U.S. patent application number 13/599101 was filed with the patent office on 2013-05-16 for management of dynamic assembly and licensing of appliances.
This patent application is currently assigned to INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION. The applicant listed for this patent is Pankaj Dhoolia, Debdoot Mukherjee. Invention is credited to Pankaj Dhoolia, Debdoot Mukherjee.
Application Number | 20130124353 13/599101 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 48281547 |
Filed Date | 2013-05-16 |
United States Patent
Application |
20130124353 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Dhoolia; Pankaj ; et
al. |
May 16, 2013 |
MANAGEMENT OF DYNAMIC ASSEMBLY AND LICENSING OF APPLIANCES
Abstract
Methods and arrangements for assembly and licensing of
appliances. A base image is created, the base image corresponding
to a combination of an operating system and hardware. A purchasing
medium client is embedded into the base image, and a provisioning
request for a pay-per-use license is developed. A provisioned
instance is started, and a product bundle plan is executed. The
license is requested from a purchasing medium.
Inventors: |
Dhoolia; Pankaj; (New Delhi,
IN) ; Mukherjee; Debdoot; (New Delhi, IN) |
|
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Dhoolia; Pankaj
Mukherjee; Debdoot |
New Delhi
New Delhi |
|
IN
IN |
|
|
Assignee: |
INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES
CORPORATION
Armonk
NY
|
Family ID: |
48281547 |
Appl. No.: |
13/599101 |
Filed: |
August 30, 2012 |
Related U.S. Patent Documents
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Application
Number |
Filing Date |
Patent Number |
|
|
13296698 |
Nov 15, 2011 |
|
|
|
13599101 |
|
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Current U.S.
Class: |
705/26.1 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06Q 10/0631 20130101;
G06Q 30/06 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
705/26.1 |
International
Class: |
G06Q 30/06 20120101
G06Q030/06 |
Claims
1. A method comprising: creating a base image, the base image
corresponding to a combination of an operating system and hardware;
embedding a purchasing medium client into the base image;
developing a provisioning request for a pay-per-use license;
starting a provisioned instance; executing a product bundle plan;
and requesting the license from a purchasing medium.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said developing
comprises composing the product bundle plan.
3. The method according to claim 2, wherein said executing
comprises employing the purchasing medium client.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the purchasing medium
comprises an enterprise app store and the purchasing medium client
comprises an enterprise app store client.
5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said requesting is
performed dynamically.
6. The method according to claim 5, wherein said requesting is
performed responsive to a managed product being employed in the
provisioned instance.
7. The method according to claim 1, further comprising monitoring
time of use of the license.
8. The method according to claim 1, wherein the purchasing medium
comprises an enterprise app store and the purchasing medium client
comprises an enterprise app store client.
9. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing a
license manager which undertakes procurement, management, and
pricing of licenses for at least one managed product and at least
one product bundle.
10. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing a
license manager which undertakes procurement, distribution and
pricing for at least one supported managed product.
11. The method according to claim 1, further comprising providing a
license manager which: purchases a license and recovers cost based
on a period of client usage, thus enabling pay-per-use pricing; and
reuses a license across different projects, wherein software usages
are separated in time.
12. The method according to claim 11, wherein the license manager
further: amortizes license cost recovery across different instances
when a license is reused; and manages procurement of a licenses
based on forecasted demand for a project.
Description
CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION
[0001] This application is a continuation of U.S. patent
application Ser. No. 13/296,698, entitled MANAGEMENT OF DYNAMIC
ASSEMBLY AND LICENSING OF APPLIANCES, filed on Nov. 15, 2011, which
is incorporated by reference in its entirety.
BACKGROUND
[0002] Tendencies have arisen in the information technology (IT)
industries to cut back on many forms of operational expenditure.
Especially in the case of large companies with massive,
geographically distributed workforces, significant costs have been
apparent in IT support, subpar utilization of hardware resources,
and suboptimal management of software licenses. If productivity
increases are sought via equipping personnel with up-to-date
developer toolsets, costly advanced hardware configurations are
usually required for running them effectively.
BRIEF SUMMARY
[0003] In summary, one aspect of the invention provides a method
comprising: creating a base image, the base image corresponding to
a combination of an operating system and hardware; embedding a
purchasing medium client into the base image; developing a
provisioning request for a pay-per-use license; starting a
provisioned instance; executing a product bundle plan; and
requesting the license from a purchasing medium.
[0004] For a better understanding of exemplary embodiments of the
invention, together with other and further features and advantages
thereof, reference is made to the following description, taken in
conjunction with the accompanying drawings, and the scope of the
claimed embodiments of the invention will be pointed out in the
appended claims.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS
[0005] FIG. 1 schematically illustrates a layered architecture for
a development test cloud.
[0006] FIG. 2 schematically depicts a process of license
provisioning.
[0007] FIG. 3 schematically depicts a system for license
provisioning.
[0008] FIG. 4 sets forth a process more generally for assembly and
licensing of appliances.
[0009] FIG. 5 depicts a cloud computing node.
[0010] FIG. 6 depicts a cloud computing environment.
