Low-risk server consolidation

A non-transitory computer readable storage medium comprising a computer readable program for virtual machine (VM) consolidation, wherein the computer readable program when executed on a computer causes the computer to perform the steps of:

• providing a plurality of resource usage levels for a set of VMs to be consolidated including a first resource usage level and a last resource usage level;
• formulating an optimization problem to minimize an objective function such that any of one or more VMs of a set of VMs to be allocated to a target server may be assigned to the first resource level and remaining VMs of the set may be assigned to the last resource level while not exceeding a resource capacity of the target server;
• and
• allocating the set of VMs to a number of servers is accordance with the optimization problem to consolidate the set of VMs.

A system for virtual machine (VM) consolidation, comprising:

• a formulation module configured to formulate an optimization problem on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium to minimize an objective function based upon a plurality of resource usage levels including a first resource usage level and a last resource usage level,
• wherein the optimization problem is formulated such that any of one or more VMs of a set of VMs to be allocated to a target server may be assigned to the first resource level and remaining VMs of the set may be assigned to the last resource level while not exceeding a resource capacity of the target server;
• and
• an allocation module configured to allocate the set of VMs to a number of servers is accordance with the optimization problem to consolidate the set of VMs.