Programmatic orchestration of cloud-based services

A computational instance of a remote network management platform may be dedicated to a managed network that has access to computing resources of one or more remote networks. One or more server devices may be disposed within the computational instance and may cause a cloud service catalog software application to: (i) obtain a selection of a catalog item, where the catalog item defines prospective computing resources that provide a computing function, and where the selection includes a set of variables that associate the prospective computing resources with the one or more remote networks and determine configuration details for the prospective computing resources, (ii) populate a template representation with the variables, (iii) transmit the template representation to a server configured to identify target computing resources of the one or more remote networks and provision the target computing resources, and (iv) receive identification information related to the target computing resources.

BACKGROUND

Cloud computing providers can make computing resources (e.g., databases, virtual machines, software applications, and/or other resources) remotely available to consumers statically or on demand. Typically, these computing resources are part of cloud-based networks operated by the cloud computing providers. Interaction between users and cloud-based networks may occur by way of the Internet.

An example of a user entity can be an enterprise. The enterprise may make use of a cloud-based network to support operations such as file sharing, web services, workflow management, database planning, and so on. By using the capabilities of cloud-based networks, the enterprise may create a “cloud computing infrastructure”, or more particularly, a computing infrastructure that wholly or partially utilizes the computing resources of the cloud-based networks. Further, individual users from the enterprise may want have the ability to orchestrate computing resources on the cloud-based networks. However, this might be challenging for users having limited experience with cloud computing paradigms.

SUMMARY

Conventional techniques for orchestrating computing resources on cloud-based networks (e.g., managing, provisioning, removing, starting, these resources) may entail significant human interaction. For example, a typical scenario for provisioning a database might involve an application developer deploying a virtual machine on a cloud-based network, installing an operating system and database software on the virtual machine, and then manually starting the database software. This and other, similar, conventional approaches may be inconsistently performed, time-consuming, and prone to error, as techniques may differ depending on the application developer. As described to herein, such approaches for orchestrating computing resources may be referred to as “manual” approaches.

To overcome challenges with manual approaches, infrastructure as code (IaC) may be used. IaC is a paradigm that provides a programmatic way to define computing resources as entries in a mutable template file. By using this mutable file, common file maintenance practices may be applied to ensure consistency. That is, the template file may be kept under a version control system to allow reproducibility and testing practices among application developers. Moreover, during operations, software provided by an IaC platform may be used to identify, based on the entries of the template file, computing resources that should be provisioned onto the cloud-based networks and automatically provision the identified computing resources, allowing users to orchestrate computing resources offered by different cloud providers without necessarily having to manually interact with each cloud provider.

Although IaC may allow users to easily orchestrate computing resources through the use of a single template file, some deficiencies can still exist. Specifically, using IaC may still involve a substantial knowledge of cloud computing and IaC paradigms, which may limit the usage of IaC to highly knowledgably application developers. This may be detrimental to the speed and efficiency of managed network300, as non-technical users with no experience with cloud computing, such as project managers, may want to utilize features of cloud-based networks.

Disclosed herein is an approach for integrating a computational instance of remote network management platform with customizable software to allow both technical and non-technical users from a managed network to orchestrate computing resources of cloud-based networks. In accordance with the disclosed approach, the computational instance may receive, from a client device associated with the managed network, a template representation containing entries associated with computing resources provided by one or more cloud-based networks. Using a cloud service catalog software application, the template representation can be analyzed to determine configurable parameters associated with the computing resources. Then, the cloud service catalog may separate out the configurable parameters to convert the computing resources into customized blueprints for prospective computing resources, while transforming the configurable parameters into questions associated with the prospective computing resources. Together, the blueprint for computational assets and questions may be listed as a catalog item on the cloud service catalog software application.

Upon receiving (i) a selection of a catalog item, and (i) answers to questions about prospective computing resources associated with the catalog item, the cloud service catalog software application may use the answers to associate the prospective computing resources of the selected catalog item with the one or more cloud-based networks. Moreover, the cloud service catalog software application may also determine configuration details for the prospective computing resources. Subsequently, the cloud service catalog software application may use the configuration details to populate entries of a template representation. This template representation may then be transmitted to an IaC server.

