Real-time license metering of a provisioned application in a cloud computing environement

Abstract

Provided are techniques for the costing of a license based on real-time usage of software on a hardware resource instead of upfront PVU based purchase of licenses. Service provider need not pay for the license charge till the end of life of that application and need not pay for an entire set of N licenses, considering that the service provider expects that the maximum number of application instances could be N.

We claim: 
     
         1 . A method, comprising:
 dividing an expected duration of time, corresponding to the provisioning of a computing resource, into a plurality of discreet intervals, T 0  through T N ;   compiling a number of times an application has accessed the computing resource with respect to beginnings of a contiguous number of the plurality of discreet intervals:   defining a random variable, W TI , wherein W TI  represents a number of servers of a plurality of servers provisioning the application at a particular time T 1  of the plurality of discreet intervals;   calculating a probability that the application is provisioned on one computing resource at the particular time T 1 ;   calculating a charge per unit parameter based upon the random variable and the probability; and   generating a charge for provisioning of the computing resource based upon the charge per unit parameter and a count of a number of servers providing the computing resource at each of the plurality of discreet intervals.   
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the plurality of servers allocated to the provisioning of the computing resource is configured in a cloud configuration. 
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the defining the random variable is based upon an expected workload and expected number of applications requesting the computing resource. 
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the random variable, represented as E(X TI ), is a binomial random variable representing a number of servers allocated to the provisioning of the computing resource. 
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the charge per unit parameter is constrained by the formula E(X TI )*(charge per unit of time)*(number of time intervals (N))<=N*(a PVU based license value). 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein rather than dividing the expected duration of time into a plurality of discreet intervals, T 0  through T N , provisioning changes are assumed to occur on a continuous basis and compiling a number of times an application has accessed the computing resource is based upon a continuous time Markov jump process. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the expected duration of time for the provisioning of the computing resource is open ended. 
     
     
         8 . An apparatus, comprising:
 a processor,   a non-transitory, computer readable memory; and   logic, stored on the computer-readable memory and executed on the processor, for:
 dividing an expected duration of time, corresponding to the provisioning of a computing resource, into a plurality of discreet intervals, T 0  through T N ; 
 compiling a number of times an application has accessed the computing resource with respect to beginnings of a contiguous number of the plurality of discreet intervals; 
 defining a random variable, W TI , wherein W TI  represents a number of servers of a plurality of servers provisioning the application at a particular time T 1  of the plurality of discreet intervals; 
 calculating a probability that the application is provisioned on one computing resource at the particular time T 1 ; 
 calculating a charge per unit parameter based upon the random variable and the probability; and 
 generating a charge for provisioning of the computing resource based upon the charge per unit parameter and a count of a number of servers providing the computing resource at each of the plurality of discreet intervals. 
   
     
     
         9 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the plurality of servers allocated to the provisioning of the computing resource is configured in a cloud configuration. 
     
     
         10 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the defining the random variable is based upon an expected workload and expected number of applications requesting the computing resource. 
     
     
         11 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the random variable, represented as E(X TI ), is a binomial random variable representing a number of servers allocated to the provisioning of the computing resource. 
     
     
         12 . The apparatus of  claim 11 , wherein the charge per unit parameter is constrained by the formula E(X TI )*(charge per unit of time)*(number of time intervals (N))<=N*(a PVU based license value). 
     
     
         13 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein rather than dividing the expected duration of time into a plurality of discreet intervals, T 0  through T N , provisioning changes are assumed to occur on a continuous basis and compiling a number of times an application has accessed the computing resource is based upon a continuous time Markov jump process. 
     
     
         14 . The apparatus of  claim 8 , wherein the expected duration of time for the provisioning of the computing resource is open ended. 
     
     
         15 . A computer programming product, comprising:
 a non-transitory, computer readable memory; and   logic, stored on the computer-readable memory for execution on a processor, for:
 dividing an expected duration of time, corresponding to the provisioning of a computing resource, into a plurality of discreet intervals, To through T N ; 
 compiling a number of times an application has accessed the computing resource with respect to beginnings of a contiguous number of the plurality of discreet intervals; 
 defining a random variable, W TI , wherein W TI  represents a number of servers of a plurality of servers provisioning the application at a particular time T 1  of the plurality of discreet intervals; 
 calculating a probability that the application is provisioned on one computing resource at the particular time T 1 ; 
 calculating a charge per unit parameter based upon the random variable and the probability; and 
 generating a charge for provisioning of the computing resource based upon the charge per unit parameter and a count of a number of servers providing the computing resource at each of the plurality of discreet intervals. 
   
     
     
         16 . The computer programming product of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of servers allocated to the provisioning of the computing resource is configured in a cloud configuration. 
     
     
         17 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the defining the random variable is based upon an expected workload and expected number of applications requesting the computing resource. 
     
     
         18 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the random variable, represented as E(X TI ), is a binomial random variable representing a number of servers allocated to the provisioning of the computing resource. 
     
     
         19 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein rather than dividing the expected duration of time into a plurality of discreet intervals, T 0  through T N , provisioning changes are assumed to occur on a continuous basis and compiling a number of times an application has accessed the computing resource is based upon a continuous time Markov jump process. 
     
     
         20 . The apparatus of  claim 15 , wherein the expected duration of time for the provisioning of the computing resource is open ended.