# US 2023/0267010 A1 · System and methods for configuring, deploying and maintaining computing clusters

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- Number: US 2023/0267010 A1
- Document ID: US20230267010A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 18/185,670
- Filed: 2023-03-17
- Published: 2023-08-24
- Earliest claimed: 2022-02-18
- Assignees: SAS Institute Inc.
- Applicants: SAS Institute Inc.
- Inventors: Richard K. Wellum; Joseph Daniel Henry; Holden Ernest O'Neal; John W. Waller
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20230267010A1

## CPC

- G06F 9/5044: {considering hardware capabilities}
- G06F 9/451: Execution arrangements for user interfaces
- G06F 9/45558: {Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects}
- G06F 9/4881: {Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues}
- G06F 9/5072: {Grid computing}
- G06F 9/5077: {Logical partitioning of resources; Management or configuration of virtualized resources (specific details on emulation or internal functioning of virtual machines G06F9/455)}
- G06F 2009/4557: {Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing}
- G06F 2009/45583: {Memory management, e.g. access or allocation}
- G06F 2209/5019: Workload prediction
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

An apparatus includes at least one node device to host a computing cluster, and at least one processor to: use at least one of a level of resource observed to be consumed by operation of the computing cluster or a level of performance observed to be provided by operation of the computing cluster as an input to a pre-existing cluster model to derive a predicted level; compare the predicted level to a corresponding observed level of resource consumed or performance provided; and in response to the predicted level not matching the observed level to within a pre-selected degree, derive a new cluster model from observations of the operation of the computing cluster, and generate a prompt to perform repeat the configuration of the computing cluster using the new cluster model in place of the pre-existing cluster model to generate a new set of configuration settings for the computing cluster.

## Claims

### Claim 1

An apparatus comprising:
a computing cluster that employs a combination of at least a selected level of hosting service and a selected resource allocation routine, wherein:
an initial set of configuration settings for the computing cluster is generated during an initial configuration of the computing cluster performed at a time prior to operation of the computing cluster;
the initial configuration of the computing cluster is based on at least one prediction generated using a pre-existing cluster model that is derived from observations of operation of at least one pre-existing computing cluster; and
the at least one pre-existing computing cluster employs a combination of at least a level of hosting service and a resource allocation routine that is identical to the combination of at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine of the computing cluster;
at least one node device to provide the selected level of hosting service to host the computing cluster, wherein:
the at least one node device provides a level of a processing resource and a level of a storage resource to support execution of the selected resource allocation routine;
the selected resource allocation routine allocates the processing resource and the storage resource of the at least one node device through provision of multiple containers; and
each container of the multiple containers provides an execution environment in which to execute instructions of an executable routine to perform a task; and
at least one processor and a storage to store instructions that, when executed by the at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations comprising:
use at least one of a level of resource observed to be consumed by operation of the computing cluster or a level of performance observed to be provided by operation of the computing cluster as an input to the pre-existing cluster model to derive one of a predicted level of performance to be provided by operation of the computing cluster or of a level of resource to be consumed by operation of the computing cluster;
compare the predicted level to a corresponding observed level of resource consumed or of performance provided; and
in response to the predicted level not matching the observed level to within a pre-selected degree, perform operations comprising:
derive a new cluster model from observations of the operation of the computing cluster; and
generate a prompt to perform a repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster using the new cluster model in place of the pre-existing cluster model to generate a new set of configuration settings for the computing cluster that replaces the initial set of configuration settings.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the prompt to perform the repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster is generated in a user interface (UI); and
the at least one processor is caused to perform operations comprising:
compare the observed level of resource consumed or of performance provided to a corresponding minimum level or maximum level specified in the initial set of configuration settings; and
in response to the observed level falling below the corresponding minimum level, or in response to the observed level rising above the corresponding maximum level, generate the UI to include an indication of the minimum level not being reached or an indication of the maximum level being exceeded.