Based on the entries of the template reprsentation, the IaC server may: (i) identify target computing resources that should be provisioned onto the one or more cloud-based networks, and (ii) provision the target computing resources onto the one or more cloud-based networks. Information from these provisioned computing resources may be transmitted to the computational instance, which can perform discovery to store representations of the provisioned computing resources in a database within the computational instance.

Advantageously, using catalog items to provision computing resources may be beneficial to the managed network, as the capabilities of cloud-based networks can be offered to users without the users necessarily having to learn about the cloud computing paradigms respectively supported by the each of the cloud-based networks. Moreover, the questions presented by the cloud service catalog software application may be configured with validity checks and dropdown options that control the types of computing resources that may be provisioned, thus limiting or preventing input errors and/or ensuring adherence to certain rules. Using the techniques and approaches herein, support for easily provisioning computing resources offered by cloud-based networks can be added to a remote network management platform, allowing an enterprise to quickly adopt the operations provided by the computing resources.

Accordingly, a first example embodiment may involve a cloud service catalog software application with access to a particular catalog item, where the particular catalog item defines prospective computing resources that provide a computing function. The embodiment may also involve a computational instance of a remote network management platform, where the computational instance is dedicated to a managed network. The managed network may have access to computing resources of one or more remote networks. The computational instance may include one or more server devices configured to cause the cloud service catalog software application to obtain a selection of the particular catalog item, where the selection includes a set of catalog item variables that: (i) associate the prospective computing resources with the one or more remote networks, and (ii) determine configuration details for the prospective computing resources. The one or more server devices may further be configured to cause the cloud service catalog software application to populate a template representation, where the template representation includes entries for the set of catalog item variables. The one or more server devices may further be configured to cause the cloud service catalog software application to transmit the template representation to an IaC server. The IaC server may be configured to: (i) identify, based on the entries in the template representation, target computing resources of the one or more remote networks that can perform the computing function, and (ii) provision the target computing resources onto the one or more remote networks. The one or more server devices may further be configured to cause the cloud service catalog software application to receive, from the IaC server, identification information related to the target computing resources.

In a fourth example embodiment, a system may include various means for carrying out each of the operations of the first example embodiment.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

In order to achieve this goal, the concept of Application Platform as a Service (aPaaS) is introduced, to intelligently automate workflows throughout the enterprise. An aPaaS system is hosted remotely from the enterprise, but may access data, applications, and services within the enterprise by way of secure connections. Such an aPaaS system may have a number of advantageous capabilities and characteristics. These advantages and characteristics may be able to improve the enterprise's operations and workflow for IT, HR, CRM, customer service, application development, and security.

The aPaaS system may support development and execution of model-view-controller (MVC) applications. MVC applications divide their functionality into three interconnected parts (model, view, and controller) in order to isolate representations of information from the manner in which the information is presented to the user, thereby allowing for efficient code reuse and parallel development. These applications may be web-based, and offer create, read, update, delete (CRUD) capabilities. This allows new applications to be built on a common application infrastructure.

The aPaaS system may support clearly-defined interfaces between applications, so that software developers can avoid unwanted inter-application dependencies. Thus, the aPaaS system may implement a service layer in which persistent state information and other data are stored.

The following embodiments describe architectural and functional aspects of example aPaaS systems, as well as the features and advantages thereof.

FIG. 2depicts a cloud-based server cluster200in accordance with example embodiments. InFIG. 2, operations of a computing device (e.g., computing device100) may be distributed between server devices202, data storage204, and routers206, all of which may be connected by local cluster network208. The number of server devices202, data storages204, and routers206in server cluster200may depend on the computing task(s) and/or applications assigned to server cluster200.

III. Example Remote Network Management Architecture

FIG. 3depicts a remote network management architecture, in accordance with example embodiments. This architecture includes three main components, managed network300, remote network management platform320, and third-party networks340, all connected by way of Internet350.

