Hybrid cloud integration fabric and ontology for integration of data, applications, and information technology infrastructure

1. A method performed by a processor in a hybrid cloud environment, the method comprising:

specifying at least one service provider zone associated with a resource or a service of a service provider, the service provider zone including a first management interface node corresponding to the service provider;

specifying at least one data center zone associated with a set of services or resources located near one another, the data center zone including a second management interface node corresponding to the set of services or resources;

receiving, by the first management interface node, information from the resource or service associated with the at least one service provider zone;

translating, by the first management interface node, the information from the resource or service to a format understandable by the second management interface node to create first-level translated information, wherein the first-level translated information is associated with metadata selected from the group consisting of:

policy metadata comprising policy information relating to constructs within and associated with components of the hybrid cloud environment;

resource metadata comprising state, attribute and configuration information relating to physical and virtual objects associated with the hybrid cloud environment;

function metadata relating to one or more operational tasks within the hybrid cloud environment; and

data comprising information consumed and operated on by elements of a data model; and

transmitting the first-level translated information from the first management interface node to the second management interface node.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving, by the second management interface node, the first-level translated information; translating, by the second management interface node, the first-level translated information to a format understandable by the set of services or resources associated with the at least one data center zone to create second-level translated information; and

transmitting the second-level translated information to the set of services or resources associated with the at least one data center zone.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

programmatically storing metadata corresponding to all the resources and services of the hybrid cloud environment; and

facilitating management of the hybrid cloud environment based on the stored meta data.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein

the information comprises an instruction from the resource or service associated with the at least one service provider zone, and the translating by the first management interface node comprises:

translating the instruction from the resource or service to a format understandable by the second management interface node; and

combining the translated instruction with additional data to create the first-level translated information.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

maintaining a connection between the first management interface node and at least one security service and device; and

managing security of the first management interface node through the connection.

6. A The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

receiving, by a change engine, a change event;

extracting, by the change engine, one or more policies related to the change event and attributes of operating groups impacted by the change event;

loading, by the change engine, resource attributes; building, by the change engine, a policy model;

generating, by the change engine, an optimized application configuration based on the policy model, attributes of the operating groups, and resource attributes; and

updating, by the change engine, the one or more policies, attributes, and connections between operating groups.

7. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

optimizing latency between metadata and the resources and services of the hybrid cloud environment based on application policies.

8. A computer apparatus comprising:

a processor; and a memory, having stored thereon computer program code that, when executed by the processor, instructs the processor to implement a hybrid cloud integration fabric (HCIF) within a hybrid cloud environment, wherein the HCIF comprises:

at least one service provider zone;

at least one data center zone; and

a management interface node located within each of the at least one service provider zone and the at least one data center zone, wherein each management interface node is configured to:

communicate with a resource or service within the hybrid cloud environment;

communicate with at least one other management interface node; and

translate information between the resource or service and the at least one other management interface node; and

wherein each management interface node comprises a management data store, the management data store comprising a plurality of data nodes, wherein each data node comprises metadata selected from the group consisting of:

policy metadata comprising policy information relating to constructs within and associated with components of the hybrid cloud environment;

resource metadata comprising state, attribute and configuration information relating to physical and virtual objects associated with the hybrid cloud environment;

function metadata relating to one or more operational tasks within the hybrid cloud environment; and

data comprising information consumed and operated on by elements of a data model.

9. The computer apparatus of claim 8 , wherein each management interface node is further configured to:

programmatically store metadata corresponding to all the resources and services of the hybrid cloud environment; and

facilitate management of the hybrid cloud environment.

10. The computer apparatus of claim 8 , wherein each management interface node comprises:

a management data store;

an integration appliance configured to:

receive instructions from the resource or service;

translate the instruction and combine the instruction with additional data; and

transmit the translated instruction;

an internode manager configured to manage connections between the management interface node and another management interface node; and

a fabric manager configured to control configuration of the management interface node.

11. The computer apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the fabric manager is configured to manage security of the management interface node through connection with security services and devices.

12. The computer apparatus of claim 10 , wherein the fabric manager is configured to optimize latency between metadata stored in the management data store and resources and services based on application policies.

13. A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon computer program code that includes instructions to implement a hybrid cloud integration fabric (HCIF) within a hybrid cloud environment, wherein the HCIF comprises:

at least one service provider zone;

at least one data center zone; and

a management interface node located within each of the at least one service provider zone and the at least one data center zone, and wherein each management interface node is configured to:

communicate with a resource or service within the hybrid cloud environment;

communicate with at least one other management interface node; and

translate information between the resource or service and the at least one other management interface node; and

wherein each management interface node comprises a management data store, the management data store comprising a plurality of data nodes, wherein each data node comprises metadata selected from the group consisting of:

policy metadata comprising policy information relating to constructs within and associated with components of the hybrid cloud environment;

resource metadata comprising state, attribute and configuration information relating to physical and virtual objects associated with the hybrid cloud environment;

function metadata relating to one or more operational tasks within the hybrid cloud environment; and

data comprising information consumed and operated on by elements of a data model.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein each management interface node is further configured to:

programmatically store metadata corresponding to all the resources and services of the hybrid cloud environment; and facilitate management of the hybrid cloud environment.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein each management interface node comprises:

a management data store;

an integration appliance configured to:

receive instructions from the resource or service;

translate the instruction and combine the instruction with additional data; and

transmit the translated instruction;

an internode manager configured to manage connections between the management interface node and another management interface node; and

a fabric manager configured to control configuration of the management interface node.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the fabric manager is configured to manage security of the management interface node through connection with security services and devices.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the fabric manager is configured to optimize latency between metadata stored in the management data store and resources and services based on application policies.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the method further comprises:

comparing the first level translated information to each threshold of a set of thresholds consisting of:

a policy threshold;

a resource threshold;

a function threshold; and

a data threshold; and

assigning a metadata identifier to the first level translated information based on which threshold of the set of thresholds is satisfied by the first level translated information, wherein the metadata identifier designates the metadata with which the first level translated information is associated.