Virtual Resource Tagging for Service Visibility
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing operations management systems for virtual computing environments lack visibility into which resources are executing services at any given time, making it difficult to identify resources responsible for providing services, especially in cloud computing environments with multiple tenants, and fail to detect unused or 'orphaned' resources.
Innovation Solution
An operations management system that collects resource information, identifies the resources used for each service, generates tags indicating the services executed by each resource, and stores this information for tracking and monitoring, enabling administrators to determine service provision and resource utilization.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If operations management systems track multiple resources in virtual computing environments, then resource management capability is improved, but visibility into service execution and resource utilization deteriorates due to system complexity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces tags as intermediary elements that bridge resources and services. These tags contain service execution information and are associated with individual resources, enabling the system to track which services are running on which resources without requiring direct complex tracking mechanisms between all resources and services.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback by continuously monitoring resource information, updating tags with current service execution status, and storing this information for later retrieval. This creates a closed-loop system where service execution information flows back to resource records, enabling administrators to see current utilization status.
2Measurement precision
If the system monitors all resources and services, then service identification accuracy is improved, but system complexity and difficulty of implementation increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the complex resource-service relationship into individual tag elements associated with each resource. Rather than creating a monolithic tracking system, it divides the problem into discrete tags that can be independently managed, updated, and queried for each resource individually.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary action by pre-establishing the tag structure and association mechanisms before full deployment. Tags are created and linked to resources in advance, with predefined schemas for service information, which simplifies subsequent monitoring and reduces implementation complexity during operation.
3Productivity
If the system stores detailed resource information for all resources, then resource tracking capability is improved, but detection of unused or orphaned resources deteriorates due to information overload
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies color changes metaphorically through tag states and indicators that visually or logically highlight the status of resources. Tags can indicate different states (active, inactive, orphaned) through distinct markers or flags, making it easy to identify unused resources without sifting through all resource data.
Solution Approach 2:
The system uses partial action by focusing monitoring efforts on critical service execution information rather than all possible resource attributes. By selectively tracking service-related tag data rather than every possible resource parameter, the system efficiently identifies unused resources without the overhead of comprehensive exhaustive monitoring.
Data Source
AI summary
An operations management system includes a processing system and a memory for storing an operations management application, which is executed by the processing system to collect resource information associated with hardware resources and virtual objects of a virtual computing environment. The system identifies, for one or more services provided by the virtual computing environment, the hardware resources and the virtual objects that execute the services, generates a tag for each resource indicating which services are executed by that resource, and stores the collected resource information for each resource and its respective tag in the memory.