Methods and apparatus for selecting a server to process a request

A data communications device for directing a request to process data, comprising:

• a memory that stores a cost modeler application;
• an interconnection mechanism;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory by the interconnection mechanism, wherein the processor operates in accordance with instructions of the cost modeler application stored in the memory to direct the request, the instructions of the cost modeler application configuring the processor to:
• maintain cost information for a plurality of resources available to satisfy client requests via a plurality of resource providers, the cost information for each resource specifying a relationship between levels of usage of the resource in a billing interval and corresponding levels of prices charged by the respective resource provider in the billing interval;
• maintain usage information for the plurality of resources, the usage information for each resource specifying a level of usage of the resource that has been experienced during the billing interval;
• receive the request from a client;
• generate, based on the usage information and an estimated request usage of the request, an estimated response usage for each resource of the plurality of resources that reflects a potential usage if responding to the request, each estimated response usage being associated, via the cost information, with a corresponding cost estimate for processing the request, a first cost estimate being a first cost increase for a first resource of the plurality of resources if the first resource responds to the request, and a second cost estimate being a second cost increase for a second resource of the plurality of resources if the second resource responds to the request;
• select a resource from said plurality of resources to process the request based on the respective cost estimate associated with said estimated response usage of each of said resources, by (1) comparing the first cost increase and the second cost increase to determine one of the first and second cost increases that has a lower cost increment, and (2) selecting one of the first resource and the second resource to respond to the request from the client based on the lower cost increment;
• and
• forward the request to the selected resource.

A data communications device for directing a request to process data, comprising:

• means for maintaining cost information for a plurality of resources available to satisfy client requests via a plurality of resource providers, the cost information for each resource specifying a relationship between levels of usage of the resource in a billing interval and corresponding levels of prices charged by the respective resource provider in the billing interval;
• means for maintaining usage information for the plurality of resources, the usage information for each resource specifying a level of usage of the resource that has been experienced during the billing interval;
• means for receiving the request from a client;
• means for generating, based on the usage information and an estimated request usage of the request, an estimated response usage for each resource of the plurality of resources that reflects a potential usage if responding to the request, each estimated response usage being associated, via the cost information, with a corresponding cost estimate for processing the request, a first cost estimate being a first cost increase for a first resource of the plurality of resources if the first resource responds to the request, and a second cost estimate being a second cost increase for a second resource of the plurality of resources if the second resource responds to the request;
• means for selecting a resource from said plurality of resources to process the request based on the respective cost estimate associated with said estimated response usage of each of said resources, the selecting including (1) comparing the first cost increase and the second cost increase to determine one of the first and second cost increases that has a lower cost increment, and (2) selecting one of the first resource and the second resource to respond to the request from the client based on the lower cost increment;
• and
• means for forwarding the request to the selected resource.

A computer program product that includes a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for directing a request to process data, such that the instructions, when carried out by a data communications device, cause the data communications device to perform the steps of:

• maintaining cost information for a plurality of resources available to satisfy client requests via a plurality of resource providers, the cost information for each resource specifying a relationship between levels of usage of the resource in a billing interval and corresponding levels of prices charged by the respective resource provider in the billing interval;
• maintaining usage information for the plurality of resources, the usage information for each resource specifying a level of usage of the resource that has been experienced during the billing interval;
• receiving the request from a client;
• generating, based on the usage information and an estimated request usage of the request, an estimated response usage for each resource of the plurality of resources that reflects a potential usage if responding to the request, each estimated response usage being associated, via the cost information, with a corresponding cost estimate for processing the request, a first cost estimate being a first cost increase for a first resource of the plurality of resources if the first resource responds to the request, and a second cost estimate being a second cost increase for a second resource of the plurality of resources if the second resource responds to the request;
• selecting a resource from said plurality of resources to process the request based on the respective cost estimate associated with said estimated response usage of each of said resources, the selecting including (1) comparing the first cost increase and the second cost increase to determine one of the first and second cost increases that has a lower cost increment, and (2) selecting one of the first resource and the second resource to respond to the request from the client based on the lower cost increment;
• and
• forwarding the request to the one of the plurality of resources selected in the step of selecting.