Managed network300may also include one or more proxy servers312. An embodiment of proxy servers312may be a server device that facilitates communication and movement of data between managed network300, remote network management platform320, and third-party networks340. In particular, proxy servers312may be able to establish and maintain secure communication sessions with one or more computational instances of remote network management platform320. By way of such a session, remote network management platform320may be able to discover and manage aspects of the architecture and configuration of managed network300and its components. Possibly with the assistance of proxy servers312, remote network management platform320may also be able to discover and manage aspects of third-party networks340that are used by managed network300.

In some cases, managed network300may consist of a few devices and a small number of networks. In other deployments, managed network300may span multiple physical locations and include hundreds of networks and hundreds of thousands of devices. Thus, the architecture depicted inFIG. 3is capable of scaling up or down by orders of magnitude.

Remote network management platform320is a hosted environment that provides aPaaS services to users, particularly to the operators of managed network300. These services may take the form of web-based portals, for instance. Thus, a user can securely access remote network management platform320from, for instance, client devices302, or potentially from a client device outside of managed network300. By way of the web-based portals, users may design, test, and deploy applications, generate reports, view analytics, and perform other tasks.

As shown inFIG. 3, remote network management platform320includes four computational instances322,324,326, and328. Each of these instances may represent one or more server devices and/or one or more databases that provide a set of web portals, services, and applications (e.g., a wholly-functioning aPaaS system) available to a particular customer. In some cases, a single customer may use multiple computational instances. For example, managed network300may be an enterprise customer of remote network management platform320, and may use computational instances322,324, and326. The reason for providing multiple instances to one customer is that the customer may wish to independently develop, test, and deploy its applications and services. Thus, computational instance322may be dedicated to application development related to managed network300, computational instance324may be dedicated to testing these applications, and computational instance326may be dedicated to the live operation of tested applications and services. A computational instance may also be referred to as a hosted instance, a remote instance, a customer instance, or by some other designation. Any application deployed onto a computational instance may be a scoped application, in that its access to databases within the computational instance can be restricted to certain elements therein (e.g., one or more particular database tables or particular rows with one or more database tables).

For purpose of clarity, the disclosure herein refers to the physical hardware, software, and arrangement thereof as a “computational instance.” Note that users may colloquially refer to the graphical user interfaces provided thereby as “instances.” But unless it is defined otherwise herein, a “computational instance” is a computing system disposed within remote network management platform320.

The multi-instance architecture of remote network management platform320is in contrast to conventional multi-tenant architectures, over which multi-instance architectures exhibit several advantages. In multi-tenant architectures, data from different customers (e.g., enterprises) are comingled in a single database. While these customers' data are separate from one another, the separation is enforced by the software that operates the single database. As a consequence, a security breach in this system may impact all customers' data, creating additional risk, especially for entities subject to governmental, healthcare, and/or financial regulation. Furthermore, any database operations that impact one customer will likely impact all customers sharing that database. Thus, if there is an outage due to hardware or software errors, this outage affects all such customers. Likewise, if the database is to be upgraded to meet the needs of one customer, it will be unavailable to all customers during the upgrade process. Often, such maintenance windows will be long, due to the size of the shared database.

In some embodiments, remote network management platform320may include one or more central instances, controlled by the entity that operates this platform. Like a computational instance, a central instance may include some number of physical or virtual servers and database devices. Such a central instance may serve as a repository for data that can be shared amongst at least some of the computational instances. For instance, definitions of common security threats that could occur on the computational instances, software packages that are commonly discovered on the computational instances, and/or an application store for applications that can be deployed to the computational instances may reside in a central instance. Computational instances may communicate with central instances by way of well-defined interfaces in order to obtain this data.

In order to support multiple computational instances in an efficient fashion, remote network management platform320may implement a plurality of these instances on a single hardware platform. For example, when the aPaaS system is implemented on a server cluster such as server cluster200, it may operate a virtual machine that dedicates varying amounts of computational, storage, and communication resources to instances. But full virtualization of server cluster200might not be necessary, and other mechanisms may be used to separate instances. In some examples, each instance may have a dedicated account and one or more dedicated databases on server cluster200. Alternatively, computational instance322may span multiple physical devices.

