Resource-Type Weighting of Use Rights

Abstract

Resource-type weighting is used in evaluating the use-rights associated with hardware resources.

What is claimed is: 
     
         1 . Computer-readable media comprising:
 a weightings table for assigning use-right weightings to hardware types so that some hardware types are assigned greater weights than other hardware types.   
     
     
         2 . Computer-readable media as recited in  claim 1  further comprising means for assigning costs to temporary hardware activations as a function of said weightings. 
     
     
         3 . Computer-readable media as recited in  claim 1  further comprising a workload manager for reallocating hardware resources to workloads so that a quantity of hardware resources assigned to said workloads changes proportionally more than the quantity of use rights assigned to said workloads. 
     
     
         4 . Computer-readable media as recited in  claim 3  wherein said workload manager reallocates said hardware resources without changing the quantity of said use rights. 
     
     
         5 . Computer-readable media as recited in  claim 3  wherein said workload manager changes the quantity of use rights when reallocating said hardware resources. 
     
     
         6 . Computer-readable media as recited in  claim 3  wherein said workload manager changes the quantity of use rights when reallocating said hardware processors by an amount less than least amount of use rights associated with a single processor. 
     
     
         7 . Computer-readable media as recited in  claim 3  wherein said workload manager managers hardware resources on separate first and second standalone computer systems. 
     
     
         8 . Computer-readable media as recited in  claim 7  wherein processors on said first computer system have a different nominal performance than the processors on said second standalone computer system. 
     
     
         9 . A method comprising assigning use-rights weightings to hardware resources in a computing system. 
     
     
         10 . A method as recited in  claim 9  further comprising assigning a cost to a temporary activation of hardware at least in part as a function of said weightings. 
     
     
         11 . A method as recited in  claim 10  further comprising reallocating hardware resources to workloads while transferring user rights from a first quantity of resources of a first resource type to a different quantity resources of a second resource type. 
     
     
         12 . A method as recited in  claim 10  wherein said reallocating does not involve changing the amount of use rights. 
     
     
         13 . A method as recited as recited in  claim 12  wherein said reallocating involves changing the amount of use rights in accordance with management policies. 
     
     
         14 . A method as recited in  claim 13  wherein said reallocating involves a change in use rights costs. 
     
     
         15 . A method as recited in  claim 13  wherein said reallocating does not involve a change in use rights costs. 
     
     
         16 . A method as recited in  claim 11  wherein said hardware resources include processors with different performance ratings, said different performance ratings being associated with different use-right weightings. 
     
     
         17 . A method as recited in  claim 11  wherein said reallocating involves deactivating hardware resources in one standalone computing system and activating hardware resources in a different standalone computing system. 
     
     
         18 . A method as recited in  claim 17  wherein the quantity of processors deactivated is not the same as the number of processors activated, while the quantity of use rights is unchanged from before said reallocation. 
     
     
         19 . An allocation method comprising:
 performing at least one action of a set consisting of requesting and implementing an allocation of active computer hardware resources of different types to server partitions, said types including at least first and second resource types;   evaluating a license status of said allocation of resources as a weighted sum of said resources wherein weightings vary by resource type, said first resource type having a different weighting than said second resource type;   if said performing involves requesting, implementing said allocation if and only if said evaluating indicates said license status is sufficient to accommodate said allocation; and   if said performing involves implementing prior to said evaluation, charging an account according to the evaluated license status.   
     
     
         20 . A method as recited in  claim 19  wherein said first type includes processors sharing a first performance specification and said second type includes processors sharing a second performance specification different from said first performance specification.