A method for selecting with a data communication device a resource from a plurality of resources to process a request from a client, comprising the steps of:

• maintaining cost information for a plurality of resources available to satisfy client requests via a plurality of resource providers, the cost information for each resource specifying a relationship between levels of usage of the resource in a billing interval and corresponding levels of prices charged by the respective resource provider in the billing interval;
• maintaining usage information for the plurality of resources, the usage information for each resource specifying a level of usage of the resource that has been experienced during the billing interval;
• generating, based on the usage information and an estimated request usage of the request, a usage metric for each resource of the plurality of resources;
• generating an economic metric for each resource based on the cost information, the usage metric for each resource, and the request, a first economic metric being a first cost increase for a first resource of the plurality of resources if the first resource responds to the request, and a second economic metric being a second cost increase for a second resource of the plurality of resources if the second resource responds to the request;
• and
• choosing with the data communication device one of the plurality of the resources to respond to the request for data based on a comparison of the economic metric for each resource, the choosing including (1) comparing the first cost increase and the second cost increase to determine one of the first and second cost increases that has a lower cost increment, and (2) selecting one of the first resource and the second resource to respond to the request from the client based on the lower cost increment.

A data communication device for selecting a resource from a plurality of resources to process a request from a client, the data communication device comprising:

• a memory that stores a cost modeler application;
• an interconnection mechanism;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory by the interconnection mechanism, wherein the processor operates in accordance with instructions of the cost modeler application stored in the memory to select the resource, the instructions of the cost modeler application configuring the processor to:
• maintain cost information for a plurality of resources available to satisfy client requests via a plurality of resource providers, the cost information for each resource specifying a relationship between levels of usage of the resource in a billing interval and corresponding levels of prices charged by the respective resource provider in the billing interval;
• maintain usage information for the plurality of resources, the usage information for each resource specifying a level of usage of the resource that has been experienced during the billing interval;
• generate, based on the usage information and an estimated request usage of the request, a usage metric for each resource of the plurality of resources;
• generate an economic metric for each resource based on the cost information, the usage metric for each resource, and the request, a first economic metric being a first cost increase for a first resource of the plurality of resources if the first resource responds to the request, and a second economic metric being a second cost increase for a second resource of the plurality of resources if the second resource responds to the request;
• and
• choose one of the plurality of the resources to respond to the request for data based on a comparison of the economic metric for each resource, by (1) comparing the first cost increase and the second cost increase to determine one of the first and second cost increases that has a lower cost increment, and (2) selecting one of the first resource and the second resource to respond to the request from the client based on the lower cost increment.

A data communications device for selecting a resource from a plurality of resources to process a request from a client, the data communications device comprising:

• means for maintaining cost information for a plurality of resources available to satisfy client requests via a plurality of resource providers, the cost information for each resource specifying a relationship between levels of usage of the resource in a billing interval and corresponding levels of prices charged by the respective resource provider in the billing interval;
• means for maintaining usage information for the plurality of resources, the usage information for each resource specifying a level of usage of the resource that has been experienced during the billing interval;
• means for generating, based on the usage information and an estimated request usage of the request, a usage metric for each resource of the plurality of resources;
• means for generating an economic metric for each resource based on the cost information, the usage metric for each resource, and the request, a first economic metric being a first cost increase for a first resource of the plurality of resources if the first resource responds to the request, and a second economic metric being a second cost increase for a second resource of the plurality of resources if the second resource responds to the request;
• and
• means for choosing one of the plurality of the resources to respond to the request for data based on a comparison of the economic metric for each resource, by (1) comparing the first cost increase and the second cost increase to determine one of the first and second cost increases that has a lower cost increment, and (2) selecting one of the first resource and the second resource to respond to the request from the client based on the lower cost increment.

A computer program product that includes a computer readable medium having instructions stored thereon for selecting a resource from a plurality of resources to process a request from a client, such that the instructions, when carried out by a data communications device, cause the data communications device to perform the steps of:

• maintaining cost information for a plurality of resources available to satisfy client requests via a plurality of resource providers, the cost information for each resource specifying a relationship between levels of usage of the resource in a billing interval and corresponding levels of prices charged by the respective resource provider in the billing interval;
• maintaining usage information for the plurality of resources, the usage information for each resource specifying a level of usage of the resource that has been experienced during the billing interval;
• generating, based on the usage information and an estimated request usage of the request, a usage metric for each resource of the plurality of resources;
• generating an economic metric for each resource based on the cost information, the usage metric for each resource, and the request, a first economic metric being a first cost increase for a first resource of the plurality of resources if the first resource responds to the request, and a second economic metric being a second cost increase for a second resource of the plurality of resources if the second resource responds to the request;
• and
• choosing one of the plurality of the resources to respond to the request for data based on a comparison of the economic metric for each resource, by (1) comparing the first cost increase and the second cost increase to determine one of the first and second cost increases that has a lower cost increment, and (2) selecting one of the first resource and the second resource to respond to the request from the client based on the lower cost increment.