### Claim 3 (depends on 2)

The apparatus of claim 2, wherein:
during the initial configuration of the computing cluster, an initial configuration script to configure at least one of the selected level of hosting service or the selected resource allocation routine was generated based on the initial set of configuration settings;
the initial configuration script was edited to include a customization of at least one configuration setting of the initial set of configuration settings that is associated with the corresponding minimum level or maximum level; and
generation of the UI to include an indication of the minimum level not being reached or an indication of the maximum level being exceeded comprises the at least one processor being caused to generate a view of a portion of the initial configuration script that includes the customization of the at least one configuration setting.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
during the initial configuration of the computing cluster, an initial interoperability check of the combination of at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine was performed to determine whether at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine are interoperable with each other;
the prompt to perform the repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster is generated in a user interface (UI); and
in response to receiving, from an input device used to provide the UI, input indicative of a choice to perform a repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations comprising:
retrieve first data specifying at least one of a known incompatibility or a known affinity of the selected level of hosting service with at least one resource allocation routine;
retrieve second data specifying at least one of a known incompatibility or a known affinity of the selected resource allocation routine with at least one hosting service;
perform a repetition of the interoperability check for the combination of at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine based on the first data and the second data to determine whether the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine are interoperable with each other; and
in response to a determination that the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine are not interoperable with each other, generate an indication that the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine are not interoperable for presentation by through the UI.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the prompt to perform the repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster is generated in a user interface (UI); and
in response to receiving, from an input device used to provide the UI, input indicative of a choice to perform a repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations comprising:
retrieve, from among multiple stored sets of configuration settings associated with multiple other computing clusters, at least one alternate set of configuration settings associated with at least one other computing cluster that employs a combination of at least a level of hosting service and a resource allocation routine that is identical to the combination of at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine of the computing cluster;
generate the UI to include a prompt to choose between using the initial set of configuration settings, and using an alternate set of configuration settings of the at least one alternate set of configuration settings, as a template of default configuration settings for the repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster to generate the new set of configuration settings;
receive, from the input device, input indicative of a selection of a set of configuration settings to use as the template of default configuration settings;
perform an initial check of the selected set of configuration settings to determine whether the selected set of configuration settings includes a conflict among the selected set of configuration settings; and
in response to a determination that the selected set of configuration settings includes a conflict among the selected set of configuration settings, perform operations comprising:
generate an indication of the conflict for presentation in the UI; and
receive a change to a configuration setting as an input from the input device.

### Claim 6 (depends on 5)

The apparatus of claim 5, wherein:
the new cluster model includes at least one correlation between a level of resources consumed by the computing cluster and a level of performance provided by the computing cluster based on the observations of the operation of the computing cluster; and
performing the initial check of the selected set of configuration settings comprises the at least one processor performing operations comprising:
use an observation of at least one of a level of resource consumed by operation of the computing cluster or a level of performance provided by operation of the computing cluster as an input to the new cluster model to derive a predicted level of resource consumed or of performance provided; and
compare the predicted level to a corresponding minimum level or maximum level of resource consumed or of performance provided that is specified in the selected set of configuration settings to determine whether the selected set of configuration settings includes a conflict among the selected set of configuration settings.

