Billing usage in a virtual computing infrastructure

1. A method of billing usage of a cloud computing environment, the method comprising:

executing, on a cluster of computer systems in the cloud computing environment, a distributed control plane, wherein the cluster of computer systems comprises a plurality of virtual machine nodes, wherein the distributed control plane comprises an infrastructure controller and a metering and billing module, wherein the distributed control plane is replicated on each of the plurality of virtual machine nodes in the cluster of computer systems, and wherein one of the plurality of virtual machine nodes comprises a master node;

metering, by the metering and billing module of the master node on the cluster of computer systems, usage of one or more cloud resources within the cloud computing environment by one or more users based on one or more rules, wherein the one or more cloud resources are hosted on the cluster of computer systems in the cloud computing environment or on one or more remote cloud sites accessible to the cluster of computer systems, wherein the one or more users is associated with at least one entity, and wherein each of the one or more rules comprises one or more predicate defined when a rule is applied and one or more associated actions taken when the rule is applied;

converting, by the metering and billing module of the master node on the cluster of computer systems, the metered usage of the one or more cloud resources to a revenue-generating value, wherein converting the metered usage of the one or more cloud resources to the revenue-generating value comprises applying the one or more rules to usage files for the one or more users; and

billing, by the metering and billing module of the master node on the cluster of computer systems, the revenue-generating value to the at least one entity associated with the one or more users, wherein billing the revenue-generating value to the at least one entity associated with the one or more users comprises generating one or more settlement files.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein revenue collected based on billing the revenue-generating value is shared by at least one service provider of the cloud computing environment.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein revenue collected based on billing the revenue-generating value is shared by at least one service provider of the cloud computing environment and at least one service vendor.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one service vendor is a software vendor.

5. The method of claim 3 , wherein the at least one service vendor adds one or more functionality to infrastructure of the cloud computing environment.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein metering the usage of the one or more cloud resources includes at least one from a group consisting of: one or more compute resources used on a per time basis, one or more read and write I/O operations, and network bandwidth usage.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein metering the usage is conducted at one or more of an applications programming interface (API).

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein metering the usage is conducted at a storage backend.

9. A computer-readable memory device comprising a set of instructions stored therein which, when executed by a processor, causes the processor to bill usage of a cloud computing environment by:

executing, on a cluster of computer systems in the cloud computing environment, a distributed control plane, wherein the cluster of computer systems comprises a plurality of virtual machine nodes, wherein the distributed control plane comprises an infrastructure controller and a metering and billing module, wherein the distributed control plane is replicated on each of the plurality of virtual machine nodes in the cluster of computer systems, and wherein one of the plurality of virtual machine nodes comprises a master node;

metering, by the metering and billing module of the master node on the cluster of computer systems, usage of one or more cloud resources within the cloud computing environment by one or more users based on one or more rules, wherein the one or more cloud resources are hosted on the cluster of computer systems in the cloud computing environment or on one or more remote cloud sites accessible to the cluster of computer systems, wherein the one or more users is associated with at least one entity and wherein each of the one or more rules comprises one or more predicates defined when a rule is applied and one or more associated actions taken when the rule is applied;

converting, by the metering and billing module of the master node on the cluster of computer systems, the metered usage of the one or more cloud resources to a revenue-generating value, wherein converting the metered usage of the one or more cloud resources to the revenue-generating value comprises applying the one or more rules to usage files for the one or more users; and

billing, by the metering and billing module of the master node on the cluster of computer systems, the revenue-generating value to the at least one entity associated with the one or more users, wherein billing the revenue-generating value to the at least one entity associated with the one or more users comprises generating one or more settlement files.

10. The computer-readable memory device of claim 9 , wherein revenue collected based on billing the revenue-generating value is shared by at least one service provider of the cloud computing environment.

11. The computer-readable memory device of claim 9 , wherein revenue collected based on billing the revenue-generating value is shared by at least one service provider of the cloud computing environment and at least one service vendor.

12. The computer-readable memory device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one service vendor is a software vendor.

13. The computer-readable memory device of claim 11 , wherein the at least one service vendor adds one or more functionality to infrastructure of the cloud computing environment.

14. The computer-readable memory device of claim 9 , wherein metering the usage of one or more cloud resources includes at least one from a group consisting of: one or more compute resources used on a per time basis, one or more read and write I/O operations, and network bandwidth usage.

15. The computer-readable memory device of claim 9 , wherein metering the usage is conducted at one or more of an applications programming interface (API).

16. The computer-readable memory device of claim 9 , wherein metering the usage is conducted at a storage backend.

17. A system comprising:

a plurality of processors; and

a memory coupled with and readable by each of the plurality of processors and storing therein a set of instructions which, when executed by the plurality of processors, causes the plurality of processors to bill usage of a cloud computing environment by:

executing, on a cluster of computer systems in the cloud computing environment, a distributed control plane, wherein the cluster of computer systems comprises a plurality of virtual machine nodes, wherein the distributed control plane comprises an infrastructure controller and a metering and billing module, wherein the distributed control plane is replicated on each of the plurality of virtual machine nodes in the cluster of computer systems, and wherein one of the plurality of virtual machine nodes comprises a master node;

metering, by the metering and billing module of the master node on the cluster of computer systems, usage of one or more cloud resources within the cloud computing environment by one or more users based on one or more rules, wherein the one or more cloud resources are hosted on the cluster of computer systems in the cloud computing environment or on one or more remote cloud sites accessible to the cluster of computer systems, wherein the one or more users is associated with at least one entity, and wherein each of the one or more rules comprises one or more predicates defined when a rule is applied and one or more associated actions taken when the rule is applied;

converting, by the metering and billing module of the master node on the cluster of computer systems, the metered usage of the one or more cloud resources to a revenue-generating value, wherein converting the metered usage of the one or more cloud resources to the revenue-generating comprises applying the one or more rules to usage files for the one or more users; and

billing, by the metering and billing module of the master node on the cluster of computer systems, the revenue-generating value to the at least one entity associated with the one or more users, wherein billing the revenue-generating value to the at least one entity associated with the one or more users comprises generating one or more settlement files.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein revenue collected based on billing the revenue-generated value is shared by at least one service provider of the cloud computing environment.

19. The system of claim 17 , wherein revenue collected based on billing the revenue-generating value is shared by at least one service provider of the cloud computing environment and at least one service vendor.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the at least one service vendor is a software vendor.

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein the at least one service vendor adds one or more functionality to infrastructure of the cloud computing environment.

22. The system of claim 17 , wherein metering the usage of the one or more cloud resources includes at least one from a group consisting of: one or more compute resources used on a per time basis, one or more read and write I/O operations, and network bandwidth usage.

23. The system of claim 17 , wherein metering the usage is conducted at one or more of an applications programming interface (API).

24. The system of claim 17 , wherein metering the usage is conducted at a storage backend.