JPS62202261A - Budget management method for computer system - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE:To manage the use of a system up to use results approximating a budget limit by permitting acceptance on condition that the sum of the total amount of use result values of subscribers, the forecasted amount of charge of accepted and unterminated uses, and the forecasted amount of charge of a new requirement does not exceed a forecasted limit amount of charge of use. CONSTITUTION:At the time of a limit amount of charge of use is set to contract subscription or continuation and update, this contract is registered in a management list, and a subscriber's name N and a budget limit charge M are set in parts N and M respectively. In this state, a use charge result U in the part U is zero because the subscriber does not use the system, and a forecasted use charge P in the part P is zero because job acceptance is not executed. When the subscriber N requests a new job, the acceptance is permitted on condition that the sum of the use charge result U of the corresponding subscriber, the forecasted use charge P of accepted and unterminated job, and forecasted use charge of the new job request does not exceed the budget limit charge M. Thus, the use of the system is managed up to use results approximating the budget limit.

Description

[Detailed Description of the Invention] Summary> A method for regulating the use of computer resources from exceeding the budget in the operation of a computer system in which the provision of resources is managed in the form of budget control. Using the budget limit, the confirmed actual usage amount, and the expected usage amount to be recorded for each zip reception request, the actual usage amount, the expected usage amount of the job currently being executed, and the expected usage amount of the job requested as a condition for accepting all new job requests. A system that manages reception by determining that the sum of expected usage does not exceed the budget limit.

<Industrial Application Field> The present invention relates to an operation management system for shared use of a computer system, and particularly relates to a method of managing a budget limit set in advance for each subscriber in relation to allowances or sharing of usage fees. Regarding.

<Prior art and problems> This kind of budget management is necessary, for example, in a calculation center where an upper limit (maximum limit) for the system and usage time is determined on a monthly basis and a usage contract is made with the condition that the system be used within the limit. Yes, the computing center compares the resource provision limit allowed (promised to provide) to each subscriber with the computer system's capacity limit (referred to as computer resources) and divides the computer resources to each subscriber within the frame. Business can be achieved by offering the product at a predetermined price.

It was not easy for Genmitsu to forbid people from accepting applications when they visited.

When there is a request from a subscriber to accept a job (commonly called a job) to be processed by a certain processing unit of computer, the calculation center side or the computer system side cannot know the size of the job or the amount of computer resources used. This is because they do not have any materials. Furthermore, once the job is accepted, even if the budget limit is reached during the execution of the job, it is the service provider's responsibility to unilaterally and unconditionally forcibly suspend and terminate the job.

Therefore, as a conventional budget management method, for example, a new job request is accepted based on the budget limit known as management data and the aggregated amount of actual usage values, and under the conditions that the budget limit is not exceeded. If you decide to do this, the amount that the last job protrudes will always exceed the limit,
There is the inconvenience that it is not possible to prohibit new acceptance even if the budget is exceeded for the currently running job, but on the other hand, it is better to prohibit acceptance as soon as possible with a safety factor. There may be cases where the budget is left over and the recipient may be dissatisfied.

In view of the above, the purpose of the present application is to provide a management system that can manage budgets as accurately as possible and manage usage up to actual usage that is extremely close to the budget limit.

The above problem is solved as management system operation information in the budget management control for providing computer resources to each subscriber in a computer system that is operated in a format where the usage limit is set with each subscriber and computer resources are provided. ■The contracted usage budget limit, which is prepared for each subscriber in the management memory for use; ■-The total amount of actual usage, which is updated by adding the actual value each time a job is completed, and the O-job acceptance request. In addition to preparing an area in which the expected usage amount to be recorded for each job is registered from the time the job is accepted until the end of the job, a management procedure for using this information is prepared, and as a judgment control, it is necessary to When a job request is made, the sum of the above-mentioned actual usage value aggregate amount of the subscriber, the expected usage amount of accepted and unfinished jobs, and the expected usage amount of new job requests does not exceed the usage budget limit above. This is achieved by controlling the procedure so that acceptance is permitted on the condition that

According to this tilted configuration and manual control, the center can also grasp the approximate amount of budget usage for a new job request during the session with the subscriber until the new job request is received. The management accuracy is greatly improved because the expected usage amount can be included in the calculation and compared with the usage limit. This system also allows subscribers to intentionally send a low expected usage amount. If this happens, it cannot be said that the budget limit will not be exceeded, but since this will be done at the responsibility of the subscriber, there will be no complaints against the center's management.