### Claim 7 (depends on 5)

The apparatus of claim 5, wherein the at least one processor is caused to perform operations comprising:
generate a new configuration script to configure at least one of the selected level of hosting service or the selected resource allocation routine based on the new set of configuration settings;
generate an editing portion of the UI comprising a visual presentation of text of the new configuration script to enable editing of the text of the new configuration script via operation of the input device to introduce a customization of at least one configuration setting into the new configuration script;
after completion of the editing of the text of the new configuration script, parse the new configuration script to interpret the at least one customization;
perform a check of the new set of configuration settings to determine whether the customization creates a conflict between the customization and at least one other configuration setting; and
in response to a determination that the customization creates a conflict between the customization and at least one other setting, generate an indication of the conflict between the customization and the at least one other setting for presentation in the UI.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the computing cluster employs a combination of the selected level of hosting service, the selected resource allocation routine and a selected support routine;
the level of the processing resource and the level of the storage resource provided by the at least one node device support execution of the selected support routine in addition to the selected resource allocation routine;
the selected support routine provides a library of at least one callable routine able to be called by the executable routine executed within a container of the multiple containers;
the pre-existing cluster model is derived from observations of multiple pre-existing computing clusters that each employ a combination of a level of hosting service, a resource allocation routine and a support routine that is identical to the combination of the selected level of hosting service, the selected resource allocation routine and the selected support routine of the computing cluster; and
deriving the new cluster model from the observations of the operation of the computing cluster comprises the at least one processor updating the pre-existing cluster model to become additionally based on the observations of the operation of the computing cluster to generate the new cluster model.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the at least one node device comprises multiple node devices;
the computing cluster comprises the multiple node devices to form a cluster of physical computing devices; and
the level of the processing resource comprises at least one of:
a quantity of node devices of the multiple node devices;
a quantity of processors provided by the multiple node devices; or
a quantity of cores of the processors provided by the multiple node devices; and
the level of storage resource comprises at least one of:
a quantity of volatile storage provided by the multiple node devices;
a quantity of nonvolatile storage provided by the multiple node devices; or
a quantity of virtual storage provided within the quantity of nonvolatile storage provided by the multiple node devices.

### Claim 10 (depends on 1)

The apparatus of claim 1, wherein:
the computing cluster comprises multiple virtual machines (VMs) instantiated within the at least one node device to form a cluster of virtual computing devices; and
the level of the processing resource comprises at least one of:
a quantity of VMs of the multiple VMs;
a quantity of processors of the at least one node device that are provided to the multiple VMs; or
a quantity of cores of the processors of the at least one node device that are provided to the multiple VMs; and
the level of storage resource comprises at least one of:
a quantity of volatile storage of the at least one node device that is provided to the multiple VMs;
a quantity of nonvolatile storage of the at least one node device that is provided to the multiple VMs; or
a quantity of virtual storage within the quantity of nonvolatile storage that is provided to the multiple VMs.

### Claim 11

A computer-program product tangibly embodied in a non-transitory machine-readable storage medium, the computer-program product including instructions operable to cause at least one processor to conditionally repeat configuration of a computing cluster, wherein:
the computing cluster employs a combination of at least a selected level of hosting service and a selected resource allocation routine;
an initial set of configuration settings for the computing cluster is generated during an initial configuration of the computing cluster performed at a time prior to operation of the computing cluster;
the initial configuration of the computing cluster is based on at least one prediction generated using a pre-existing cluster model that is derived from observations of operation of at least one pre-existing computing cluster;
the at least one pre-existing computing cluster employs a combination of at least a level of hosting service and a resource allocation routine that is identical to the combination of at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine of the computing cluster;
at least one node device provides the selected level of hosting service to host the computing cluster;
the selected level of hosting service defines a level of processing resource and a level of storage resource provided by the at least one node device to support execution of a selected resource allocation routine;
the selected resource allocation routine allocates the processing resource and the storage resource of the at least one node device through provision of multiple containers;
each container of the multiple containers provides an execution environment in which to execute instructions of an executable routine to perform a task; and
the at least one processor is caused to perform operations comprising:
use at least one of a level of resource observed to be consumed by operation of the computing cluster or a level of performance observed to be provided by operation of the computing cluster as an input to the pre-existing cluster model to derive one of a predicted level of performance to be provided by operation of the computing cluster or of a level of resource to be consumed by operation of the computing cluster;
compare the predicted level to a corresponding observed level of resource consumed or of performance provided; and
in response to the predicted level not matching the observed level to within a pre-selected degree, perform operations comprising:
derive a new cluster model from observations of the operation of the computing cluster; and
generate a prompt to perform a repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster using the new cluster model in place of the pre-existing cluster model to generate a new set of configuration settings for the computing cluster that replaces the initial set of configuration settings.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The computer-program product of claim 11, wherein:
the prompt to perform the repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster is generated in a user interface (UI); and
the at least one processor is caused to perform operations comprising:
compare the observed level of resource consumed or of performance provided to a corresponding minimum level or maximum level specified in the initial set of configuration settings; and
in response to the observed level falling below the corresponding minimum level, or in response to the observed level rising above the corresponding maximum level, generate the UI to include an indication of the minimum level not being reached or an indication of the maximum level being exceeded.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The computer-program product of claim 12, wherein:
during the initial configuration of the computing cluster, an initial configuration script to configure at least one of the selected level of hosting service or the selected resource allocation routine was generated based on the initial set of configuration settings;
the initial configuration script was edited to include a customization of at least one configuration setting of the initial set of configuration settings that is associated with the corresponding minimum level or maximum level; and
generation of the UI to include an indication of the minimum level not being reached or an indication of the maximum level being exceeded comprises the at least one processor being caused to generate a view of a portion of the initial configuration script that includes the customization of the at least one configuration setting.

