Methods and apparatus to allocate hardware in virtualized computing architectures

1. An apparatus to manage a virtual server rack, the apparatus comprising:

a memory;

machine executable instructions;

at least one processor circuitry to execute the instructions to:

designate a plurality of servers of the virtual server rack for a workload domain into a plurality of categories based on an associated plurality of resource characteristics;

obtain a set of workload domain requirements and a set of resources assigned to the workload domain;

map at least one of the set of workload domain requirements or a set of resources assigned to the workload domain to the plurality of categories, ones of the plurality of categories containing a designated server of the plurality of servers;

determine that the set of resources assigned to a mapped category of the plurality of categories exceed resources requested for the workload domain; and

reassign one or more of the set of resources in response to the determination.

2. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the processor circuitry executes the instructions to determine that the set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories satisfy the resources requested for the workload domain.

3. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the processor circuitry executes the instructions to determine that the set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories exceed resources requested for the workload domain when the set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories exceed the resources requested for the workload domain by more than a threshold quantity.

4. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the processor circuitry executes the instructions to obtain the set of workload domain requirements and a set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories based on a version of platform software for the virtual server rack.

5. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the processor circuitry executes the instructions to further receive a notification of a change to the set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories.

6. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 , wherein the notification indicates that the set of resources have been updated.

7. The apparatus as defined in claim 5 , wherein the notification indicates that platform software associated with the set of resources has been upgraded.

8. The apparatus as defined in claim 7 , wherein the processor circuitry executes the instructions to conduct a drift analysis in response to detecting an upgrade to platform software.

9. The apparatus as defined in claim 1 , wherein the set of resources are storage resources for a software defined storage platform.

10. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

designate a plurality of servers of a virtual server rack for a workload domain into a plurality of categories based on an associated plurality of resource characteristics;

obtain a set of workload domain requirements and a set of resources assigned to the workload domain;

map at least one of the set of workload domain requirements or a set of resources assigned to the workload domain to the plurality of categories, ones of the plurality of categories containing a designated server of the plurality of servers;

determine that the set of resources assigned to a mapped category of the plurality of categories exceed resources requested for the workload domain; and

reassign one or more of the set of resources in response to the determination.

11. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 10 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to determine that the set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories satisfy the resources requested for the workload domain.

12. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 10 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to determine that the set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories exceed resources requested for the workload domain when the set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories exceed the resources requested for the workload domain by more than a threshold quantity.

13. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 10 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to obtain the set of workload domain requirements and a set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories based on a version of platform software for the virtual server rack.

14. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 10 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to receive a notification of a change to the set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories.

15. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 14 , wherein the notification indicates that the set of resources have been updated.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 14 , wherein the notification indicates that platform software associated with the set of resources has been upgraded.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 16 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to conduct a drift analysis in response to detecting an upgrade to platform software.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium as defined in claim 10 , wherein the set of resources are storage resources for a software defined storage platform.

19. A method to manage a virtual server rack, the method comprising:

designating a plurality of servers of the virtual server rack for a workload domain into a plurality of categories based on an associated plurality of resource characteristics;

obtaining a set of workload domain requirements and a set of resources assigned to the workload domain;

mapping at least one of the set of workload domain requirements or a set of resources assigned to the workload domain to the plurality of categories, ones of the plurality of categories containing a designated server of the plurality of servers;

determining that the set of resources assigned to a mapped category of the plurality of categories exceed resources requested for the workload domain; and

reassigning one or more of the set of resources in response to the determination.

20. The method as defined in claim 19 , further including determining that the set of resources assigned to the workload domain satisfy the resources requested for the workload domain.

21. The method as defined in claim 19 , further including determining that the set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories exceed resources requested for the workload domain when the set of resources exceed the resources requested for the workload domain by more than a threshold quantity.

22. The method as defined in claim 19 , further including obtaining the set of workload domain requirements and a set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories based on a version of platform software for the virtual server rack.

23. The method as defined in claim 19 , further including receiving a notification of a change to the set of resources assigned to the mapped category of the plurality of categories.

24. The method as defined in claim 23 , wherein the notification indicates that the set of resources have been updated.

25. The method as defined in claim 23 , wherein the notification indicates that platform software associated with the set of resources has been upgraded.

26. The method as defined in claim 25 , further including conducting a drift analysis in response to detecting an upgrade to platform software.

27. The method as defined in claim 19 , wherein the set of resources are storage resources for a software defined storage platform.