Mechanism for managing execution environments for aggregated processes

A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for managing execution of work in execution environments, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

• receiving a work request, said work request specifying a first job, said first job comprising a first task, wherein said first task has a parent-child relationship with said first job such that said first task is a child of said first job, said work request further indicating an association between said first job and a first workspace definition, wherein said first workspace definition defines a first execution environment, said work request comprising no explicit directive to execute said first task using said first execution environment;
• processing said work request to automatically determine that said first task, as a result of being a child of said first job, inherits said association with said first workspace definition and should be executed using said first execution environment;
• causing said first execution environment to be created on one or more first computers;
• and
• causing said first task to be executed using said first execution environment.

A network device that can manage execution of work in execution environments, the network device comprising:

• a network interface;
• a processor coupled to the network interface and receiving network messages from the network through the network interface;
• a computer-readable medium comprising one or more stored sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of:
• receiving a work request, said work request specifying a first job, said first job comprising a first task, wherein said first task has a parent-child relationship with said first job such that said first task is a child of said first job, said work request further indicating an association between said first job and a first workspace definition, wherein said first workspace definition defines a first execution environment, said work request comprising no explicit directive to execute said first task using said first execution environment;
• processing said work request to automatically determine that said first task, as a result of being a child of said first job, inherits said association with said first workspace definition and should be executed using said first execution environment;
• causing said first execution environment to be created on one or more first computers;
• and
• causing said first task to be executed using said first execution environment.