Self-Service Orchestration Agents for Multi-Tenant SaaS Configuration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In multi-tenant SaaS environments, manual configuration of software components is error-prone and inefficient, and existing orchestration solutions often require reconfiguration of existing software, which can be disruptive and costly.
Innovation Solution
The introduction of self-service orchestration features that allow users to configure components, such as installing, patching, or upgrading, within tenant-specific SaaS environments without reconfiguring existing software, using a drop-in architecture and self-service orchestration agents that deploy and manage these tasks autonomously.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If manual configuration of software components is performed, then user control and flexibility are improved, but error rate and inefficiency increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system implements self-service orchestration where the orchestration service automatically performs configuration tasks based on user requests. The service receives requests to configure software components and executes software to service the requests with minimal additional user input, allowing the system to serve itself rather than requiring continuous manual intervention.
Solution Approach 2:
An orchestration service acts as an intermediary between the user and the software components. The service receives configuration requests from users and translates them into automated execution of software components, mediating between manual user intent and automated component configuration to reduce errors while preserving user control.
2Productivity
If existing orchestration solutions are used, then automation efficiency is improved, but disruption to existing software operations occurs
Solution Approach 1:
The system deploys copies of software components within a sandboxed environment rather than modifying existing components directly. The orchestration service executes software to configure components while preserving existing software operations, creating isolated instances that can be configured without disrupting the original system state.
Solution Approach 2:
The system segments the configuration process into isolated sandboxed environments for each software component. Each component can be configured independently within its own sandbox, allowing automation to proceed without causing system-wide disruption. The sandboxing creates separate execution contexts that prevent interference between components.
3Reliability
If sandboxing is implemented for each tenant, then isolation and security are improved, but hardware resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The sandboxing mechanism is designed to be universally applicable across multiple tenants and software components using shared hardware infrastructure. The same sandboxing framework serves multiple purposes: isolating different tenants, isolating different components within a tenant, and providing a consistent execution environment. This multi-functionality allows the system to achieve strong isolation without proportionally increasing hardware resources for each individual sandbox.
Data Source
AI summary
Techniques for self-service orchestration are disclosed. A system deploys instances of a self-service orchestration agent to tenant-specific software-as-a-service (SaaS) environments operating in a multi-tenant SaaS environment, without reconfiguring existing software in the tenant-specific SaaS environments. Each self-service orchestration agent includes functionality to configure one or more components. Each tenant-specific SaaS environment includes a dedicated set of software operating on a dedicated logical partition of hardware infrastructure. The system receives, via a self-service orchestration interface, a request to configure a component across the tenant-specific SaaS environments. The system: transmits the request to a self-service orchestration module that is operating in the multi-tenant SaaS environment and configured to communicate with each instance of the self-service orchestration agent; dispatches, by the self-service orchestration module, the request to each instance of the self-service orchestration agent; configures, by each of the self-service orchestration agents in a corresponding tenant-specific SaaS environment, the component.