[0011] FIG. 7 depicts abstraction model layers.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION
[0012] It will be readily understood that the components of the
embodiments of the invention, as generally described and
illustrated in the figures herein, may be arranged and designed in
a wide variety of different configurations in addition to the
described exemplary embodiments. Thus, the following more detailed
description of the embodiments of the invention, as represented in
the figures, is not intended to limit the scope of the embodiments
of the invention, as claimed, but is merely representative of
exemplary embodiments of the invention.
[0013] Reference throughout this specification to "one embodiment"
or "an embodiment" (or the like) means that a particular feature,
structure, or characteristic described in connection with the
embodiment is included in at least one embodiment of the invention.
Thus, appearances of the phrases "in one embodiment" or "in an
embodiment" or the like in various places throughout this
specification are not necessarily all referring to the same
embodiment.
[0014] Furthermore, the described features, structures, or
characteristics may be combined in any suitable manner in at least
one embodiment. In the following description, numerous specific
details are provided to give a thorough understanding of
embodiments of the invention. One skilled in the relevant art will
recognize, however, that the various embodiments of the invention
can be practiced without at least one of the specific details, or
with other methods, components, materials, et cetera. In other
instances, well-known structures, materials, or operations are not
shown or described in detail to avoid obscuring aspects of the
invention.
[0015] The description now turns to the figures. The illustrated
embodiments of the invention will be best understood by reference
to the figures. The following description is intended only by way
of example and simply illustrates certain selected exemplary
embodiments of the invention as claimed herein.
[0016] It should be noted that the flowchart and block diagrams in
the figures illustrate the architecture, functionality, and
operation of possible implementations of systems, apparatuses,
methods and computer program products according to various
embodiments of the invention. In this regard, each block in the
flowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or
portion of code, which comprises at least one executable
instruction for implementing the specified logical function(s). It
should also be noted that, in some alternative implementations, the
functions noted in the block may occur out of the order noted in
the figures. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in
fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may
sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the
functionality involved. It will also be noted that each block of
the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, and combinations
of blocks in the block diagrams and/or flowchart illustration, can
be implemented by special purpose hardware-based systems that
perform the specified functions or acts, or combinations of special
purpose hardware and computer instructions.
[0017] The disclosure now turns to FIGS. 1-3. It should be
appreciated that the processes, arrangements and products broadly
illustrated therein can be carried out on or in accordance with
essentially any suitable computer system or set of computer
systems, which may, by way of an illustrative and non-restrictive
example, include a system or server such as that indicated at 12'
in FIG. 5. In accordance with an example embodiment, most if not
all of the process steps, components and outputs discussed with
respect to FIGS. 1-3 can be performed or utilized by way of a
processing unit or units and system memory such as those indicated,
respectively, at 16' and 28' in FIG. 5, whether on a server
computer, a client computer, a node computer in a distributed
network, or any combination thereof.
[0018] In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention,
there is broadly contemplated herein the use of a cloud based
service delivery environment to address challenges such as those
stated heretofore. By using a cloud for hosting development and
test environments, not only can IT infrastructure and support costs
be reduced drastically, but delivery can be streamlined
significantly by provisioning pre-configured, standardized
toolsets. Significant improvements in developer productivity are
thereupon likely to result. Moreover, lines-of-businesses (LOBs)
can be empowered in an enterprise with extreme agility to contend
changing market realities; for instance, they can easily scale up
or scale down their IT infrastructure because they do not incur any
capital expenditure to own hardware or software but simply pay a
price based on usage.
[0019] Generally, IT services enterprises have used a cloud only
for hosting applications that serve their clients. While such
systems can help simplify application development, they do not
allow the flexibility of defining various details of application
architecture. Often, out-of-box configurations do not work when one
builds complex, scalable enterprise applications. On the other
hand, popular enterprise-strength development tools continue to be
available only under perpetual licenses and are considered
exclusively for on-premise deployment.
[0020] On the other hand, a "development & test cloud" (DTC)
emerges, in the context of at least one embodiment of the
invention, as a unique offering specifically designed to ensure
that application development and maintenance activities can move to
the cloud. Generally, a DTC is a service environment that can
automatically provision pre-configured, integrated sets of software
on hardware configurations chosen by the user. It can turn-around
defect-free, ready-to-use development and testing environments
within minutes, thus resulting in faster time-to-market of
deliverables as well as lower idle times for project personnel.
[0021] Generally, it has been observed that conventional models of
software licensing are entirely incompatible with cloud computing
environments, thereby presenting a significant roadblock to greater
cloud adoption. By significant contrast, in accordance with at
least one embodiment of the invention, there is broadly
contemplated herein a service model in which a DTC vendor purchases
all software licenses and recovers the cost from its clients based
on their period of usage. A model as broadly contemplated herein
allows the vendor to maximize returns from a purchased license by
using it in multiple projects separated in time.
[0022] Generally, in the context of at least one embodiment of the
invention, it should be understood that a DTC can provision,
on-demand, pre-configured virtual machine (VM) images of
standardized tool-sets on a high-performing cloud infrastructure.
Herebelow, there are introduced basic use-cases of a DTC, a review
of a conceivable technical architecture and an articulation of the
value that a DTC brings to IT service enterprises engaging in
application development and maintenance.
[0023] In the context of at least one embodiment of the invention,
an "appliance", as broadly understood herein, represents a common
set of software that, when installed and tuned to a given
configuration, can support development and testing activities
across service engagements of a particular type. An appliance may
contain both desktop-side and server-side software.
