Graph-Based User Interface for Cloud Infrastructure Configuration
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Solution Overview
Problem
The management and administration of complex distributed computing systems have become increasingly inefficient due to the complexity of desired management functionalities, leading to significant computational overheads and inefficiencies.
Innovation Solution
An infrastructure-as-code (IaC) cloud-infrastructure-management service with a graph-based user interface (GBUI) that processes infrastructure-specification-and-configuration files to identify resources and relationships, storing them as a graph for efficient navigation and editing.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Device complexity
If traditional text-based infrastructure configuration files are used, then the system can maintain simplicity in file format, but the complexity of managing and editing these files increases significantly as system scale grows
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a visual copy or representation of the infrastructure configuration in graph form, allowing users to interact with a graphical model rather than raw text files. This visual representation makes it easier to understand and manage complex infrastructure relationships without changing the underlying text-based configuration format.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transforms the one-dimensional text-based configuration into a two-dimensional graphical representation. This dimensional change allows users to visualize relationships and dependencies that are difficult to comprehend in text form, thereby improving management efficiency while keeping the original file format simple.
2Manufacturing precision
If detailed infrastructure specifications are maintained in text files, then precision of configuration is improved, but the time and effort required to edit and navigate these files increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a graphical user interface as an intermediary between the user and the detailed configuration files. This intermediary provides visual tools for editing and navigating infrastructure specifications, making the process faster and more intuitive while preserving the precision of the underlying text-based configuration data.
3Productivity
If automated management systems are implemented to handle complex functionalities, then operational efficiency improves, but computational overhead and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent enables users to perform management tasks directly through the graphical interface without requiring complex automated systems. The visual representation and interactive editing capabilities allow users to self-manage infrastructure configurations, reducing the need for sophisticated automated management layers and their associated computational overhead.
Data Source
AI summary
The current document is directed to an infrastructure-as-code (“IaC”) cloud-infrastructure-management service or system including a graph-based user interface that displays, and that provides for generating and editing, cloud-infrastructure-specification-and-configuration files. The IaC cloud-infrastructure-management service or system processes a set of infrastructure-specification-and-configuration files to identify specified resources and relationships between resources. The resources and relationships are then stored as a graph, along with various indices that can be used for quickly searching the graph for relationships and resources of interest. A graph-based user interface allows users to view portions of the graph, navigate through the graph, search for particular resources and relationships, and edit the infrastructure-specification-and-configuration files.