Virtual Assembly Builder for Software Appliance Deployment
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Solution Overview
Problem
In enterprise computing, deploying and managing complex applications with multiple tiers and components is inefficient, leading to increased operating costs, hardware underutilization, and maintenance overhead due to the proliferation of images that require patching at both the operating system and application layers, and are specific to particular deployment environments.
Innovation Solution
The Oracle Virtual Assembly Builder (OVAB) is used to capture and modify existing software components into software appliance artifacts, allowing for the creation of software assemblies that can be deployed into target environments, enabling efficient composition, configuration, and deployment of virtualized components through a four-phase process: introspection, configuration, preparation, and deployment.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If traditional deployment methods are used for complex applications with multiple tiers and components, then deployment flexibility and environment-specific customization are maintained, but operational costs increase, hardware utilization decreases, and maintenance overhead increases due to proliferation of images requiring patching at multiple layers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex application infrastructure into discrete software appliances, each encapsulating a specific component or service. These appliances can be independently deployed, configured, and managed, reducing the complexity of managing monolithic images while maintaining deployment flexibility. The segmentation allows each component to be optimized independently and simplifies patching and maintenance operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates virtual copies of infrastructure components as software appliances that can be replicated and deployed consistently across different environments. Instead of maintaining multiple custom images for different deployment scenarios, the system uses templated appliance definitions that can be instantiated as needed, reducing image proliferation while preserving environment-specific configurations through parameterization.
2Adaptability or versatility
If multiple custom images are created for different deployment environments, then environment-specific configuration requirements are met, but maintenance overhead increases as each image must be patched at operating system and application layers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a universal appliance framework where a single appliance definition can be deployed across multiple different deployment environments by parameterizing configuration settings. The same appliance template can serve production, staging, and development environments without requiring separate patched images for each, reducing maintenance time while preserving environment-specific adaptability through configuration rather than code changes.
Solution Approach 2:
Instead of creating different images for different environments, the patent uses parameter changes in appliance definitions to adapt the same appliance to various deployment scenarios. Configuration parameters such as network settings, resource allocation, and component versions can be modified without creating new base images, eliminating the need to patch multiple image layers while maintaining environment-specific requirements.
3Manufacturing precision
If detailed network connectivity details are captured for each deployment environment, then accurate deployment to target environments is achieved, but configuration errors increase and deployment complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements introspection capabilities that allow the deployment system to automatically discover and capture network connectivity details, resource configurations, and dependency relationships from the reference environment. The system self-services by generating accurate deployment configurations without requiring manual input of detailed connectivity information, reducing configuration errors while maintaining deployment precision through automated detection and validation.
Data Source
AI summary
A virtual assembly builder for use in virtualization environments, which can be used as a tool for virtualizing installed components in a reference environment, modifying those components if necessary, and then deploying them into another/target environment. Using the virtual assembly builder, a user (e.g., an administrator) can capture the configuration and product/component binaries of existing software components into software appliance artifacts. Appliances can be grouped, and their relationships defined, into software assembly artifacts. Logical connections between appliances within an assembly can be reconfigured by a process of assembly editing. When a desired assembly configuration has been achieved, the assembly can be prepared for, and deployed into, the target environment.