[0024] In the context of at least one embodiment of the invention,
the prominent use-cases of a DTC may be summarized as the
registration and management of appliances, and the on-demand
provisioning of instance of appliances. In the former case,
administrative users register appliances on DTC by supplying a set
of "golden images" that manifest the desired configuration of all
software present in an appliance. They also need to register
licenses for these software and update relevant pricing
information. Configurations of golden images can be updated at any
time. In the on-demand provisioning of instances of appliances,
customers of a DTC can order instances of appliances on-demand. The
instantiation of images with a standardized configuration of
software present in the registered golden images can usually
completed in a time frame of about 10 to 15 minutes.
[0025] In accordance with a context of at least one embodiment of
the invention, a layered architecture for a DTC as shown in FIG. 1
can be employed; this architecture, by way of a merely illustrative
and non-restrictive example, strikes a close parallel to the Cloud
Computing Open Architecture (CCOA) disclosed in L. Zhang and Q.
Zhou, "CCOA: Cloud computing open architecture" (2009 IEEE
International Conference on Web Services, pp. 607-616. IEEE, 2009).
By way of non-restrictive illustration and example, the lowest
layer in FIG. 1 (102) directly maps to the CCOA layer of
"Virtualization: Hardware & Software". The Cloud Services layer
(104) can correspond to an instantiation of two layers in CCOA,
"Cloud Core" and "Service Orientation", and abstracts key
interfaces with the cloud infrastructure in terms of services. Some
important associated services can include, but need not be limited
to: registering golden images, provisioning and de-provisioning
images with a registered golden image, assigning patches for golden
images, assigning licenses to different software in the provisioned
images, remotely performing routine administration (e.g., restart,
shutdown), metering usage of provisioned images, and providing
back-up and restore facilities for images. Finally, the (top) DTC
layer (106) can correspond to a value-added "Cloud Offering" as per
CCOA, which leverages standard cloud services and adds
supplementary functionalities.
[0026] In accordance with a context of at least one embodiment of
the invention, a DTC environment can help with LOB's in service
organizations in a manner to heavily cut down on capital
expenditure and operational costs, as well as improve operational
efficiency. Herebelow, some salient features of a DTC are set forth
along with benefits derived from each characteristic.
[0027] In accordance with a context of at least one embodiment of
the invention, one feature of a DTC is the instant provisioning of
pre-configured images. Essentially, a DTC can significantly reduce
IT labor costs to install and configure development and testing
environments. As such, complex development environments involve
installation of considerable software and appropriate
configurations to ensure that the tools work together. Often, the
total effort expended in such work can be around 1-2 person-weeks.
With a DTC, one can provision ready-to-use development environments
within a few minutes. Again, significant time is expended to
duplicate the configuration of a development environment each time
a new developer is on-boarded in a project. Today, such overheads
can add up to severely retard delivery schedules, especially in
large projects involving hundreds of developers. Thus, a DTC can
also drive faster time-to-market and reduce the risk of schedule
over-run.
[0028] In accordance with a context of at least one embodiment of
the invention, another feature of a DTC is pay-as-you-go pricing.
Essentially, a pay-per-use scheme makes it easier for IT service
enterprises to scale up and scale down different LOB's based on
market realities, since the LOBs need not make any upfront capital
investment to meet their IT requirements.
[0029] In accordance with a context of at least one embodiment of
the invention, yet another feature of a DTC is standardized
configurations and processes. Basically, a DTC can eliminate
defects that arise from faulty configurations of development
tool-sets by always provisioning standardized, perfected
configurations. Furthermore, a centralized delivery platform like a
DTC can ease roll-out and enforcement of standard delivery
processes related to work distribution and release and change
management, as well as other processes.
[0030] In accordance with a context of at least one embodiment of
the invention, still another feature of a DTC is its use as a
high-performing cloud infrastructure. Generally, since clouds
virtualize computing environments on high performance servers, the
virtual machines provisioned by a DTC have greater computational
power than usual developer desktops. Thus, developer and testers
can seamlessly use richer tool sets that often require advanced
machine configurations. Of course, an enterprise can enjoy the
usual benefits of a cloud such as increased server utilization,
increased self-service opportunities, freed-up floor space and
improved monitoring of infrastructure usage.
[0031] The disclosure now turns to a DTC service model, in
accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention, that
addresses an issue of purchasing software licenses. Particularly,
the purchase of software licenses has emerged as an impediment to
efficient functioning of conventional DTC service models, and
broadly contemplated herein are methods and arrangements that help
circumvent such an impediment. As such, conventional DTC models
require customers to purchase licenses upfront for most software.
Clearly, in such a scenario, the promises of lower software costs
and easier scaling of usage levels will not be realized, as the
licenses have to be purchased at the same rates as they are
available for lifelong standalone use. Hence, this typically
inhibits broader adoption and use of DTC's. Reference is made
herebelow to four Equations, numbered (1) through (4); the
Equations are provided in the Appendix herein.
[0032] In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention,
a DTC provider purchases licenses and end-users merely end up
paying a just fee based on the actual, limited usage involved. To
this end, it is broadly contemplated herein for a DTC provider to
purchase licenses of different kinds of software and collect the
same in license pools. A fee is ascertained for using licenses from
the pool for some unit of time (e.g., a day, week or month).
