JP5706529B2 - Virtual resource cost tracking using dedicated implementation resources - Google Patents

Description

  The use of computers to perform and / or support a wide variety of tasks has become commonplace for individuals and various types of organizations. Rather than buying and maintaining physical computers, it is increasingly common to provision virtual computer systems, and various other types of virtual computing resources, with specialized providers of such virtual resources It has become a target. From the virtual resource provider customer's point of view, the use of virtual computing resources can have various advantages, such as cost efficiency and timely response to changing computing needs. However, conventional virtual resource providers have various drawbacks.

  A virtual resource provider may manage large physical computers, including relatively large computers each capable of hosting multiple virtual computer systems. Virtual resource providers can use various methods of assigning virtual computer systems to physical host computers. In some conventional virtual resource providers, a particular virtual computer system provisioned for one customer may share a large capacity computer with virtual computer systems associated with multiple other customers. Such sharing may be unacceptable to one or more customers for a variety of reasons including regulatory requirements, organizational policies and / or recognized data safety risks. Some traditional virtual resource providers have a customer and / or provider perspective, virtual resource provider effectiveness, efficiency (including cost efficiency) and / or other virtual resource provider benefits Attempts to prevent unacceptable sharing in ways that are harmful to

  Various embodiments in accordance with the present disclosure will be described with reference to the drawings.

  The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and the drawings to refer to similar components and features, but the repetition of such numbers is for ease of explanation and understanding, and the various embodiments Should not be considered as limiting.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating an example environment for implementing aspects in accordance with at least one embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram depicting aspects of an example virtual resource provisioning architecture in accordance with at least one embodiment. FIG. 6 is a geographic diagram depicting aspects of an example geographic region according to at least one embodiment. FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram depicting aspects of an example data center in accordance with at least one embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram depicting another aspect of an example data center in accordance with at least one embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram depicting aspects of an example virtual computing system server in accordance with at least one embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram depicting aspects of an example implementation resource pool according to at least one embodiment. FIG. 6 is a timing diagram depicting aspects of a timing example of a transition procedure for a dedicated implementation resource pool in accordance with at least one embodiment. 6 is a graph depicting aspects of an example implementation resource utilization accounting scheme according to at least one embodiment. FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram depicting aspects of an example control plane for a virtual resource provider in accordance with at least one embodiment. 6 is a flowchart depicting example steps for virtual provisioning according to at least one embodiment. 6 is a flowchart depicting example steps for determining implementation resource availability in accordance with at least one embodiment. 6 is a flowchart depicting example steps for allocating and / or attempting to allocate implementation resources according to at least one embodiment. 6 is a flowchart depicting example steps for establishing a dedicated implementation resource pool in accordance with at least one embodiment. 6 is a flowchart depicting example steps for maintaining an inactive dedicated implementation resource buffer in accordance with at least one embodiment. 6 is a flowchart depicting example steps for tracking costs according to at least one embodiment. 6 is a flowchart depicting example steps for a workflow in accordance with at least one embodiment.

  In the following description, various embodiments will be described. For purposes of explanation, specific configurations and details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the embodiments. However, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the embodiments may be practiced without the specific details. Furthermore, well-known features may be omitted or simplified in order not to obscure the described embodiments.

  In at least one embodiment, virtual resources can be provisioned in a manner that recognizes and takes into account potential implementation resource boundaries. A virtual resource provider is a specific set of implemented resources (eg, data center space, physical server computers, networking hardware) and various types of virtual resources (eg, virtual computer systems, virtual data stores, virtual network connections). Each of these can be provisioned. At least some implementation resources may be able to participate in the implementation of multiple virtual resource instances each potentially associated with a different customer of the virtual resource provider. In at least one embodiment, a set of customers (ie, one or more customers) of a virtual resource provider is implemented with implementation resources where a particular virtual resource is dedicated to that set of customers (ie, “dedicated” Implementation resource ") and / or that a particular implementation resource utilized to implement the set of customer virtual resources may be a dedicated implementation resource.

  Implementation resource boundaries (eg, physical separation boundaries) can correspond to information barriers (eg, barriers to unintended information transfer and / or unauthorized data modification). Thus, dedicating an implementation resource to a specific set of customers of a virtual resource provider (and thereby excluding other customers from that implementation resource) One or more information barriers may be established between (ie, a particular set of customers may be placed “after” the one or more information barriers). Alternatively, or in addition, dedicating implementation resources can improve virtual resource performance, at least in part, for example, by reducing unexpected implementation resource contention. As another alternative or in addition, dedicating the implementation resource can improve the fault tolerance of the virtual resource, for example by isolating the virtual resource from operational faults that occur in other implementation resources.

  The virtual resource provider may maintain a general implementation resource pool that includes implementation resources that do not exclude any customers of the virtual resource provider. The virtual resource provider may further maintain one or more dedicated implementation resource pools that include dedicated implementation resources for one or more sets of customers of the virtual resource provider. Each dedicated implementation resource pool has an associated set of entry and / or exit procedures (collectively "transition procedures"), such as implementation resource configuration, including access configuration, storage media formatting, and secure data erasure, etc. You may have. Implementation resources in a dedicated pool may be active or inactive (ie, actively participating in the implementation of one or more virtual resources or being idle). The virtual resource provider may provide an inactive implementation resource “buffer” having a size based at least in part on a target ratio of inactive implementation resources to active implementation resources and / or a predicted change in activity level (eg, rate of change). To maintain the activity level in the dedicated implementation resource pool as well as the transition of implementation resources from the general implementation resource pool to the general implementation resource pool.

  There may be various costs associated with providing virtual resources to customers, including financial costs. Such costs can be presented to the virtual resource provider customer. Costs are processed, stored, and / or transferred with respect to availability of virtual resources per unit of time (eg, monthly or hourly costs for each virtual computer system provisioned to a customer) It may be presented in terms of units of data (eg, gigabytes) and / or in terms of units of implemented resources that are actively utilized and / or otherwise unavailable to implement virtual resources. Expenses corresponding to active and inactive implementation resources in a specific dedicated pool associated with a specific set of customers are presented to these customers as separate active and inactive quantities in the expense statement Can do. Alternatively, individual quantities may be presented to customers based at least in part on costs corresponding to maintaining active and inactive implementation resources in a particular dedicated pool. As another alternative, individual quantities may be presented to customers based at least in part on costs corresponding to maintaining active and inactive implementation resources for the entire virtual resource provider. In at least one embodiment, a virtual resource provider customer may reduce costs associated with implementation resources in a dedicated pool by reserving virtual resource instances and / or associated dedicated implementation resources.

  Different approaches may be implemented for different applications in different environments. For example, FIG. 1 illustrates aspects of an example environment 100 that implements aspects according to various embodiments. As will be appreciated, a web-based environment may be used for illustration purposes, but any suitable different environment may be used to implement various embodiments. The environment 100 shown includes both a test or development part (or side) and a manufacturing part. The manufacturing portion includes an electronic client device 102 that is operable to send and receive requests, messages, or information over the appropriate network 104 and to communicate information back to the user of the device 102. Any suitable device may be included. Examples of such client devices include personal computers, mobile phones, portable messaging devices, laptop computers, tablet computers, set top boxes, personal information terminals, electronic book readers, and the like.

  The network 104 can include any suitable network, including an intranet, the Internet, a cellular network, a local area network, a wide area network, a wireless data network, or any other such network or combination thereof. The components utilized in such a system may depend at least in part on the type of network and / or the environment selected. Protocols and components for communication over such networks are well known and will not be described in detail herein. Communication over the network may be possible via wired or wireless connections, and combinations thereof. In this example, the network 104 includes the Internet because the environment includes a web server 106 for receiving requests and servicing content in response thereto, although other networks are known to those skilled in the art. As will be apparent, alternative devices serving a similar purpose may be used.

  The exemplary environment 100 includes at least one application server 108 and data store 110. Multiple application servers, tiers, or other elements that may be chained or otherwise configured and that can interact to perform tasks such as obtaining data from the appropriate data store It should be understood that there may be processes, components, or components. As used herein, the term “data store” refers to any device or combination of devices capable of storing, accessing, and / or reading data, which can be any standard, distributed, or clustered May include any combination of data servers, databases, data storage devices, and data storage media, and any number of them in an integrated environment.

  Application server 108 includes any suitable hardware and software for integrating with a data store, as needed, to perform one or more aspects of the application to client device 102, and data for the application. Can handle the majority of access and business logic. The application server 108 can cooperate with the data store 110 to provide access control services and generate content such as text, graphics, audio, and / or video that is forwarded to the user. In this example, the web server 106 can serve users in the form of HTML, XML, or another suitable structured language.

  Handling of all requests and responses, as well as content delivery between the client device 102 and the application server 108 can be handled by the web server 106. Web servers and application servers 106, 108 are capable of executing the structured code described herein on any suitable device or host machine as described elsewhere herein. It is not necessary, it is just a component example. Further, the environment 100 can be designed in such a way that the test automation framework can be provided as a service that a user or application can register. The test automation framework may be provided as an implementation of any of the various test patterns described herein, but a variety of other implementations may be used as well, as described or suggested herein. It can be used.

  The environment 100 can also include a developer side and / or a tester side that includes a user device 118 that allows a user, such as a developer, data administrator, or tester, to access the system. User device 118 may be any suitable device or machine, as described above with respect to client device 102. The environment 100 also functions in the same way as, for example, the application server 108, but typically the code during development and testing before the code is deployed and executed on the manufacturing side and accessible to external users. The development server 120 can be included. In some embodiments, the application server can function as a development server and separate manufacturing and test storage may not be used.

  Data store 110 may include a plurality of separate data tables, databases, or other data storage mechanisms and media for storing data related to a particular aspect. For example, the illustrated data store 110 includes a mechanism for storing manufacturing data 112 and user information 116 that can be used to supply content to the manufacturing side. The data store 110 is also shown to include a mechanism for storing test data 114 that can be used with test user information. For example, for page image information and access rights information, there may be many other aspects stored in the data store 110, which may be any of the mechanisms listed above as appropriate, or data It should be understood that it may be stored in additional mechanisms within the store 110.

  Data store 110 is operable to receive instructions from application server 108 or development server 120 through its associated logic and to obtain, update, or otherwise process data in response thereto. In one example, a user may submit a search request for a particular type of item. In this case, the data store 110 can access the user information 116 to verify the identity of the user and can access detailed information in the catalog to obtain information about that type of item. it can. The information can then be returned to the user in a results list on a web page that the user can view via a browser on the user device 102, for example. Information about a particular item of interest can be viewed on a dedicated page or window of the browser.

  Each server typically includes an operating system that provides executable program instructions to the general management and operation of the server, and is typically intended for the server when executed by the server's processor. Including a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon, capable of performing the functions of: Suitable implementations of the operating system and general functionality of the server are known or commercially available, and are particularly easily implemented by those skilled in the art from the perspective of the disclosure herein.

  The environment 100 in one embodiment is a distributed computing environment that utilizes a number of computer systems and components that are interconnected via communication links using one or more computer networks or direct connections. . However, those skilled in the art will recognize that such a system can work equally well in systems having fewer or greater numbers of components than those illustrated in FIG. Will. Accordingly, the depiction of the system 100 of FIG. 1 should be taken as illustrative in nature and should not limit the scope of the present disclosure.

  In at least one embodiment, one or more aspects of environment 100 may incorporate and / or be incorporated within a virtual resource provisioning architecture. FIG. 2 depicts aspects of an example virtual resource provisioning architecture 200 according to at least one embodiment. The example virtual resource provisioning architecture 200 includes a plurality of clients 202-204 that are communicatively connected to a virtual resource provider 206 over a network 208. For example, the clients 202-204 may correspond to a computing device such as the computing device 102 of FIG. 1 and / or a client program incorporated into such a computing device. The ellipsis between clients 202 and 204 indicates that the virtual resource provisioning architecture 200 may include any suitable number (eg, thousands, millions, and more) of clients, but is clear For this reason, only two are shown in FIG.

