IP Library Granted Patent US 9,465,671
Granted Patent B1
US 9,465,671 · App. 13/594,431 · Granted Oct 11, 2016

Systems and methods for performance indexing

Inventor: Philip Eric Jackson (Boston, MA)
Assignee: Dell Software Inc.
G06F9/52
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,465,671
App. No.
13/594,431
Granted
Oct 11, 2016
Kind
B1
Abstract

Systems and methods relate to indexing of performance and cost of workloads in a computing environment. The computing environment may include a virtualized computing environment. According to some embodiments, a performance index relating to a plurality of workloads executing in the computing environment may be generated, where the performance index is based at least in part on performance and cost of use of one or more resources in the computing environment by the plurality of workloads. The index may be normalized. If the performance or cost of a particular workload departs from an expected performance or cost determined from the average performance and/or cost in the computing environment, resources may be reallocated to the workloads such that the performance or cost of the workload is closer to its expected performance or cost based on the performance index.

Claims (41)

1. A computer system for normalized indexing of performance and cost of workloads in a virtualized computing environment, the computer system comprising:

computer hardware including a computer processor; and

a performance manager comprising instructions executable by the computer processor to cause the computer hardware to:

access information relating to actual performance of a plurality of workloads executing in a virtualized computing environment comprising one or more resources,

wherein each of the plurality of workloads comprises at least one of an application, a service, a process, a task, a thread, a script, or a virtual machine, and

wherein the one or more resources comprise allocation, availability, or capacity of at least one of CPU, memory, storage, or network;

generate a normalized performance index based on the actual performance of the plurality of workloads, wherein the normalized performance index is based at least in part on performance and cost of the one or more resources in the virtualized computing environment used by the plurality of workloads;

determine whether an actual performance and cost of a first workload in the plurality of workloads departs from an anticipated performance and cost based on the normalized performance index;

in response to a determination that the actual performance and cost of the first workload departs from the anticipated performance and cost, reallocate the one or more resources to the plurality of workloads in the virtualized computing environment such that the performance and cost of the first workload is closer to the anticipated performance and cost based on the normalized performance index;

wherein the normalized performance index is based at least in part on a ratio of the performance to the cost of the use of the one or more resources in the virtualized computing environment by the plurality of the workloads;

wherein the performance manager is further configured to provide a graphical representation of the normalized performance index or the plurality of workloads; and

wherein the graphical representation comprises a heat map.

2. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the normalized performance index is based at least in part on average cost and performance of at least some of the plurality of workloads executing in the computing environment.

3. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the performance manager is further configured to update the normalized performance index to reflect a change in the virtualized computing environment.

4. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the performance manager is further configured to determine tiers of service based on the normalized performance index.

5. The computer system of claim 4 , wherein the performance manager is further configured to determine whether cost or performance of a workload in the plurality of workloads is outside a tier of service associated with the workload.

6. The computer system of claim 1 , wherein the normalized performance index is based at least in part on chargeback models relating to the one or more resources or to the plurality of workloads.

7. A method for indexing of performance and cost of workloads in a virtualized computing environment, the method comprising:

under control of a performance management system comprising non-transitory data storage and physical computer processors:

accessing information relating to actual performance of a plurality of workloads executing in a virtualized computing environment comprising computing resources;

generating a performance index based on the actual performance of the plurality of workloads, wherein the performance index is based at least in part on performance and cost of the computing resources in the virtualized computing environment used by the plurality of workloads;

normalizing the performance index;

determining whether an actual performance and cost of a first workload in the plurality of workloads departs from an anticipated performance and cost based on the performance index;

in response to a determination that the actual performance and cost of the first workload departs from the anticipated performance and cost, taking a corrective action such that the performance and cost of the first workload is closer to the anticipated performance and cost based on the performance index;

wherein the normalized performance index is based at least in part on a ratio of the performance to the cost of the use of the one or more resources in the virtualized computing environment by the plurality of the workloads;

wherein the performance management system is further configured to provide a graphical representation of the performance index or the plurality of workloads; and

wherein the graphical representation comprises a heat map.

8. The method of claim 7 , wherein each of the plurality of workloads comprises at least one of an application, a service, a process, a task, a thread, a script, or a virtual machine.

9. The method of claim 7 , wherein the one or more resources comprise allocation, availability, or capacity of at least one of CPU, memory, storage, or network.

10. The method of claim 7 , wherein the corrective action comprises reallocating the computing resources to the plurality of workloads in the virtualized computing environment.

11. The method of claim 7 , wherein generating the performance index comprises calculating an average cost-performance relationship for at least some of the workloads executing in the virtualized computing environment.

