(12) United States Patent (cid:9)
`Nanja (cid:9)
`
`11111111111111101111111111!MIIIIIIIIIM 1111111111111110111111
`
`(10) Patent No.: (cid:9)
`(45) Date of Patent: (cid:9)
`
`US 7,065,637 B1
`Jun. 20, 2006
`
`(54) SYSTEM FOR CONFIGURATION OF
`DYNAMIC COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS
`USING A VISUAL INTERFACE
`
`(75) Inventor: Sekaran Nanja, San Jose, CA (US)
`(73) Assignee: VERITAS Operating Corporating, (cid:9)
`Mountain View, CA (US)
`
`( * ) Notice:
`
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 838 days.
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 09/662,990
`
`(22) Filed: (cid:9)
`
`Sep. 15, 2000
`
`Related U.S. Application Data
`(60) Provisional application No. 60/228,105, filed on Aug. 24,
`2000.
`
`(51)
`
`Int. Cl.
`GO6F 15/177
`
`(2006.01)
`
` 713/1; 713/2; 718/104
`(52) U.S. Cl. (cid:9)
`(58) Field of Classification Search (cid:9)
` 713/1,
`713/2, 100; 717/168-178; 705/26, 27; 709/200,
`709/203, 204, 226, 201, 202; 345/733, 735,
`345/738; 718/100, 104, 105, 106; 715/700,
`715/810, 845
`See application file for complete search history.
`
`(56)
`
`References Cited
`
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`4,925,311 A (cid:9) * 5/1990 Neches et al. (cid:9)
`5,394,522 A (cid:9) * 2/1995 Sanchez-Frank et al. (cid:9)
`5,515,524 A (cid:9) * 5/1996 Lynch et al. (cid:9)
`5,555,370 A (cid:9) * 9/1996 Li et al. (cid:9)
`5,668,995 A (cid:9) * 9/1997 Bhat (cid:9)
`5,894,571 A (cid:9) * 4/1999 O'Connor (cid:9)
`6,009,507 A (cid:9) * 12/1999 Brooks et al. (cid:9)
`6,081,846 A (cid:9) * 6/2000 Hyder et al. (cid:9)
`6,182,123 B1 * 1/2001 Filepp et al. (cid:9)
`6,230,200 B1 * 5/2001 Forecast et al. (cid:9)
`6,259,448 B1 * 7/2001 McNally et al. (cid:9)
`6,393,557 B1 * 5/2002 Guthridge et al. (cid:9)
`
` 709/100
`... 345/735
`
`703/13
` 345/763
` 709/104
`
`713/2
`
`712/28
` 709/250
` 709/217
` 709/226
` 345/733
`
`713/1
`
`6,543,047 B1 * 4/2003 Vrhel et al. (cid:9)
`6,560,606 B1 * 5/2003 Young (cid:9)
`6,564,112 B1 * 5/2003 Factor (cid:9)
`6,578,141 B1 * 6/2003 Kelley et al. (cid:9)
`
`
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`
`
`
`717/121
`707/100
`700/97
`713/1
`
`FOREIGN PATENT DOCUMENTS
`
`EP
`EP
`
`745929 Al * 12/1996
`841616 A2 * 5/1998
`
`OTHER PUBLICATIONS
`
`"Computer System Built to Order" (cid:9) Nov. 25,
`Simon (cid:9)
`1996 (cid:9) Newsgroups: demon.adverts, midlands.adverts, san-
`et.adverts, solent.forsale, uk.adverts.computer, unet.adverts,
`uk.adverts.other, dungeon.forsale.*
`Application Developer's Training Course, SNAP 8.0 Train-
`ing Participant Guide, Module 7, Copyright © 1997, Tem-
`plate Software, Inc., pp. 7-1 through 7-34.
`Workflow Template, Developing A WFT Workflow System,
`Copyright © 1998, Template Software, Inc.
`Workflow Template, Using the WFT Development Environ-
`ment, Copyright © 1998, Template Software, Inc.
`Web Component, Using the Web Component, Copyright ©
`1997, Template Software, Inc.