Further, every time an appliance is provisioned for a DTC project,
each software in the appliance is associated with an unassigned
license coming from the pool of licenses for that software in the
DTC. The fees for using the different licenses is bundled into the
appliance cost (including other charges for hardware and support.
The user may then be requested to pay a premium price (higher than
the fixed rate, possibly close to the actual license cost) only if
there are no licenses available in the pool for a particular
software.
[0033] Further, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the
invention, the licenses are returned back to the pool after the
appliances get deprovisioned. Accordingly, broadly contemplated
herein is a service model that can enable DTC providers to operate
profitably by indicating the optimal number of licenses to purchase
and also come up with suitable prices for the same. This can permit
a DTC vendor to keep just enough licenses in the pool to serve
demand for appliances at any point of time. Also, the service model
can ensure that a license, once purchased, finds use in several
projects over the course of time. Greater license reuse across
projects separated in time will bring down the fees paid by the
end-user and enhance the DTC vendor's profitability.
[0034] In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention,
a question addressed is that of assisting a DTC enterprise in
effectively investing a fixed amount of capital to buy licenses of
software present in common appliances and then appropriately
pricing the appliances in a pay-per-use model, based on available
demand forecasts. At first sight, one may relate this problem to a
standard problem of inventory management. For purposes as broadly
contemplated herein, it can be assumed that an order for a new
license is served instantaneously and thus, shortage costs are not
applicable.
[0035] However, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the
invention, in recognizing that a strategy of purchasing licenses
every time a provisioning request arrives may not be optimal on its
face, there is broadly contemplated herein the reuse of licenses
for the sake of increasing profitability, thus compelling an
investment in purchasing only those licenses for which sufficient
future demand is expected. Again, buying licenses in advance may
help save money if price increases are common. Thus, broadly
contemplated herein is an optimization problem set up to determine
the number of licenses of each kind of software that should be
purchased in order to maximize the return on investment for the DTC
vendor. Solving such a problem also helps us ascertain the price
that can be set for each appliance or software usage per unit
time.
[0036] Let there be considered here a finite set, A={a.sub.1,
a.sub.2, . . . a.sub.n} composed of appliances that are sought
after in typical service engagements. An appliance can be
represented by a set of software, a.sub.i={S.sub.1, S.sub.2, . . .
S.sub.m} with pre-built configurations commonly used in a
particular form of engagement. It can be assumed that engagements
using a certain appliance, a.sub.i, have similar duration. If not,
new appliances are created in A such that there is an enforcement
of a small standard deviation of durations of all projects using a
single appliance. Furthermore, it can be conjectured that
solutioning teams in service enterprises have engagement pipeline
data in their possession, which gives demand forecasts for each
engagement type. Essentially, the pipeline data are constituted by
a time-wise plot of expected sales opportunities for every type of
engagement considered, and essentially any suitable method for
collecting and maintaining such data may be employed.
[0037] In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention,
a service model works with the following inputs:
[0038] .DELTA..sub.i: Mean project duration of engagements using
a
[0039] D.sub.i: Demand for a.sub.i as a function of time
[0040] T: Time period for which all price calculations are made
[0041] F: Capital that may be invested in license purchase during
time interval [0, T]
[0042] In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention,
there is introduced the notion of a license unit for an appliance.
One license unit for a.sub.i includes one license each for every
software S.sub.j contained in it. Again, in the illustrative model
here, time t can take up discrete values in the time interval [0,
T]. In practice, a time period T of a quarter or a year may be
discretized in terms of the different weeks or months in them.
Suppose,
[0043] X.sub.i: Number of license units of a.sub.i purchased at
t=0
[0044] L.sub.i(t): Number of license units of a.sub.i available in
pool at time t
[0045] U.sub.i(t): Number of license units of a.sub.i taken out of
pool for use in projects starting at time t
[0046] As mentioned before, at any point of time, license units
move out from the pool and get assigned to projects. Again, the
license pool gets augmented by licenses from projects that have
just ended. Thus, one can write Equation (1). (See this and other
numbered equations in the Appendix herein.) Solving the recurrence
relation of Equation (1), there is then yielded Equation (2).
[0047] In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention,
license units for an appliance are assigned only if there is demand
for that appliance and there exist free units in its pool.
Therefore, Equation (3) results. The cost C.sub.i of a license unit
for appliance a.sub.i is calculated as sum of license prices for
each software S.sub.j.di-elect cons.a.sub.i. Thence, it can be
recognized that the returns derived by the DTC each time an
appliance is used in a project are directly proportional to the
cost of the appliance. An optimization problem is thus formed
(Equation 4) that seeks to maximize such returns. The constraints
are as follows: license purchases are limited to as many units as
are permitted by the available capital, F; and both demand and
unassigned license units are assumed to exist.
[0048] As such, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the
invention, the optimization problem of Equation (4) contains n(T+1)
variables; where n is the number of appliances and T is the upper
limit of the discrete time interval that is considered. For
example, the variables for a.sub.i are: X.sub.i, U.sub.i(1),
U.sub.i(2), . . . , U.sub.i(t). All variables take up integer
values only; so the problem is NP-complete like all integer
programming problems.
