Hierarchical capacity management in a virtualization environment

An apparatus, comprising:

• a processing system including at least one processor;
• and
• a computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by the processing system, cause the processing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:
• maintaining a policy for a first capacity agent at a first hierarchical layer of a virtualization environment, wherein the policy includes a set of key capacity indicators, a capacity limit, and an algorithm, wherein the first capacity agent is distinct from the algorithm, wherein the first hierarchical layer is a datacenter layer comprising a plurality of datacenters, wherein the first capacity agent is for a first datacenter of the plurality of datacenters, and wherein the first datacenter comprises a plurality of hosts;
• obtaining, based on the set of key capacity indicators, a set of key capacity indicator information;
• monitoring, based on the capacity limit, for a detection of a capacity limit event;
• determining, based on the algorithm, a predicted capacity exhaustion point;
• and
• sending in response to the detection of the capacity limit event, toward a second capacity agent at a second hierarchical layer of the virtualization environment that is above the first hierarchical layer in a layer hierarchy, the set of key capacity indicator information and the predicted capacity exhaustion point, wherein the second hierarchical layer is a regional layer comprising a plurality of regions, wherein the second capacity agent is for a first region of the plurality of regions, and wherein the first region comprises at least a portion of the plurality of datacenters including the first datacenter.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing instructions which, when executed by a processing system including at least one processor, cause the processing system to perform operations, the operations comprising:

• maintaining a policy for a first capacity agent at a first hierarchical layer of a virtualization environment, wherein the policy includes a set of key capacity indicators, a capacity limit, and an algorithm, wherein the first capacity agent is distinct from the algorithm, wherein the first hierarchical layer is a datacenter layer comprising a plurality of datacenters, wherein the first capacity agent is for a first datacenter of the plurality of datacenters, and wherein the first datacenter comprises a plurality of hosts;
• obtaining, based on the set of key capacity indicators, a set of key capacity indicator information;
• monitoring, based on the capacity limit, for a detection of a capacity limit event;
• determining, based on the algorithm, a predicted capacity exhaustion point;
• and
• sending in response to the detection of the capacity limit event, toward a second capacity agent at a second hierarchical layer of the virtualization environment that is above the first hierarchical layer in a layer hierarchy, the set of key capacity indicator information and the predicted capacity exhaustion point, wherein the second hierarchical layer is a regional layer comprising a plurality of regions, wherein the second capacity agent is for a first region of the plurality of regions, and wherein the first region comprises at least a portion of the plurality of datacenters including the first datacenter.