12. The method of claim 7 , wherein determining whether performance and cost of a first workload in the plurality of workloads departs from an expected performance and cost based on the performance index is determined by calculating a difference between the performance and cost of the first workload and the expected performance and cost based on the performance index.

13. Non-transitory computer storage having stored thereon instructions that, when executed by a computer system having computer storage, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:

accessing a normalized performance index relating to actual performance of a plurality of workloads executing in a computing environment, wherein the performance index is based at least in part on performance and cost of computing resources in the computing environment used by the plurality of workloads;

evaluating whether an actual performance of a first workload in the plurality of workloads is out of balance from an anticipated performance based on the normalized performance index;

in response to an evaluation that the actual performance of the first workload is out of balance from the anticipated performance, taking a corrective action such that the performance and cost of the first workload moves closer to the anticipated performance based on the normalized performance index;

wherein the normalized performance index is based at least in part on a ratio of the performance to the cost of the use of the one or more resources in the virtualized computing environment by the plurality of the workloads;

wherein the performance manager is further configured to provide a graphical representation of the normalized performance index or the plurality of workloads; and

wherein the graphical representation comprises a heat map.

14. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 13 , further comprising updating the performance index to reflect a change in the resources or workloads in the computing environment.

15. The non-transitory computer storage of claim 13 , wherein evaluating whether the first workload in the plurality of workloads is out of balance relative to the performance index comprises calculating a price performance delta index (PPDI).

Assignments (27)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 19, 2025
From: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC.
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; BINARYTREE.COM LLC; ERWIN, INC.
Reel/Frame 073606/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Nov 18, 2025
From: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; BINARYTREE.COM LLC; ERWIN, INC.
Reel/Frame 073613/0326 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 8, 2025
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; ERWIN, INC.
To: ALTER DOMUS (US) LLC
Reel/Frame 071527/0649 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Jun 8, 2025
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; ERWIN, INC.
To: ALTER DOMUS (US) LLC
Reel/Frame 071527/0001 →
RELEASE OF FIRST LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 059105/0479 →
FIRST LIEN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; BINARYTREE.COM LLC; ERWIN, INC.; ONE IDENTITY LLC; ONELOGIN, INC.; ONE IDENTITY SOFTWARE INTERNATIONAL DESIGNATED ACTIVITY COMPANY
To: GOLDMAN SACHS BANK USA
Reel/Frame 058945/0778 →
SECOND LIEN INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.; ANALYTIX DATA SERVICES INC.; BINARYTREE.COM LLC; ERWIN, INC.; ONE IDENTITY LLC; ONELOGIN, INC.; ONE IDENTITY SOFTWARE INTERNATIONAL DESIGNATED ACTIVITY COMPANY
To: MORGAN STANLEY SENIOR FUNDING, INC.
Reel/Frame 058952/0279 →
RELEASE OF SECOND LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 059096/0683 →
FIRST LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 7, 2018
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 046327/0347 →
SECOND LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 7, 2018
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 046327/0486 →
RELEASE OF FIRST LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS RECORDED AT R/F 040581/0850 Recorded May 22, 2018
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC. (F/K/A DELL SOFTWARE INC.); AVENTAIL LLC
Reel/Frame 046211/0735 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Dec 6, 2017
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 044800/0848 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE ASSIGNEE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 040587 FRAME: 0624. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Nov 28, 2017
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC. (F/K/A DELL SOFTWARE INC.); AVENTAIL LLC
Reel/Frame 044811/0598 →
SECOND LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 10, 2016
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040587/0624 →
FIRST LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 9, 2016
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040581/0850 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Oct 31, 2016
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS, L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 040521/0467 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN CERTAIN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (040039/0642) Recorded Oct 31, 2016
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
To: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 040521/0016 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS, L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040030/0187 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040040/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040065/0618 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040039/0642 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2016
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; COMPELLANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040065/0216 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (TERM LOAN) Recorded Jan 2, 2014
From: DELL INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; BOOMI, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL USA L.P.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; GALE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 031899/0261 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (ABL) Recorded Jan 2, 2014
From: DELL INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; BOOMI, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL USA L.P.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; GALE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 031898/0001 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (NOTES) Recorded Jan 2, 2014
From: APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; BOOMI, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INC.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL USA L.P.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; GALE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS FIRST LIEN COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 031897/0348 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Aug 19, 2013
From: QUEST SOFTWARE, INC.
To: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 031035/0914 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 6, 2012
From: JACKSON, PHILIP ERIC
To: QUEST SOFTWARE, INC.
Reel/Frame 029247/0689 →
Continuity (1)
Provisional Application 61527952 · Aug 26, 2011