[0049] In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention,
once the optimization problem in Equation (4) is solved, there can
be ascertained a price for using an appliance per unit time. This
is computed by amortizing the total costs spent on licenses and
configuration over the period of time when instances of that
appliance find use. Thus, Equation (5) is yielded to provide the
price of a.sub.i per unit time. Additionally, support charges may
be bundled, if support is important.
[0050] Inasmuch as license pricing has been covered in detail
hereinabove, the disclosure now turns to an in-depth discussion of
systems and methods that may be employed in accordance with at
least one embodiment of the invention with regard to provisioning
licenses.
[0051] In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention,
it can be appreciated that, in the context of cloud environments,
particularly development and test clouds, setting up a development
or test machine presents challenges of composite requirements,
time, and license management. Conventional systems and methods
attend to the challenges of composite requirements and time by
setting up one such environment, creating and storing a virtual
machine image from it, and provisioning repeated requirements for
such an environment by creating replicas of that virtual machine
(VM) image. On the other hand, license management issues tend to be
considered as something external. Hence, node-locked licenses
require separate node licenses for each replica of the VM.
[0052] Among the problems encountered with conventional systems, it
tends to be the case that the totality of available software,
applications, and their dependency choices and configurations, for
development and test environments, is enormous. Thus, the number of
statically configured template images may be large. Their
maintenance, in presence of frequently updating software (e.g., a
perpetual beta trend), may either be troublesome in itself or may
well result in significant time expenditures for updating, after
provisioning a replica based on a slightly older image. Also, when
ignoring license management issues (from the process of template
image creation and its subsequent replication during provisioning),
sub-optimal software procurement results for the cloud vendor,
which in turn leads to sub-optimal pricing offered to the user.
[0053] Accordingly, in accordance with at least one embodiment of
the invention, and as schematically illustrated in FIG. 2, there is
broadly contemplated herein the provisioning of new development and
test environments, and the composition of new provisioning requests
using a view of an enterprise app store client. For a basic
operating system (OS), and in the context of a hardware combination
for a provisioning request, a replica of a base image is created,
including an OS and hardware combination. The provisioned instance
is started and a product bundle plan, composed during the
provisioning request creation, is executed using the enterprise app
store client embedded into the base image, thereby dynamically
provisioning the request. At this point the provisioned instance is
ready for use. Thence, the enterprise app store is dynamically
contacted for a license allocation for use when a managed product
is used in the provisioned image and the time of use is monitored
by the enterprise app store, thereby permitting a pay-per-use mode
for managed software.
[0054] More particularly, as shown in FIG. 2, a basic OS and
hardware configuration is selected (208). A product bundle spec. is
then composed (210) via selecting managed products (212) wherein,
for each point of dependency, managed products are selected (212a)
and co-configuration properties are edited (212b). (As such, steps
212a and 212b may be considered to be part of a larger step 212 of
configuring a product bundle.)
[0055] A base image is provisioned and started (214), and a product
bundle spec is provisioned dynamically in the base image (216). For
this latter step (216), an enterprise app server client is invoked
in the base image with the product bundle spec. (218) and the
enterprise app server client then obtains the bundle (from the
enterprise app server), installs it and configures it, all
automatically (220). Managed product licenses are then assigned and
monitored (222); to this end, upon use of managed products, a
license is obtained from the enterprise app store (224) and, upon
idle or close, the license is circulated back to the enterprise app
store (226).
[0056] FIG. 3 schematically depicts a system for license
provisioning, in accordance with at least one embodiment of the
invention. The system of FIG. 3 may carry out method steps as shown
in the method of FIG. 2, and may be further understood and
appreciated with respect to the discussion of FIG. 2 above as well
as other discussion of systems and processes herein. A user 328
specifies basic OS and hardware requirements then composes the
requirements as a product-bundle spec. Provisioning manager 330
gets a base image 332 for the OS and hardware from a base image
repository, the base image 332 having the enterprise app store
client (EASC) 336 embedded therein. The base image (as 334) is then
started and the product-bundle provisioned and is dynamically
transformed into a provisioned image 336, with the EASC 336 still
embedded therein. Provisioned image 336 is then sent to enterprise
app store 340 for license grant and monitoring.
[0057] In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention,
an administrator 342 interacts with a license governor 344 via:
indicating input demand thereto; obtaining a license buy
recommendation therefrom; and confirming at least one license buy
thereto. License governor 344, for its part, consults a pay-per-use
price chart 348, which can assist in providing recommendations to
administrator 342. License governor 342 attends to purchasing a
license from at least one software vendor 350 responsive to a buy
recommendation, and then populates at least one license pool 346
with such licenses.
[0058] In accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention,
a link between the processes described hereinabove relating to user
328 and administrator 342 occurs when enterprise app store 340
fetches and returns licenses to and from the at least one pool 346,
responsive to demand from user 328. This facilitates the
pay-per-use licensing described herethroughout.
[0059] FIG. 4 sets forth a process more generally for assembling
and licensing appliances, in accordance with at least one
embodiment of the invention. It should be appreciated that a
process such as that broadly illustrated in FIG. 4 can be carried
out on essentially any suitable computer system or set of computer
systems, which may, by way of an illustrative and on-restrictive
example, include a system such as that indicated at 12' in FIG. 5.
In accordance with an example embodiment, most if not all of the
process steps discussed with respect to FIG. 4 can be performed by
way a processing unit or units and system memory such as those
indicated, respectively, at 16' and 28' in FIG. 5.
