Cloud Coordination Engine Automates Multi-Cloud Selection

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Solution Overview

Problem

Administrators of private enterprise networks face challenges in selecting and interacting with public cloud services due to lack of discoverable properties and inefficient manual processes, leading to inefficient resource management and increased costs.

Innovation Solution

A coordination engine automatically selects public clouds based on administrator-defined criteria and facilitates interaction through an application programming interface (API) that translates communications, relieving administrators from low-level details and enabling seamless management across multiple cloud networks.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of operation

If administrators manually select and interact with public cloud services, then they can establish direct control and understanding of cloud properties, but the process becomes labor-intensive and inefficient

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveCloud selection and interaction processVSAvoidTime spent on manual cloud management
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSLoss of time

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a coordination engine as an intermediary between administrators and public cloud services. This engine automatically discovers cloud properties, evaluates multiple clouds against organizational criteria, and manages interactions with selected clouds. The intermediary handles the labor-intensive tasks of cloud evaluation and communication, freeing administrators from manual processes while maintaining organizational control over cloud selection and usage.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Ease of operation

If administrators expand private enterprise network to avoid public cloud complications, then they maintain full control and avoid learning interface languages, but resource allocation becomes inefficient and uneconomical

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveAvoidance of cloud interface complexityVSAvoidResource allocation efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of operationVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The coordination engine serves as an intermediary that shields administrators from cloud interface complexities while enabling efficient public cloud utilization. It automatically handles communication with multiple public clouds, translating organizational requirements into cloud-specific operations without requiring administrators to learn different interface languages. This allows the organization to leverage public cloud resources for dynamic needs while maintaining control through the intermediary layer.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The coordination engine provides universal functionality by implementing a standardized interface layer that works across multiple different public cloud providers. Instead of requiring separate management approaches for each cloud provider, the engine handles discovery, evaluation, and interaction with various clouds through unified mechanisms, enabling the organization to efficiently allocate resources across different cloud platforms without expanding private infrastructure.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

3Device complexity

If administrators blindly select public networks without property analysis, then the selection process is simplified, but the ability to identify optimal cloud services aligning with preferences is lost

Engineering Contradiction:
ImproveCloud selection process complexityVSAvoidCloud service property information
Core Design Contradiction:
Device complexityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The coordination engine performs preliminary actions by automatically discovering and evaluating cloud properties before administrators make selection decisions. It proactively gathers information about cloud capabilities, performance characteristics, and service attributes, then presents this pre-analyzed information to administrators. This preliminary evaluation eliminates the need for administrators to manually analyze complex cloud properties, simplifying the selection process while ensuring informed decisions based on comprehensive property analysis.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

Data Source

PatentEP2756412B1Coordination engine for cloud selection
Publication Date: 2018.12.05 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC
  • EP2756412B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP2756412B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP2756412B1 patent drawingFigure 3~4

AI summary

Methods, systems, and computer-readable media for selecting and managing a public cloud-computing network to host a client's account information are provided. Initially, the client issues a request to a coordination engine, which understands rules language of various public clouds, to update the account information residing on a target cloud. The target cloud was previously selected from the various public clouds as a function of desirable criteria specified by the client in light of properties (e.g., pricing, security, and reliability) dynamically abstracted from the public clouds. When addressing the request, the coordination engine extracts command(s) from the request and automatically translates the command(s) consistent with the rules language of the target cloud. Upon delivery to the target cloud, the translated command(s) affect reading of or writing to the account information. Accordingly, the client is absolved from converting instructions into a format that is expected by the target cloud.