  One or more of the clients 202-204 interact with the control plane 210 of the virtual resource provider 206, thereby providing one or more customers of the virtual resource provider 206 to provision one or more virtual resources 212. Can be utilized by. Alternatively or in addition, one or more of the clients 202-204 may be utilized to interact with the provisioned virtual resource 212 (not necessarily by the customer of the virtual resource provider 206). Provisioned virtual resource 212 may include any suitable virtual resource. Examples of suitable virtual resources 212 include virtual computer systems 214, virtual network connections 216, and virtual data stores 218, and virtual resources not shown in FIG. 2, such as specialized data processing agents, audio and video streaming agents Media streaming agents, message queues, public registration topics, monitoring agents, load balancing agents, and their appropriate configured to notify that events matching the registered subscribers have been published to public registration topics Such as various combinations.

  Virtual resource provider 206 may include any suitable implementation resource 220. Each of the virtual resources 212 may be implemented by a set of implementation resources 220. In at least one embodiment, various implementation resources of the implementation resources 220 may be configured to participate in implementing, at least in part, a plurality of virtual resources of the virtual resources 212. Examples of suitable implementation resources 220 include virtual computer system (VCS) server 222, network hardware 224, and data store server 226, as well as implementation resources not shown in FIG. 2 and / or FIGS. And those described in more detail below with reference to FIG. The control plane 210 processes virtual resource provisioning requests, manages the allocation of virtual resources 212 to implementation resources 220, and / or manages the allocation of implementation resources 220 to virtual resources 212, and an associated cost accounting service. Can be provided. An example virtual resource provider control plane according to at least one embodiment is described in more detail below with reference to FIG.

  When a specific implementation resource of the implementation resource 220 participates in the implementation of a plurality of virtual resources among the virtual resources 212, the implementation resources may compete. For example, the implementation resources may have a plurality of virtual resources that request an increase in service time. A request for sufficient service may be received from a resource. Conflicting implementation resources can cause unintentional and / or unauthenticated information transfer between virtual resources, for example, based at least in part on changes in the service time of the request. In at least one embodiment, a set of customers at least in part by other customers of virtual resource provider 206 by requesting that virtual resources associated with that set of customers be provisioned with dedicated implementation resources. Barriers to such information transfer to may be established. Such a barrier allows one or more of the other customers of the virtual resource provider to have unauthenticated read and / or write access to information (including unpublished information) about the virtual resource of the set of customers. The possibility of obtaining can be reduced. An implementation resource dedicated boundary that defines an implementation resource dedicated unit (unit) is a boundary between physical and / or hardware components, including physical barriers and / or boundaries by physical separation, and even hardware It can correspond to scheduling and / or timing boundaries (eg, implemented by hardware), and appropriate combinations thereof.

  Implementation resource dedicated boundaries may also correspond to geographic boundaries in at least some embodiments. FIG. 3 depicts aspects of an example geographic region 300 in accordance with at least one embodiment. Geographic region 300 includes a contiguous United States and several data centers 302-318. In at least one embodiment, the implementation resource 220 (FIG. 2) of the virtual resource provider 206 includes data centers 302-318 and / or corresponding geographic regions. The physical separation of the data centers 302-318 corresponds to the implementation resource dedicated boundary and may define a corresponding geographic region. A particular set of customers of virtual resource provider 206 specifies that the virtual resources associated with that set of customers are provisioned at a set of dedicated data centers and / or within a set of dedicated geographic areas. May be. Although not shown in FIG. 3, one or more such data centers and / or corresponding geographic regions may be located internationally.

  Implementation resource dedicated boundaries and / or units may also correspond to portions of the data center in at least some embodiments. FIG. 4 depicts aspects of example data centers 402, 404 in accordance with at least one embodiment. The example data center 402 includes a plurality of server racks 406-408 including server computers such as the VCS server 222 and data store server 226 of FIG. 2, and a plurality of network hardware including the network hardware 224 of FIG. A network rack 410 is included. Each such server rack 406-408 and / or network rack 410 may correspond to a dedicated unit of implemented resources so that a particular set of customers of the virtual resource provider 206 can It may be specified that resources are provisioned in a set of dedicated server racks, a set of network racks, and / or an appropriate combination thereof.

  The data center 402 can include one or more types of identification and / or access devices (eg, with photos) that can be securely authenticated (eg, cryptographically) to gain physical access to the data center 402. An identification card, biometric authentication, physical key, RFID card encoded to suit the purpose) may be requested. Accordingly, the data center 402 may be associated with a security level and / or security zone (eg, for publicly accessible space). Further, the data center 402 may incorporate one or more higher levels and / or different security zones. The data center 402 may include a plurality of access controlled areas 412-418 corresponding to, for example, locked rooms in the data center 402. For example, only selected and / or specially inspected data center 402 staff may have access to access controlled areas 412-418. Such selection and / or special examination of data center 402 staff may be part of a transition procedure to a dedicated implementation resource pool for access controlled areas 412-418.

  The data center 402 may further include a plurality of access-monitored areas 420-426 that are not necessarily more secure for physical access. For example, the access-monitored areas 420-426 may be monitored by access by data center 402 staff physically entering and / or exiting and / or otherwise including audio and / or video recording. The presence of document staff in the areas 420 to 426 may be recorded. Each of the security zones including each access controlled area 412-418 and each access monitored area 420-426 may correspond to a dedicated unit of implemented resources, thereby enabling virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2) A particular set of customers may specify that their virtual resources are provisioned in a set of dedicated security zones.

  The data center 404 of FIG. 4 can be mobile. For example, the data center 404 may be assembled in a shipping container and manufactured mobile by various means including the illustrated semi-trailer truck. The mobile data center 404 includes server racks 406 to 408, network racks 410, access controlled areas 412 to 418, and / or access monitored areas 420 to 426 of the stationary data center 402. It may include racks, access controlled areas and / or access monitored areas. The mobile data center 404 may also include suitable mobile power generation hardware and suitable wireless and / or wired high-speed digital data links including one or more internet links.

  FIG. 5 depicts another aspect of a data center in accordance with at least one embodiment. The data center 502 may include a plurality of server racks 504 to 506. The data center 502 is an example of the data centers 402 and 404 in FIG. The ellipsis between server rack 504 and server rack 506 indicates that data center 502 includes any suitable number of server racks, but for clarity only two are shown in FIG. Each server rack 504-506 may participate in maintaining services such as power and data communication to a plurality of server computers 508-514 and 516-522. Also, the ellipsis indicates that the server racks 504-506 may include any suitable number of server computers. For example, server computers 508-522 may include one or more VCS servers 222 (FIG. 2) and / or one or more data store servers 226. Each server 508 to 522 may correspond to a dedicated unit for mounting resources.

  In FIG. 5, each server rack 504-506 is depicted as including rack switches 524-526. Rack switches 524 and 526 may be responsible for switching packets of digital data to and from their respective sets of server computers 508-514 and 516-522. Each rack switch 524 to 526 may correspond to a dedicated mounting resource unit. However, if the server racks 504-506 (depicted in FIG. 5) include one rack switch 524-526, the rack switches 524-526 are dedicated to a specific set of customers of the virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2). This results in a dedicated server rack 504-506. This is an example of a dedicated component of a mounting resource dedicated unit (a mounting resource dedicated sub-unit) that results in a dedicated dedicated content unit ("containing unit designation") according to at least one embodiment. An implementation resource dedicated unit may indicate which of those subunits (if any) result in a containing unit dedicated.

  The rack switches 524-526 are communicatively linked to a data center switching structure 528 and are also communicatively linked to a set of edge routers 530 that connect the data center 502 to one or more other computer networks, including the Internet. May be. The switching structure includes a plurality of interconnected switches 532-538 of one or more switch types arranged in one or more switching layers (for clarity, only four are shown in FIG. ) Including any suitable set of networking components, as well as routers, gateways, bridges, hubs, repeaters, firewalls, computers, and appropriate combinations thereof. In at least one embodiment, rack switches 524-526 and edge router 530 are considered part of switching structure 528. The components of the rack switches 524-526, the edge router 530, and the switching structure 528 are an example of the network hardware 224 of FIG.

  A portion of the switching structure 528, a set of switching structures 528, such as the set of switches 532-538, and / or the edge router 530 may correspond to a dedicated unit for implementation resources. Alternatively, or in addition, a particular set of customers of virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2) may receive a set of dedicated data via the switching structure 528 and / or edge router 530. It may be specified to be provisioned on a path and / or channel (collectively, a “data path”). With respect to a dedicated data path, the implementation resource dedicated unit may correspond to a physical data path such as a set of wires and / or cables. Alternatively, or in addition, the dedicated resource unit for implementation may correspond to a hard scheduled communication time slot in the simultaneous communication scheme.

  An implementation resource dedicated boundary and / or unit may also correspond to a portion of a server computer in at least some embodiments. FIG. 6 depicts aspects of an example VCS server 602 according to at least one embodiment. The VCS server 602 in FIG. 6 is an example of the VCS server 222 in FIG. The virtual resource 604 implemented by the VCS server 602 may include multiple types of virtual computer systems (VCSs) 606-614. Virtual resource 604 may be implemented with any suitable implementation resource 616 of VCS server 602. Examples of suitable implementation resources 616 include one or more processors 618 such as, for example, a central processing unit (CPU) and a multi-core CPU, one or more volatile storage devices 620, such as, for example, random access memory (RAM), One or more non-volatile storage devices 622, such as flash memory and hard disk drives (HDDs), and / or one or more network interfaces 624, such as network interface cards (NICs), for example. Each of processor 618, volatile storage device 620, non-volatile storage device 622, and / or network interface 624 may correspond to a dedicated unit for implementation resources.

  Each of the virtual computer systems 606-614 may be implemented with a set of implementation resources 616. Different types of virtual computer systems 606-614 may be implemented with different sets of implementation resources 616. For example, a “large” type virtual computer system may require more implementation resources than a “small” type virtual computer system. A “memory intensive” type virtual computer system may require an additional part of the implementation resources of the volatile storage device 620 (s). A “processing intensive” type of virtual computer may require an additional portion of the implementation resources of the processor 618 (s). The example depicted in FIG. 6 shows a VCS server 602 that maintains four “small” virtual computer systems 606-612 and one “large” virtual computer system 614. This is an example of the virtual resource implementation capacity of the VCS server 602. Of course, other configurations are possible. For example, the VCS server 602 may maintain eight “small” virtual computer systems without the “large” virtual computer system 614.

  A “small” type of virtual computer system may correspond to the minimum virtual resources maintained by the VCS server 602 and / or unit virtual computer system costs. Virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2) is concerned with other types of virtual computer systems, including virtual computer systems implemented with dedicated implementation resources, with respect to the number of “small” type virtual computer systems replaced with that type. May be measured, estimated, and / or determined. For example, a particular set of customers of a virtual resource provider may specify that the set of customers' virtual computer systems be implemented with dedicated hard disk drives. If the VCS server 602 is typically configured to share each hard disk drive with two “small” virtual computer systems, then the virtual computer system implemented with a dedicated hard disk drive has at least two such Replaces “small” virtual computer systems.

  In at least one embodiment, dedicated implementation resources are drawn (ie allocated) from a dedicated implementation resource pool. For example, a dedicated implementation resource pool may be established corresponding to each set of customers of the virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2) that requests provisioning of the virtual resources 212 by the dedicated implementation resources, and further requested. A dedicated implementation resource that implements a virtual resource may be derived from a dedicated implementation resource pool associated with the set of customers. FIG. 7 depicts aspects of an example implementation resource pool in accordance with at least one embodiment. FIG. 7 depicts a general implementation resource pool 702 and three dedicated implementation resource pools 704, 706, 710.

