the scale-independent logical model comprising multiple model components representing logical functions of the software modules and hardware components of the multi-computer service application;

converting, by deployment logic, respective ones of the model components into one or more resource instances representative of physical resources used to implement the logical function, the instances specifying communication ports on the physical resources and communication paths that link the physical resources;

installing, by the deployment logic, the one or more resource instances on the computers as deployed resources to implement the multi-computer service application; and

automatically managing, by the deployment logic, the deployed resources as operating parameters of the multi-computer service application change, management of the deployed resources being based on a policy enforced by an instantiated policy component of the multiple model components.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the scale-independent logical model defines a set of model extensions comprising one or more of a store, an event source, an event sink, and an event path.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising programmatically constructing a scalable blueprint from the scale-independent logical model, the sealable blueprint identifying which computers in the multi-computer service application run respective ones of the software modules.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the multi-computer service application is an Internet data center application.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource instances comprise communication ports configurable during run-time to specify different logical data connections specified by the scale-independent logical model.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource instances comprise communication ports configurable to specify different logical data connections during instantiation of logical representations of the communication ports.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the model components comprise at least a subset of a port, a module, and a wire.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving notification(s) from one or more of the deployed resources, the notification(s) being received on first communication ports; and

responsive to receiving the notification(s), routing responses to the notification(s), the responses being routed to one or more different resources of the deployed resources, the one or more different resources being on second communication ports.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein automatically managing the deployed resources is a function of policy.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting a change in operation of a resource associated with the deployed resources; and

responsive to detecting the change, instantiating and deploying a new resource specified by the scale-independent logical model.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising representing respective ones of the model components in a design tool as user interface elements, the user interface elements being presented such that a user can arrange respective ones of the graphical elements to generate the scale-independent model.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the user interface elements are based on a schema, the schema specifying valid functional operations with respect to the user interface elements.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

detecting, in view of the instantiated policy component a change in operation of a resource associated with the instances;

responsive to detecting the change, evaluating the change in view of the policy; and

responsive to evaluating the change, dynamically implementing parameter(s) of the multi-computer service application, the parameter(s) indicating removal of a resource of the deployed resources.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein dynamically implementing further comprises communicating a request to one or more resources of the deployed resources, the request being communicated according to one or more logical data connection specified by the scale-independent logical model.

15. A computer-readable storage medium comprising computer-executable instructions for automatic policy enforcement, the computer-executable instructions for:

forming a scale-independent logical model of an application for subsequent instantiation and installation across multiple computers in a distributed computer system, the scale-independent logical model having multiple model components representing logical functions of the application and intercommunication protocols;

converting the model components into one or more instances representative of physical resources used to implement the logical functions, the instances specifying communication ports on the physical resources and communication paths that link the physical resources; and

wherein the one or more instances are for automated deployment by deployment logic to at least a subset of the multiple computers for execution and subsequent automated management by a policy component of the model components according to a policy.

16. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the scale-independent logical model defines a set of model extensions comprising one or more of a store, an event source, an event sink, and an event path.

17. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the application is an Internet data center application.

18. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the physical resources comprise communication ports configurable to specify different logical data connections during runtime or during instantiation of logical representations of the communication ports.

19. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, wherein the model components comprise at least a subset of a port, a module, and a wire.

20. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising computer-executable instructions for:

receiving notification(s) from one or more resources of the physical resources, the notification(s) being received on first communication ports; and

responsive to receiving the notification(s), routing responses to the notification(s), the responses being routed to one or more different resources of the physical resources, the one or more other resources being on second communication ports.

21. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising computer-executable instructions for managing operation of the application during runtime as a function of the policy.

22. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising computer-executable instructions for:

detecting a change in operation of a resource associated with the instances; and

responsive to detecting the change, instantiating a new resource specified by the scale-independent logical model.

23. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising computer-executable instructions for representing respective ones of the model components in a design tool as user interface elements, the user interface elements being presented such that a user can arrange respective ones of the graphical elements to generate the scale-independent model.

24. The computer-readable storage medium of claim 15, further comprising computer-executable instructions for:

detecting, the policy component , a change in operation of a resource associated with the instances;

responsive to detecting the change, evaluating the change in view of a policy; and

responsive to evaluating the change, dynamically implementing parameter(s) of the application, the parameter(s) indicating deployment, removal, or configuration of a resource of the physical resources.

25. A computing device comprising:

processor; and

memory coupled to the processor, the memory comprising computer-program instructions executable by the processor for;

forming a scale-independent logical model of an application to be implemented by a distributed computer system, the scale-independent logical model having multiple model components representing logical functions of the application and intercommunication protocols, the logical functions comprising automatic policy enforcement independent of human intervention;

converting the model components into one or more instances representative of physical resources used to implement the logical functions, the instances specifying communication ports on the physical resources and communication paths that link the physical; and

wherein the one or more instances are for automated installment by deployment logic to at least a subset of multiple computers in the distributed computer system for execution and subsequent automatic policy management by a policy component of the multiple model components.

26. The computing device of claim 25, wherein the scale-independent logical model defines a set of model extensions comprising one or more of a store, an event source, an event sink, and an event path.

27. The computing device of claim 25, wherein the application is an Internet data center application.

28. The computing device of claim 25, wherein the computer-program instructions further comprise instructions for configuring communication port(s) associated with one or more of the physical resources to specify different logical data connections during runtime or during instantiation of logical representations of the communication ports.

29. The computing device of claim 25, wherein the model components comprise at least a subset of a port, a module, and a wire.

30. The computing device of claim 25, further comprising computer-program instructions executable by the processor for:

receiving notification(s) from one or more resources of the physical resources, the notification(s) being received on first communication ports; and

responsive to receiving the notification(s), routing responses to the notification(s), the responses being routed to one or more different resources of the physical resources, the one or more other resources being on second communication ports.

31. The computing device of claim 25, further comprising computer-program instructions executable by the processor for:

detecting a change in operation of a resource associated with the instances; and

responsive to detecting the change, instantiating a new resource specified by the scale-independent logical model.

32. The computing device of claim 25, further comprising computer-program instructions executable by the processor for representing respective ones of the model components in a design tool as user interface elements, the user interface elements being presented such that a user can arrange respective ones of the graphical elements to generate the scale-independent model.

33. The computing device of claim 25, further comprising computer-program instructions executable by the processor for:

detecting, in view of a policy component of the multiple model components, a change in operation of a resource associated with the instances;

responsive to detecting the change, evaluating the change in view of policy; and

responsive to evaluating the change, dynamically implementing parameter(s) of the application, the parameter(s) indicating deployment, removal, or configuration of a resource of the physical resources.

34. A computing device comprising:

forming means to form a scale-independent logical model of an application to be implemented by a distributed computer system, the scale-independent logical model having multiple model components representing logical functions of the application and intercommunication protocols;

converting means to covert the model components into one or more instances representative of physical resources used to implement the logical functions, the instances specifying communication ports on the physical resources and communication paths that link the physical resources; and

wherein the one or more instances are for automated installment by deployment logic to at least a subset of multiple computers in the distributed computer system for execution and subsequent automatic policy management by a policy component of the multiple model components.