US2011238462A1PendingUtilityA1

Service level agreements and management thereof

47
Individually held — no corporate assignee on recordPriority: Oct 22, 1999Filed: Jun 7, 2011Published: Sep 29, 2011
Est. expiryOct 22, 2019(expired)· nominal 20-yr term from priority
Inventors:Himanshu Sinha
H04L 41/5019H04L 41/5009H04L 41/5003H04L 47/20G06Q 10/0637
47
PatentIndex Score
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Claims

Abstract

Method and apparatus for service level agreement formation and management is described. More particularly, a service level agreement (SLA) manager is described. This SLA manager comprises an admission controller, a specification module and a performance measurement module. Such SLA manager is interposed between one or more client computer systems and a service provider computer system.

Claims

exact text as granted — not AI-modified
1 .- 7 . (canceled) 
     
     
         8 . A method comprising:
 receiving a client service request at a service level agreement manager;   transmitting the client service request to a service provider selected to execute the client service request;   receiving performance results from the selected service provider, wherein the performance results represent performance measurements associated with executing a service defined by the client service request; and   transmitting the performance results.   
     
     
         9 . A method as set forth in  claim 8 , further comprising determining whether to accept the client service request. 
     
     
         10 . A method as set forth in  claim 9 , wherein determining whether to accept the client service request includes determining whether an account associated with the client service request has a sufficient number of available tokens. 
     
     
         11 . A method as set forth in  claim 10 , wherein determining whether to accept the client service request includes:
 accepting the client service request if the account has the sufficient number of available tokens; and   deducting a predetermined number of tokens from the number of available tokens in the account.   
     
     
         12 . A method as set forth in  claim 11 , wherein determining whether to accept the client service request includes crediting the account with the predetermined number of tokens deducted after the client service request has been executed. 
     
     
         13 . A method as set forth in  claim 10 , wherein determining whether to accept the client service request rejecting the client service request if the account has an insufficient number of available tokens. 
     
     
         14 . A method as set forth in  claim 9 , wherein determining whether to accept the client service request includes allocating resources between a plurality of clients and a plurality of service providers, including the selected service provider. 
     
     
         15 . A method as set forth in  claim 9 , wherein determining whether to accept the client service request includes at least one of:
 determining whether executing the service defined by the client service request will impact a service level agreement between the service provider and at least one of a plurality of clients;   identifying potential benefits of executing the service defined by the client service request; and   identifying a potential penalty for rejecting the client service request.   
     
     
         16 . A method as set forth in  claim 9 , wherein determining whether to accept the client service request includes:
 performing an initial estimate of system capacity;   measuring actual performance of the system capacity to refine the initial estimate; and   assigning a predetermined number of tokens to each of the plurality of clients based on the actual performance of the system capacity.   
     
     
         17 . A method as set forth in  claim 16 , wherein performing the initial estimate of the system capacity includes determining a maximum number of concurrent instances that a client service request can be executed within a predetermined amount of time. 
     
     
         18 . A method as set forth in  claim 16 , wherein performing the initial estimate includes measuring system performance under a simulated load. 
     
     
         19 . A method as set forth in  claim 8 , further comprising comparing the performance measurements represented by the performance results to at least one service level agreement specification requirement. 
     
     
         20 . A method as set forth in  claim 8 , further comprising recording the performance measurements represented by the performance results. 
     
     
         21 . A tangible computer readable medium embodying computer-executable instructions comprising:
 receiving a client service request at a service level agreement manager;   transmitting the request to a service provider selected to execute the client service request;   receiving performance results from the selected service provider, wherein the performance results represent performance measurements associated with executing a service defined by the client service request; and   transmitting the performance results.   
     
     
         22 . A tangible computer readable medium as set forth in  claim 21 , further comprising determining whether to accept the client service request. 
     
     
         23 . A tangible computer readable medium as set forth in  claim 22 , wherein determining whether to accept the client service request includes determining whether an account associated with the client service request has a sufficient number of available tokens. 
     
     
         24 . A tangible computer readable medium as set forth in  claim 23 , wherein determining whether to accept the client service request includes:
 accepting the client service request if the account has the sufficient number of available tokens;   deducting a predetermined number of tokens from the number of available tokens in the account; and   crediting the account with the predetermined number of tokens deducted after the client service request has been executed.   
     
     
         25 . A tangible computer readable medium as set forth in  claim 23 , wherein determining whether to accept the client service request includes rejecting the client service request if the account has an insufficient number of available tokens. 
     
     
         26 . A tangible computer readable medium as set forth in  claim 22 , wherein determining whether to accept the client service request includes:
 performing an initial estimate of system capacity;   measuring actual performance of the system capacity to refine the initial estimate; and   assigning a predetermined number of tokens to each of the plurality of clients based on the actual performance of the system capacity.   
     
     
         27 . A system comprising:
 a plurality of service providers; and   a service level agreement manager in communication with the service provider and configured to:
 receive a client service request; 
 transmit the client service request to one of the plurality of service providers selected to execute the client service request; 
 receive performance results from the selected service provider, wherein the performance results represent performance measurements associated with executing a service defined by the client service request; and 
 transmit the performance results.

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