Third-party networks340may be remote server devices (e.g., a plurality of server clusters such as server cluster200) that can be used for outsourced computational, data storage, communication, and service hosting operations. These servers may be virtualized (i.e., the servers may be virtual machines). Examples of third-party networks340may include AMAZON WEB SERVICES® and MICROSOFT® Azure. Like remote network management platform320, multiple server clusters supporting third-party networks340may be deployed at geographically diverse locations for purposes of load balancing, redundancy, and/or high availability.

Managed network300may use one or more of third-party networks340to deploy applications and services to its clients and customers. For instance, if managed network300provides online music streaming services, third-party networks340may store the music files and provide web interface and streaming capabilities. In this way, the enterprise of managed network300does not have to build and maintain its own servers for these operations.

Remote network management platform320may include modules that integrate with third-party networks340to expose virtual machines and managed services therein to managed network300. The modules may allow users to request virtual resources and provide flexible reporting for third-party networks340. In order to establish this functionality, a user from managed network300might first establish an account with third-party networks340, and request a set of associated resources. Then, the user may enter the account information into the appropriate modules of remote network management platform320. These modules may then automatically discover the manageable resources in the account, and also provide reports related to usage, performance, and billing.

FIG. 4further illustrates the communication environment between managed network300and computational instance322, and introduces additional features and alternative embodiments. InFIG. 4, computational instance322is replicated across data centers400A and400B. These data centers may be geographically distant from one another, perhaps in different cities or different countries. Each data center includes support equipment that facilitates communication with managed network300, as well as remote users.

Data centers400A and400B as shown inFIG. 4may facilitate redundancy and high availability. In the configuration ofFIG. 4, data center400A is active and data center400B is passive. Thus, data center400A is serving all traffic to and from managed network300, while the version of computational instance322in data center400B is being updated in near-real-time. Other configurations, such as one in which both data centers are active, may be supported.

FIG. 4also illustrates a possible configuration of managed network300. As noted above, proxy servers312and user414may access computational instance322through firewall310. Proxy servers312may also access configuration items410. InFIG. 4, configuration items410may refer to any or all of client devices302, server devices304, routers306, and virtual machines308, any applications or services executing thereon, as well as relationships between devices, applications, and services. Thus, the term “configuration items” may be shorthand for any physical or virtual device, or any application or service remotely discoverable or managed by computational instance322, or relationships between discovered devices, applications, and services. Configuration items may be represented in a configuration management database (CMDB) of computational instance322.

As noted above, VPN gateway412may provide a dedicated VPN to VPN gateway402A. Such a VPN may be helpful when there is a significant amount of traffic between managed network300and computational instance322, or security policies otherwise suggest or require use of a VPN between these sites. In some embodiments, any device in managed network300and/or computational instance322that directly communicates via the VPN is assigned a public IP address. Other devices in managed network300and/or computational instance322may be assigned private IP addresses (e.g., IP addresses selected from the 10.0.0.0-10.255.255.255 or 192.168.0.0-192.168.255.255 ranges, represented in shorthand as subnets 10.0.0.0/8 and 192.168.0.0/16, respectively).

IV. Example Device, Application, and Service Discovery

In order for remote network management platform320to administer the devices, applications, and services of managed network300, remote network management platform320may first determine what devices are present in managed network300, the configurations and operational statuses of these devices, and the applications and services provided by the devices, and well as the relationships between discovered devices, applications, and services. As noted above, each device, application, service, and relationship may be referred to as a configuration item. The process of defining configuration items within managed network300is referred to as discovery, and may be facilitated at least in part by proxy servers312.

FIG. 5Aprovides a logical depiction of how configuration items can be discovered, as well as how information related to discovered configuration items can be stored. For sake of simplicity, remote network management platform320, third-party networks340, and Internet350are not shown.

InFIG. 5A, CMDB500and task list502are stored within computational instance322. Computational instance322may transmit discovery commands to proxy servers312. In response, proxy servers312may transmit probes to various devices, applications, and services in managed network300. These devices, applications, and services may transmit responses to proxy servers312, and proxy servers312may then provide information regarding discovered configuration items to CMDB500for storage therein. Configuration items stored in CMDB500represent the environment of managed network300.

