Automated cost calculation for virtualized infrastructure

1. A method comprising:

storing, by a computer system in a storage device, a billing policy, or indication thereof, including a cost assigned to a computing resource in a physical computing device, the physical computing device being found in a physical infrastructure of a data center;

determining, by the computer system, an instantiation of a virtual machine in a virtual infrastructure after storing the billing policy including the cost assigned to the computing resource in the physical computing device;

receiving, by the computer system, information for a provisioning of the virtual machine with the physical computing device in the physical infrastructure of the data center in response to the instantiation;

upon receiving the information for the provisioning of the virtual machine, automatically retrieving, by the computer system, the billing policy from the storage device; and

automatically, by the computer system, creating a virtual machine billing policy specific to the virtual machine using the billing policy including the cost for the computing resource upon instantiation of the virtual machine in the virtual infrastructure without an input to create the virtual machine billing policy after the virtual machine was provisioned, wherein the virtual machine was not previously assigned the virtual machine billing policy before instantiation and provisioning, and the virtual machine billing policy is used to determine a charge for the virtual machine based on usage of the computing resource in the physical computing device.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the usage of the computing resource is used to determine the charge.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

defining a set of attributes for a computing resource of the physical computing device, wherein an attribute defines a way to measure usage of the computing resource; and

defining a set of billing policies including the billing policy for the physical computing device, wherein a billing policy defines a method to calculate usage of an attribute of the computing resource.

4. The method of claim 3 , further comprising:

receiving a selection of one or more attributes for the computing resource of the physical computing device;

receiving a selection of an operation; and

generating an expression from the selection of the one or more attributes and the operation, the expression added to the virtual machine billing policy and used to determine the charge when the computing resource is used by the virtual machine.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein:

one or more costs for the one or more computing resources are determined, and

the charge is determined based on the one or more costs for one or more computing resources and the usage of the one or more computing resources.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

determining a plurality of tiers for the computing resource of the physical computing device;

assigning a cost to each tier;

determining the virtual machine is associated with the computing resource included in a tier in the plurality of tiers; and

using the cost of the tier to determine the charge for the virtual machine.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium containing instructions for controlling a computer system to be configured to:

store in a storage device, a billing policy, or indication thereof, including a cost assigned to a computing resource in a physical computing device, the physical computing device being found in a physical infrastructure of a data center after storing the cost assigned to the physical computing device;

determine an instantiation of a virtual machine in a virtual infrastructure after storing the billing policy including the cost assigned to the computing resource in the physical computing device;

receive information for a provisioning of the virtual machine with the physical computing device in the physical infrastructure of the data center in response to the instantiation; and

upon receiving the information for the provisioning of the virtual machine, automatically retrieve the billing policy from the storage device; and

automatically create a virtual machine billing policy specific to the virtual machine using the billing policy including the cost for the computing resource upon instantiation of the virtual machine in the virtual infrastructure without an input to create the virtual machine billing policy after the virtual machine was provisioned, wherein the virtual machine was not previously assigned the virtual machine billing policy before instantiation and provisioning, and the virtual machine billing policy is used to determine a charge for the virtual machine based on usage of the computing resource in the physical computing device.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the usage of the computing resource is used to determine the charge.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , further configured to:

receive a selection of one or more attributes for the computing resource of the physical computing device;

receive a selection of an operation; and

generate an expression from the selection of the one or more attributes and the operation, the expression added to the virtual machine billing policy and used to determine the charge when the computing resource is used by the virtual machine.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , further configured to:

determine a plurality of tiers for the computing resource for the physical computing device;

assign a cost to each tier;

determine the virtual machine is associated with the computing resource included in a tier in the plurality of tiers; and

use the cost of the tier to determine the charge for the virtual machine.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein no virtual machine billing policy was assigned to the virtual machine before the virtual machine billing policy was generated.

12. A method comprising:

storing, by a computer system in a data storage device, one or more billing policies, or indication thereof, including a plurality of costs assigned to a plurality of computing resources, the plurality of computing resources being found in a physical infrastructure;

measuring, by the computer system, usage of a computing resource by a virtual machine in a virtual infrastructure that is provisioned after storing the one or more billing policies including the plurality of costs assigned to the plurality of computing resources;

upon receiving information that the virtual machine was provisioned in response to the instantiation, performing:

automatically, by the computer system, determining a physical computing device in the physical infrastructure associated with the computing resource;

automatically, by the computer system, retrieving a billing policy including a cost assigned to the computing resource from the data storage device based on the determined physical computing device; and

automatically, by the computer system, creating a virtual machine billing policy specific to the virtual machine using the billing policy including the cost assigned to the computing resource upon provisioning of the virtual machine in the virtual infrastructure without an input to create the virtual machine billing policy after the virtual machine was provisioned, wherein the virtual machine billing policy was not previously assigned to the virtual machine before instantiation and provisioning; and

determining, by the computer system, a charge for the virtual machine based on the measured usage of the computing resource and the virtual machine billing policy assigned the computing resource.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , wherein:

the cost is assigned to a computing resource of the physical computing device, and

the usage of the computing resource is used to determine the charge.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , further configured to:

store a plurality of costs assigned to a plurality of physical computing devices in the physical infrastructure in the data storage; and

retrieve one or more of the costs assigned to one or more physical computing devices from the data storage automatically upon instantiation of the virtual machine.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , further configured to:

receive a selection of one or more attributes for a computing resource of the physical computing device;

receive a selection of an operation; and

generate an expression from the selection of the one or more attributes and the operation, the expression added to the virtual machine billing policy and used to determine the charge when the computing resource is used by the virtual machine.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 12 , further configured to:

determine a plurality of tiers for a computing resource for the physical computing device;

assign a cost to each tier;

determine the virtual machine is associated with the computing resource included in a tier in the plurality of tiers; and

use the cost of the tier to determine the charge for the virtual machine.

17. A method comprising:

storing, by a computer system, a plurality of costs assigned to a plurality of computing resources in a data storage device, the plurality of computing resources being found in a physical infrastructure;

measuring, by the computer system, usage of a computing resource by a virtual machine in a virtual infrastructure that is provisioned after storing the plurality of costs assigned to the plurality of computing resources;

upon receiving information that the virtual machine was provisioned in response to the instantiation, performing:

automatically, by the computer system, determining a physical computing device in the physical infrastructure associated with the computing resource;

automatically, by the computer system, retrieving a cost assigned to the computing resource from the data storage device based on the determined physical computing device; and

automatically, by the computer system, creating a virtual machine billing policy specific to the virtual machine using the cost upon provisioning of the virtual machine in the virtual infrastructure without an input to create the virtual machine billing policy after the virtual machine was provisioned, wherein the virtual machine billing policy was not previously assigned to the virtual machine before instantiation and provisioning; and

determining, by the computer system, a charge for the virtual machine based on the measured usage of the computing resource and the virtual machine billing policy assigned the computing resource.

18. The method of claim 17 , further comprising receiving the information for the virtual machine that was provisioned with the physical computing device, wherein the information is used to determine that the computing resource is associated with the physical computing device.

19. The method of claim 12 , further comprising defining the billing policy for the computing resource.

20. The method of claim 17 , wherein no virtual machine billing policy was assigned to the virtual machine before the virtual machine billing policy was generated.