`
`* cited by examiner
`
`Primary Examiner—Thuan Du
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm Campbell Stephenson
`Ascolese LLP
`
`(57) (cid:9)
`
`ABSTRACT
`
`The present invention discloses a user interface for creating
`a dynamic computing environment using allocateable
`resources. The interface enables the fast, efficient selection
`and configuration of resources for the computing environ-
`ment. The resources are fully selectable and allocable by a
`system architect. In a first embodiment, the ability is pro-
`vided that allows a customer or system architect to design
`for a system by allocating resources and specifying how the
`resources are to be used. The system architect may create a
`computing environment from a remotely accessible user
`interface such as a web page on the Internet. Thus, the
`system architect can create, modify and operate the envi-
`ronment from anywhere in the world.
`
`9 Claims, 10 Drawing Sheets
`
`101
`Customer/
`Architect
`
`Internet
`108
`
`Web-based Visual
`Interface
`
`Ow.
`
`Configuration/Access
`Server
`
`Access Level
`Security
`106
`
`Isolation Level Security
`107
`
`Infrastructure
`Server
`
`104
`
`Inventory
`
`Oracle Exhibit 1001, Page 1
`
`(cid:9)
`(cid:9)
`(cid:9)
`(cid:9)
`(cid:9)
`(cid:9)
`

`

`U.S. Patent (cid:9)
`
`Jun. 20, 2006
`
`Sheet 1 of 10 (cid:9)
`
`US 7,065,637 B1
`
`101
`Customer/
`Architect
`
`Internet
`108
`
`Web—based Visual
`Interface
`
`102
`
`Configuration/Access
`Server
`
`103
`
`Access Level
`Security
`106
`
`Isolation Level Security
`107
`
`Infrastructure
`Server
`
`104
`
`Inventory
`
`105
`
`FIG. 1
`
`Connect
`
`202
`
`Login
`
`204
`
`Select a Configuration
`208
`
`Open a terminal
`210
`
`FIG. 2
`
`Oracle Exhibit 1001, Page 2
`
`(cid:9)
`

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`U.S. Patent (cid:9)
`
`Jun. 20, 2006
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`

`US 7,065,637 B1
`
`1
`SYSTEM FOR CONFIGURATION OF
`DYNAMIC COMPUTING ENVIRONMENTS
`USING A VISUAL INTERFACE
`
`CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED
`APPLICATIONS
`
`This application claims priority from Provisional
`Application, entitled "Dynamic Computing Environment
`Using Allocateable Resources" Ser. No. 60/228,105 and
`filed on Aug. 24, 2000. This application is also related patent
`application Ser. No. 09/663,252, still pending, entitled User
`Interface for Dynamic Computing Environment Using Allo-
`cateable Resources, filed Sep. 15, 2000. Both applications
`and their disclosures are incorporated herein by reference for
`all purposes.
`
`BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
`
`The present invention relates in general to digital
`processing, and more specifically to an interactive system
`for allowing allocation of resources such as digital
`processors, networks and software to create a software
`configured, networked arrangement of processors and pro-
`cesses.
`Today, computers are increasingly being used in almost
`every area of commerce, education, entertainment and pro-
`ductivity. With the growing popularity of the Internet, cor-
`porate and campus intranets, home networking and other
`networks, the trend is to use multiple computers, or pro-
`cessing platforms, to perform tasks and provide services.
`The networked processors approach is in contrast to tradi-
`tional approaches of running a single application as a
`stand-alone application on a single computer.
`One approach to networked processing is a "client-server"
`model whereby a server computer on the Internet is used to
`transfer information to a client computer. Typically, the
`client computer is located at an end user's location, such as
`a personal computer in a user's home. This allows large
`amounts of information to be stored in, and accessed from,
`the server computer by many client computers. The client
`computers can access the server computer simultaneously.
`Another approach allows a user to obtain portions of execut-
`able programs from the server to operate an application
`program in functional "pieces" or components, on the client
`computer. For example, a user can run a word-processing
`program in a client-server mode where the server provides
`only those portions of the word-processing software to the
`user's computer on an as-needed basis.
