Method and system for managing resources in a data center

A method of managing a plurality of application environments according to an operating objective for each of the plurality of application environments, each of the plurality of application environments having an operating state and being assigned a computing resource from a plurality of computing resources, each of the plurality of computing resources having a characteristic representative of an operating state of the computing resource, said method comprising:

• (a) estimating a future time-varying status of the characteristic of the assigned computing resource for the specific application environment based on a time-varying component of the current status;
• (b) estimating a future time stationary status of the characteristic of the assigned computing resource for the specific application environment based on a time stationary component of the current status;
• (c) combining the future time-varying status and the future time stationary status to form a future status of the characteristic of the assigned computing resource for specific application environment;
• (d) determining a response of the specific application environment to the future status of the characteristic of the assigned computing resource for the specific application environment, wherein the future operating state of the specific application environment is based on the response;
• (e) determining a difference between the future operating state of the specific application environment and the operating objective for the specific application environment;
• (f) creating a plurality of sets of changes to the specific application environment, each of the plurality of sets of changes resulting in a reduction of the difference;
• (g) assessing each of the plurality of sets of changes to determine a quantitative preference for the effect on the future operating state of the specific application environment of each of the plurality of sets of changes based a property of the effect;
• (h) determining the selected set of changes from the plurality of sets of changes based on the quantitative preference;
• (i) effecting the selected set of changes on the selected application environment;
• and
• (j) repeating steps (a) to (i) for each of the plurality of application environments to monitor the future operating state of each of the plurality of application environments.

A closed-loop system for managing an application environment having an operating state according to an operating objective, the application environment having a computing resource with a characteristics representative of an operating state of the computing resource, said system comprising:

• a state determination mechanism for determining a difference between the operating objective and a future operating state of the application environment based on a current status of the characteristic of the computing resource;
• a resource change mechanism for creating a selected set of changes to the application environment to reduce of the difference;
• and
• a deployment mechanism for effecting the selected set of changes on the application environment.

A computer readable medium having stored thereon computer-executable instructions for managing an application environment having an operating state according to an operating objective, the application environment having a computing resource with a characteristic representative of an operating state of the computing resource, the computer-executable instructions comprising:

• (a) determining a future operating state of the application environment based on a current status of the characteristic of the computing resource;
• (b) determining a difference between the future operating state of the application environment and the operating objective;
• (c) generating a selected set of changes to the application environment for reducing the difference;
• and
• (d) repeating steps (a) to (c) to monitor the future operating state of the application environment.