On-Demand Service Broker for Dynamic IaaS Resource Provisioning

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Solution Overview

Problem

Conventional resource provisioning in cloud computing requires pre-planning and fixed resource allocation, limiting flexibility and scalability, as well as necessitating developers to interact with operators for resource acquisition.

Innovation Solution

An on-demand service broker that provisions IaaS resources at service instance creation time, offering a catalog of service plans that allow users to select resources based on specific needs, generating a deployment manifest for the deployment system to provision resources dynamically, thereby abstracting common functionalities and integrating with various deployment systems like BOSH.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Ease of manufacture

If pre-provisioning of fixed resources is performed at broker deployment time, then resource allocation is simplified, but flexibility and scalability are reduced

Engineering Contradiction:
Improveresource allocation simplicityVSAvoidflexibility and scalability
Core Design Contradiction:
Ease of manufactureVSAdaptability or versatility

Solution Approach 1:

The system transitions from static pre-provisioned resources to dynamic on-demand resource allocation. The service broker dynamically provisions resources at service instance creation time based on selected service plans, allowing the system to adapt to changing requirements while maintaining operational simplicity through automated processes.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Solution Approach 2:

Service plans are pre-configured with resource templates and allocation parameters. When a user selects a service plan, the pre-defined configuration is automatically applied, combining the simplicity of pre-planning with the flexibility of on-demand provisioning without requiring manual intervention at deployment time.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #10Preliminary action

2Reliability

If developers interact with operators for resource acquisition, then resource management is centralized, but operational complexity increases

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvecentralized resource managementVSAvoidoperational complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
ReliabilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The service broker enables developers to autonomously provision resources by selecting from predefined service plans. The system automatically handles resource allocation, manifest generation, and deployment coordination without requiring operator intervention, thereby maintaining centralized management while eliminating manual operational complexity.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Solution Approach 2:

The service broker acts as an intermediary between developers and the IaaS infrastructure. It abstracts complex resource management operations behind a simplified service plan selection interface, allowing developers to acquire resources independently while the broker manages the underlying complexity of resource provisioning and deployment system integration.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

3Speed

If fixed quantity of resources is pre-provisioned, then deployment speed is improved, but resource consumption cannot scale proportional to need

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvedeployment speedVSAvoidresource consumption scalability
Core Design Contradiction:
SpeedVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The system provisions resources dynamically at service instance creation time rather than pre-provisioning fixed quantities. This allows resource allocation to scale proportionally with actual demand while maintaining rapid deployment through automated on-demand provisioning processes that eliminate manual planning and allocation steps.

Inventive Principle:
Principle #15Dynamics

Data Source

PatentEP3507693B1On-demand resource provisioning
Publication Date: 2023.11.08 PIVOTAL SOFTWARE INC
  • EP3507693B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3507693B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3507693B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for on demand resource provisioning for service instances. An on demand service broker provisions IaaS resources at service instance creating time. The service broker provides a catalog listing one or more service plans, each service plan corresponds to a set of available resources. A user device selects a respective service plan that matches specific needs of an application that consumes the resources. The service broker generates a deployment manifest based on the selected service plan. The service broker then submits the deployment manifest to a deployment system. The deployment system provisions the resources to the service instance according to the manifest generated by the service broker.