  In this example, the implementation resource 220 (FIG. 2) begins with a general implementation resource pool 702. Three dedicated implementation resource pools 704, 706, 710 may be established for three different sets of customers of virtual resource provider 206. The dedicated mounting resource pool 704 and the dedicated mounting resource pool 710 have an overlapping portion 712. The implementation resources in overlap portion 712 may be utilized to implement a set of customer virtual resources associated with dedicated implementation resource pool 704 or dedicated implementation resource pool 710. Alternatively or in addition, overlapping portion 712 may be a separate dedicated associated with a virtual resource, including a combined virtual resource, of a combined set of customers associated with both dedicated implemented resource pool 704 and dedicated implemented resource pool 710. The implementation resource pool 712 may be configured.

  Implementation resources 220 may be transitioned from a general implementation resource pool 702 to a dedicated implementation resource pool 704, 706, 710, 712 according to an implementation resource transition procedure specified by at least one respective set of customers, As a result, the transitioned implementation resource is dedicated to the set of customers. The implementation resource 220 may be transitioned to the dedicated implementation resource pools 704, 706, 710, and 712 in response to the virtual resource provisioning request. Such a request cannot be fulfilled and / or delayed if the general implementation resource pool 702 does not sufficiently contain the type (s) of implementation resources needed to fulfill the request. It may be. To avoid such problems, the customer of virtual resource provider 206 may establish a reserved implementation resource pool.

  In the example depicted in FIG. 7, a set of customers associated with a dedicated implementation resource pool 706 has established a reserved implementation resource pool 708 (eg, by the control plane 210 of FIG. 2). In at least one embodiment, the implementation resources 220 in the reserved implementation resource pool 708 remain in the general implementation resource pool 702 until needed to fulfill the virtual resource provisioning request. However, when needed, the implementation resources 220 in the reserved implementation resource pool 708 are present at that time, even if those implementation resources participate in the implementation of one or more other customer virtual resources. Is transitioned to the dedicated implementation resource pool 706. That is, the set of customers associated with the reserved implementation resource pool 708 is given priority over the implementation resources 220 in the reserved implementation resource pool 708. The virtual resource of the prioritized customer may be moved to the implementation resource in the general implementation resource pool 702, or the general implementation resource pool 702 may have sufficient implementation resources of the appropriate type (s). The virtual resource may be unprovisioned.

  Some dedicated implementation resource pool transition procedures may be fast (eg, about milliseconds), but some transition procedures, particularly custom transition procedures specified by at least one customer of the virtual resource provider 206 Requires a significant amount of time to complete (eg, seconds, minutes, hours or more). FIG. 8 depicts aspects of a timing example of a dedicated implementation resource pool transition procedure in accordance with at least one embodiment.

At time t ₀ , the implementation resource 802 begins with a general implementation resource pool 804. For example, the implementation resource 802 may be one of the implementation resources 220 in FIG. 2, and the general implementation resource pool 804 may correspond to the general implementation resource pool 702 in FIG. . At time t ₁ , an event of the virtual resource provider 206 that requires the transition of the mounting resource 802 to the dedicated mounting resource pool 806 occurs. For example, the event may be an automated transition to respond to a predictive provisioning request, or a provisioning request for a virtual resource 212, and the dedicated implementation resource pool 806 corresponds to the dedicated implementation resource pool 704 of FIG. May be.

At time t _2, it can only Implements resource pool entrance procedure 808 begins. The entry procedure 808 may be any suitable implementation resource 802 (re) configuration procedure. Examples of suitable entry procedures include data storage media formatting, data storage media erasure including secure data erasure procedures, software installation, component configuration, component reassignment, access control configuration, firewall reconfiguration (e.g. Virtual resource movement (to alternate implementation resources), generation and issuance of authentication certificates, relocation of mobile data center 404 (FIG. 4), manual review of implementation resource transitions by customer, customer-supplied computer-executable Customer-provided entry procedures and / or any suitable combination thereof including any instructions. In at least one embodiment, the customer selects a dedicated implementation resource pool entry procedure 808 from a set of such procedures provided by the virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2). A set of provided procedures may be predefined and / or dynamically generated by the virtual resource provider 206 for a particular set of customers.

Until time t ₃ , implementation resource 802 may be in transition state 810 when entry procedure 808 is completed. While in the transition state 810, the implementation resource 802 does not participate in the implementation of the virtual resource 212 (FIG. 2). At time t ₃ , the entry procedure 808 completes 812 and the implementation resource 802 enters the dedicated implementation resource pool 806. While in the dedicated implementation resource pool 806, the implementation resource 802 may participate in the implementation of the associated set of customer virtual resources 212.

At time t ₄ , another virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2) event may occur that requires a transition of the implementation resource 802 from the dedicated implementation resource pool 806 back to the general implementation resource pool 804. For example, the event may be a non-provisioning request for a virtual resource 212 or an automated transition to optimize the ratio of idle implementation resources 220 in a dedicated implementation resource pool 806. At time t _5, it can be dedicated mounting resource pool outlet procedure 814 begins. The exit procedure 814 may be any suitable implementation resource 802 (re-) configuration procedure and their logical and / or procedural complements, including those described above for the entry procedure 808. Also, in at least one embodiment, the customer selects a dedicated implementation resource pool exit procedure 814 from a predefined set of such procedures.

Until time t _6, when the exit procedure 814 is complete, the implementation resource 802 may be in the transition state 810 again. At time t ₆ , the exit procedure 814 completes 816 and the implementation resource 802 exits the dedicated implementation resource pool 806 and reenters the general implementation resource pool 804. After time t ₆ , the implementation resource 802 is transferred to the dedicated implementation resource pool 806 and / or other dedicated implementation resource pools not shown in FIG. 8 until time t ₇ when the implementation resource 802 reaches the end of its service lifetime. You may go in and out repeatedly.

  As described above with respect to FIG. 6, some implementation resources may implement multiple virtual resources (ie, may be “distributable” implementation resources). For example, the VCS server 602 may implement a plurality of virtual computing systems. In such cases, it may happen that a portion of the distributable implementation resource is assigned to one or more virtual resource implementations ("assigned") while another portion remains unassigned. If the distributable implementation resource is dedicated to a particular set of customers of the virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2), the unassigned portion is not further available for assignment to other customers of the virtual resource provider. Yes, this may correspond to reducing the likelihood that a distributable dedicated implementation resource will achieve 100% utilization. From the perspective of the virtual resource provider 206, this is an opportunity cost. Such costs can be specified in various ways. FIG. 9 depicts aspects of an example implementation resource utilization accounting scheme in accordance with at least one embodiment.

  FIG. 9 incorporates four resource allocation units (or “resource allocation units”) that can each independently participate in the implementation of one or more virtual resources 212 (FIG. 2). Describes the use of a distributable implementation resource example. For example, a distributable implementation resource example is one of four “small” type virtual computer systems or one of the VCS servers 222 capable of implementing one “large” type virtual computer system. There may be. The virtual resource implementation capacity of distributable implementation resources can be measured in resource allocation units. For example, the mounting capacity of the VCS server 222 may be measured in terms of a standard virtual computer system unit such as a “small” type virtual computer system.

  FIG. 9 further depicts the utilization of example distributable implementation resources over eight units of time (or “time units”, eg, seconds, hours, months, etc.). Between the first two time units, one of the four resource allocation units is allocated (as indicated by the shaded rectangle with a diagonal line) and active (ie at least one virtual unit). Active participation in resource implementation), whereas three of the four resource allocation units (as indicated by the unshaded rectangle) are not allocated, Inactive. In at least one embodiment, an allocated resource allocation unit that is idle is also considered inactive. Each of the four resource allocation units is allocated during the third time unit. Two of the four resource allocation units are allocated during the fourth time unit. Between the remaining four time units, one of the four resource allocation units is allocated.

  Each shaded or unshaded square in FIG. 9 is a multiplicative product of resource usage, ie resource allocation units and time units (for the sake of clarity, “resource time "). For example, VCS server utilization may be measured in “small” VCS time. If there are examples of distributable implementation resources in the general implementation resource pool 702 (FIG. 7), 4 × 8 = 32 resource hours would be available for allocation. In the use case depicted in FIG. 9, 12 resource hours are actually allocated over a period of 8 “hours”, and an opportunity cost of 20 resource hours is provided if the distributable implementation resource example is dedicated to a particular customer. This will occur at the virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2).

  Virtual resource provisioning, configuration, reconfiguration, and / or deprovisioning (collectively, “provisioning”) may be controlled by the control plane 210 (FIG. 2) of the virtual resource provider 206. FIG. 10 depicts aspects of an example control plane 1002 in accordance with at least one embodiment. A control plane 1002 in FIG. 10 is an example of the control plane 210 in FIG. The control plane 1002 directs a response to a provisioning request in accordance with one or more provisioning interfaces 1004, one or more provisioning workflows configured to receive a provisioning request for the virtual resource 212 from one or more of the clients 202-204. At least configured workflow component 1006, resource allocation component 1008 configured to manage allocation of implementation resource 220 to virtual resource 212, and costs associated with virtual resource 212 and / or implementation resource 220 An accounting component 1010 can be included that is at least configured to track and present.

  Provisioning interface 1004 may include any suitable provisioning interface element. Examples of suitable provisioning interface elements include interface elements corresponding to requests for provisioning, configuring, reconfiguring and / or deprovisioning virtual resources 212 (FIG. 2), It includes interface elements that provide access to configuration information, and one or more interface elements that can be authenticated to establish authority for operations related to such provisioning. The provisioning interface 1004 is a set of remote procedure calls (RPC) corresponding to a user interface (UI), eg, a graphical user interface (GUI), a web-based interface, eg, an application programming interface (API) and / or provisioning interface elements. Incorporate and / or incorporate a programmatic interface, such as a messaging interface, such as a messaging interface in which the interface elements of the provisioning interface 1004 correspond to messages of a communication protocol, and / or any suitable combination thereof Can be incorporated.

  In at least one embodiment, provisioning interface 1004, resource allocation component 1008, and accounting component 1010 generate workflow component 1006 to generate one or more workflows subsequently maintained by workflow component 1006. And / or may be generated. Workflows, such as provisioning workflows and policy enforcement workflows, for example, may include one or more sequences of tasks that are performed to perform jobs such as provisioning or policy enforcement. A workflow, as that term is used herein, controls the task control structure that can control the flow of information to and from the task, and not the task itself, and the task control structure controls it. The order of task execution. For example, a workflow may be viewed as a state machine that can manage and return the state of a process at any time during execution. A workflow may be generated from a workflow template. For example, a provisioning workflow may be generated from a provisioning workflow template that is configured with parameters by resource allocation component 1008. As another example, a policy enforcement workflow may be generated from a policy enforcement workflow template configured with parameters by resource allocation component 1008.

  The workflow component 1006 may modify, further specify, and / or further configure the established workflow. For example, the workflow component 1006 may select a particular implementation resource 220 (FIG. 2) of the virtual resource provider 206 to perform a particular task and / or be assigned to a particular task. Such selection may be based at least in part on the computing resource needs of the particular task as assessed by the workflow component 1006. As another example, the workflow component 1006 may add additional and / or overlapping tasks to the established workflow and / or reconfigure the information flow between tasks within the established workflow. May be. Such a modification of the established workflow can be based at least in part on an execution efficiency analysis by the workflow component 1006. For example, some tasks may be performed efficiently in parallel while other tasks rely on the successful completion of the previous task.

  As part of provisioning virtual resources, the provisioning interface 1004 and / or workflow component 1006 may provide an appropriate set of implementation resources 220 (FIG. 10) that the resource allocation component 1008 needs to implement the virtual resource. 2) to determine whether the required implementation resources are available and / or according to the allocation policy of the virtual resource provider 206 and / or request to allocate the required implementation resources May be. Resource allocation component 1008 may incorporate any suitable resource allocation and / or resource scheduling algorithm. Such algorithms are well known to those skilled in the art and need not be described in detail herein. Resource allocation component 1008 may include a dedicated resource pool component 1012 that is at least configured to manage the establishment and maintenance of dedicated implemented resource pools, such as the dedicated implemented resource pools 704, 706 of FIG.