`Yet another model is the application service provider
`(ASP) model. This removes the application still further from
`the end-user and can involve more processors, such as
`servers. The ASP model allows a primary set to host a
`client-server application, or to host any type of data-
`processing resource such as a database, user interface,
`program component, data object, etc. The application can
`appear to the client as being hosted by the primary server
`when it is actually being provided by one or more other
`servers. The other servers can provide the application, or
`components, by having the client directly access the other
`server, or having the client access the other server through
`the primary server.
`Still other models are possible. Any arbitrary arrangement
`of processors can be used to provide a service or function to
`an end user, or to another device such as another processor,
`consumer electronic device, etc. Examples of such systems 65
`are groups of computers used to perform a large mathemati-
`cal task, such as rendering frames of a video sequence or
`
`30 (cid:9)
`
`2
`performing a simulation. Systems that use many processors
`to exchange information, such as email systems, multicast-
`ing programs, voice-over-IP communications, etc., can
`potentially require hundreds, or even thousands or more,
`5 networked processors.
`Software is necessary to operate each of these models.
`Each of the systems described above will likely use multiple
`software processes on each processing platform. Most likely,
`the software processes are designed by different software
`10 manufacturers. Although there are standard specifications to
`design compatible software, such software is still designed
`largely independently of other manufacturers' software. For
`example, a user may be running an operating system and
`web browser designed by different companies. Additional
`15 processes may be concurrently executing on the user's
`computer.
`Thus, many independently designed hardware devices
`and software processes must be coordinated in order for the
`overall networked system to operate correctly and effi-
`20 ciently. This complexity is multiplied by the number of users
`that the system is designed to support. For example, where
`the system is an Internet system it is common for the user
`base to be in the hundreds of thousands, or millions. There
`may be hundreds or thousands (or more) simultaneous users
`25 operating client systems that require tens, or even hundreds,
`of servers for adequate bandwidth. Different servers in the
`networked system may perform different functions such as
`web page serving, database maintenance, caching, etc.
`This complexity further manifests itself in another aspect.
`In the past, software applications used to be monolithic. That
`is, the application was self-contained within a box with no
`interaction with other applications. However, this paradigm
`is no longer true. With Internet and e-commerce
`35 applications, for example, a client application is configured
`to talk to a remotely located server application such as
`eBay.com®, or Amazon com®, for example. Typically,
`e-commerce applications define a three-tier architecture
`which includes: (1) client; (2) server; and (3) database.
`40 Within this architecture, the client may be running an Intel®
`x86 box with a Microsoft Windows NTIm environment, the
`server may be running a Sun Microsystems® box running a
`an iPlanetTM application, the database may be Sun Micro-
`systems® box running Oracle®, for example. Therefore,
`this three-tiered architecture increases the complexity and
`cost of many software applications.
`In one aspect, the complexity of today's computing envi-
`ronments increases computing costs, and extends the time
`for a new product to reach the market. This also increases the
`50 cost of the logistics of running the computing infrastructure
`for today's organizations: the cost and time involved in
`procuring, installing, provisioning and maintaining the
`infrastructure increases non-linearly with the increase in
`complexity of the infrastructure. Furthermore, the complex-
`55 ity also increases the need for continual evaluation of
`competing technologies from different vendors to optimize
`the running expenditure for the infrastructure. On the other
`hand, there is no easy access in today's market for compre-
`hensive evaluation of an integrated infrastructure without
`60 actually building the infrastructure.
`Thus, it is desirable to provide a highly available and
`easily usable system for overcoming the aforementioned
`problems and which provides advantages over the prior art.
`
`45
`
`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`The present invention discloses a user interface for cre-
`ating a dynamic computing environment using allocable
`
`Oracle Exhibit 1001, Page 12
`
`

`

`US 7,065,637 B1
`
`3
`resources. The interface enables the fast, efficient selection
`and configuration of processing resources for the computing
`environment. In a first embodiment, a primary company,
`Design2Deploy, Inc.® provides the ability for a customer or
`system architect to design a system by allocating resources 5
`and specifying how the resources are to be used. The system
`architect may create a computing environment from a
`remotely accessible user interface such as a web page on the
`Internet. Thus, the system architect can create, modify and
`operate the environment from anywhere in the world. (cid:9)
`One embodiment of the present invention provides a
`method for allocating computing resources, the method
`using a computer coupled to a display device and to a user
`input device. The method includes, displaying a list of
`computing resources on the display device; accepting sig-
`nals from the user input device to indicate the configuration
`of at least a portion of the processing resources; and con-
`figuring the selected computing resource.