[0060] As shown in FIG. 4, a base image is created (402), the base
image corresponding to a combination of an operating system and
hardware. A purchasing medium client is embedded into the base
image (404), and a provisioning request for a pay-per-use license
is developed (406). A provisioned instance is started (408), and a
product bundle plan is executed (410). The license is requested
from a purchasing medium (412).
[0061] It is understood that although this disclosure includes a
detailed description on cloud computing, implementation of the
teachings recited herein are not limited to a cloud computing
environment. Rather, embodiments of the present invention are
capable of being implemented in conjunction with any other type of
computing environment now known or later developed.
[0062] Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling
convenient, on-demand network access to a shared pool of
configurable computing resources (e.g. networks, network bandwidth,
servers, processing, memory, storage, applications, virtual
machines, and services) that can be rapidly provisioned and
released with minimal management effort or interaction with a
provider of the service. This cloud model may include at least five
characteristics, at least three service models, and at least four
deployment models.
[0063] Characteristics are as follows:
[0064] On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally
provision computing capabilities, such as server time and network
storage, as needed automatically without requiring human
interaction with the service's provider.
[0065] Broad network access: capabilities are available over a
network and accessed through standard mechanisms that promote use
by heterogeneous thin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile
phones, laptops, and PDAs).
[0066] Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are
pooled to serve multiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with
different physical and virtual resources dynamically assigned and
reassigned according to demand. There is a sense of location
independence in that the consumer generally has no control or
knowledge over the exact location of the provided resources but may
be able to specify location at a higher level of abstraction (e.g.,
country, state, or datacenter).
[0067] Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and
elastically provisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly
scale out and rapidly released to quickly scale in. To the
consumer, the capabilities available for provisioning often appear
to be unlimited and can be purchased in any quantity at any
time.
[0068] Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and
optimize resource use by leveraging a metering capability at some
level of abstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g.,
storage, processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource
usage can be monitored, controlled, and reported providing
transparency for both the provider and consumer of the utilized
service.
[0069] Service Models are as follows:
[0070] Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the
consumer is to use the provider's applications running on a cloud
infrastructure. The applications are accessible from various client
devices through a thin client interface such as a web browser
(e.g., web-based email). The consumer does not manage or control
the underlying cloud infrastructure including network, servers,
operating systems, storage, or even individual application
capabilities, with the possible exception of limited user-specific
application configuration settings.
[0071] Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the
consumer is to deploy onto the cloud infrastructure
consumer-created or acquired applications created using programming
languages and tools supported by the provider. The consumer does
not manage or control the underlying cloud infrastructure including
networks, servers, operating systems, or storage, but has control
over the deployed applications and possibly application hosting
environment configurations.
[0072] Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided
to the consumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and
other fundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to
deploy and run arbitrary software, which can include operating
systems and applications. The consumer does not manage or control
the underlying cloud infrastructure but has control over operating
systems, storage, deployed applications, and possibly limited
control of select networking components (e.g., host firewalls).
[0073] Deployment Models are as follows:
[0074] Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely
for an organization. It may be managed by the organization or a
third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises.
[0075] Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by
several organizations and supports a specific community that has
shared concerns (e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and
compliance considerations). It may be managed by the organizations
or a third party and may exist on-premises or off-premises.
[0076] Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to
the general public or a large industry group and is owned by an
organization selling cloud services.
[0077] Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of
two or more clouds (private, community, or public) that remain
unique entities but are bound together by standardized or
proprietary technology that enables data and application
portability (e.g., cloud bursting for loadbalancing between
clouds).
[0078] A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a
focus on statelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic
interoperability. At the heart of cloud computing is an
infrastructure comprising a network of interconnected nodes.
[0079] Referring now to FIG. 5, a schematic of an example of a
cloud computing node is shown. Cloud computing node 10' is only one
example of a suitable cloud computing node and is not intended to
suggest any limitation as to the scope of use or functionality of
embodiments of the invention described herein. Regardless, cloud
computing node 10' is capable of being implemented and/or
performing any of the functionality set forth hereinabove.
[0080] In cloud computing node 10' there is a computer
system/server 12', which is operational with numerous other general
purpose or special purpose computing system environments or
configurations. Examples of well-known computing systems,
environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use
with computer system/server 12' include, but are not limited to,
personal computer systems, server computer systems, thin clients,
thick clients, hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,
microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumer
electronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computer
systems, and distributed cloud computing environments that include
any of the above systems or devices, and the like.
[0081] Computer system/server 12' may be described in the general
context of computer system-executable instructions, such as program
modules, being executed by a computer system. Generally, program
modules may include routines, programs, objects, components, logic,
data structures, and so on that perform particular tasks or
implement particular abstract data types. Computer system/server
12' may be practiced in distributed cloud computing environments
where tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are
linked through a communications network. In a distributed cloud
computing environment, program modules may be located in both local
and remote computer system storage media including memory storage
devices.
[0082] As shown in FIG. 5, computer system/server 12' in cloud
computing node 10 is shown in the form of a general-purpose
computing device. The components of computer system/server 12' may
include, but are not limited to, at least one processor or
processing unit 16', a system memory 28', and a bus 18' that
couples various system components including system memory 28' to
processor 16'.