  The dedicated resource pool component 1012 analyzes at least the allocation request for a set of resource allocation business policies and provides at least an evaluation (eg, allow or deny) regarding whether the allocation request complies with the set of resource allocation business policies. A configured business policy enforcement component 1014 may be included. Alternatively or in addition, the business policy enforcement component 1014 may implement the implementation resource 220 of the implementation resource 220 (FIG. 2) relative to and / or the implementation resource 220 of the virtual resource 212 to implement the set of resource allocation business policies. You may participate in the assignment for. The set of resource allocation business policies may include any suitable resource allocation policy. Examples of appropriate resource allocation policies include, for example, the type and / or number of dedicated virtual resources requested, the corresponding type and / or number of dedicated implementation resources, the cost plan of the requesting customer, not allocated Parameters such as the current level and / or ratio of implemented resources, the expected level and / or ratio of inactive dedicated implemented resources (eg, in the requesting customer's dedicated implemented resource pool), and appropriate combinations thereof A policy with a condition based on is included. The resource allocation policy can be, for example, a compound condition specified using Boolean operators, or a specific number, level and / or ratio above the minimum value, below the maximum value, and / or specified Any suitable condition may be included, such as a condition that designates being within a range value.

  For implementation resources that implement multiple virtual resources, the virtual resource density or virtual resource distribution (spread) corresponds to the number of virtual resources per unit implementation resource (eg, the number of virtual computing systems per VCS server 602). To do. The customer of the virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2) is given a density at which the provisioned virtual resource is specified, for example, to reduce the possibility that multiple of the customer's virtual resources will be affected by an implementation resource failure. Alternatively, it may be requested to have a distribution. When the distribution of virtual resources implemented with dedicated implementation resources is wide (low density), the implementation resource utilization efficiency is poor (for example, the ratio of inactive implementation resources to active implementation resources is relatively high, For example, the usage rate may exceed 20%). In at least one embodiment, the set of resource allocation business policies is one or more having conditions based on virtual resource density and / or distribution level (eg, setting one or more density and / or distribution limits). Policies may be included. The dedicated resource pool component 1012 may further include a distribution component 1016 that is at least configured to allocate dedicated implementation resources according to the allowed density and / or distribution level. Alternatively or in addition, the distribution component 1016 is dedicated to achieving the highest density of allowed and / or specified virtual resources and / or free (ie, 0% allocated) implementation resources It may be configured at least to allocate and / or reallocate dedicated implementation resources to maximize the number of units.

  Dedicated resource pool component 1012 is a pool transition configuration configured at least to manage that implementation resource 220 transitions to and / or transitions from and to dedicated implementation resource pools 704, 706 (FIG. 7) An element 1018 may further be included. Implementation resources 220 (FIG. 2) may be associated with a set of dedicated pool transition procedures. For example, each type of implementation resource may have an associated transition procedure. Alternatively, or in addition, a customer of virtual resource provider 206 may specify a dedicated pool transition procedure for a particular type of virtual resource and / or implementation resource. Pool transition component 1018 may identify a set of appropriate transition procedures associated with a particular set of virtual resources provisioned with an implementation resource that includes one or more dedicated implementation resources. Pool transition component 1018 may perform such a transition procedure. Alternatively, or in addition, the pool transition component 1018 generates (or generates a workflow component 1006 to generate) one or more dedicated pool transition workflows corresponding to the identified set of dedicated pool transition procedures. )

  Dedicated resource pool component 1012 monitors activity and / or inactivity levels in dedicated implementation resource pools 704-706 (FIG. 7), predicts activity and / or inactivity levels in dedicated implementation resource pools 704-706, It may further comprise a pool utilization component 1020 configured at least to initiate implementation resource transitions to and from the dedicated implementation resource pools 704-706. Implementation resources in dedicated implementation resource pools 704-706 may be inactive for a variety of reasons. For example, an implementation resource may have been transitioned to a dedicated pool 704-706 in anticipation of a virtual resource provisioning request that has not yet occurred or to participate in the implementation of a non-provisioned virtual resource. Such inactive implementation resources can be unnecessary expense for responsible customers and / or opportunity costs for virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2).

  However, since the time for the implementation resources to transition from the general implementation resource pool 702 (FIG. 7) can be quite long, some level of inactivity in the dedicated implementation resource pools 704-706 (ie, inactive dedicated Implementation resources “buffers”) may be desirable. Responsible customers and / or administrators of virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2) may specify one or more target level activities and / or non-activity for each dedicated implementation resource pool 704-706. In at least one embodiment, activity and / or inactivity goals may be set for each type of implementation resource. Activity and / or non-activity goals can include resource allocation units, implemented resource dedicated units, their ratio, and / or their derivatives, including rate of change, rate of change, rate of change, first derivative, second derivative. It may be specified in terms of functions, third derivatives, as well as any suitable level of derivatives. The pool utilization component 1020 predicts a value corresponding to an activity and / or non-activity goal based at least in part on the monitored activity and / or inactivity level, and a corresponding activity based at least in part on the predicted value and Implementation resource transitions to and from dedicated implementation resource pools 704-706 may be scheduled to achieve inactivity goals.

  Accounting component 1010 may maintain an account for each customer of virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2). Usage and / or costs associated with the virtual resources 212 provisioned by the customer and / or associated implementation resources 220 may be recorded in the customer's account. Accounting component 1010 may maintain one or more cost plans 1022 that specify how costs are assigned to the customer's account. The accounting component 1010 includes an account user interface (UI) component 1024 that is at least configured to provide the customer with one or more presentations of usage and / or costs recorded in the customer's account, One or more mechanisms for setting account balances (eg, payment instrument processing) where one or more of the accounts correspond to a financial balance that is obligated to pay the virtual resource provider 206. Account UI 1024 may further provide account creation, account configuration and reconfiguration, account details reference and update, and account deletion. The account (re) configuration can include a selection from an authorized list of expense plans 1022 if multiple such expense plans 1022 are available.

  The cost plan (s) 1022 may specify a cost per resource hour corresponding to each type of virtual resource 212 and / or implementation resource 220 (FIG. 2). Costs may be incurred by the customer with respect to allocated and / or active resource time (“activity costs”), eg, at an active implementation resource cost rate. In at least one embodiment, the cost is also unassigned and / or inactive resource associated with the implementation resource in a pool 704-706 (FIG. 7) dedicated to the customer, eg, at an inactive implementation resource cost rate. It may be incurred by the customer with respect to time (“dedicated resource costs” or “non-activity costs”). In at least one embodiment, activity costs and dedicated resource costs are maintained separately in the customer's account and are clearly presented as separate items in the corresponding cost statement. Alternatively, activity costs and / or rates may be adjusted to account for the dedicated resource costs so that the cost details need not include items that clearly describe the dedicated resource costs. The cost plan (s) 1022 may include any suitable function of allocated, unassigned, active and / or inactive resource times, including appropriate linear functions and appropriate non-linear functions. .

  For example, activity costs and / or rates may be adjusted for each customer. Expense details are generated on a regular basis, and each expense can be noted in a period that has been incurred during a period elapsed from a previously generated expense detail (“expense detail period”). Activity costs and dedicated resource costs incurred by a particular customer may be determined for that period, and activity costs and / or rates are adjusted (eg, increased) to include dedicated resource costs for that period. ). For example, assume that a customer provisions 50 virtual computer systems 214 (FIG. 2) and specifies that each of the 50 is implemented with a dedicated implementation resource. In response, the resource allocation component 1008 dedicates four VCS servers 222 to the customer, each capable of implementing 16 of the virtual computer systems required by the customer, and thus general The possibility of implementing 64 such virtual computer systems from the typical implementation resource pool 702 (FIG. 7) is removed. Further assume that the cost plan (s) 1022 for a customer account specify a base rate of $ 0.10 per active dedicated resource time and $ 0.05 per inactive dedicated resource time. For periods exceeding 1000 hours, the customer will incur costs of 50x1000x $ 0.10 = $ 5000 for active costs and 14x1000x $ 0.05 = $ 700 for dedicated resource costs, for a total of $ 5700. Instead of presenting separate items for active costs and dedicated resource costs, the cost statement for that period may present a single item corresponding to 50x1000x $ 0.114 = $ 5700. That is, in this example, the customer base rate for each active resource hour is adjusted to cover the total cost for that period.

As another example, activity costs and / or rates can be adjusted for each virtual resource type and / or dedicated implementation resource type. Activity costs and dedicated resource costs corresponding to a particular type of virtual resource and / or dedicated implementation resource are determined for a cost detail period, and activity costs and / or rates are adjusted to include the dedicated resource cost for that period. Can. For example, a customer of virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2) corresponds to a specific type of 1 million resource allocation units implemented with dedicated implementation resources in one or more dedicated pools 704, 706 (FIG. 7). Virtual resources are provisioned collectively, and as part of a dedicated process, another 20,000 resource allocation units of that type have been transitioned from the general implementation resource pool 702 but remain inactive. Assume that Collectively, the virtual resource provider is responsible for the ratio of the inactive dedicated resource allocation unit to the active dedicated resource allocation unit (the “inactive dedicated ratio” indicated herein using the symbol α), this The example has 2%. The inactive dedicated percentage may also be determined from the implementation resource usage. Furthermore, assignment customers, the cost according to a common cost plan that specifies again base rate of active dedicated resources Time _{(C active)} in per $ 0.10 and inactive dedicated resources Time _{(C: inactive)} in per $ 0.05 Assume that The adjusted rate per _active dedicated resource time ( _C'active ) is the formula:
_{C 'active = C active + αC} inactive
I.e., in this example $ 0.10 + 2% x $ 0.05 = $ 0.101.

  Adjustments to clarify the specification with respect to dedicated resource costs are determined for a set of periods, including, for example, predicted resource allocation unit utilization within one or more previous periods and / or one or more subsequent periods. May be. When different customers and / or provisioned resource allocation units are associated with different cost plans, the adjustments corresponding to the cost plans may be different, for example, cost plan type, associated customer type, profitability and / or Or it may be weighted based at least in part on cost plan attributes such as different base rates. In addition, activity costs and / or dedicated resource costs are based at least in part on resource allocation units corresponding to implementation resources in a reserved implementation resource pool, such as the reserved implementation resource pool 708 of FIG. It may be modified. For example, the active and / or inactive dedicated resource time may be offset by the reserved resource time, and the cost associated with the reserved resource time is separate on the responsible customer's expense statement. May be presented as an item. In addition to that, the cost plan (s) 1022 corresponds to a gradual cost and / or resource time rate, eg, 1 corresponding to a set of increasing virtual resource amount thresholds (eg, for the same type of virtual resources). A set of decreasing costs and / or a set of decreasing rates corresponding to a set of increasing resource time thresholds may be specified. Still further, cost plan (s) 1022 may specify costs associated with transition procedures of dedicated implementation resource pools 704-706.

  Here, the description changes to examples of steps and / or procedures that may be performed by at least one embodiment. FIG. 11 depicts example steps for virtual provisioning according to at least one embodiment. In step 1102, an implementation resource pool can be maintained. For example, the resource allocation component 1008 (FIG. 10) can maintain the general implementation resource pool 702 (step 1104) and one or more dedicated implementation resource pools 704-706 (step 1106) of FIG. In at least one embodiment, the maintenance of dedicated implementation resource pools 704-706 is specific to maximize virtual resource density for implementation resources and / or proceed toward virtual resource distribution goals. Includes the movement of virtual resources between implemented resources in a dedicated pool. However, dedicated implementation resource pools 704-706 do not need to be established and / or maintained prior to provisioning at least one virtual resource that requires dedicated implementation resources.

