Cloud Management System for Distributed Datacenter Automation

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Solution Overview

Problem

Managing distributed datacenters across different platforms and interfaces is challenging due to the need for manual programming and tailored interactions, making it difficult to deploy and manage computing resources efficiently.

Innovation Solution

A cloud-based management system that provides remote management and automation, featuring a virtual cloud-based operating system with a transparent system call architecture, asynchronous execution, and file distribution architecture, allowing seamless operation across various platforms without requiring specific client software or firewall changes.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If manual programming and tailored interactions are used to manage different platforms, then interface compatibility is achieved, but management complexity and time consumption increase

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveinterface compatibilityVSAvoidmanagement complexity

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a cloud-based management system as an intermediary layer between administrators and diverse datacenter platforms. This mediator translates various platform-specific interfaces into a unified abstraction, allowing administrators to manage heterogeneous systems through a single standardized interface without needing to understand or program for each underlying platform's specific requirements.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Solution Approach 2:

The management system implements universal functionality by providing a single platform-agnostic interface that can manage multiple different datacenter environments (on-premise, public cloud, private cloud) through unified operations. The system performs multiple management functions (provisioning, monitoring, scaling) across diverse platforms using the same administrative interface, eliminating the need for tailored programming for each platform.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Adaptability or versatility

If manual operations are performed for accessing different machines, then platform-specific requirements are met, but operational efficiency decreases

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveplatform adaptabilityVSAvoidoperational efficiency

Core Design Contradiction:

Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system enables self-service operations by allowing administrators to perform management tasks through automated API calls to the cloud-based management system. The system automatically handles platform-specific authentication, resource allocation, and configuration based on the unified interface commands, eliminating manual platform-specific operations and significantly improving operational efficiency while maintaining platform adaptability.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The management system performs preliminary actions by pre-configuring platform-specific connection details, authentication mechanisms, and resource templates in the cloud-based system. When an administrator issues a command through the unified interface, the system has already prepared and cached the necessary platform-specific parameters, allowing for rapid automated execution without manual platform-specific configuration during each operation.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #10Preliminary action

3Reliability

If firewalls and security measures are implemented in datacenters, then security is improved, but network accessibility for management operations deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

ImprovesecurityVSAvoidnetwork accessibility

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent inverts the traditional management architecture by moving the management system to the cloud and having datacenter machines initiate outbound connections to the management system rather than allowing inbound connections to the datacenters. This reversal of the connection direction allows firewalls to remain closed for security while still enabling management operations through permitted outbound traffic from the managed machines to the cloud-based management platform.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #13The other way round (Inversion)

Solution Approach 2:

The cloud-based management system acts as an intermediary that receives commands from administrators and translates them into outbound API calls to the datacenter machines. This intermediary approach allows the management system to communicate with secured datacenters through outbound connections initiated by the machines themselves, maintaining security through firewalls while enabling operational accessibility through the intermediary layer.

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS12001884B2Remote management of distributed datacenters

Publication Date: 2024.06.04 CITRIX SYSTEMS INC

AI summary

A cloud-based management system for distributed datacenters provides remote management of the datacenters from terminals at various locations. A virtual cloud-based operating system facilitates a transparent system call architecture, permitting subscribers to deploy, configure and manage operations at machines operating on different local operating systems. The virtual operating system can canonicalize available resources into a namespace to expose the resources as files at terminals. Asynchronous execution of subscriber commands across a group of target machines is provided with a notification procedure to control bandwidth and resource allocation. A file distribution model without a central controller for a group of target machines is provided to alleviate interaction with the management cluster for file distribution.