A method for selecting with a data communication device a resource from a plurality of resources to process a request from a client, comprising the steps of:

• generating a usage metric for each resource of the plurality of resources;
• generating an economic metric for each resource based on the usage metric for each resource and the request, the economic metric being based on a resource usage amount relating to the client;
• and
• choosing with the data communication device one of the plurality of the resources to respond to the request for data based on a comparison of the economic metric for each resource,
• wherein the step of generating the usage metric comprises the steps of:
• receiving usage information from a usage meter for each resource that measures the amount of usage of each resource over time;
• generating an estimated base usage of each resource based on the usage information;
• and
• generating a peak usage metric for each resource that represents a measurement of the highest level of usage attained for each resource over a current billing period based on the usage information;
• wherein the step of generating the economic metric comprises the steps of:
• generating an estimated request usage for each resource that reflects an estimate of the projected usage of each resource over a current time based on the request for data;
• and
• generating an estimated available usage for each resource based on the usage metric for each resource and the estimated request usage for each resource;
• wherein the step of generating the estimated available usage comprises generating the estimated available usage based on the estimated request usage for each resource, an estimated base usage for each resource based on usage information received for each resource, and a peak usage metric for each resource that represents a measurement of the highest level of usage attained for each resource over a current billing period based on the usage information;
• wherein the step of generating the estimated available usage comprises the steps of:
• identifying a subset of the plurality of resources wherein the estimated request usage is higher than a predetermined usage limit defined relative to the peak usage metric for each resource;
• and
• assigning a predetermined marginal cost to an incremental usage of each resource in the subset;
• and
• wherein the step of choosing one of the plurality of resources comprises the step of comparing an estimated available usage for each resource generated based on the request and the usage metric for each resource.

A data communication device for selecting a resource from a plurality of resources to process a request from a client, the data communication device comprising:

• a memory that stores a cost modeler application;
• an interconnection mechanism;
• and
• a processor coupled to the memory by the interconnection mechanism, wherein the processor operates in accordance with instructions of the cost modeler application stored in the memory to select the resource, the instructions of the cost modeler application configuring the processor to:
• generate a usage metric for each resource of the plurality of resources;
• generate an economic metric for each resource based on the usage metric for each resource and the request, the economic metric being based on a resource usage amount relating to the client;
• and
• choose one of the plurality of the resources to respond to the request for data based on a comparison of the economic metric for each resource,
• wherein the cost modeler application comprises further instructions that configure the processor to:
• receive usage information from a usage meter for each resource that measures the amount of usage of each resource over time;
• generate an estimated base usage of each resource based on the usage information;
• and
• generate a peak usage metric for each resource that represents a measurement of the highest level of usage attained for each resource over a current billing period based on the usage information;
• wherein the cost modeler application comprises further instructions that configure the processor to:
• generate an estimated request usage for each resource that reflects an estimate of the projected usage of each resource over a current time based on the request for data;
• and
• generate an estimated available usage for each resource based on the usage metric for each resource and the estimated request usage for each resource;
• wherein the cost modeler application comprises further instructions that configure the processor to generate the estimated available usage based on the estimated request usage for each resource, an estimated base usage for each resource based on usage information received for each resource, and a peak usage metric for each resource that represents a measurement of the highest level of usage attained for each resource over a current billing period based on the usage information;
• wherein the cost modeler application comprises further instructions that configure the processor to:
• identify a subset of the plurality of resources wherein the estimated request usage is higher than a predetermined usage limit defined relative to the peak usage metric for each resource;
• and
• assign a predetermined marginal cost to an incremental usage of each resource in the subset;
• and
• wherein the cost modeler application comprises further instructions that configure the processor to compare an estimated available usage for each resource generated based on the request and the usage metric for each resource.