In addition, as described above, the center can compress the amount of computer resources it owns that must be kept (kept free) for safety against budget overruns, and The effective utilization rate of resources is improved because it can be sold and sold separately.

<Embodiment> FIG. 1 is a flowchart illustrating a determination procedure (control) in a job reception management procedure, which also serves as an illustration of the principle of the present invention. Figures 2 and 3 are supplementary explanatory diagrams of Figure 1. Figure 2 shows the types and formats of management data on the management list that is prepared on the management memory and updated and managed on the management memory. FIG. 3 is a diagram for explaining the entire final update process when the accepted job is completed when a job is accepted.

For convenience of explanation, each data stored in the management memory will be abbreviated with symbols, but first N is the unit for budget management, and each budget limit fee (for quantification, the right to use computer resources is expressed as usage fee/hour) The name of each subscriber (identification data) who has entered into a contract with a fee that is the product of usage time.
shows. M is the budget limit charge (set value) contracted with each subscriber. P indicates the expected usage fee (current amount) which is the estimated amount before the final update of the job being accepted (unfinished) from each subscriber.

Note that the subscriber reports this along with the job acceptance request. Interact during the reception session in a pre-reception state. The expected usage fee for the acceptance request job is set as J to distinguish it from P.

Since these data are stored and updated in the management menu of the computer resource management system of the calculation center for each subscriber, the data in the management data list for each subscriber is , End ■ A state where there is no acceptance request and the execution has been completed (determined updated state) ■ The actual usage fee U and the expected usage fee P that are registered in the management memory depending on the status where there is no acceptance request but the accepted job is being executed. Since the values change, we will add a ``sigma'' to distinguish them when necessary.

Note that the list on the N, M, U, and PU management memory mentioned above is data for all subscribers (group data), but the reception management itself is for a specific subscriber (one person in group N). ) (data for a particular subscriber), so if it is unmistakable, we will proceed with the discussion as a system that determines and manages whether or not to accept a specific request for each subscriber when it comes in.

- First, when a usage limit is set and a subscription or renewal contract is established, it is registered on the management list, the subscriber name N is set in the N part, and the budget limit charge M is set in the M part. In this state, the actual usage fee U for the portion U is zero because it is unused, and the expected usage fee P for the portion P is also zero because the job is not being accepted or executed. (U2o, p=o)
- When a job acceptance request is received from a specific subscriber N, the budget management system starts the job acceptance determination procedure,
Estimated usage amount (estimated amount by subscriber) for the relevant acceptance request job J
+', ask for this amount from the subscriber, and M, U, and P on the list.
'M〉(U + P 1J,)
If so, it is determined that the job is acceptable and the job is accepted.

Under the condition that the job has been accepted (unfinished state), the management system will put the amount of Jl in the P part on the list.
The value of P is updated by adding and registering as P+. (P+=J
t, P=P+P+)・The actual usage fee Ul (determined type) for the completed job is determined when the job being accepted is completed, so this usage fee Uze! In addition to the value of the U part on the J list, update the list. At the same time, the entire list is updated by subtracting the expected usage amount P1 for the finished job from the expected fee P registered in the P section on the list. (
U=U+U+, P=P Pt)・In this way, the list is updated and managed for each subscriber, and each time a new job acceptance request comes in, the acceptance permission judgment is made.When the value of usage record U approaches the budget limit charge M, overflow occurs. Judgment becomes necessary.

・Normally, there are many procedures for determining overflow from the budget.
'iM>U. From the judgment procedure itself of the present invention, there is no difference in the result even if M<U, but in actual system configuration, the previous Compare M and U' to determine if M≦U
In this case, the judgment may be controlled so that a conclusion of refusal of acceptance is reached based on that alone. (Judgment branching in Figure 1 (a) and (b)) - The essential acceptance judgment procedure is to select the corresponding budget limit charge M, usage charge record U, and acceptance middle America from the list of subscribers who have made the above job acceptance request. Allocate the expected usage fee for clearing and compare it with the expected usage fee J attached to the current usage request job. M < (U + P +
Js), the reception is rejected (M≧(U+P
(10J+), the acceptance process is performed based on the acceptance permission decision (as per the previous explanation), and a response of rejection is sent back, but if necessary, the reason information is included in the returned response: For example, the budget limit has been exceeded. The request is returned to the subscriber who made the job acceptance request with a code indicating that the job is currently being processed, or that the job is being used exclusively by another subscriber. End 0 However, if the job being found on the subscriber side is completed and Ul<P, the Jl used in the above judgment may be declared and the job accepted again by requesting the job to be accepted. Therefore, on the user's side, create a job that will end with J, which is such that the value of M-U cannot be calculated, when the settlement is confirmed on the calculation center side (this can be determined by receiving the payment result or completion report). If you make a reception request, it will be accepted and executed,
This allows you to use it very close to your budget.

