Methods and apparatus to provision a workload in a virtual server rack deployment

1. A method to provision workloads in cloud services implemented in virtual server racks, the method comprising:

determining, via a first resource manager executing on a processor installed within a first physical rack, parameters including a number of virtual computing devices and a redundancy requirement of a request for allocating resources of a virtual server rack for performing a workload, the first resource manager to manage computing devices within the first physical rack that provide resources to a virtual server rack, the first resource manager elected, from among a plurality of resource managers, as a primary resource manager of the virtual server rack;

determining, via the first resource manager executing on the processor, logical computing resources to be utilized for performing the workload based on the parameters, wherein the parameters include at least one of a number of compute availability zones for redundancy of computing resources, a storage fault tolerance, and a network redundancy;

querying, via the first resource manager executing on the processor, a hardware management system of the virtual server rack to determine first physical computing resources installed in a first physical rack and second physical computing resources installed in a second physical rack included in the virtual server rack to perform the determined logical computing resources;

transmitting, via the first resource manager executing on the processor, a message to an application programming interface of a first centralized manager virtual machine of virtual hosts to provision the first physical computing resources into the logical computing resources to allocate the logical computing resources for performing the workload; and

instructing, via the first resource manager executing on the processor, a second resource manager associated with the second physical rack to transmit a message to an application programming interface of a second centralized manager of virtual hosts associated with the second physical rack to provision the second physical computing resources into the logical computing resources to allocate the logical computing resources for performing the workload.

2. A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein the first resource manager is a virtual resource manager.

3. A method as defined in claim 1 , further including querying an inventory of physical resources installed in the first physical rack and the second physical rack.

4. A method as defined in claim 3 , wherein the inventory is stored in a database associated with the first physical rack and the inventory includes the first physical computing resources associated with the first physical rack and the second physical computing resources associated with the second physical rack.

5. A method as defined in claim 1 , wherein determining the first physical computing resources includes determining a number of processing cores to meet the logical resources.

6. An apparatus comprising:

a memory; and

a processor configured to:

determine, via a first resource manager executing on a processor installed within a first physical rack, parameters including a number of virtual computing devices and a redundancy requirement of a request for allocating resources of a virtual server rack for performing a workload, the first resource manager to manage computing devices within the first physical rack that provide resources to a virtual server rack, the first resource manager elected, from among a plurality of resource managers, as a primary resource manager of the virtual server rack;

determine logical computing resources to be utilized for performing the workload based on the parameters, wherein the parameters include at least one of a number of compute availability zones for redundancy of computing resources, a storage fault tolerance, and a network redundancy;

query a hardware management system of the virtual server rack to determine first physical computing resources installed in a first physical rack and second physical computing resources installed in a second physical rack included in the virtual server rack to perform the determined logical computing resources;

transmit, by the first resource manager, a message to an application programming interface of a first centralized manager virtual machine of virtual hosts to provision the first physical computing resources into the logical computing resources to allocate the logical computing resources for performing the workload; and

instruct a second resource manager associated with the second physical rack to transmit a message to an application programming interface of a second centralized manager of virtual hosts associated with the second physical rack to provision the second physical computing resources into the logical computing resources to allocate the logical computing resources for performing the workload.

7. An apparatus as defined in claim 6 , wherein the first resource manager is a virtual resource manager.

8. An apparatus as defined in claim 6 , wherein the processor is further configured to query an inventory of physical resources installed in the first physical rack and the second physical rack.

9. An apparatus as defined in claim 8 , wherein the inventory is stored in a database associated with the first physical rack and the inventory includes the first physical computing resources associated with the first physical rack and the second physical computing resources associated with the second physical rack.

10. An apparatus as defined in claim 6 , wherein the processor is configured to determine the first physical computing resources by determining a number of processing cores to meet the logical resources.

11. A tangible computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause a machine to at least:

determine, via a first resource manager executing on a processor installed within a first physical rack, parameters including a number of virtual computing devices and a redundancy requirement of a request for allocating resources of a virtual server rack for performing a workload, the first resource manager to manage computing devices within the first physical rack that provide resources to a virtual server rack, the first resource manager elected, from among a plurality of resource managers, as a primary resource manager of the virtual server rack;

determine logical computing resources to be utilized for performing the workload based on the parameters, wherein the parameters include at least one of a number of compute availability zones for redundancy of computing resources, a storage fault tolerance, and a network redundancy;

query a hardware management system of the virtual server rack to determine first physical computing resources installed in a first physical rack and second physical computing resources installed in a second physical rack included in the virtual server rack to perform the determined logical computing resources;

transmit, by the first resource manager, a message to an application programming interface of a first centralized manager virtual machine of virtual hosts to provision the first physical computing resources into the logical computing resources to allocate the logical computing resources for performing the workload; and

instruct a second resource manager associated with the second physical rack to transmit a message to an application programming interface of a second centralized manager of virtual hosts associated with the second physical rack to provision the second physical computing resources into the logical computing resources to allocate the logical computing resources for performing the workload.

12. A tangible computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 11 , wherein the first resource manager is a virtual resource manager.

13. A tangible computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to query an inventory of physical resources installed in the first physical rack and the second physical rack.

14. A tangible computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 13 , wherein the inventory is stored in a database associated with the first physical rack and the inventory includes the first physical computing resources associated with the first physical rack and the second physical computing resources associated with the second physical rack.

15. A tangible computer-readable storage medium as defined in claim 12 , wherein the instructions, when executed, cause the machine to determine the first physical computing resources by determining a number of processing cores to meet the logical resources.