  In step 1108, a virtual resource provisioning request can be received. For example, the provisioning interface 1004 (FIG. 10) may receive a virtual resource provisioning request from one of the clients 202-204 (FIG. 2) that responds to the interaction of the virtual resource provider 206 with a customer client. . A virtual resource provisioning request can incorporate and / or reference a set of implementation resource constraints. For example, the set of implementation resource constraints may include constraints on virtual resource density and / or distribution of virtual resources, constraints on dedicated implementation resources, including certain types of implementation resources dedicated to customer virtual resources, and geographic placement Constraints related to implementation resource attributes such as In step 1110, a set of implementation resources needed to implement the virtual resource requested in step 1108 can be determined. For example, the resource allocation component 1008 determines a required set of implementation resources based at least in part on one or more parameters and / or attributes of a virtual resource provisioning request that includes the set of implementation resource constraints. May be.

  In step 1112, it can be determined whether the set of required implementation resources determined in step 1110 is available. For example, the resource allocation component 1008 tracks the availability of implementation resources in the general pool 702 (FIG. 7) and the dedicated pools 704, 706, and the implementations available to the set of required implementation resources. It may be compared with the resource inventory. If each of the set of required implementation resources is available, the procedure incorporating step 1112 can proceed to step 1114. Otherwise, the procedure may proceed to step 1116, where an availability issue may be reported to the other party who sent the provisioning request received at step 1108.

  In step 1114, the set of required implementation resources can be allocated. For example, resource allocation component 1008 (FIG. 10) can update available implementation resource inventory and transition implementation resources between pools 702-706 (FIG. 7) as needed. The resource allocation component 1008 can select among available implementation resources according to the set of implementation resource constraints. For example, the resource allocation component 1008 can select an implementation resource with a geographic separation that satisfies a constraint that specifies the target geographic separation. If the set of implementation resource constraints includes a constraint that specifies and / or references a virtual resource distribution goal, the resource allocation component 1008 invokes the selection of the distribution component 1016 according to the virtual resource distribution goal and / or the implementation resource. Can be reassigned. If the set of required implementation resources includes dedicated implementation resources, the distribution component 1016 can further increase the virtual resource density while taking into account the implementation resource virtual resource capacity and / or the virtual resource distribution goal. You may try.

  In step 1118, the requested virtual resource can be provisioned with the set of required implementation resources allocated in step 1114. For example, upon receiving a notification from the resource allocation component 1008 that the resource allocation of step 1114 was successful, the provisioning interface 1004 can generate an appropriate provisioning workflow.

  FIG. 12 depicts example steps for determining availability of implementation resources according to at least one embodiment. In step 1202, the next (eg, first) implementation resource to be checked for availability may be selected from a set of required implementation resources. For example, resource allocation component 1008 (FIG. 10) can select the next implementation resource from the set of required implementation resources determined in step 1110 of FIG. At step 1204, a determination may be made as to whether the selected implementation resource assignment violates one or more resource assignment business policies of the virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2). For example, the business policy enforcement component 1014 can evaluate selected implementation resource assignments for the set of resource assignment business policies. In this example described with reference to FIG. 12, step 1204 is performed for each implementation resource in the set of required implementation resources. Alternatively, or in addition, the determination of step 1204 can be performed once for the entire set of required implementation resources.

  At step 1206, an attempt may be made to allocate the implementation resources selected at step 1202 ("pre-allocation check"). For example, the resource allocation component 1008 (FIG. 10) may search the appropriate implementation resource pools 702-706 (FIG. 7) for unassigned implementation resources of a type that matches the selected implementation resource. . The actual assignment may be delayed (eg, to step 1114 in FIG. 11) to guarantee an atomic assignment transaction (in the database theory sense). Alternatively, partial assignments can be allowed if possible, and / or step 1206 can assign selected implementation resources. At step 1208, a determination can be made as to whether the assignment attempt of step 1206 was successful. If successful, the procedure incorporating step 1208 can proceed to step 1210. Otherwise, the procedure proceeds to one or more steps not shown in FIG. 12 (eg, step 1116 of FIG. 11) with a state 1212 indicating that at least one implementation resource is not available. it can.

  In step 1210, a determination can be made as to whether there are more implementation resources to be checked in the set of required implementation resources. If so, the procedure can proceed to step 1202. If not, the procedure may include one or more steps not shown in FIG. 12 (eg, steps of FIG. 11) with a state 1214 indicating that each of the set of required implementation resources is available. 1114).

  FIG. 13 depicts example steps for assigning and / or attempting to assign implementation resources according to at least one embodiment. For example, the steps of FIG. 13 can be incorporated into step 1112 or step 1114 of FIG. 11 and / or step 1206 of FIG. In step 1302, it can be determined whether the allocated implementation resources (“assignment candidates”) are allocated from a particular dedicated implementation resource pool. For example, the set of implementation resources determined in step 1110 of FIG. 11 may include a set of implementation resources allocated from the dedicated implementation resource pool 706 of FIG. And / or resource allocation component 1008 (FIG. 10) may include one or more dedicated implementation resource constraints associated with the virtual resource provisioning request received at step 1108 of FIG. Can be identified. If the assignment candidate is assigned from one of the dedicated implementation resource pools 704-706, the procedure incorporating step 1302 can proceed to step 1304. If not, the procedure can proceed to step 1306.

  In step 1306, a determination can be made as to whether implementation resources that match the allocation candidates are available (eg, not allocated) in the general implementation resource pool 702 (FIG. 7). For example, the resource allocation component 1008 (FIG. 10) can search the general implementation resource pool 702 for unallocated implementation resources of a type that matches the allocation candidates. If assignment candidates are available in the general implementation resource pool 702, the procedure can proceed to step 1308. Otherwise, the procedure may proceed to one or more steps not shown in FIG. 13 with a state 1310 indicating that no assignment candidate has been assigned, eg, step 1116 of FIG. In step 1308, assignment candidates can be assigned from a general implementation resource pool 702. For example, the resource allocation component 1008 (FIG. 10) may be a virtual resource associated with the general pool 702 implementation resource found in step 1306 (eg, a virtual resource associated with the provisioning request in step 1108 of FIG. 11). Can be recorded as assigned.

  At step 1304, a determination can be made as to whether an implementation resource that matches the allocation candidate is available in the particular dedicated implementation resource pool determined in step 1302 (“candidate dedicated pool”). For example, the resource allocation component 1008 (FIG. 10) can search the dedicated mounting resource pool 706 (FIG. 7) for unassigned mounting resources of a type that matches the allocation candidates. If the allocation candidate is available in the candidate-only pool, the procedure can proceed to step 1312. If not, the procedure can proceed to step 1314. In step 1312, assignment candidates can be assigned from a candidate dedicated pool. For example, resource allocation component 1008 can record the dedicated pool 706 implemented resource found in step 1304 as being allocated to the associated virtual resource.

  If it is determined that the allocation candidate is not currently available in the candidate-only pool, then in step 1314, it can be further determined whether the candidate-only pool is expandable. For example, the dedicated resource pool component 1012 (FIG. 10) may check the associated cost plan (s) 1022 and / or request an evaluation of the expansion of the candidate dedicated pool by the business policy enforcement component 1014. it can. If the candidate private pool is expandable, the procedure can proceed to step 1316; otherwise, the procedure is not shown in FIG. 13 with state 1310 indicating that no assignment candidate was assigned. One can proceed to more than one step, eg, step 1116 of FIG.

  In step 1316, as described above for example in step 1306, a determination can be made as to whether a mounting resource that matches the allocation candidate is available in the general mounting resource pool 702 (FIG. 7). If so, the procedure can proceed to step 1318. Otherwise, the procedure may proceed to one or more steps not shown in FIG. 13 with a state 1310 indicating that no assignment candidate has been assigned, eg, step 1116 of FIG. In step 1318, the implementation resources found in step 1316 can be transitioned to a candidate-only pool (and / or a transition can be initiated). For example, the dedicated resource pool component 1012 may request the pool transition component 1018 to transition the general pool 702 implementation resource found at step 1316. The transitioned implementation resources can be allocated as described above for step 1312. If the steps of FIG. 13 are performed as part of a pre-allocation check, steps 1308, 1312 and 1318 may be omitted and / or correspond to a “resource available” state.

  The set of implementation resources determined in step 1110 of FIG. 11 may include a set of implementation resources allocated from a dedicated implementation resource pool that does not yet exist at that time. In this case, the dedicated resource pool component 1012 (FIG. 10) can establish a new dedicated implementation resource pool that includes the set of implementation resources to be allocated. FIG. 14 depicts example steps for establishing a dedicated implementation resource pool in accordance with at least one embodiment. In step 1402, a request to establish a new dedicated implementation resource pool ("new dedicated pool request") can be received. For example, the dedicated resource pool component 1012 can receive a request in response to the virtual resource provisioning request of step 1108 of FIG.

  In step 1404, a new dedicated pool request can be mapped to a set of implementation resources. The new dedicated pool request can clearly specify a set of implementation resources to be added to the new dedicated implementation resource pool. Alternatively, or in addition, a new dedicated pool request can specify a set of virtual resources to be implemented with a dedicated implementation resource, and the dedicated resource pool component 1012 (FIG. 10) A resource can be mapped to its set of implementation resources.

  In step 1406, a new dedicated pool request can be evaluated with respect to the set of resource allocation business policies, for example, by business policy enforcement component 1014 (FIG. 10). At step 1408, a determination may be made as to whether the new dedicated pool request follows the set of resource allocation business policies based at least in part on the evaluation of step 1406. If so, the procedure incorporating step 1408 can proceed to step 1410. If not, at step 1412 the problem can be reported to the requestor.

  In step 1410, a determination is made as to whether the set of implementation resources obtained in step 1404 is available in the general implementation resource pool 702 (FIG. 2), eg, as described above for step 1316 of FIG. be able to. If so, the procedure can proceed to step 1414. If not, the procedure can proceed to step 1412 to report the problem to the requestor. In step 1414, a new dedicated implementation resource pool can be added to the set of dedicated implementation resource pools 704-706 (FIG. 7), for example by the dedicated resource pool component 1012 (FIG. 10). In step 1416, the set of implementation resources identified as available in the general implementation resource pool 702 can be transitioned to a new dedicated implementation resource pool.

  As described above with reference to FIG. 10, a dedicated implementation resource pool can be established with an inactive dedicated implementation resource buffer. FIG. 15 depicts example steps for maintaining an inactive dedicated implementation resource buffer in accordance with at least one embodiment. In step 1502, dedicated pool usage data can be collected. For example, the pool usage component 1020 can monitor the level of activity and / or inactivity in the dedicated implementation resource pool 706 (FIG. 7). In step 1504, subsequent use of the dedicated pool can be predicted based at least in part on the dedicated pool usage data collected in step 1502, for example, by the pool usage component 1020.

  At step 1506, a determination can be made as to whether the current inactive dedicated implementation resource buffer is sufficient. For example, the pool usage component 1020 may compare the inactivity predicted level in the dedicated implementation resource pool 706 (FIG. 7) with the inactivity target level and / or the minimum inactivity buffer threshold for the dedicated implementation resource pool 706. Can do. If the current buffer is sufficient (eg, the predicted level of inactivity meets or exceeds the minimum inactivity buffer threshold), the procedure incorporating step 1506 may proceed to step 1508. Otherwise, the procedure can proceed to step 1510. In step 1510, one or more implementation resources can be transitioned from the general implementation resource pool 702 (eg, from a reserved portion 708 of the general implementation resource pool 702) to a dedicated implementation resource pool 706. . For example, the pool usage component 1020 can request the pool transition component 1018 to transition sufficient implementation resources to the dedicated implementation resource pool 706 so that the prediction buffer is sufficient.