In this case, it is clear that it is the subscriber's responsibility to judge whether J, < U, and the limit has been exceeded at the time of settlement, so even if the contract requires progressive excess charges at the time of contract for such cases, Even if the contract ends unconditionally when the budget limit is reached, if it is set in advance, it can be operated in that way and no complaints will be made.

However, forced mulberry cutting of accepted jobs on the center side is somewhat unrealistic even if the subscriber side knows the nature of the job, so in actual operation, even if it is allowed to exceed the tolerance to some extent, If budget management control for job reception is performed using such a management system, the calculation center will be able to automatically manage the budget for providing resources to each subscriber with extremely high accuracy and without human intervention. This makes it possible to automatically calculate charges, and at the same time improves resource usage efficiency by compressing computer resources that had to be kept in a common pool in case of budget overruns. This has the advantage that self-management becomes easier because information regarding usable remaining resources can be obtained before executing a job.

Note that such reception judgment control and budget list update management control may be provided as a management control program used by the calculation center side in a computer system that executes subscriber jobs provided to subscribers, or may be provided as a management control program used by the calculation center side, or Although it may be prepared as an independent billing management reception management subsystem, such as a service processor for diagnosis management, independently of the system that processes jobs, it is better to operate it as a dedicated subsystem. Morist management processing can be performed without interrupting this system, so it is possible to perform detailed sessions without affecting the processing on this system side, but depending on the usage situation, resources may be used up. It will be selected.

Effects> As explained above, according to the present invention, the expected usage fee for the unsettled portion of the job being accepted is registered in the management list, and the settlement is managed each time the job being accepted is actually completed. In addition, at the time of a job acceptance request, the subscriber side declares the expected usage fee for the job requested, and the actual usage fee that has been settled is compared with the budget limit fee as a contract, as well as the expected usage fee for the unpaid job and the acceptance. Since the predicted usage fee for the requested job is also used as judgment information to perform prediction-based acceptance judgment control, it is possible to automate acceptance management to avoid exceeding the budget limit based on job acceptance judgment, and also to control job acceptance. Since the management list can be updated automatically each time, the subscriber side can know the possibility of going over the budget before the budget limit is exceeded at the time the job acceptance request is rejected, and the center side requires almost no human intervention. This method has the unique effect of automatically managing the budget with kana precision without any judgment operations or post-processing.

[Brief explanation of drawings]

Fig. 1 is an explanatory diagram of an embodiment that also serves as a principle diagram of the present invention, Figs. 2 and 3 are supplementary explanatory diagrams of Fig. 1, and Fig. 1 shows a determination procedure in the job reception management procedure. Flow diagram, 2nd
The figure explains the management list and management data that are circulated on the management memory and updated and managed. FIG. 3 explains the procedure of the final update process when the accepted job ends. In the figure, N indicates the subscriber identification data, M indicates the budget limit charge, U indicates the actual usage charge, and P indicates the area or data on the management memory that stores the expected usage charge for the currently accepted job. Also, J
indicates the expected usage fee for the reception request jigob.

Claims (1)

[Claims] Management memory for use as management system operation information in budget management control for providing computer resources to each subscriber in a computer system operated in a format in which computer resources are provided by setting usage limits with each subscriber. The following information is prepared for each subscriber: (a) the contracted usage budget limit, (b) the total amount of actual usage that is updated by adding the actual value each time a job is completed, and (c) job reception. It has an area in which the expected usage amount to be recorded for each request is registered from the time the job is accepted until it is completed, and has a management procedure for using this information, and has a new job request from the subscriber. The condition is that the sum of the sum of the above actual usage value of the subscriber, the expected usage amount of accepted and unfinished jobs, and the expected usage amount of new job requests does not exceed the usage budget limit above. A budget management method for a computer system, which is characterized in that a computer system allows a reception to be made.