`A further embodiment of the present invention discloses
`a system for providing configurable resources to achieve a
`computing environment. The system includes a configurable
`communication link; a plurality of computing devices
`coupled to a the communication link; and a plurality of
`software programs coupled to the computing devices.
`A further embodiment of the present invention discloses
`a method for creating a computing environment by using a
`computer user interface, the he computer user interface
`coupled to a display screen and to an input device for
`generating signals in response to interactions of a user. The
`method includes, accepting a first signal from the input
`device which enables the user to select a configuration of a
`single computing device for use in the computing environ-
`ment; accepting a second signal from the input device which
`enables the user to activate a selected device to run in the
`computing environment; accepting further signals for
`restarting the device or for shutting the device down.
`Advantageously, the present invention facilitates the cre-
`ation of a computing environment on-demand by the
`customer, and since the computing environment, in turn, can
`be coupled over networks, including the Internet, this
`approach eliminates the logistics cost involved in the cre-
`ation and use of a computing environment.
`
`30
`
`35
`
`40
`
`10
`
`15
`
`20
`
`25
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`45
`
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram of a system for configuration of
`a computing environment and allocation of resources
`according to the present invention.
`FIG. 2 is a flow chart for describing the basic steps
`performed by a server system to allocate resources in so
`response to user interaction according to the present inven-
`tion.
`FIG. 3 is an example of a web page according to the
`present invention.
`FIG. 4 is an example of a web page according to the
`present invention.
`FIG. 5 is an example of a web page according to the
`present invention.
`FIG. 6 is an example of a web page according to the
`present invention.
`FIG. 7 is an example of a web page according to the
`present invention.
`FIG. 8 is an example of a web page according to the
`present invention.
`FIG. 9 is an example of a web page according to the
`present invention.
`
`55
`
`60
`
`65
`
`4
`FIG. 10 is an example of a web page according to the
`present invention.
`FIG. 11 is an example of a web page according to the
`present invention.
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`Detailed descriptions of the embodiments are provided
`herein. It is to be understood, however, that the present
`invention may be embodied in various forms. Therefore,
`specific details disclosed herein are not to be interpreted as
`limiting, but rather as a basis for the claims and as a
`representative basis for teaching one skilled in the art to
`employ the present invention in virtually any appropriately
`detailed system, structure or manner.
`The present invention allows fast, efficient selection and
`configuration of processing networks. The processing net-
`work is referred to as a system including "resources." A
`system resource is any hardware, software or communica-
`tion components in the system. For example, discrete hard-
`ware devices include processing platforms such as comput-
`ers or processors, mobile/laptop computers, embedded
`computing devices, hand-held computers, personal digital
`assistants, point-of-sale terminals, smart-card devices, stor-
`age devices, data transmission and routing hardware etc.,
`without limitation. Software, or any other form of
`instruction, is executed by processors in the system and is a
`type of resource. Finally, communication resources are also
`part of the system such as a digital network's hardware, the
`network configuration and topology, and network control as
`provided by software or hardware.
`The resources are fully selectable and allocable by a
`system architect. In a preferred embodiment, a primary
`company, Design2Deploy, Inc.® provides the ability for a
`system architect to design a system by allocating resources
`and specifying how the resources are to be used. The system
`architect can be an individual, corporate entity, etc. The
`system is referred to as an "environment" and the primary
`company is referred to as an Environment Service Provider
`(ESP), while the system architect is referred to as the
`"customer." The primary company obtains revenue for pro-
`viding the resources and the tools to easily select, allocate,
`configure and run the environment.
`Note that the preferred embodiment allows such fast
`allocation and configuration of resources that environments
`can be created from a pool of resources within minutes, or
`even seconds, (virtually) destroyed, and reallocated for
`creating different environments from the same pool of
`resources This allows "time sharing" of overall resources so
`that a first environment can be "alive" for a daily two-hour
`slot, followed by second, third and fourth environments
`being instantly created for the next four hours for three
`different customers, and so on. This also provides an effi-
`cient system for provisioning "crash-and-burn" systems
`which can be used in different software development life-
`cycle scenarios including testing, rapid beta deployment,
`etc. This also provides a cost-effective way for comparative
`evaluation of technologies.