### Claim 14 (depends on 11)

The computer-program product of claim 11, wherein:
during the initial configuration of the computing cluster, an initial interoperability check of the combination of at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine was performed to determine whether at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine are interoperable with each other;
the prompt to perform the repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster is generated in a user interface (UI); and
in response to receiving, from an input device used to provide the UI, input indicative of a choice to perform a repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations comprising:
retrieve first data specifying at least one of a known incompatibility or a known affinity of the selected level of hosting service with at least one resource allocation routine;
retrieve second data specifying at least one of a known incompatibility or a known affinity of the selected resource allocation routine with at least one hosting service;
perform a repetition of the interoperability check for the combination of at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine based on the first data and the second data to determine whether the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine are interoperable with each other; and
in response to a determination that the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine are not interoperable with each other, generate an indication that the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine are not interoperable for presentation by through the UI.

### Claim 15 (depends on 11)

The computer-program product of claim 11, wherein:
the prompt to perform the repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster is generated in a user interface (UI); and
in response to receiving, from an input device used to provide the UI, input indicative of a choice to perform a repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster, the at least one processor is caused to perform operations comprising:
retrieve, from among multiple stored sets of configuration settings associated with multiple other computing clusters, at least one alternate set of configuration settings associated with at least one other computing cluster that employs a combination of at least a level of hosting service and a resource allocation routine that is identical to the combination of at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine of the computing cluster;
generate the UI to include a prompt to choose between using the initial set of configuration settings, and using an alternate set of configuration settings of the at least one alternate set of configuration settings, as a template of default configuration settings for the repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster to generate the new set of configuration settings;
receive, from the input device, input indicative of a selection of a set of configuration settings to use as the template of default configuration settings;
perform an initial check of the selected set of configuration settings to determine whether the selected set of configuration settings includes a conflict among the selected set of configuration settings; and
in response to a determination that the selected set of configuration settings includes a conflict among the selected set of configuration settings, perform operations comprising:
generate an indication of the conflict for presentation in the UI; and
receive a change to a configuration setting as an input from the input device.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The computer-program product of claim 15, wherein:
the new cluster model includes at least one correlation between a level of resources consumed by the computing cluster and a level of performance provided by the computing cluster based on the observations of the operation of the computing cluster; and
performing the initial check of the selected set of configuration settings comprises the at least one processor performing operations comprising:
use an observation of at least one of a level of resource consumed by operation of the computing cluster or a level of performance provided by operation of the computing cluster as an input to the new cluster model to derive a predicted level of resource consumed or of performance provided; and
compare the predicted level to a corresponding minimum level or maximum level of resource consumed or of performance provided that is specified in the selected set of configuration settings to determine whether the selected set of configuration settings includes a conflict among the selected set of configuration settings.

