Methods and systems for managing virtual and real machines
View Patent ↗Managing virtual and real machines through a provisioning system. The provisioning system allows a user to create and manage machines through a “self-service” approach. The provisioning system interacts with one or more agents that manage the lifecycle of a machine. The system may provide templates that enable a user to readily create a virtual machine. The system may also include interfaces for administrators to manage virtual and real machine resources.
1. A system for managing virtual computer resources, comprising:
a database for storing resource status, user policies, and a plurality of templates that define virtual machines a user may create, wherein each of the plurality of templates specify one or more of the following: storages space, computer memory allocation, and required software, for the respective virtual machine; and
a processor programmed to:
receive, from a user, a request for a virtual machine;
determine, from the user policies, one or more of the plurality of templates the user has access rights to;
provide, based on the user policies, one or more of the plurality of templates to the user;
receive a selected template from the one or more of the plurality of templates;
enable, based on the user policies, the user to override parameters in the selected template to enable the user to adjust resources in a way that available templates would not allow;
receive instructions to implement the request based on the selected template; and
provision a virtual machine according to the selected template.
2. The system of claim 1 , wherein an allocation of resources for each of the plurality of templates cannot be overridden by the user unless allowed in the user policies.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to: determine a current status of the resources; and
wherein providing one or more of the plurality of templates the user is further based on the current status of resources.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the user policies define which template a particular user or group of users have access to.
5. The system of claim 1 wherein dynamically providing a status of the virtual machine comprises providing the user with a current status of storages space, computer memory allocation, software, and lease duration for the virtual machine.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein overriding the parameters further comprises enabling, based on the user policies, the user to configure the provisioned virtual machine in a way that available templates would not allow.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further programmed to generate a lifecycle workflow of the virtual machine based on the selected template.
8. A method comprising:
receiving, from a user, a request for a virtual machine;
providing, based on user policies, one or more templates the user has access rights to;
receiving a selected template from the one or more of the plurality of templates wherein the selected template specifies one or more of the following: storages space, computer memory allocation, and required software for the respective virtual machine;
enabling, based on the user policies, the user to override parameters in the selected template to enable the user to adjust resources in a way that available templates would not allow;
provisioning a virtual machine according to the selected template; and
providing a status of the virtual machine.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein an allocation of resources for each of the plurality of templates cannot be overridden by the user unless allowed in the user policies.
10. The method of claim 8 , further comprising:
determining a current status of the resources; and
wherein providing one or more of the plurality of templates the user is further based on the current status of resources.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the user policies define which template a particular user or group of users have access to.
12. The method of claim 8 wherein providing a status of the virtual machine comprises providing the user with a current status of storages space, computer memory allocation, software, and lease duration for the virtual machine.
13. The method of claim 8 , wherein overriding the parameters further comprises enabling the user to configure the provisioned virtual machine in a way that available templates would not allow.
14. The system of claim 8 , further comprising generating a lifecycle workflow of the virtual machine based on the selected template.
15. One or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media comprising computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to: receiving, from a user, a request for a virtual machine;
provide, based on user policies, one or more templates the user has access rights to, wherein each of the one or more templates specify one or more of the following: storages space, computer memory allocation, and required software for the respective virtual machine;
receive a selected template from the one or more of the plurality of templates;
enable, based on the user policies, the user to override parameters in the selected template to enable the user to adjust resources in a way that available templates would not allow;
provision a virtual machine according to the selected template; and
provide a status of the virtual machine.
16. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein an allocation of resources for each of the plurality of templates cannot be overridden by the user unless allowed in the user policies.
17. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 15 , wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the one or more processors to:
determine a current status of the resources; and
wherein providing one or more of the plurality of templates the user is further based on the current status of resources.
18. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 8 , wherein the user policies define which template a particular user or group of users have access to.
19. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 8 wherein providing a status of the virtual machine comprises providing the user with a current status of storages space, computer memory allocation, software, and lease duration for the virtual machine.
20. The one or more non-transitory computer-readable storage media of claim 8 , wherein wherein overriding the parameters further comprises enabling the user to configure the provisioned virtual machine in a way that available templates would not allow.