Infrastructure-Independent Representation for Hybrid Cloud Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
Deploying and managing hybrid cloud applications that combine container-based and VM-based applications across multiple cloud providers is inefficient, requiring manual code rewriting and increased maintenance costs due to differences in cluster management, scaling, and lifecycle management across various cloud providers.
Innovation Solution
An infrastructure-independent representation of hybrid distributed applications is obtained, allowing for seamless deployment and orchestration across multiple cloud infrastructures and container clusters without recoding, using a Distributed Orchestration Engine to coordinate VM-based and container-based components.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If container-based applications are deployed on a single host to simplify deployment, then deployment simplicity is improved, but system reliability deteriorates due to host failure susceptibility
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the deployment architecture by separating container orchestration from the host infrastructure. Container clusters are distributed across multiple hosts, and the orchestration system manages these containers independently of any single host's availability. This allows the system to maintain reliability even when individual hosts fail, as containers can be relocated to other hosts in the cluster.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary orchestration layer between the container runtime and the host infrastructure. This intermediary manages container lifecycle, scaling, and fault tolerance without being coupled to any specific host. The intermediary coordinates container deployment across multiple hosts, enabling high availability while maintaining deployment simplicity through automated management.
2Reliability
If container clusters are used to improve system reliability, then reliability is improved, but device complexity increases due to multiple container hosts
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal container orchestration platform that can manage containers across diverse cloud infrastructures and container clusters using a single infrastructure-independent representation. This multi-functional approach allows the same orchestration system to handle different deployment scenarios (single host, container clusters, hybrid cloud) without requiring separate management approaches, thereby reducing operational complexity despite the distributed nature of the system.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameter of deployment representation from cloud-specific or cluster-specific to infrastructure-independent. By representing applications in terms of abstract service patterns rather than concrete infrastructure details, the system can deploy to various targets without requiring complex infrastructure-aware configurations. This parameter transformation simplifies the orchestration logic and reduces the complexity burden on operators.
3Productivity
If cloud-specific deployment code is used to optimize for a particular cloud provider, then deployment efficiency for that provider is improved, but adaptability deteriorates when deploying to different providers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal deployment representation that can be executed across multiple cloud providers and container clusters. The infrastructure-independent application representation serves as a single source of truth that can be deployed to AWS, Azure, GCP, or any other cloud provider, eliminating the need for separate deployment code for each platform while maintaining optimal deployment performance for each target.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces an intermediary translation layer that converts infrastructure-independent application representations into cloud-specific deployment configurations. This intermediary translates abstract service patterns into provider-specific APIs and deployment commands, allowing a single application definition to be efficiently deployed to different cloud providers without requiring manual rewriting or loss of optimization.
4Adaptability or versatility
If hybrid cloud applications are deployed across multiple cloud providers to improve versatility, then adaptability is improved, but maintenance complexity increases due to differences in cluster management and scaling
Solution Approach 1:
The patent fundamentally changes the maintenance parameter by introducing infrastructure-independent application representations that describe services in terms of abstract patterns rather than provider-specific implementations. This allows maintenance activities to be performed once against the unified representation and automatically propagated to all cloud providers, reducing maintenance complexity while preserving multi-cloud versatility.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements a universal maintenance framework that handles hybrid cloud applications across multiple providers through a single orchestration system. The infrastructure-independent representation serves as the single source of truth for all cloud providers, enabling unified monitoring, scaling, and fault management across heterogeneous environments without requiring separate maintenance procedures for each provider.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments disclosed facilitate distributed orchestration and deployment of a single instance of a distributed computing application over a plurality of clouds and container clusters, including container clusters provided through a Container as a Service (CaaS) offering. In some embodiments, system and pattern constructs associated with a hybrid distributed multi-tier application may be used to obtain an infrastructure independent representation of the distributed multi-tier application. The infrastructure independent representation may comprise a representation of an underlying pattern of resource utilization of the application. Further, the underlying pattern of resource utilization of the application may be neither cloud specific nor container cluster specific. In some embodiments, a single instance of the hybrid distributed multi-tier application may be deployed on a plurality of cloud infrastructures and on at least one container cluster, based, in part, on the cloud-infrastructure independent representation of the application.