Infrastructure Service Customization via Virtual Containers
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current business service development models are inefficient, as they require manual configuration and deployment of services, lack integration between services, and are specific to particular underlying environments, making it difficult for system administrators to manage and enhance services as technologies evolve.
Innovation Solution
A system and method for services configuration and management using virtual containers, where infrastructure services are loaded with empty property sheets, populated by the infrastructure service plugs, allowing users to customize properties, and metadata management enables loose coupling of business services with infrastructure services, allowing for independent evolution and deployment across different environments.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If services are developed from scratch with top-down design, then full capabilities of available technologies can be leveraged, but development time and complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by providing pre-built service templates and infrastructure service plugs that contain commonly used service functionalities. These templates are prepared in advance and can be directly instantiated, eliminating the need to develop services from scratch while still allowing customization through property configuration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses copying by allowing services to be instantiated from templates and by enabling the copying of infrastructure service plugs. This allows rapid deployment of services by copying proven, working implementations rather than developing new ones, significantly reducing development time while maintaining adaptability through configuration.
2Ease of manufacture
If services are customized for specific underlying environments, then they can be optimized for that environment, but they become difficult to deploy across different platforms
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies universality by designing infrastructure service plugs with standardized interfaces that can function across multiple underlying environments. The plugs are configured with properties that allow them to adapt to different platforms while maintaining consistent service functionality, enabling both environment optimization and cross-platform deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses parameter changes by allowing service plugs to have configurable properties that can be adjusted based on the target environment. This enables the same service template to be deployed across different platforms by changing configuration parameters rather than rewriting the service logic, achieving both optimization and portability.
3Ease of operation
If manual configuration and deployment processes are used, then services can be precisely controlled, but the management complexity and time consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies self-service by enabling services to self-configure and self-deploy through template-based instantiation. When a service template is instantiated, it automatically configures the necessary infrastructure service plugs and properties without requiring manual intervention, reducing management complexity while maintaining control precision through predefined configurations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses preliminary action by pre-configuring service templates with all necessary properties and infrastructure service associations. This preliminary configuration work is done once and reused across multiple service instantiations, eliminating repetitive manual configuration tasks while maintaining precise control over service behavior.
4Reliability
If infrastructure services are tightly coupled with business services, then integration is seamless, but independent evolution and updates become difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies segmentation by separating business service logic from infrastructure service implementations through the use of plugs and templates. This segmentation allows infrastructure services to be independently updated and evolved without affecting business services, while maintaining seamless integration through standardized interfaces and configuration management.
Data Source
AI summary
A system and method for system services customization using configured infrastructure properties through a system of property sheets. When a virtual container is configured with an infrastructure service, the preferred embodiment loads the plug of the infrastructure service and invokes the plug, providing it the empty collection of property sheets. The plug responds by populating this collection with corresponding property sheets. A user can then provide unique values for those properties, which are then saved with the other metadata. Each collection contains one or more property sheets and each property sheet contains one or more properties.