Providing real-time trading of virtual infrastructure resources

Abstract

A virtual marketplace is disclosed providing a trading venue for network resources. Network resources providers may communicate to a virtual marketplace server the availability of network resources for sale. Networks needing extra capacity may access the virtual marketplace and place bids on available network resources. The virtual marketplace server may pair providers with clients to establish a network resource sale.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . A computer program product for providing trading of network infrastructure resources, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code being configured to:
 receive, from a first entity over a network, an offer of network resources being available for purchase at an offer price;   receive, from a second entity over the network, a bid to purchase network resources at a bid price;   determine, by a processing unit, whether the bid is satisfied by the offer; and   transact a sale of network resources from the first entity to the second entity if the bid is satisfied by the offer.   
     
     
         2 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein:
 the offer includes a first amount of network resources offered; and   the bid includes a second amount of network resources wanted that is at least partially satisfied by an amount of network resources available in the offer.   
     
     
         3 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the offer price includes an offer price range. 
     
     
         4 . The computer program product of  claim 3 , wherein the bid price includes a bid price range at least partially within the offer price range. 
     
     
         5 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein the bid includes a bid price range and a third amount of network resources wanted at the bid price range. 
     
     
         6 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein network resources being offered and bid on include network bandwidth. 
     
     
         7 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein networking resources being offered and bid on include network accessible storage space. 
     
     
         8 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein network resources being offered and bid on include access to computing machines. 
     
     
         9 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein network resources being offered and bid on are virtual resources. 
     
     
         10 . The computer program product of  claim 1 , wherein networking resources being offered and bid on are provided to the second entity through a cloud based environment. 
     
     
         11 . A server, comprising:
 a memory module configured to
 receive, over a network, a plurality of offers of network resources being available for purchase at respective offer prices, and 
 receive, over the network, a plurality of bids to purchase network resources at respective bid prices; and 
   a processing unit coupled to the memory module and configured to
 analyze the plurality of offers and the plurality of bids, 
 identify one or more of the plurality of bids satisfying one or more of the plurality of offers, and 
 transact a sale of network resources between one of the one or more bids and one of the one or more offers. 
   
     
     
         12 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein the sale includes an expiration date where the network resources purchased are returned to an owner of the network resources. 
     
     
         13 . The server of  claim 11 , wherein the plurality of bids include:
 a minimum and a maximum bid price, and   a minimum and a maximum amount of networking resources.   
     
     
         14 . The server of  claim 13 , wherein the processing unit is configured to pair one of the plurality of offers with one of the plurality of bids based on a comparison of available network resources in respective offers of the plurality of offers to an amount of network resources requested in respective bids of the plurality of bids. 
     
     
         15 . The server of  claim 14 , wherein offers in the plurality of offers are sold closer to the maximum bid price than to the minimum bid price when a supply of available network resources decreases. 
     
     
         16 . A virtual marketplace, comprising:
 a plurality of virtual servers in a network configured to submit bids and offers on network resources; and   a virtual marketplace server in communication with the plurality of virtual servers, the virtual marketplace server being configured to coordinate sales between received bids and offers on network resources.   
     
     
         17 . The virtual marketplace of  claim 16 , wherein the sales are in the form of a lease of network resources. 
     
     
         18 . The virtual marketplace of  claim 16 , wherein then network resources are virtual resources. 
     
     
         19 . The virtual marketplace of  claim 16 , including a client side gateway configured to provide bids for network resources and provide a suggested change in bid terms when a bid cannot be paired with an offer to consummate a sale. 
     
     
         20 . The virtual marketplace of  claim 16 , wherein the virtualization manager is configured to provide announcements of available network resources being offered by resource providers.