[0083] Bus 18' represents at least one of any of several types of
bus structures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a
peripheral bus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or
local bus using any of a variety of bus architectures. By way of
example, and not limitation, such architectures include Industry
Standard Architecture (ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA)
bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA) bus, Video Electronics Standards
Association (VESA) local bus, and Peripheral Component
Interconnects (PCI) bus.
[0084] Computer system/server 12' typically includes a variety of
computer system readable media. Such media may be any available
media that is accessible by computer system/server 12', and it
includes both volatile and non-volatile media, removable and
non-removable media.
[0085] System memory 28' can include computer system readable media
in the form of volatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM)
30' and/or cache memory 32'. Computer system/server 12' may further
include other removable/non-removable, volatile/non-volatile
computer system storage media. By way of example only, storage
system 34' can be provided for reading from and writing to a
non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shown and typically
called a "hard drive"). Although not shown, a magnetic disk drive
for reading from and writing to a removable, non-volatile magnetic
disk (e.g., a "floppy disk"), and an optical disk drive for reading
from or writing to a removable, non-volatile optical disk such as a
CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided. In such
instances, each can be connected to bus 18' by at least one data
media interface. As will be further depicted and described below,
memory 28' may include at least one program product having a set
(e.g., at least one) of program modules that are configured to
carry out the functions of embodiments of the invention.
[0086] Program/utility 40', having a set (at least one) of program
modules 42', may be stored in memory 28' by way of example, and not
limitation, as well as an operating system, at least one
application program, other program modules, and program data. Each
of the operating system, at least one application program, other
program modules, and program data or some combination thereof, may
include an implementation of a networking environment. Program
modules 42' generally carry out the functions and/or methodologies
of embodiments of the invention as described herein.
[0087] Computer system/server 12' may also communicate with at
least one external device 14' such as a keyboard, a pointing
device, a display 24', etc.; at least one device that enable a user
to interact with computer system/server 12; and/or any devices
(e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enable computer
system/server 12' to communicate with at least one other computing
device. Such communication can occur via I/O interfaces 22'. Still
yet, computer system/server 12' can communicate with at least one
network such as a local area network (LAN), a general wide area
network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g., the Internet) via
network adapter 20'. As depicted, network adapter 20' communicates
with the other components of computer system/server 12' via bus
18'. It should be understood that although not shown, other
hardware and/or software components could be used in conjunction
with computer system/server 12'. Examples, include, but are not
limited to: microcode, device drivers, redundant processing units,
external disk drive arrays, RAID systems, tape drives, and data
archival storage systems, etc.
[0088] Referring now to FIG. 6, illustrative cloud computing
environment 50' is depicted. As shown, cloud computing environment
50' comprises one or more cloud computing nodes 10' with which
local computing devices used by cloud consumers, such as, for
example, personal digital assistant (PDA) or cellular telephone
54A,' desktop computer 54B', laptop computer 54C', and/or
automobile computer system 54N' may communicate. Nodes 10' may
communicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown)
physically or virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private,
Community, Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a
combination thereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50' to
offer infrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for
which a cloud consumer does not need to maintain resources on a
local computing device. It is understood that the types of
computing devices 54A'-N' shown in FIG. 2 are intended to be
illustrative only and that computing nodes 10' and cloud computing
environment 50' can communicate with any type of computerized
device over any type of network and/or network addressable
connection (e.g., using a web browser).
[0089] Referring now to FIG. 7, a set of functional abstraction
layers provided by cloud computing environment 50' (FIG. 6) is
shown. It should be understood in advance that the components,
layers, and functions shown in FIG. 7 are intended to be
illustrative only and embodiments of the invention are not limited
thereto. As depicted, the following layers and corresponding
functions are provided:
[0090] Hardware and software layer 60' includes hardware and
software components. Examples of hardware components include
mainframes, in one example IBM.RTM. zSeries.RTM. systems; RISC
(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers, in
one example IBM pSeries.RTM. systems; IBM xSeries.RTM. systems; IBM
BladeCenter.RTM. systems; storage devices; networks and networking
components. Examples of software components include network
application server software, in one example IBM WebSphere.RTM.
application server software; and database software, in one example
IBM DB2.RTM. database software. (IBM, zSeries, pSeries, xSeries,
BladeCenter, WebSphere, and DB2 are trademarks of International
Business Machines Corporation registered in many jurisdictions
worldwide).
[0091] Virtualization layer 62' provides an abstraction layer from
which the following examples of virtual entities may be provided:
virtual servers; virtual storage; virtual networks, including
virtual private networks; virtual applications and operating
systems; and virtual clients.
[0092] In one example, management layer 64' may provide the
functions described below. Resource provisioning provides dynamic
procurement of computing resources and other resources that are
utilized to perform tasks within the cloud computing environment.
Metering and Pricing provide cost tracking as resources are
utilized within the cloud computing environment, and billing or
invoicing for consumption of these resources. In one example, these
resources may comprise application software licenses. Security
provides identity verification for cloud consumers and tasks, as
well as protection for data and other resources. User portal
provides access to the cloud computing environment for consumers
and system administrators. Service level management provides cloud
computing resource allocation and management such that required
service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planning and
fulfillment provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of, cloud
computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipated
in accordance with an SLA.
