Cloud Service Soft Pause to Cut Deactivation Workflow Latency
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional cloud computing environments face significant bottlenecks due to resource-intensive deactivation and activation processes of cloud services, leading to increased latency, workflow failure rates, internal service load, and race conditions as the number of users and services grows.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a system that decouples logical and physical pauses of cloud services, where services remain active but appear deactivated to the user interface, reducing workflow latency and failure rates by maintaining services in an active state until a second predetermined time, followed by a physical deactivation.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If the cloud service is deactivated when not used for a predetermined time, then resource utilization is improved, but workflow latency and failure rate increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the deactivation process into two distinct phases: a soft pause phase where the service is logically deactivated but remains physically active, and a hard deactivation phase where the service is fully deactivated. This segmentation allows the system to achieve resource utilization goals while avoiding the latency and failure issues associated with immediate full deactivation, as services can be quickly resumed from the soft pause state without requiring full reactivation workflows.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements preliminary action by performing a soft pause deactivation before complete deactivation. When a service is not used for a first predetermined time, it enters a soft paused state where metadata is updated to reflect logical deactivation, but the service infrastructure remains active. This preliminary action prepares the system for potential quick resumption while only fully deactivating services that remain unused for a second, longer predetermined time, thereby reducing workflow latency and failure rates.
2Loss of energy
If the cloud service is deactivated when not used, then resource consumption is reduced, but internal service load increases due to repeated activation/deactivation workflows
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the deactivation lifecycle into distinct segments: active state, soft paused state (logical deactivation with physical activity maintained), and hard deactivated state (complete deactivation). This segmentation reduces the frequency of full activation/deactivation workflows by allowing services to remain in the soft paused state during brief periods of non-use, thereby reducing internal service load while still achieving resource consumption reduction for truly unused services.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the state parameters of cloud services based on usage duration thresholds. Services transition from active to soft paused after a first predetermined time of non-use, and only to hard deactivated after a second predetermined time. This parameter-based state management optimizes resource consumption by maintaining services in a low-overhead but quickly resumable state rather than repeatedly performing resource-intensive full deactivation and activation workflows.
3Productivity
If the cloud service is quickly deactivated upon non-use, then resource allocation efficiency is improved, but race conditions and workflow failures increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the deactivation process into a soft pause phase that occurs quickly upon non-use detection, followed by a harder deactivation phase only after extended non-use. The soft pause phase updates metadata to reflect logical deactivation while maintaining service infrastructure, which eliminates race conditions associated with immediate full deactivation. This segmentation maintains resource allocation efficiency while significantly reducing workflow failures and race conditions.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements beforehand cushioning by creating a buffer state (soft pause) between active and fully deactivated states. This cushioning period allows the system to handle resumption requests without triggering full reactivation workflows, thereby preventing race conditions and workflow failures that would occur with immediate deactivation. The soft paused state acts as a protective buffer that absorbs sudden resumption demands.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and devices are described for managing cloud services implemented by one or more clusters in a cloud computing environment. Responsive to receiving a first notification indicating that a cloud service implemented by the one or more clusters has not been used for a first predetermined amount of time, the cloud service is maintained in an active state and metadata is updated that specifies the cloud service is in a deactivated state. The metadata is visible to a user interface of a management portal of the cloud computing environment. Responsive to receiving a second notification indicating that the cloud service has not been used for a second predetermined amount of time following the first predetermined amount of time, a deactivation workflow is instantiated to deactivate the cloud service. In a further aspect, a cloud service engine generates the first and second notifications.