  In step 1508, a determination may be made as to whether the current inactive dedicated implementation resource buffer is excessive. For example, the pool usage component 1020 compares the predicted inactivity level in the dedicated implementation resource pool 706 (FIG. 7) with the target level of inactivity and / or the maximum inactivity buffer threshold for the dedicated implementation resource pool 706. Can do. If the current buffer is excessive (eg, the predicted level of inactivity exceeds the maximum inactivity buffer threshold), the procedure can proceed to step 1512. If not, the procedure can proceed to step 1502 to collect more data. In step 1512, one or more implementation resources can be transitioned from a dedicated implementation resource pool 706 to a general implementation resource pool 702 (eg, to a reserved portion 708 of the general implementation resource pool 702). . For example, the pool usage component 1020 can allocate sufficient implementation resources to the pool transition component 1018 for the general implementation resource pool so that the predicted level of inactivity corresponds to the target level of inactivity for the dedicated implementation resource pool 706. A transition to 706 can be requested.

  Costs associated with maintaining provisioned virtual resources are presented to the customer responsible for virtual resource provider 206 (FIG. 2) according to a cost presentation schedule specified by the administrator and / or customer of virtual resource provider 206. Can be done. FIG. 16 depicts example steps for tracking costs according to at least one embodiment. In step 1602, a set of virtual resources can be maintained for a period of time. For example, the virtual resource provider 206 can maintain a set of virtual resources 212 for a particular customer during that period.

  In step 1604, one or more active implemented resource usages corresponding to the set of virtual resources maintained in step 1602 can be determined. For example, the accounting component 1010 of FIG. 10 can determine the number of active resource hours associated with each of the set of virtual resources during the period. In step 1606, one or more inactive implemented resource usages corresponding to the set of virtual resources maintained in step 1602 can be determined. For example, the accounting component 1010 can determine the number of inactive resource hours associated with each of the set of virtual resources during the period.

  In step 1608, a determination may be made as to whether the set of virtual resources is associated with a set of reserved virtual resources. For example, the customer provisions the set of reserved virtual resources at the provisioning interface 1004 (FIG. 10) and / or maintains the set of reserved virtual resources at step 1602 and sets the previously provisioned set of virtual resources. Can be associated with a virtual resource. If there are reserved virtual resources associated with the set of virtual resources for which the cost has been determined, the procedure incorporating step 1608 can proceed to step 1610. If not, the procedure can proceed to step 1612. In step 1610, the set of reserved virtual resources can be mapped to one or more reserved implemented resource usage. For example, the accounting component 1010 of FIG. 10 can determine the number of reserved resource times associated with each of the set of reserved virtual resources.

  At step 1612, one or more costs may be determined according to one or more cost plans associated with the customer and / or the set of virtual resources. For example, accounting component 1010 (FIG. 10) may include cost plan (s) 1022 and / or active, inactive and / or reserved implementations determined at step 1604, step 1606 and / or step 1610, respectively. The cost (s) can be determined based at least in part on the resource usage. In step 1614, the cost (s) determined in step 1612 can be presented to the customer. For example, the accounting component 1010 can generate an offer of one or more costs accessible at the account UI 1024.

  As described above with reference to FIG. 10, the control plane 1002 can be facilitated by one or more workflows maintained by the workflow component 1006. FIG. 17 depicts example steps for a workflow according to at least one embodiment. In step 1702, the request can be received by the interface of the control plane 1002 (FIG. 10). For example, the provisioning interface 1004 and / or account UI 1024 of the control plane 1002 can receive requests from customers and / or administrators of the virtual resource provider 206. The request can be a call to a programmatic interface, such as an application programming interface (API) or web service interface, utilizing, for example, a simple object access protocol (SOAP) call. Alternatively or in addition, the request can be received via a graphical user interface (GUI), such as a web-based GUI. In step 1704, the request can be analyzed to determine one or more actions that are required to successfully complete the request. For example, the provisioning interface 208 can analyze the request and determine a set of actions required to provision a set of virtual resources. If the interface element that receives the request corresponds to a particular action to be performed, the interface can derive information from the request that is used to determine the aspect and / or parameters of the action to be performed.

  In step 1706, a request can be sent to generate a workflow based at least in part on the one or more actions determined in step 1704. For example, provisioning interface 1004 (FIG. 10) can send a request to workflow component 1006. The request to generate a workflow can include action (s), action metadata such as action type, and / or action parameters. In at least one embodiment, control plane 1002 and / or workflow component 1006 maintains a job queue for such requests and a workflow is generated that responds to new additions to the job queue. In step 1708, a workflow and one or more component tasks can be generated. For example, the workflow component 1006 can analyze the request of step 1706 to determine the appropriate workflow and component tasks to generate.

  In step 1710, execution of the component task (s) can be guided according to a workflow. For example, the workflow component 1006 (FIG. 10) can activate an interface element of the implementation resource 220 (FIG. 2) to provision the set of virtual resources. Alternatively, or in addition, the workflow component 1006 can manage a bid for execution of component task (s) by a component of the virtual resource provider 206. In step 1712, a determination can be made as to whether the workflow is complete. For example, the workflow component 1006 can determine whether the last task in the sequence of tasks managed by the workflow is complete. If so, the procedure incorporating step 1712 can proceed to step 1714. Otherwise, the procedure can return to step 1710 for the next task and / or task sequence. A workflow can lead to multiple task sequences that are executed in parallel. In this case, the workflow may not be completed until each of the plurality of task sequences is completed and / or a clear workflow end flag is set by one of the component tasks. In step 1714, the source of the request in step 1702 can be notified of the action (s) result (s).

  Various embodiments described herein may include one or more user computers, computing devices, or processing devices that may be utilized to operate any number of applications in certain cases. It may be implemented in a wide variety of operating environments. User or client devices can be desktop or laptop computers running standard operating systems, as well as mobile software and capable of supporting multiple networks and messaging protocols, such as cellular, wireless, and handheld devices, Any of a number of general purpose personal computers may be included. Such a system may also include a number of workstations running various commercial operating systems and other known applications for purposes such as development and database management. These devices may also include other electronic devices, such as dummy terminals, thin clients, game consoles, and other devices capable of communicating over a network.

  Most embodiments are well known to those skilled in the art by supporting communications using any of a variety of commercially available protocols such as TCP / IP, OSI, FTP, UPnP, NFS, CIFS, and AppleTalk. Use at least one network. Such networks may include, for example, local area networks, wide area networks, virtual private networks, the Internet, intranets, extranets, public switched telephone networks, infrared networks, wireless networks, and combinations thereof. The network may further incorporate any suitable network topology. Examples of suitable network topologies include, but are not limited to, simple point-to-point, star topologies, self-organizing peer-to-peer topologies, and combinations thereof.

  In embodiments utilizing a web server, the web server may run any of a variety of servers or middle tier applications, including HTTP servers, FTP servers, CGI servers, data servers, Java servers, and business application servers. Good. The server (s) can also be written in any programming language such as, for example, Java, C, C #, or C ++, or any scripting language such as Perl, Python, or TCL, and combinations thereof. There may be the ability to execute a program or script in response to a request from a user device by executing one or more web applications that can be implemented as one or more scripts or programs. Server (s) may also include database servers including, but not limited to, commercially available from Oracle (R), Microsoft (R), Sybase (R), and IBM (R). Good.

  The environment may include various data stores and other memories and storage media as described above. These may reside in various locations, for example, local to (and / or within) one or more of the computers, or on remote storage media from some or all of the computers across the network. . In a particular set of embodiments, the information may reside in a storage area network (“SAN”) that is well known to those skilled in the art. Similarly, any necessary files for performing functions attributable to a computer, server, or other network device may be stored locally and / or remotely as desired. Where the system includes computerized devices, each such device may include hardware elements that may be electrically coupled via a bus, such as at least one of the elements A central processing unit (CPU), at least one input device (eg, mouse, keyboard, controller, touch screen, or keypad) and at least one output device (eg, screen device, printer, or speaker) may be mentioned. Such systems also include one or more storage devices, eg, solid state storage devices such as disk drives, optical storage devices, random access memory (“RAM”) or read only memory (“ROM”), and removable. Media devices, memory cards, flash cards, etc. may be included.

  Such devices may also include a computer readable storage media reader, a communication device (eg, a modem, a network card (wireless or wired), an infrared communication device, etc.), and a working memory, as described above. Computer-readable storage media readers represent remote, local, fixed, and / or removable storage devices and storage media for storing, storing, transmitting, and reading computer-readable information temporarily and / or more permanently May be connected to or receive a computer-readable storage medium. The system and various devices also typically include program modules, services, or other elements located within at least one working memory device that includes an operating system and application programs such as client applications or web browsers. It will contain a number of software application modules. It should be understood that alternative embodiments may have a number of variations from the above. For example, customized hardware is also available and / or certain elements may be implemented in hardware, software (including portable software such as applets), or both. In addition, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, can also be employed.

  Storage media and computer readable media for containing code or portions of code may be, for example, RAM, ROM, EEPROM, flash memory or other memory technology, CD-ROM, digital versatile disc (DVD) or other optical storage Computer readable instructions, including magnetic cassettes, magnetic tape, magnetic disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or any other medium accessible in the system device that may be utilized to store desired information , Volatile and non-volatile media, removable or non-removable media implemented in any method or technique for storing and / or transmitting information, such as data structures, program modules, or other data Including, but not limited to, storage media and communication media It may include any suitable medium that known or used in the art. Program modules, program components, and / or program objects may include computer-readable instructions and / or computer-executable instructions in and / or corresponding to any suitable computer programming language. In at least one embodiment, each computer readable medium may be tangible. In at least one embodiment, each computer readable medium may be non-transitory in time. Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, one of ordinary skill in the art will recognize other ways and / or methods for implementing the various embodiments.

  The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative sense rather than a restrictive sense. However, it will be apparent that various modifications and changes may be made thereto without departing from the broad spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the claims.

  Use of the terms “one (a)” and “one (a)” and “the” and similar directives in the context of describing embodiments (particularly in the context of the following claims) Is intended to include both the singular and the plural unless specifically stated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. The terms “comprising”, “having”, “including” and “containing”, unless stated otherwise, are open-ended terms (ie, including “ Meaning "not limited"). The term “connected” is partly or completely contained in (˜), attached to (˜), even if there is something in between. ) Or joined to each other. The recitation of value ranges herein is merely intended to serve as a simple way to indicate each distinct value that falls within the range, and unless otherwise indicated herein, each Separate values are incorporated herein as individually listed herein. All methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. Use of any and all examples, or exemplary language provided herein (eg, “such as”) is merely intended to better describe the embodiment and is not claimed. As long as it does not limit the scope of the present invention. No language in the specification should be construed as indicating any non-claimed element as essential to the implementation of at least one embodiment.

  Preferred embodiments are described herein, including the best mode known to the inventors. Variations on those preferred embodiments will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the foregoing description. The inventors anticipate that those skilled in the art will use such variations as appropriate, and that the inventors may configure the embodiments in a manner different from that specifically described herein. Intended. Accordingly, suitable embodiments include all modifications and equivalents of the subject matter recited in the claims appended hereto as permitted by applicable law. Moreover, any combination of the above-described elements in all possible variations thereof is intended to be incorporated into some suitable embodiments unless otherwise indicated herein or otherwise clearly contradicted by context. .

  All references, including publications, patent applications, and patents, cited in this specification are hereby specifically incorporated by reference with reference to each individual reference and are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. To the same extent as described therein, it is incorporated herein by reference.

  Appendix 1. A computer-implemented method for tracking the cost of a virtual resource, the plurality of virtual resources associated with a plurality of customers under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions A set of at least one implementation resource that can be allocated as a unit of implementation resource allocation, including at least one implementation resource dedicated to a virtual resource of a set of customers of the plurality of customers Maintaining a virtual resource implemented by an implementation resource with a virtual resource provider having the plurality of customers, and at least a first implementation resource allocation unit among the at least one implementation resource allocated to the implementation of the virtual resource Determining active resource usage corresponding to Determining inactive resource usage corresponding to at least a second implementation resource allocation unit among the at least one implementation resource that is not allocated because it is at least partially dedicated to the set of customer virtual resources; Determining at least one cost of the virtual resource based at least in part on the active resource usage and the inactive resource usage, and for the set of customers, the virtual resource Providing a presentation of the at least one cost of the computer-implemented method.

