System and Method for Customer Provisioning in a Utility Computing Platform

1 . A method, comprising:

receiving, by one or more server devices of a cloud computing system, information indicating an amount of purchased processor resources associated with a user;

receiving, by the one or more server devices, information indicating an amount of purchased memory resources associated with the user;

receiving, by the one or more server devices, processor usage information indicating an amount of processor resources used by a set of virtual machines associated with the user;

receiving, by the one or more server devices, memory usage information indicating an amount of memory resources used by the set of virtual machines associated with the user;

providing, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices, a first graphical usage indicator based on:

the amount of purchased processor resources associated with the user, and

the amount of processor resources used by the set of virtual machines associated with the user; and

providing, by one or more processors of the one or more server devices, a second graphical usage indicator based on:

the amount of purchased memory resources associated with the user, and

the amount of memory resources used by the set of virtual machines associated with the user.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first graphical usage indicator and the second graphical usage indicator includes a sliding scale indicator.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first graphical usage indicator and the second graphical usage indicator includes an indicator of a percentage of amount of resources used, compared to amount of resources purchased.

4 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

presenting an option to enable a burst mode associated with at least one of the processor resources and the memory resources;

receiving a selection of the option to enable burst mode; and

allowing the set of virtual machines to exceed at least one of the purchased processor resources or the purchased memory resources.

5 . The method of claim 4 , further comprising:

storing information regarding an amount by which usage of at least one of the processor resources and the memory resources exceeds the at least one of the purchased processor resources or the purchased memory resources; and

generating billing information based on the amount by which usage of at least one of the processor resources or the memory resources exceeds the at least one of the purchased processor resources or the purchased memory resources.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the purchased processor resources are measured in terms of processor throughput.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the purchased memory resources are measured in terms of memory capacity.

8 . The method of claim 1 , where providing at least one of the first graphical usage indicator and the second graphical usage indicator includes:

periodically receiving information regarding at least one of the amount of processor resources used by the set of virtual machines associated with the user and the amount of memory resources used by the set of virtual machines associated with the user; and

periodically updating the presented at least one of the first graphical usage indicator and the second graphical usage indicator based on the periodically received information.

9 . A method, comprising:

receiving, by one or more server devices of a cloud computing system, specification information specifying one or more virtual machines, the specification information comprising:

information identifying a particular operating system,

information identifying a particular quantity of processors, and

information identifying a particular amount of memory;

receiving, by the one or more server devices, history information including statistics regarding a plurality of virtual machines, the plurality of virtual machines being associated with the particular operating system, the particular quantity of processors, and the particular amount of memory, the statistics indicating:

an average processor resource usage associated with the plurality of virtual machines, and

an average memory usage associated with the plurality of virtual machines;

calculating, based on the history information and by one or more processors of the one or more server devices, recommended resources for the specified one or more virtual machines, the calculating including:

calculating a recommended processor resource allocation, and

calculating a recommended memory amount; and

outputting, by the one or more server devices, information identifying the recommended resources for the one or more virtual machines.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein calculating the recommended processor resource allocation includes:

multiplying the average processor usage, associated with the plurality of virtual machines, by a first factor;

wherein calculating the recommended processor memory amount includes:

multiplying the average memory usage, associated with the plurality of virtual machines, by a second factor.

11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first factor and the second factor are a same number.

12 . The method of claim 10 , wherein the first factor and the second factor are a different number.

13 . The method of claim 9 , wherein calculating the recommended resources for the specified one or more virtual machines includes:

calculating a first processor resource allocation recommendation,

calculating a first memory amount recommendation,

calculating a second processor resource allocation recommendation, and

calculating a second memory amount recommendation,

wherein the first processor resource allocation recommendation is different from the second processor resource allocation recommendation,

wherein the first memory amount recommendation is different from the second memory amount recommendation; and

wherein outputting the information identifying the recommended resources includes:

outputting the first processor resource allocation recommendation, the first memory amount recommendation, the second processor resource allocation recommendation, and the second memory amount recommendation.

14 . The method of claim 9 , wherein calculating the recommended resources for the specified one or more virtual machines is further based on a quantity of the one or more virtual machines.

15 . A cloud computing system, comprising:

one or more server devices configured to:

receive specification information specifying one or more virtual machines, the specification information comprising:

information identifying a particular operating system,

information identifying a particular quantity of processors, and

information identifying a particular amount of memory;

receive history information including statistics regarding a plurality of virtual machines, the plurality of virtual machines being associated with the particular operating system, the particular quantity of processors, and the particular amount of memory, the statistics indicating:

an average processor resource usage associated with the plurality of virtual machines, and

an average memory usage associated with the plurality of virtual machines;

calculate, based on the history information, recommended resources for the specified one or more virtual machines, wherein when calculating the recommended resources, the one or more server devices are to:

calculate a recommended processor resource allocation, and

calculate a recommended memory amount; and

output information identifying the recommended resources for the one or more virtual machines.

16 . The system of claim 15 , wherein when calculating the recommended processor resource allocation, the one or more server devices are to:

multiply the average processor resource usage, associated with the plurality of virtual machines, by a first factor;

wherein when calculating the recommended processor memory amount, the one or more server devices are to:

multiply the average memory usage, associated with the plurality of virtual machines, by a second factor.

17 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the first factor and the second factor are a same number.

18 . The system of claim 15 , wherein the first factor and the second factor are a different number.

19 . The system of claim 15 , wherein when calculating the recommended resources for the specified one or more virtual machines, the one or more server devices are to:

calculate a first processor resource allocation recommendation,

calculate a first memory amount recommendation,

calculate a second processor resource allocation recommendation, and

calculate a second memory amount recommendation,

wherein the first processor resource allocation recommendation is different from the second processor resource allocation recommendation,

wherein the first memory amount recommendation is different from the second memory amount recommendation; and

wherein when outputting the information identifying the recommended resources, the one or more devices are to:

output the first processor resource allocation recommendation, the first memory amount recommendation, the second processor resource allocation recommendation, and the second memory amount recommendation.

20 . The system of claim 15 , wherein when calculating the recommended resources for the specified one or more virtual machines, the one or more server devices are to calculate the recommended resources further based on a quantity of the one or more virtual machines.