Resource substitution and reallocation in a virtual computing environment

A computer-implemented method for managing resources of a plurality of resource types in a virtual computing environment having a plurality of applications running therein, the method comprising:

• determining, by the virtual computing environment, that there is a scarcity of a first resource type of the plurality of resource types;
• broadcasting, based on the determination, a request for the first resource type and an offer of one or more alternate resource types of the plurality of resources types for substitution, wherein the first resource type is a different resource type from each of the one or more alternate resource types;
• reviewing, in response to the request, usage of the first resource type by at least one application of the plurality of applications running on a virtual machine;
• evaluating, based on the reviewed usage of the first resource type and characteristics of the at least one application, an extent to which the at least one application can substitute the one or more alternate resource types for the first resource type;
• collecting a plurality of responses to the broadcasted request, wherein each response indicates an extent to which at least one corresponding application of the plurality of applications can substitute the one or more alternate resource types for the first resource type;
• selecting, based on the collected responses, a trade-off group, the trade-off group including a set of applications of the plurality of applications;
• and
• trading, based on the selection, a first quantity of the first resource type from the trade-off group in exchange for a second quantity of at least one of the one or more alternate resource types to the trade-off group such that the set of applications thereby substitute the second quantity of the at least one of the one or more alternate resource types for the first quantity of the first resource type.

A computer-implemented method for managing resources of a plurality of resource types in a virtual computing environment having a plurality of applications running therein on a plurality of virtual machines, the method comprising:

• receiving, by the virtual computing environment, a request to reallocate a first quantity of a first resource type of the plurality of resource types to a first virtual machine of the plurality of virtual machines;
• identifying, by the virtual computing environment, a trade-off group, the trade-off group including a set of virtual machines of the plurality virtual machines, the trade-off group having at least the first quantity of the first resource type allocated to it;
• calculating, based on usage of the first quantity of the first resource type and characteristics of a set of applications running on the set of virtual machines, a second quantity of one or more alternate resource types that can be used as direct substitutes for the first quantity of the first resource type by modifying the manner in which the set of virtual machines use both the first resource type and the one or more alternate resource types, wherein the first resource type is a different resource type from each of the one or more alternate resource types;
• and
• reallocating, by the virtual computing environment, the first quantity of the first resource type from the trade-off group to the first virtual machine and the second quantity of the one or more alternate resource types to the trade-off group that results in a substitution of the at least one of the one or more alternate resource types for the first resource type by the set of virtual machines.