Method and apparatus for template-based provisioning in a service delivery environment

1. A method for automated provisioning of software components in a distributed computing network, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of provisioning-solution artifacts, each provisioning-solution artifact including a software component that realizes a function of an application, wherein the application comprises a plurality of different software components;

analyzing the provisioning-solution artifacts to determine a dependency graph representing a resource dependency characterization of the software components of the application;

obtaining a mapping of a set of resources and the provisioning-solution artifacts to nodes of a first template, the first template having a plurality of nodes that follow a first predefined network topology for supporting a first deployment of the set of resources;

obtaining a second template having a plurality of nodes that follow a second predefined network topology for supporting a second deployment of the set of resources and the provisioning-solution artifacts;

obtaining state information for each of the software components; migrating the set of resources represented in the nodes of the first template to the nodes in the second template so as to satisfy a set of component requirements to generate a redeployment map;

provisioning the set of resources and the provisioning-solution artifacts on a plurality of computers according to the redeployment map and the resource dependency characterization to implement the software components of the application over the distributed computing network, wherein each of the software components resumes a respective function according to the state information, and wherein the first template and the second template are directed graphs in which the nodes represent functional capabilities of resources and the edges represent communication paths.

2. A method for automated provisioning of software components in a distributed computing network, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of provisioning-solution artifacts, each provisioning-solution artifact including a software component that realizes a function of an application, wherein the application comprises a plurality of different software components;

analyzing the provisioning-solution artifacts to determine a dependency graph representing a resource dependency characterization of the software components of the application;

obtaining a mapping of a set of resources and the provisioning-solution artifacts to nodes of a first template, the first template having a plurality of nodes that follow a first predefined network topology for supporting a first deployment of the set of resources;

obtaining a second template having a plurality of nodes that follow a second predefined network topology for supporting a second deployment of the set of resources and the provisioning-solution artifacts;

obtaining state information for each of the software components; migrating the set of resources represented in the nodes of the first template to the nodes in the second template so as to satisfy a set of component requirements to generate a redeployment map;

provisioning the set of resources and the provisioning-solution artifacts on a plurality of computers according to the redeployment map and the resource dependency characterization to implement the software components of the application over the distributed computing network, wherein each of the software components resumes a respective function according to the state information, and wherein the set of component requirements are analyzed to determine the migration of the resources represented in the nodes of the first template to the nodes of the second template.

3. A method for automated provisioning of software components in a distributed computing network, the method comprising:

receiving a plurality of provisioning-solution artifacts, each provisioning-solution artifact including a software component that realizes a function of an application, wherein the application comprises a plurality of different software components;

analyzing the provisioning-solution artifacts to determine a dependency graph representing a resource dependency characterization of the software components of the application;

obtaining a mapping of a set of resources and the provisioning-solution artifacts to nodes of a first template, the first template having a plurality of nodes that follow a first predefined network topology for supporting a first deployment of the set of resources;

obtaining a second template having a plurality of nodes that follow a second predefined network topology for supporting a second deployment of the set of resources and the provisioning-solution artifacts;

obtaining state information for each of the software components; migrating the set of resources represented in the nodes of the first template to the nodes in the second template so as to satisfy a set of component requirements to generate a redeployment map;

provisioning the set of resources and the provisioning-solution artifacts on a plurality of computers according to the redeployment map and the resource dependency characterization to implement the software components of the application over the distributed computing network, wherein each of the software components resumes a respective function according to the state information;

obtaining the state information for each of the software components further comprises:

quiescing the software components; and

writing the state information to a persistent storage.

4. A data processing system configured to automatically provision software components, the system comprising:

a memory device storing a program of instructions; a distributed computing network comprising a plurality of host computers;

a processor in communication with the host computers, the processor operative with the program of instructions to:

receive a plurality of provisioning-solution artifacts, each provisioning-solution artifact including a software component that realizes a function of an application, wherein the application comprises a plurality of different software components;

analyze the provisioning-solution artifacts to determine a dependency graph representing a resource dependency characterization of the software components of the application;

obtain a mapping of a set of resources and the provisioning-solution artifacts to a first set of nodes of a first template, the first nodes of the first template representing the host computers of the distributed computing network and having a first predefined network topology for supporting a first deployment of a set of resources;

obtain a second template comprising a second set of nodes having a second predefined network topology and representing the host computers of the distributed computing network for supporting a second deployment of the set of resources and the provisioning-solution artifacts;

obtain state information for each of the software components from the host computers; migrate the set of resources represented in the first template to the second template so as to satisfy a set of component requirements to generate a redeployment map;

provision the set of resources and the provisioning-solution artifacts on the host computers of the distributed computing network according to the redeployment map and the resource dependency characterization to implement the software components of the application over the host computers of the distributed computing network, wherein each host computer implementing a software component according to the redeployment map receives the state information of a respective software component and resumes the function of the respective software component according to the state information; and wherein the processor is operative with the program of instructions to quiesce the software components prior to obtaining the state information for each of the software components and write the state information to a persistent storage.