`A preferred embodiment allows customers to create a
`computing environment from a remotely accessible user
`interface such as a web page on the Internet. Thus, the
`customer can create, modify and operate the environment
`from anywhere in the world. Since the resources, in turn, can
`be coupled over networks, including the Internet, this
`approach eliminates the cost of shipping hardware and
`software. Designers, programmers, testers or other person-
`nel using an environment can, similarly, be located any-
`where in the world so that labor costs can be optimized
`
`Oracle Exhibit 1001, Page 13
`
`

`

`US 7,065,637 B1
`
`5
`The configuration of environments is automatic. For
`example, a customer can request a web-site simulator using
`12 web-page servers on a Microsoft® NT platform, 2 disk
`arrays at a specific bandwidth and storage capacity, 2
`caching servers and 200 clients running Netscape Naviga-
`torTM under Microsoft Windows® 2000 using Pentium IIITM
`processors at under 800 MHz. Such an environment is
`created automatically and made accessible to the architect in
`real-time over the web. A further understanding of embodi-
`ments of the present invention will be gained with reference
`to the diagrams and descriptions which follow.
`System Overview
`FIG. 1 is a block diagram of system 100 for allocating
`processing resources according to the present invention. In
`FIG. 1, system 100 comprises, among other components
`customer/architect 101, a web-based interface 102, a com-
`puter network such as the Internet 108, configuration/access
`server system 103, the inventory of resources 105, the
`infrastructure server 104 for the maintenance of the
`inventory, and different levels of security 106 and 107. In a
`first embodiment, customer 101 uses the web-based inter-
`face 102 and the Internet 108 to interact with server system
`103 for the purpose of allocating resources, as described
`below. The server 103 on receiving the information from the
`customer 101 allocates resources based on the customer's
`requirements and the availability of resources in the inven-
`tory 105. The access level security layer 106 ensures that
`customer 101 can access the server without any other
`customer being aware of the information passed between the
`interface 102 and the server 103. The isolation level security
`layer 107 ensures that the resources being used by the
`customer 101 are available "in isolation" i.e., no other
`customer or outsider knows about the configuration or the
`specifics of the computing environment used by customer
`101.
`Although not shown, one of ordinary skill in the art will
`realize that the "inventory" may include various machine
`and device types. For example, such devices may include
`mobile/laptop computers, embedded computing devices,
`hand-held computers, personal digital assistants, point-of-
`sale terminals and smart-card devices without limitation
`It is possible to use widely varying components, or
`resources, than those shown in FIG. 1 to adequately imple-
`ment the invention. The specific hardware and interconnec-
`tions of FIG. 1 are but one example of an architecture for
`providing allocable resources. Although not shown, system
`100 need not include Internet 108. In an exemplary
`embodiment, system 100 comprises a collection of one or
`more wired or wireless networks, which are not connected
`to the Internet. In a first embodiment, the present invention
`permits "virtual" hosting of computing environments. As
`used herein, the term "virtual" specifies that neither the
`requisite devices nor the network is physically accessible to
`users. Further, in accordance with this embodiment, the
`hosting process may be initiated or terminated by users at
`will.
`FIG. 2 shows a flowchart of the process by which cus-
`tomer 101 allocates resources in a preferred embodiment of
`the present invention.
`In FIG. 2, the flowchart is entered at step 202, when the
`user desires to allocate resources.
`At step 204, the user selects a "login option". It is
`assumed that a valid account has previously been opened for
`the USER1, under an account named ACCOUNT1, for
`example. Next, the user provides the user's information,
`namely, USER1, ACCOUNT1, and a password. Configura-
`tion server 103 locates the user named USER1 under
`
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`
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`ACCOUNT1 and authenticates the user identification,
`account and password.
`Next, if USER1 has previously configured a laboratory
`for ACCOUNT1, it is retrieved. Otherwise, USER1 is pre-
`5 sented with a "laboratory configuration" page. An example
`of the "laboratory configuration" page is shown in the screen
`shots furnished below.
`At step 208, the computing resources are alloy. On
`clicking "selec