  Appendix 2. Further comprising dedicating the at least one implementation resource at least in part by transitioning the at least one implementation resource from a general implementation resource pool to a dedicated implementation resource pool associated with the set of customers. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein

  Appendix 3. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the implemented resources in the general implemented resource pool at least partially implement a plurality of virtual resources of the plurality of customers of the virtual resource provider.

  Appendix 4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the virtual resource includes at least one of a virtual computer system, a virtual data store, and a virtual private network.

  Appendix 5. The at least one implementation resource includes a storage device, a physical server, a server rack, a data center, a physically secure portion of the data center, a portion of the data center monitored for physical access, mobile data The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising at least one of a center, a network switch, a network connection, a wireless network transmitter, and a wireless network receiver.

  Appendix 6. Each of the implementation resource allocation units includes the storage device, the physical server, the server rack, the data center, the physically secure portion of the data center, and the data center monitored for physical access. The computer-implemented implementation of claim 5, corresponding to a unit of capacity of at least one of the portion, the mobile data center, the network switch, the network connection, the wireless network transmitter, and the wireless network receiver. Way.

  Appendix 7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the unit of capacity of the physical server corresponds to a standard virtual computer system unit, and the physical server has a capacity greater than one standard virtual computer system unit. .

  Appendix 8. The computer-implemented method according to appendix 1, wherein the resource usage corresponds to a multiplicative product of an implemented resource allocation unit and a time unit.

  Appendix 9. A computer-implemented method for tracking the cost of a virtual resource that implements multiple virtual resources associated with multiple customers under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions At least partially implemented by at least one implementation resource that is dedicated to the virtual resource of a set of customers of the plurality of customers of the virtual resource provider Maintaining a virtual resource, determining an inactive resource usage corresponding to at least one unassigned portion of the at least one implementation resource, and at least partially in the inactive resource usage Determining at least one cost of the virtual resource based on Comprising providing a display of the at least one cost virtual resources to the set of clients, the computer-implemented method.

  Appendix 10. Determining the at least one cost of the virtual resource determines a first cost based at least in part on active resource usage corresponding to at least one assigned portion of the at least one implemented resource. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, comprising: determining a second cost based at least in part on the inactive resource usage.

  Appendix 11. The first cost is a multiplicative product of an active implementation resource cost rate and the active resource usage, and the second cost is an inactive implementation resource cost rate and the inactive resource usage. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, which is a multiplicative product with the quantity.

  Appendix 12. Determining the at least one cost of the virtual resource of the set of customers is an active corresponding to the inactive resource usage and at least one assigned portion of the at least one implemented resource. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, comprising determining a cost based at least in part on the resource usage.

  Appendix 13. The computer-implemented method of claim 12, wherein determining the cost includes determining an active implementation resource cost rate that is adjusted for a corresponding time period.

  Appendix 14. Determining the at least one cost of the virtual resource is an active implementation resource that is adjusted based at least in part on active and inactive resource usage corresponding to a plurality of implementation resources of the virtual resource provider The computer-implemented method of claim 9, comprising determining a cost rate.

  Appendix 15. The adjusted active implementation resource cost rate is based at least in part on a ratio of average inactive resource usage to average active resource usage for the plurality of implementation resources. Computer-implemented method.

  Appendix 16. A computer-implemented method for tracking the cost of a virtual resource, active on an implementation resource dedicated to a virtual resource provider customer under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions Associated with at least one expense plan associated with a set of resource allocation business policies that includes at least one resource allocation business policy that inhibits a high ratio of inactive implementation resource utilization to active implementation resource utilization Receiving a request indicating that the virtual resource is at least partially implemented with at least one implementation resource dedicated to a set of customers of the virtual resource provider to provision the virtual resource; And the virtual When a source is implemented by a set of implementation resources that includes the at least one implementation resource, checking that the set of resource allocation business policies is satisfied, and the set of implementation resources to the virtual resource Provisioning the virtual resource with the set of implementation resources at least in part by assigning, determining at least one cost of the virtual resource according to the at least one cost plan, and the at least one of the virtual resources Presenting a cost to the set of customers.

  Appendix 17. The request specifies a target distribution of a plurality of virtual resources across a plurality of implementation resources dedicated to the set of customers, the plurality of virtual resources including the virtual resource, and the at least one resource allocation business The computer-implemented method of claim 16, wherein the policy specifies at least one distribution limit that is targeted by the target distribution of implementation.

  Appendix 18. The at least one cost plan is for a provisioned virtual resource of the same type, wherein the at least one cost of the virtual resource is at least partially implemented with one or more implementation resources dedicated to the set of customers. The computer-implemented method of claim 16 that specifies that the number is based at least in part.

  Appendix 19. A computerized system for tracking virtual resource costs, wherein a plurality of implemented resources capable of collectively implementing a plurality of virtual resources associated with a plurality of customers of a virtual resource provider; Enabling a customer to make a request to provision the virtual resource, including a request indicating that the virtual resource is implemented with an implementation resource dedicated to a set of customers of the plurality of customers. A provisioning interface and an implementation resource allocation component, at least configured to include at least one of the plurality of implementation resources dedicated to at least the set of customers of the plurality of customers. Maintain at least one dedicated implementation resource pool, as well as Configured to allocate at least some of the implementation resources in the plurality of implementation resources to implement the requested virtual resource including selecting an implementation resource from the at least one dedicated implementation resource pool as shown An implementation resource allocation component and a cost tracking component, at least corresponding to at least one allocated portion of at least one implementation resource selected from the at least one dedicated implementation resource pool Determining resource usage, determining inactive resource usage corresponding to at least one unassigned portion of the at least one implementation resource selected from the at least one dedicated implementation resource pool, and the at least One At least one cost of at least one virtual resource that is at least partially implemented with the at least one implementation resource selected from the implementation resource pool for the active resource usage and the inactive resource usage A cost tracking component configured to determine the at least one cost based at least in part, and at least to present the at least one cost of the at least one virtual resource to the set of customers A computerized system comprising a configured user interface component.

  Appendix 20. The implementation resource allocation component includes at least one reserved resource including at least one of the plurality of implementation resources available for allocation to the plurality of customer virtual resources including the set of customers having priority. At least further configured to maintain an implementation resource pool, the cost tracking component for the set of customers, of the plurality of implementation resources in the at least one reserved implementation resource pool. Appendix 19 further comprising at least further configured to determine a reserved resource usage corresponding to at least one, wherein the at least one cost is further based at least in part on the reserved resource usage. The computerized system described.

  Appendix 21. Determining the at least one cost of the at least one virtual resource includes determining a first cost based at least in part on the reserved resource usage, and determining the reserved resource usage. Modifying the active and inactive resource usage based at least in part, and determining at least a second cost based at least in part on the modified active and inactive resource usage The computerized system according to claim 20, comprising:

  Appendix 22. One or more computer-readable media collectively having computer-executable instructions on the computer-readable medium, wherein the computer-executable instructions collectively include one or more computers, at least of a virtual resource provider. A virtual resource implemented by a set of implementation resources including at least one implementation resource capable of at least partially implementing each of a plurality of virtual resources associated with a plurality of customers, At least one associated with a set of resource allocation business policies including at least one resource allocation business policy configured to inhibit a high ratio of inactive implementation resource utilization to active implementation resource utilization; Cost plastic A request for provisioning virtual resources, wherein one or more of the virtual resources is at least a portion of at least one dedicated implementation resource dedicated to a set of customers of the plurality of customers. The cost of the provisioned virtual resource to provision the requested virtual resource when the set of resource allocation business policies is satisfied to receive a request that can be shown to be implemented One or more computer-readable media configured to determine a value according to the at least one cost plan and to provide an indication of the cost of the provisioned virtual resource.

  Appendix 23. The at least one resource allocation business policy is such that when the requested virtual resource is at least partially implemented with the at least one dedicated implementation resource, the number of requested virtual resources is a minimum of the requested virtual resources. 24. One or more computer readable media as set forth in appendix 22, wherein the one or more computer readable media specifies that it is not less than a number.

  Appendix 24. 23. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 22, wherein the at least one cost plan specifies at least one cost corresponding to dedicating the at least one dedicated implementation resource.

  Appendix 25. 23. One or more computer readable media as recited in claim 22, wherein the at least one cost plan specifies at least one cost corresponding to returning the at least one dedicated implementation resource to a general implementation resource pool.

  Appendix 26. A computer-implemented method of provisioning virtual resources, incorporating at least one information barrier under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions, and to multiple customers A request to provision a required virtual resource having an associated set of implementation resources including at least one implementation resource capable of implementing a plurality of associated virtual resources after the at least one information barrier. Request having an associated set of implementation resource constraints including at least one dedicated implementation resource constraint that specifies that the at least one implementation resource is dedicated to the set of customer virtual resources. At least one of a set of customers of the provider Receiving at the control plane of the virtual resource provider having the plurality of customers and dedicating the at least one implementation resource to the set of customer virtual resources according to the at least one dedicated implementation resource constraint Establishing at least one information barrier between the set of customers and other customers of the virtual resource provider, and implementing the set of assignments including the at least one implementation resource Provisioning the requested virtual resource at least in part by assigning a resource to the virtual resource.

  Addendum 27. Appendix 26. Dedicating the at least one implementation resource includes transitioning the at least one implementation resource from a general implementation resource pool to a dedicated implementation resource pool associated with the set of customers. The computer-implemented method described.

  Appendix 28. 27. The computer-implemented method of clause 26, wherein the at least one information barrier corresponds at least in part to a physical separation of the at least one implementation resource from other implementation resources of the virtual resource provider.

  Appendix 29 A computer-implemented method for provisioning virtual resources, wherein the at least one is dedicated to a set of customers of a virtual resource provider under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions. An implementation resource that incorporates at least one information barrier and that at least partially implements a plurality of virtual resources associated with a plurality of customers of the virtual resource provider after the at least one information barrier. A request indicating that a virtual resource is at least partially implemented with at least one implemented resource, the request being for provisioning the virtual resource; and a set dedicated to the set of customers Identify unassigned implementation resources and assign the set Checking that unassigned implementation resources include the at least one implementation resource, and assigning the at least one implementation resource from the set of implementation resources dedicated to the set of customers to the virtual resource Provisioning the virtual resource at least in part, so that at least in part the at least one information barrier is established between the set of customers of the virtual resource provider and other customers; Including a computer-implemented method.

  Appendix 30 Appendix 29 to Appendix 29, establishing the at least one information barrier reduces the likelihood that at least one of the other customers of the virtual resource provider will have access to unpublished information about the virtual resource. The computer-implemented method described.

  Addendum 31. The at least one implementation resource is at least partially transferred from the virtual resource provider's general implementation resource pool to a dedicated implementation resource pool associated with the set of customers. The computer-implemented method of claim 29, further comprising dedicating to a set of customers.

  Appendix 32. The computer-implemented method of claim 31, wherein the dedicating is predictive based at least in part on a prediction request for the virtual resource by the set of customers.

  Addendum 33. Transitioning the at least one implementation resource from the general implementation resource pool to a dedicated implementation resource pool includes executing an implementation resource transition procedure specified by at least one of the set of customers. 32. The computer-implemented method according to appendix 31.

  Appendix 34. 34. The computer-implemented method of clause 33, wherein at least one of the set of customers selects the implemented resource transition procedure from a plurality of implemented resource transition procedures provided by the virtual resource provider.

  Appendix 35. 34. The computer-implemented method of claim 33, wherein the implementation resource transition procedure reduces the amount of remaining information associated with the activity of the at least one implementation resource during the general implementation resource pool. .

  Appendix 36. The computer-implemented method of clause 29, wherein at least one of the set of customers makes the request at the virtual resource provider's web-based interface.

