User-influenced placement of virtual machines through selection of hardware
When launching a virtual machine on a network of server computers, a user has little ability to influence which server computer is used. The embodiments described herein allow a user to specify a parameter that can influence placement on a particular server meeting user-specified criteria. For example, the user can influence placement based on price, a manufacturer, a year that the infrastructure platform was manufactured, a chipset, a hardware card, a processor type, etc. An example API call can allow users to provide guidance on placement preference policy for selecting different generations and/or editions.
1. A method of launching a virtual machine, comprising:
receiving a request to launch a virtual machine of an instance type;
receiving at least one user-specified preference for an infrastructure platform to host the virtual machine, the at least one user-specified preference including at least a processor manufacturer and processor generation in a server computer used to launch the virtual machine;
searching available server computers using the user-specified preference as a search filter to determine a server computer that matches the at least one user-specified preference for the infrastructure platform; and
launching the virtual machine having the instance type on the server computer.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the request to launch the virtual machine and receiving the at least one user-specified preference for the infrastructure platform are in a same request.
3. The method of claim 1 , wherein receiving the at least one user-specified preference includes receiving an account number associated with the request and using the account number to obtain the at least one user-specified preference for the infrastructure platform.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generation includes a year that the hardware platform was manufactured.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein searching the available server computers further includes identifying the user-specified preference as a first user-specified preference and if a server computer does match the first user-specified preference, then searching for a server computer that matches a second user-specified preference.
6. A method associated with the launching a virtual machine, comprising:
receiving a user request including at least one parameter used to identify an infrastructure platform desired for launching of a virtual machine, wherein the at least one parameter includes a processor generation to be used in association with the virtual machine; and
identifying a server computer using the at least one parameter that matches the infrastructure platform and which is usable to launch the virtual machine; and
launching the virtual machine on the server computer.
7. The method of claim 6 , further including launching the virtual machine using the identified server computer.
8. The method of claim 6 , further including transmitting pricing information to the user in response to the request, the pricing information indicating a price associated with launching the virtual machine using the infrastructure platform.
9. The method of claim 6 , further including receiving an indication of an instance type from the user in addition to the infrastructure platform.
10. The method of claim 9 , wherein the instance type identifies at least an amount of memory available to the instance and the infrastructure platform identifies a manufacturer of hardware used host the instance.
11. A computer-readable storage, which is non-transitory, including instructions thereon for executing a method associated with launching a virtual machine, the method comprising:
receiving a user request associated with launching a virtual machine including a first parameter identifying an instance type;
receiving a second parameter associated with the user request, wherein the second parameter specifies at least one processor manufacturer and generation preference used for selection of a server computer associated with an infrastructure platform on which the instance type can be launched;
identifying a server computer that matches the second parameter; and
launching the virtual machine using the identified server computer.
12. The computer-readable storage of claim 11 , wherein the second parameter includes at least one of the following: a price, a manufacturer, a generation associated with the infrastructure platform, a chipset, a hardware card, or a processor type.
13. The computer-readable storage of claim 12 , wherein the generation includes a year that the infrastructure platform was released.
14. The computer-readable storage of claim 13 , further including searching for available server computers that match the year that the infrastructure platform was released.
15. The computer-readable storage of claim 11 , wherein the first parameter and second parameter are in a same request.
16. The computer-readable storage of claim 11 , further including receiving an account number and using the account number to obtain the second parameter.
17. A system for launching a virtual machine in a service provider, comprising:
a database including available server computers and associated infrastructure platforms;
a plurality of server computers upon which the virtual machine can be launched, the plurality of server computers being part of the service provider; and
a deployment component associated with the service provider coupled to the database that can receive a request to launch the virtual machine together with at least one user-specified preference indicating a processor generation included in a server computer associated with an infrastructure platform and that can use the database to select a server computer amongst the plurality of server computers that satisfies the user-specified preference and which is configured to launch the virtual machine on the selected server computer.
18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the deployment component includes account information associated with the user and wherein the user-specified preference is associated with the account information.