Patent ID: 7590623
Filing Date: 2009-09-15
Classification: G06F,Y10S

Abstract:
1. A computer-implemented method for dynamically managing a plurality of software images in a grid environment, comprising: implementing a grid environment comprising a plurality of computing systems each comprising at least one resource and communicatively connected over a network to share each said at least one resource through at least one grid service implemented within an open grid services architecture enabling interfacing with each said at least one resource through at least one web service; detecting, at a grid catalog and storage service monitoring said grid environment from among said at least one grid service, a current software environment for a current grid job within said grid environment, wherein said grid catalog and storage service maintains a catalog of a plurality of software images for installation on hardware resources from among said at least one resource, each of said plurality of software images specified with a separate rationale from among a plurality of required rationales for maintaining each of said plurality of software images in storage; searching said catalog of said plurality of software images to determine whether an image for said current software environment matches one from among said plurality of software images, wherein each of said plurality of software images comprises at least one installation image for a particular software environment, wherein storage of each of said plurality of software images is structured in said catalog for automated efficient access by each of a plurality of resource nodes within said grid environment; responsive to not locating said current software environment in said catalog, automatically evaluating by said grid catalog and storage service whether storage of said current software environment meets at least one of said plurality of required rationales; and responsive to determining storage of said current software environment meets at least one of said plurality of required rationales, automatically capturing by said grid catalog and storage service at least one installation image for said current software environment and storing said captured at least one installation image in said catalog as an additional software image to said plurality of software images.