  Addendum 37. The computer-implemented method of clause 29, wherein the virtual resource comprises at least one of a virtual computer system, a virtual data store, and a virtual private network.

  Addendum 38. The at least one implementation resource includes a storage device, a physical server, a server rack, a physically secure portion of a data center, a portion of a data center monitored for physical access, a data center, a mobile data center, 34. The computer implemented method of clause 29, comprising at least one of a network switch, a network connection, a wireless network transmitter, and a wireless network receiver.

  Addendum 39. A computer-implemented method for provisioning a virtual resource, the virtual resources associated with a plurality of customers of the virtual resource provider under the control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions Maintaining a general implementation resource pool that includes at least one general implementation resource configured to implement at least in part, and dedicated to the plurality of customer sub-sets of the virtual resource provider An implementation constraint that specifies that a dedicated implementation resource pool including at least one dedicated implementation resource is maintained and that the virtual resource is at least partially implemented with at least one implementation resource derived from the dedicated implementation resource pool; An associated request, said virtual resource Receiving the request to provision and provisioning the virtual resource at least in part by assigning the at least one dedicated implementation resource to the virtual resource in response to the request. Method.

  APPENDIX 40 Maintaining the dedicated implementation resource pool means transitioning the implementation resource from the general implementation resource pool to the dedicated implementation resource pool when the inactivity level of the dedicated implementation resource pool is less than a first threshold. 40. The computer implemented method of claim 39, comprising:

  Appendix 41. Maintaining the dedicated implementation resource pool means transitioning an implementation resource from the dedicated implementation resource pool to the general implementation resource pool when the inactivity level of the dedicated implementation resource pool is greater than a second threshold. 41. The computer implemented method of claim 40, further comprising:

  Appendix 42. The computer-implemented embodiment of claim 39, wherein maintaining the dedicated implementation resource pool includes transitioning implementation resources based at least in part on an activity level derivative associated with the dedicated implementation resource pool. Method.

  Appendix 43. Provisioning the virtual resource with the at least one dedicated implementation resource establishes, at least in part, an information barrier between the plurality of customers and other customers of the sub-set of the virtual resource provider. 40. The computer-implemented method of appendix 39.

  Appendix 44. Provisioning the virtual resource with the at least one dedicated implementation resource may cause at least one of the other customers of the virtual resource provider to make an authorized modification to data associated with the virtual resource. 44. The computer-implemented method of appendix 43 that reduces the likelihood of being able to do so.

  Appendix 45. Provisioning the virtual resource with the at least one dedicated implementation resource is a performance metric associated with the virtual resource associated with at least one virtual resource provisioned with the at least one general implementation resource. 40. The computer-implemented method of appendix 39, wherein:

  Appendix 46. The provisioning 39., wherein provisioning the virtual resource with the dedicated implementation resource isolates the virtual resource at least in part from at least one operational failure that occurs with the at least one general implementation resource. Computer-implemented method.

  Appendix 47. A computerized system for provisioning virtual resources, wherein a plurality of implemented resources capable of collectively implementing a plurality of virtual resources associated with a plurality of customers of a virtual resource provider; A provisioning interface configured to allow at least a request to provision a virtual resource, and tracking the allocation of the plurality of implemented resources to the plurality of virtual resources and modifying the allocation in response to the request An implementation resource allocation component configured at least as described above, wherein the request includes at least one information barrier of at least one of the plurality of implementation resources of at least one of the plurality of customers. Dedicated to the customer, The at least one virtual resource requested by the at least one customer when the request indicates that at least one virtual resource is at least partially implemented with a dedicated implementation resource for the at least one customer. Establishing at least one information barrier between the at least one customer and other customers of the virtual resource provider at least in part by assigning the at least one of the plurality of implemented resources to A computerized system comprising: an implementation resource allocation component comprising:

Appendix 48. The implementation resource allocation component is at least the plurality of implementation resources dedicated to the at least one customer, each implementation resource having a virtual resource implementation capacity and a current level of allocation to a virtual resource implementation. The dedicated implementation resource having a maximum current level of the allocation to maintain a dedicated implementation resource pool including at least two of the implementation resources and when the allocation does not exceed the virtual resource implementation capacity of the implementation resource To allocate the at least one virtual resource requested by the at least one customer to an implementation resource in a pool;
48. The computerized system according to appendix 47, further configured.

  Appendix 49. The implementation resource allocation component is the dedicated resource having a lower current level of allocation when movement does not exceed the virtual resource implementation capacity of the implemented resource in the dedicated implementation resource pool having a higher current level of allocation. 49. The computerized system of clause 48, further configured to move virtual resources from a mounting resource in the mounting resource pool to a mounting resource in the dedicated mounting resource pool that has a higher current level of allocation.

  Appendix 50. One or more computer-readable media collectively having computer-executable instructions on the computer-readable medium, wherein the computer-executable instructions collectively include one or more computers, at least of a virtual resource provider. At least one implementation resource that is dedicated to at least one of the plurality of customers and includes at least one implementation resource that incorporates at least one information barrier A request to provision at least one virtual resource to maintain a plurality of implementation resource pools, wherein the at least one virtual resource is at least a portion of the at least one implementation resource in the at least one dedicated implementation resource pool Implemented Receiving at least a request associated with at least a first implementation constraint that specifies that, and in response to the request, assigning the at least one implementation resource to the at least one virtual resource Provisioning the at least one virtual resource to at least partially establish the at least one information barrier between the at least one customer and other customers of the virtual resource provider; One or more computer-readable media comprising.

  Appendix 51. The at least one virtual resource includes a plurality of virtual resources, and the request is a second implementation constraint that specifies a target implementation distribution of the plurality of virtual resources across a plurality of implementation resources in the at least one dedicated implementation resource pool. At least further associated, and the provisioning includes allocating the plurality of virtual resources to the plurality of implementation resources such that a ratio of allocated virtual resources to implementation resources does not exceed the target implementation distribution; 51. One or more computer readable media as described in appendix 50.

  Appendix 52. The request is at least further associated with a third implementation constraint that specifies a target geographic separation of the plurality of implementation resources, and the provisioning includes at least two of the plurality of implementation resources at least the target geographic separation. 52. The one or more computer readable media of clause 51, further comprising assigning the plurality of virtual resources to the plurality of implementation resources so that they are separated by a geographic distance of the plurality of implementations.

Claims (13)

A computer-implemented method for tracking the cost of virtual resources,
Under control of one or more computer systems configured with executable instructions,
At least one implementation resource capable of implementing a plurality of virtual resources associated with a plurality of customers, wherein the at least one is dedicated to a set of customer virtual resources of the plurality of customers of the virtual resource provider Maintaining virtual resources that are at least partially implemented by one implementation resource;
Determining an inactive resource usage corresponding to at least one unassigned portion of the at least one implementation resource;
Determining at least one cost of the virtual resource based at least in part on the inactive resource usage;
Providing the set of customers with an indication of the at least one cost of the virtual resource;
Including a computer-implemented method.   Determining the at least one cost of the virtual resource determines a first cost based at least in part on active resource usage corresponding to at least one assigned portion of the at least one implemented resource. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, including determining a second cost based at least in part on the inactive resource usage.   The first cost is a multiplicative product of an active implementation resource cost rate and the active resource usage, and the second cost is an inactive implementation resource cost rate and the inactive resource usage. The computer-implemented method of claim 2, wherein the computer-implemented method is a multiplicative product with a quantity.   Determining the at least one cost of the virtual resource of the set of customers is an active corresponding to the inactive resource usage and at least one assigned portion of the at least one implemented resource. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising determining a cost based at least in part on the resource usage.   The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein determining the cost includes determining an active implementation resource cost rate that is adjusted for a corresponding time period.   Determining the at least one cost of the virtual resource is an active implementation resource that is adjusted based at least in part on active and inactive resource usage corresponding to a plurality of implementation resources of the virtual resource provider The computer-implemented method of claim 1, comprising determining a cost rate.   The adjusted active implementation resource cost rate is based at least in part on a ratio of average inactive resource usage to average active resource usage for the plurality of implementation resources. The computer-implemented method described. A computerized system for tracking virtual resource costs,
Multiple implementation resources capable of collectively implementing multiple virtual resources associated with multiple virtual resource provider customers;
Allowing the plurality of customers to request provisioning of the virtual resource, including a request indicating that the virtual resource is implemented with an implementation resource dedicated to a set of customers of the plurality of customers; A provisioning interface, at least configured to
Implementation resource allocation component, at least
Maintaining at least one dedicated implementation resource pool that includes at least one of the plurality of implementation resources dedicated to at least the set of customers of the plurality of customers, and as indicated by the request Implementation resources configured to allocate at least some of the implementation resources in the plurality of implementation resources to implement the requested virtual resource including selecting an implementation resource from at least one dedicated implementation resource pool. An assignment component;
A cost tracking component, at least,
Determining an active resource usage corresponding to at least one assigned portion of at least one implementation resource selected from the at least one dedicated implementation resource pool;
Determining inactive resource usage corresponding to at least one unassigned portion of the at least one implementation resource selected from the at least one dedicated implementation resource pool, and from the at least one dedicated implementation resource pool At least one cost of at least one virtual resource implemented at least in part with the at least one implementation resource selected, at least in part on the active resource usage and the inactive resource usage. A cost tracking component configured to determine the at least one cost based on;
A computerized system comprising: a user interface component configured at least to present the at least one cost of the at least one virtual resource to the set of customers. The implementation resource allocation component includes at least one reserved resource including at least one of the plurality of implementation resources available for allocation to the plurality of customer virtual resources including the set of customers having priority. At least further configured to maintain an implementation resource pool;
The cost tracking component may provide a reserved resource usage corresponding to the at least one of the plurality of implementation resources in the at least one reserved implementation resource pool for the set of customers. At least further configured to determine,
The computerized system of claim 8, wherein the at least one cost is further based at least in part on the reserved resource usage. Determining the at least one cost of the at least one virtual resource comprises:
Determining a first cost based at least in part on the reserved resource usage;
Modifying the active and inactive resource usage based at least in part on the reserved resource usage;
Determining at least a second cost based at least in part on the modified active and inactive resource usage;
The computerized system of claim 9, comprising: A computerized system for provisioning virtual resources,
A plurality of sharable implementation resources capable of collectively implementing a plurality of virtual resources associated with a plurality of virtual resource provider customers;
A provisioning interface configured at least to allow the plurality of customers to request provisioning of virtual resources;
An implementation resource allocation component configured to track allocation of the plurality of shareable implementation resources to the plurality of virtual resources and modify the allocation in response to the request ;
Dedicating at least one of the plurality of sharable implementation resources capable of incorporating at least one information barrier to at least one of the plurality of customers;
When the request indicates that at least one virtual resource is at least partially implemented with a dedicated implementation resource for the at least one customer, the at least one virtual resource requested by the at least one customer Establishing the at least one information barrier between the at least one customer and other customers of the virtual resource provider at least in part by assigning the at least one of the plurality of shareable implementation resources An implementation resource allocation component comprising:
A computerized system comprising: The implementation resource allocation component is at least
Is further configured to maintain a dedicated implementation resource pool, the dedicated implementation resource pool includes at least two of the at least one shared possible implementation resources plurality of which are dedicated to customer, each The implementation resource has a virtual resource implementation capacity and a current level of allocation to the virtual resource implementation capacity, and the allocation resource has a maximum current level of allocation when the allocation does not exceed the virtual resource implementation capacity of the implementation resource Assigning the at least one virtual resource requested by the at least one customer to an implementation resource in a dedicated implementation resource pool;
The computerized system of claim 11, further configured.   The implementation resource allocation component is the dedicated resource having a lower current level of allocation when movement does not exceed the virtual resource implementation capacity of the implemented resource in the dedicated implementation resource pool having a higher current level of allocation. The computerized system of claim 12, further configured to move a virtual resource from an implementation resource in the implementation resource pool to an implementation resource in the dedicated implementation resource pool having a higher current level of allocation. .

Images