### Claim 17 (depends on 15)

The computer-program product of claim 15, wherein the at least one processor is caused to perform operations comprising:
generate a new configuration script to configure at least one of the selected level of hosting service or the selected resource allocation routine based on the new set of configuration settings;
generate an editing portion of the UI comprising a visual presentation of text of the new configuration script to enable editing of the text of the new configuration script via operation of the input device to introduce a customization of at least one configuration setting into the new configuration script;
after completion of the editing of the text of the new configuration script, parse the new configuration script to interpret the at least one customization;
perform a check of the new set of configuration settings to determine whether the customization creates a conflict between the customization and at least one other configuration setting; and
in response to a determination that the customization creates a conflict between the customization and at least one other setting, generate an indication of the conflict between the customization and the at least one other setting for presentation in the UI.

### Claim 18 (depends on 11)

The computer-program product of claim 11, wherein:
the computing cluster employs a combination of the selected level of hosting service, the selected resource allocation routine and a selected support routine;
the level of the processing resource and the level of the storage resource provided by the at least one node device support execution of the selected support routine in addition to the selected resource allocation routine;
the selected support routine provides a library of at least one callable routine able to be called by the executable routine executed within a container of the multiple containers;
the pre-existing cluster model is derived from observations of multiple pre-existing computing clusters that each employ a combination of a level of hosting service, a resource allocation routine and a support routine that is identical to the combination of the selected level of hosting service, the selected resource allocation routine and the selected support routine of the computing cluster; and
deriving the new cluster model from the observations of the operation of the computing cluster comprises the at least one processor updating the pre-existing cluster model to become additionally based on the observations of the operation of the computing cluster to generate the new cluster model.

### Claim 19 (depends on 11)

The computer-program product of claim 11, wherein:
the at least one node device comprises multiple node devices;
the computing cluster comprises the multiple node devices to form a cluster of physical computing devices; and
the level of the processing resource comprises at least one of:
a quantity of node devices of the multiple node devices;
a quantity of processors provided by the multiple node devices; or
a quantity of cores of the processors provided by the multiple node devices; and
the level of storage resource comprises at least one of:
a quantity of volatile storage provided by the multiple node devices;
a quantity of nonvolatile storage provided by the multiple node devices; or
a quantity of virtual storage provided within the quantity of nonvolatile storage provided by the multiple node devices.

### Claim 20 (depends on 11)

The computer-program product of claim 11, wherein:
the computing cluster comprises multiple virtual machines (VMs) instantiated within the at least one node device to form a cluster of virtual computing devices; and
the level of the processing resource comprises at least one of:
a quantity of VMs of the multiple VMs;
a quantity of processors of the at least one node device that are provided to the multiple VMs; or
a quantity of cores of the processors of the at least one node device that are provided to the multiple VMs; and
the level of storage resource comprises at least one of:
a quantity of volatile storage of the at least one node device that is provided to the multiple VMs;
a quantity of nonvolatile storage of the at least one node device that is provided to the multiple VMs; or
a quantity of virtual storage within the quantity of nonvolatile storage that is provided to the multiple VMs.

### Claim 21

A computer-implemented method for conditionally repeating configuration of a computing cluster, wherein:
the computing cluster employs a combination of at least a selected level of hosting service and a selected resource allocation routine;
an initial set of configuration settings for the computing cluster is generated during an initial configuration of the computing cluster performed at a time prior to operation of the computing cluster;
the initial configuration of the computing cluster is based on at least one prediction generated using a pre-existing cluster model that is derived from observations of operation of at least one pre-existing computing cluster;
the at least one pre-existing computing cluster employs a combination of at least a level of hosting service and a resource allocation routine that is identical to the combination of at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine of the computing cluster;
at least one node device provides the selected level of hosting service to host the computing cluster;
the selected level of hosting service defines a level of processing resource and a level of storage resource provided by the at least one node device to support execution of a selected resource allocation routine;
the selected resource allocation routine allocates the processing resource and the storage resource of the at least one node device through provision of multiple containers;
each container of the multiple containers provides an execution environment in which to execute instructions of an executable routine to perform a task; and
the method comprises:
using, by at least one processor, at least one of a level of resource observed to be consumed by operation of the computing cluster or a level of performance observed to be provided by operation of the computing cluster as an input to the pre-existing cluster model to derive one of a predicted level of performance to be provided by operation of the computing cluster or of a level of resource to be consumed by operation of the computing cluster;
comparing, by the at least one processor, the predicted level to a corresponding observed level of resource consumed or of performance provided; and
in response to the predicted level not matching the observed level to within a pre-selected degree, performing operations comprising:
deriving, by the at least one processor, a new cluster model from observations of the operation of the computing cluster; and
generating, by the at least one processor, a prompt to perform a repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster using the new cluster model in place of the pre-existing cluster model to generate a new set of configuration settings for the computing cluster that replaces the initial set of configuration settings.

