Deployment management of composite applications

A computer system for managing deployment of a composite application, the composite application comprising multiple functional modules connected to each other via communication links, the computer system comprising:

• a memory;
• and
• a processing device in communication with the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform a method, said method comprising:
• providing an abstract pattern comprising a plurality of first nodes connected to each other via first links, wherein:
• each first node represents one of the functional modules;
• each first link represents one of the communication links;
• the first nodes and the first links have assigned requirements in respect to a runtime environment used for at least one of instantiating or operating the functional modules and the communication links;
• and
• the abstract pattern lacks resource-related data enabling a deployment engine to instantiate one or more resources for providing the runtime environment for the functional modules and the communication links;
• providing a resource catalog of a target-IT-infrastructure, the resource catalog comprising:
• for each resource of said target IT-infrastructure, a specification of said resource's capabilities to provide the runtime environment with predefined functional or structural features;
• second nodes, each second node being a representation of one or more of the resources of the target IT-infrastructure and comprising an indication of one or more capabilities of said one or more resources represented by said second node;
• and
• second links, each second link being, alone or in combination with other second links or second nodes, a more concrete version of one of the first links or of another second link, the second links being supported by the resources of the target IT-infrastructure;
• and
• iteratively evaluating the resource catalog for supplementing at least one first node of the abstract pattern with one or more of the second nodes and second links, wherein iterations are repeated until the at least one first node and first link is supplemented with one or more of the second nodes which comprise an indication of capabilities of the one or more resources represented by said one or more second nodes which meet requirements assigned to one supplemented first node or first link, wherein in each of two or more iterations an intermediate pattern is generated as a result of said iteration, whereby in each iteration at least one of the one or more second nodes or second links inherit requirements assigned to the first nodes and first links directly from said first nodes and first links or indirectly via other second nodes and second links, the other second nodes and second links being already contained in one of the intermediate patterns generated in a previous iteration, the other second nodes having been added to said intermediate pattern for supplementing said first nodes and first links.

A computer program product for managing deployment of a composite application, the composite application comprising multiple functional modules connected to each other via communication links, the computer program product comprising:

• a computer readable storage medium readable by a processing circuit and storing instructions for execution by the processing circuit for performing a method comprising:
• providing an abstract pattern comprising a plurality of first nodes connected to each other via first links, wherein:
• each first node represents one of the functional modules;
• each first link represents one of the communication links;
• the first nodes and the first links have assigned requirements in respect to a runtime environment used for at least one of instantiating or operating the functional modules and the communication links;
• and
• the abstract pattern lacks resource-related data enabling a deployment engine to instantiate one or more resources for providing the runtime environment for the functional modules and the communication links;
• providing a resource catalog of a target-IT-infrastructure, the resource catalog comprising:
• for each resource of said target IT-infrastructure, a specification of said resource's capabilities to provide the runtime environment with predefined functional or structural features;
• second nodes, each second node being a representation of one or more of the resources of the target IT-infrastructure and comprising an indication of one or more capabilities of said one or more resources represented by said second node;
• and
• second links, each second link being, alone or in combination with other second links or second nodes, a more concrete version of one of the first links or of another second link, the second links being supported by the resources of the target IT-infrastructure;
• and
• iteratively evaluating the resource catalog for supplementing at least one first node of the abstract pattern with one or more of the second nodes and second links, wherein iterations are repeated until the at least one first node and first link is supplemented with one or more of the second nodes which comprise an indication of capabilities of the one or more resources represented by said one or more second nodes which meet requirements assigned to one supplemented first node or first link, wherein in each of two or more iterations an intermediate pattern is generated as a result of said iteration, whereby in each iteration at least one of the one or more second nodes or second links inherit requirements assigned to the first nodes and first links directly from said first nodes and first links or indirectly via other second nodes and second links, the other second nodes and second links being already contained in one of the intermediate patterns generated in a previous iteration, the other second nodes having been added to said intermediate pattern for supplementing said first nodes and first links.