Atomic IaC Modules for Flexible Infrastructure Provisioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional business process management (BPM) systems rely on tightly-coupled, single-use patterns for infrastructure provisioning, which are cumbersome to maintain and inflexible in adapting to changes in technology, processes, or environments, limiting their ability to provide dynamic and agile infrastructure deployment.
Innovation Solution
The use of atomic Infrastructure as Code (IaC) modules and transformation templates allows for the selection and orchestration of infrastructure elements across varying hosting environments, enabling flexible and reusable provisioning of infrastructure components, such as virtual machines and containers, by transforming service requests into technical workflows that direct the invocation of these modules.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If conventional tightly-coupled single-use patterns are used for infrastructure provisioning, then the infrastructure can be provisioned for specific services, but the system becomes cumbersome to maintain and inflexible in adapting to changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments infrastructure provisioning into reusable atomic templates that can be independently defined, stored, and composed. Instead of tightly-coupled single-use patterns, the system breaks down infrastructure definitions into modular template components that can be selectively assembled to provision different services, enabling both reliable provisioning and flexible adaptation to changes.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates universal infrastructure templates that can serve multiple services and purposes. These templates are designed to be reusable across different service scenarios, allowing the same template to be invoked for provisioning infrastructure for various services. This universality eliminates the need for separate single-use patterns for each service, thereby improving adaptability while maintaining reliable provisioning.
2Reliability
If conventional single-use patterns are used, then infrastructure can be provisioned for specific services, but the system is cumbersome to maintain
Solution Approach 1:
By segmenting infrastructure provisioning into reusable atomic templates, the system reduces maintenance complexity. Instead of maintaining numerous single-use patterns, administrators maintain a small set of standardized templates that can be composed to provision different services. This segmentation makes the system easier to maintain while preserving reliable infrastructure provisioning.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables copying and reusing infrastructure templates across multiple service provisioning scenarios. Instead of creating and maintaining unique patterns for each service, the system copies and invokes the same templates with different parameters as needed. This copying approach significantly reduces maintenance effort while ensuring consistent and reliable infrastructure provisioning.
3Adaptability or versatility
If reusable templates are implemented, then adaptability and ease of maintenance are improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an intermediary template management system that mediates between users and the underlying infrastructure complexity. This intermediary layer provides standardized interfaces for defining, storing, and invoking templates, shielding users from the complexity of template management. The intermediary enables improved adaptability and ease of maintenance while managing system complexity through abstraction and standardization.
4Adaptability or versatility
If atomic IaC modules are used instead of single-use patterns, then reusability and flexibility are enhanced, but the initial setup and library creation require more effort
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by pre-defining and storing atomic infrastructure templates in a reusable library before actual service provisioning needs arise. This preliminary setup, while requiring initial time investment, enables rapid and flexible template invocation for subsequent provisioning tasks. The upfront effort creates a foundation of reusable templates that significantly reduces time and effort for future infrastructure provisioning across multiple services.
Data Source
AI summary
Automation using infrastructure as code modules is provided by: receiving a service request implicating infrastructure elements for provisioning in a target hosting environment, selecting atomic Infrastructure as Code (IaC) modules comprising code definitions for execution to provision the infrastructure elements in the target environment, the atomic IaC modules being selected from a library of predefined executable atomic IaC modules that include atomic IaC modules for execution to provision varying infrastructure elements in varying hosting environments including the target environment, transforming the service request into a technical workflow using the selected atomic IaC module(s) and transformation templates that direct invocation of the atomic IaC modules using desired parameters for provisioning the infrastructure elements in the target hosting environment, and initiating orchestration of the provisioning of the infrastructure elements in the target environment via execution of the selected set of atomic IaC modules.