### Claim 22 (depends on 21)

The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein:
the prompt to perform the repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster is generated in a user interface (UI); and
the method comprises:
comparing, by the at least one processor, the observed level of resource consumed or of performance provided to a corresponding minimum level or maximum level specified in the initial set of configuration settings; and
in response to the observed level falling below the corresponding minimum level, or in response to the observed level rising above the corresponding maximum level, generating, by the at least one processor, the UI to include an indication of the minimum level not being reached or an indication of the maximum level being exceeded.

### Claim 23 (depends on 22)

The computer-implemented method of claim 22, wherein:
during the initial configuration of the computing cluster, an initial configuration script to configure at least one of the selected level of hosting service or the selected resource allocation routine was generated based on the initial set of configuration settings;
the initial configuration script was edited to include a customization of at least one configuration setting of the initial set of configuration settings that is associated with the corresponding minimum level or maximum level; and
generating the UI to include an indication of the minimum level not being reached or an indication of the maximum level being exceeded comprises generating, by the at least one processor, a view of a portion of the initial configuration script that includes the customization of the at least one configuration setting.

### Claim 24 (depends on 21)

The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein:
during the initial configuration of the computing cluster, an initial interoperability check of the combination of at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine was performed to determine whether at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine are interoperable with each other;
the prompt to perform the repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster is generated in a user interface (UI); and
the method comprises, in response to receiving, from an input device used to provide the UI, input indicative of a choice to perform a repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster, performing operations comprising:
retrieving first data specifying at least one of a known incompatibility or a known affinity of the selected level of hosting service with at least one resource allocation routine;
retrieving second data specifying at least one of a known incompatibility or a known affinity of the selected resource allocation routine with at least one hosting service;
performing, by the at least one processor, a repetition of the interoperability check for the combination of at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine based on the first data and the second data to determine whether the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine are interoperable with each other; and
in response to a determination that the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine are not interoperable with each other, generating by the at least one processor, an indication that the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine are not interoperable for presentation by through the UI.

### Claim 25 (depends on 21)

The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein:
the prompt to perform the repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster is generated in a user interface (UI); and
the method comprises, in response to receiving, from an input device used to provide the UI, input indicative of a choice to perform a repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster, performing operations comprising:
retrieving, from among multiple stored sets of configuration settings associated with multiple other computing clusters, at least one alternate set of configuration settings associated with at least one other computing cluster that employs a combination of at least a level of hosting service and a resource allocation routine that is identical to the combination of at least the selected level of hosting service and the selected resource allocation routine of the computing cluster;
generating, by the at least one processor, the UI to include a prompt to choose between using the initial set of configuration settings, and using an alternate set of configuration settings of the at least one alternate set of configuration settings, as a template of default configuration settings for the repetition of the configuration of the computing cluster to generate the new set of configuration settings;
receiving, from the input device, input indicative of a selection of a set of configuration settings to use as the template of default configuration settings;
performing, by the at least one processor, an initial check of the selected set of configuration settings to determine whether the selected set of configuration settings includes a conflict among the selected set of configuration settings; and
in response to a determination that the selected set of configuration settings includes a conflict among the selected set of configuration settings, performing operations comprising:
generating, by the at least one processor, an indication of the conflict for presentation in the UI; and
receiving a change to a configuration setting as an input from the input device.

