System and method for dynamic server allocation and provisioning

Abstract

A management tool that streamlines the server allocation and provisioning processes within a data center is provided. The system, method, and computer program product divide the server provisioning and allocation into two separate tasks. Provisioning a server is accomplished by generating a fully configured, bootable system image, complete with network address assignments, virtual LAN (VLAN) configuration, load balancing configuration, and the like. System images are stored in a storage repository and are accessible to more than one server. Allocation is accomplished using a switching mechanism which matches each server with an appropriate system image based upon current configuration or requirements of the data center. Thus, real-time provisioning and allocation of servers in the form of automated responses to changing conditions within the data center is possible. The ability to instantly re-provision servers, safely and securely switch under-utilized server capacity to more productive tasks, and improve server utilization is also provided.

Description

[0001] This application is a Continuation of U.S. application Ser. No. 10 / 290,171 filed Nov. 8, 2002. Application Ser. No. 10 / 290,171 is the non-provisional of Provisional Application No. 60 / 331,122 filed Nov. 8, 2001. The entirety of all of the above-listed Applications are incorporated herein by reference.BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] 1. Field of the Invention [0003] The present invention relates generally to computer resource management systems and methods, and more particularly to systems and methods that provide dynamic, load-based allocation and provisioning of servers with data centers. [0004] 2. Related Art [0005] In today's computing environment, it is common for an entity (e.g., a corporation) to operate a data center to provide a variety of applications and services for its customer end users and internal operations. Such data centers typically include a collection of servers, storage elements (i.e., any device designed and built primarily for the purpose of persiste...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0015] An advantage of the present invention is that it lowers capital costs for an entity operating a data center containing multiple servers. By sharing servers across the entity's customers and applications, massive improvements in server utilization are gained. This translates directly into the need for fewer servers, fewer racks, less floor space, less supporting infrastructure, less power and less cooling. This also translates directly into multiple revenue streams per server (i.e., when a server is under-utilized, it can be switched to an alternate revenue stream).

[0016] Another advantage of the present invention is that it lowers operational costs by automating the provisioning and software management tasks. That is, a significant reduction of administrative burden associated with an entity's servers within a data center can be realized. This results in the ability to reduce administrative staff or can free existing staff for more productive activities.

[0017] Yet another advantage of the present invention is that its load monitoring and automated server allocation and provisioning features allow an entity to provide customers with guaranteed service level agreements (SLAs) that can be reliably enforced without adding additional hardware to the data center or adding additional staff to its operation.

[0018] Yet another advantage of the present invention is that its facilitates detailed accounting and reporting to allow an entity to bill customers based upon their actual server usage, to enforce variable rate pricing for peak, off-peak and overload conditions to maximize returns and helps to attract new customers to the entity's data center.

[0019] Yet another advantage of the present invention is that it reduces an entity's overall operational risk typically associated with data center operations. As a result of maintaining server images on centralized storage, the present invention vastly simplifies backup processes, making it quicker, more efficient, and more reliable. The real-time server allocation and provisioning features allow an entity to quickly rebuild a data center in the event of a disaster. An N×M fault-tolerance allows a single pool of M servers to provide full disaster backup for any number of A′ applications or data centers. (For example, M spare servers can provide a back up for N servers possibly executing N different applications, and where N>>M.) Application performance and server health are continuously monitored. Thus, in the event of poor application performance or a server or network failure, additional server capacity can be powered on and provisioned, rerouting the network as necessary.

[0020] Yet still another advantage of the present invention is improved infrastructure security. The provisioning system of the present invention utilizes read-only file systems that cannot be modified by data center servers. This helps prevent inadvertent 5 or malicious corruption of the servers. Many network security issues are eliminated by automatically configuring the network infrastructure when a server is provisioned to restrict access to just those resources within the data center that the server needs to perform its function.

Problems solved by technology

This is a time consuming, mostly manual operation that can take days to complete and fully verify for a large, complex application.

It is also a destructive process that requires irreversible changes to the server's disk drive such that any previous installation will be overwritten.

If the new installation fails, there may be no easy way to recover the previous working system.

The time, effort, expense and risk associated with provisioning servers make it infeasible to re-provision a server to meet short-term requirements.

This approach is useful in maintaining a common system image across a server pools, but does not facilitate rapid re-provisioning of servers because it consumes significant network bandwidth and is destructive of previous installations.

Re-provisioning a pool of servers can take several hours.

As mentioned above, because of the time, effort, expense and risk associated with provisioning servers, each server in the data center typically is statically allocated to a specific application.

Most of the time, however, an application does not experience peak demand and its servers run well below their capacity.

This wastes power and physical (i.e., rack) space, as well as increases administrative burden.

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