[0093] Workloads layer 66' provides examples of functionality for
which the cloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of
workloads and functions which may be provided from this layer
include: mapping and navigation; software development and lifecycle
management; virtual classroom education delivery; data analytics
processing; transaction processing; and assembling and licensing
appliances (e.g., as broadly contemplated herein in accordance with
at least one embodiment of the invention).
[0094] It should be noted that aspects of the invention may be
embodied as a system, method or computer program product.
Accordingly, aspects of the invention may take the form of an
entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment
(including firmware, resident software, micro-code, etc.) or an
embodiment combining software and hardware aspects that may all
generally be referred to herein as a "circuit," "module" or
"system." Furthermore, aspects of the invention may take the form
of a computer program product embodied in at least one computer
readable medium having computer readable program code embodied
thereon.
[0095] Any combination of at least one computer readable medium may
be utilized. The computer readable medium may be a computer
readable signal medium or a computer readable storage medium. A
computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but not
limited to, an electronic, magnetic, optical, electromagnetic,
infrared, or semiconductor system, apparatus, or device, or any
suitable combination of the foregoing. More specific examples (a
non-exhaustive list) of the computer readable storage medium would
include the following: an electrical connection having at least one
wire, a portable computer diskette, a hard disk, a random access
memory (RAM), a read-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable
read-only memory (EPROM or Flash memory), an optical fiber, a
portable compact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), an optical storage
device, a magnetic storage device, or any suitable combination of
the foregoing. In the context of this document, a computer readable
storage medium may be any tangible medium that can contain, or
store a program for use by or in connection with an instruction
execution system, apparatus, or device.
[0096] A computer readable signal medium may include a propagated
data signal with computer readable program code embodied therein,
for example, in baseband or as part of a carrier wave. Such a
propagated signal may take any of a variety of forms, including,
but not limited to, electro-magnetic, optical, or any suitable
combination thereof. A computer readable signal medium may be any
computer readable medium that is not a computer readable storage
medium and that can communicate, propagate, or transport a program
for use by or in connection with an instruction execution system,
apparatus, or device.
[0097] Program code embodied on a computer readable medium may be
transmitted using any appropriate medium, including but not limited
to wireless, wire line, optical fiber cable, RF, etc., or any
suitable combination of the foregoing.
[0098] Computer program code for carrying out operations for
aspects of the invention may be written in any combination of at
least one programming language, including an object oriented
programming language such as Java.RTM., Smalltalk, C++ or the like
and conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C"
programming language or similar programming languages. The program
code may execute entirely on the user's computer (device), partly
on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly
on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely
on the remote computer or server. In the latter scenario, the
remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through any
type of network, including a local area network (LAN) or a wide
area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external
computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet
Service Provider).
[0099] Aspects of the invention are described herein with reference
to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods,
apparatus (systems) and computer program products according to
embodiments of the invention. It will be understood that each block
of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and
combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block
diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions.
These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor
of a general purpose computer, special purpose computer, or other
programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such
that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the
computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create
means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the
flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0100] These computer program instructions may also be stored in a
computer readable medium that can direct a computer, other
programmable data processing apparatus, or other devices to
function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored
in the computer readable medium produce an article of manufacture
including instructions which implement the function/act specified
in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0101] The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a
computer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other
devices to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on
the computer, other programmable apparatus or other devices to
produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions
which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus
provide processes for implementing the functions/acts specified in
the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.
[0102] This disclosure has been presented for purposes of
illustration and description but is not intended to be exhaustive
or limiting. Many modifications and variations will be apparent to
those of ordinary skill in the art. The embodiments were chosen and
described in order to explain principles and practical application,
and to enable others of ordinary skill in the art to understand the
disclosure for various embodiments with various modifications as
are suited to the particular use contemplated.
[0103] Although illustrative embodiments of the invention have been
described herein with reference to the accompanying drawings, it is
to be understood that the embodiments of the invention are not
limited to those precise embodiments, and that various other
changes and modifications may be affected therein by one skilled in
the art without departing from the scope or spirit of the
disclosure.
APPENDIX
Equations
[0104] L i ( t + 1 ) = { L i ( t ) + U i ( t - .DELTA. i ) - U i (
t ) , t .gtoreq. .DELTA. i L i ( t ) - U i ( t ) , 0 < t <
.DELTA. i .chi. i , t = 0 ( 1 ) L i ( t ) = { .chi. i - i ' = t -
.DELTA. i t - 1 U i ( t ' ) , t .gtoreq. .DELTA. i .chi. i - i ' =
0 t - 1 U i ( t ' ) , 0 < t < .DELTA. i ( 2 ) U i ( t )
.ltoreq. min [ L i ( t ) , D i ( t ) ] ( 3 ) max .A-inverted. s C i
i = 1 T U i ( t ) s . t . .A-inverted. i C i .chi. i .ltoreq. F U i
( t ) .ltoreq. L i ( t ) .A-inverted. i , t .di-elect cons. { 1 , 2
, T } U i ( t ) .ltoreq. D i ( t ) .A-inverted. i , t .di-elect
cons. { 1 , 2 , T } ( 4 ) Price of .alpha. i per unit time =
Configuration Cost + C i .chi. i .DELTA. i i = 1 T U i ( t ) ( 5 )
##EQU00001##
* * * * *