Cloud Service Co-location via Management Service

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Solution Overview

Problem

Cloud service providers face challenges in ensuring that dissimilar cloud services are physically close to each other for optimal performance and failover, as they are typically managed by different service controllers without a common management framework.

Innovation Solution

A management service coordinates multiple service controllers to determine a preferred computing facility for deploying or moving a collection of dissimilar cloud services based on collective preferences, using ranking and weighting schemes to ensure co-location and efficient resource allocation.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If dissimilar cloud services are managed by different service controllers independently, then each service can be managed with specialized control logic, but the services cannot be ensured to be physically close to each other for optimal performance and failover

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveservice availability and failoverVSAvoidmanagement framework complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent introduces a management service as an intermediary that coordinates between multiple independent service controllers. This management service collects placement preferences from various service controllers, aggregates them, and determines optimal computing facilities for deploying dissimilar cloud services. This intermediary approach enables co-location of services managed by different controllers without requiring complex integration between the controllers themselves, thus improving reliability through physical proximity while avoiding direct complexity increases in the control framework.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Productivity

If cloud services are deployed to different computing facilities for load distribution, then resource utilization is improved, but communication latency and performance degradation occur due to physical distance

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveresource utilizationVSAvoidcommunication latency
Core Design Contradiction:
ProductivityVSSpeed

Solution Approach 1:

The patent applies local quality by allowing different computing facilities to have different roles based on their characteristics. Some facilities are designated as primary locations for specific services based on their capabilities, while others serve as backup or secondary locations. The management service evaluates placement preferences and selects computing facilities that locally optimize both resource utilization and communication performance, rather than applying a uniform deployment strategy across all facilities.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #3Local quality

3Reliability

If a common service controller manages all cloud services, then placement affinity can be easily ensured, but the system loses the benefits of specialized service control and flexibility

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveplacement affinityVSAvoidservice control flexibility
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The management service embodies universality by performing multiple functions: it collects placement preferences from various service controllers, aggregates and evaluates these preferences, determines optimal computing facility assignments, and coordinates deployments across the distributed system. This universal management service maintains the independence and specialized control logic of individual service controllers while simultaneously ensuring placement affinity for dissimilar services, thus achieving both reliability and adaptability.

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

Data Source

PatentEP3731093B1Service location management in computing systems
Publication Date: 2022.11.16 MICROSOFT TECHNOLOGY LICENSING LLC
  • EP3731093B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3731093B1 patent drawingFigure 2A
  • EP3731093B1 patent drawingFigure 2B

AI summary

Techniques for facilitating allocation of cloud services in cloud computing systems are disclosed herein. In one embodiment, a method can include transmitting a request to service controllers configured to manage corresponding cloud services deployable in the cloud computing system, the request including a set of cloud services to be deployed in the cloud computing system. The method can also include receiving, from each of the service controllers, a list of at least some of the computing facilities arranged in order of preference for deploying one or more corresponding cloud services. The method can further includes selecting one of the computing facilities from the multiple computing facilities for deploying the set of cloud services based on the preferences of the service controllers reflected in the received lists and instructing the service controllers to deploy the one or more corresponding cloud services to the selected one of the computing facilities.