### Claim 26 (depends on 25)

The computer-implemented method of claim 25, wherein:
the new cluster model includes at least one correlation between a level of resources consumed by the computing cluster and a level of performance provided by the computing cluster based on the observations of the operation of the computing cluster; and
performing the initial check of the selected set of configuration settings comprises:
using, by the at least one processor, an observation of at least one of a level of resource consumed by operation of the computing cluster or a level of performance provided by operation of the computing cluster as an input to the new cluster model to derive a predicted level of resource consumed or of performance provided; and
comparing, by the at least one processor, the predicted level to a corresponding minimum level or maximum level of resource consumed or of performance provided that is specified in the selected set of configuration settings to determine whether the selected set of configuration settings includes a conflict among the selected set of configuration settings.

### Claim 27 (depends on 25)

The computer-implemented method of claim 25, comprising:
generating, by the at least one processor, a new configuration script to configure at least one of the selected level of hosting service or the selected resource allocation routine based on the new set of configuration settings;
generating, by the at least one processor, an editing portion of the UI comprising a visual presentation of text of the new configuration script to enable editing of the text of the new configuration script via operation of the input device to introduce a customization of at least one configuration setting into the new configuration script;
after completion of the editing of the text of the new configuration script, parsing, by the at least one processor, the new configuration script to interpret the at least one customization;
performing, by the at least one processor, a check of the new set of configuration settings to determine whether the customization creates a conflict between the customization and at least one other configuration setting; and
in response to a determination that the customization creates a conflict between the customization and at least one other setting, generating by the at least one processor, an indication of the conflict between the customization and the at least one other setting for presentation in the UI.

### Claim 28 (depends on 21)

The computer-program product of claim 21, wherein:
the computing cluster employs a combination of the selected level of hosting service, the selected resource allocation routine and a selected support routine;
the level of the processing resource and the level of the storage resource provided by the at least one node device support execution of the selected support routine in addition to the selected resource allocation routine;
the selected support routine provides a library of at least one callable routine able to be called by the executable routine executed within a container of the multiple containers;
the pre-existing cluster model is derived from observations of multiple pre-existing computing clusters that each employ a combination of a level of hosting service, a resource allocation routine and a support routine that is identical to the combination of the selected level of hosting service, the selected resource allocation routine and the selected support routine of the computing cluster; and
deriving the new cluster model from the observations of the operation of the computing cluster comprises updating, by the at least one processor, the pre-existing cluster model to become additionally based on the observations of the operation of the computing cluster to generate the new cluster model.

### Claim 29 (depends on 21)

The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein:
the at least one node device comprises multiple node devices;
the computing cluster comprises the multiple node devices to form a cluster of physical computing devices; and
the level of the processing resource comprises at least one of:
a quantity of node devices of the multiple node devices;
a quantity of processors provided by the multiple node devices; or
a quantity of cores of the processors provided by the multiple node devices; and
the level of storage resource comprises at least one of:
a quantity of volatile storage provided by the multiple node devices;
a quantity of nonvolatile storage provided by the multiple node devices; or
a quantity of virtual storage provided within the quantity of nonvolatile storage provided by the multiple node devices.

### Claim 30 (depends on 21)

The computer-implemented method of claim 21, wherein:
the computing cluster comprises multiple virtual machines (VMs) instantiated within the at least one node device to form a cluster of virtual computing devices; and
the level of the processing resource comprises at least one of:
a quantity of VMs of the multiple VMs;
a quantity of processors of the at least one node device that are provided to the multiple VMs; or
a quantity of cores of the processors of the at least one node device that are provided to the multiple VMs; and
the level of storage resource comprises at least one of:
a quantity of volatile storage of the at least one node device that is provided to the multiple VMs;
a quantity of nonvolatile storage of the at least one node device that is provided to the multiple VMs; or
a quantity of virtual storage within the quantity of nonvolatile storage that is provided to the multiple VMs.