Method for provisioning resources

Abstract

A present IT environment, in particular, a place such as a data center in which resources are concentrated at one place, requires a mechanism (provisioning) for allocating an excess resource (a server, a network apparatus, a storage, or the like) to the service in response to a load fluctuation of a service. In some cases, setting operations occurring in the process of the provisioning are time-demanding. In those cases, it is impossible to respond to abrupt load fluctuations. [Solving means] Procedures starting from an initial state of the resource and ending in a state where each of resources is deployed for each service are identified, and the procedures are expressed as a directed graph having a state of the resource in each phase as a node (stage), and having a setting operation as an edge. There are some cases, however, where even for deployments intended for different services, an initial state and some of intermediate states are common. In those cases, those common intermediate states are expressed as a single node. When resources are allocated to nodes near to a state where a service is developed, it is made possible to reduce a time required for provisioning to the service.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates to a method for provisioning resources. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method, system and control program for provisioning resources in an IT environment. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] In a present IT environment, in particular, in a place such as a data center in which resources are concentrated at one place, a mechanism (provisioning) for efficiently (in terms of processing time and resource utilization rate) allocating an excess resource (a server, a network apparatus, a storage, or the like) to each of services in response to load fluctuations of the services is required. In order to allocate this excess resource to the service, a hardware configuration, OS / application installation, and setting operations, which are suitable for the service, are required. However, setting processes (installing OS / application, switching VLAN (Virtual LAN), and the like) which occur in the process of the operat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0036] Against a background as described above, a demand for a system such as an on-demand computing system or a utility computing system has been emerging. This is a mechanism in which various services are integrally managed in a manner that: excess IT resources independently owned by the respective services are reserved in a resource pool shared by all of the services; and at the time of a sudden increase in a load of a resource used by a service, a resource is dynamically allocated to the service from this resource pool. This allocation of the resource to the service from the resource pool is called provisioning. At the time of provisioning, it is necessary to change the settings of the resource, which is to be allocated, to the settings required by the service before starting to utilize the resource.

Problems solved by technology

However, setting processes (installing OS / application, switching VLAN (Virtual LAN), and the like) which occur in the process of the operation are relatively time-demanding work in general.

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