Task list502represents a list of activities that proxy servers312are to perform on behalf of computational instance322. As discovery takes place, task list502is populated. Proxy servers312repeatedly query task list502, obtain the next task therein, and perform this task until task list502is empty or another stopping condition has been reached.

To facilitate discovery, proxy servers312may be configured with information regarding one or more subnets in managed network300that are reachable by way of proxy servers312. For instance, proxy servers312may be given the IP address range 192.168.0/24 as a subnet. Then, computational instance322may store this information in CMDB500and place tasks in task list502for discovery of devices at each of these addresses.

FIG. 5Aalso depicts devices, applications, and services in managed network300as configuration items504,506,508,510, and512. As noted above, these configuration items represent a set of physical and/or virtual devices (e.g., client devices, server devices, routers, or virtual machines), applications executing thereon (e.g., web servers, email servers, databases, or storage arrays), relationships therebetween, as well as services that involve multiple individual configuration items.

Placing the tasks in task list502may trigger or otherwise cause proxy servers312to begin discovery. Alternatively or additionally, discovery may be manually triggered or automatically triggered based on triggering events (e.g., discovery may automatically begin once per day at a particular time).

In general, discovery may proceed in four logical phases: scanning, classification, identification, and exploration. Each phase of discovery involves various types of probe messages being transmitted by proxy servers312to one or more devices in managed network300. The responses to these probes may be received and processed by proxy servers312, and representations thereof may be transmitted to CMDB500. Thus, each phase can result in more configuration items being discovered and stored in CMDB500.

In the scanning phase, proxy servers312may probe each IP address in the specified range of IP addresses for open Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) and/or User Datagram Protocol (UDP) ports to determine the general type of device. The presence of such open ports at an IP address may indicate that a particular application is operating on the device that is assigned the IP address, which in turn may identify the operating system used by the device. For example, if TCP port 135 is open, then the device is likely executing a WINDOWS® operating system. Similarly, if TCP port 22 is open, then the device is likely executing a UNIX® operating system, such as LINUX®. If UDP port 161 is open, then the device may be able to be further identified through the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP). Other possibilities exist. Once the presence of a device at a particular IP address and its open ports have been discovered, these configuration items are saved in CMDB500.

In the identification phase, proxy servers312may determine specific details about a classified device. The probes used during this phase may be based on information gathered about the particular devices during the classification phase. For example, if a device was classified as LINUX®, a set of LINUX®-specific probes may be used. Likewise, if a device was classified as WINDOWS® 2012, as a set of WINDOWS®-2012-specific probes may be used. As was the case for the classification phase, an appropriate set of tasks may be placed in task list502for proxy servers312to carry out. These tasks may result in proxy servers312reading information from the particular device, such as basic input/output system (BIOS) information, serial numbers, network interface information, media access control address(es) assigned to these network interface(s), IP address(es) used by the particular device and so on. This identification information may be stored as one or more configuration items in CMDB500.

Running discovery on a network device, such as a router, may utilize SNMP. Instead of or in addition to determining a list of running processes or other application-related information, discovery may determine additional subnets known to the router and the operational state of the router's network interfaces (e.g., active, inactive, queue length, number of packets dropped, etc.). The IP addresses of the additional subnets may be candidates for further discovery procedures. Thus, discovery may progress iteratively or recursively.

Once discovery completes, a snapshot representation of each discovered device, application, and service is available in CMDB500. For example, after discovery, operating system version, hardware configuration and network configuration details for client devices, server devices, and routers in managed network300, as well as applications executing thereon, may be stored. This collected information may be presented to a user in various ways to allow the user to view the hardware composition and operational status of devices, as well as the characteristics of services that span multiple devices and applications.

Furthermore, CMDB500may include entries regarding dependencies and relationships between configuration items. More specifically, an application that is executing on a particular server device, as well as the services that rely on this application, may be represented as such in CMDB500. For instance, suppose that a database application is executing on a server device, and that this database application is used by a new employee onboarding service as well as a payroll service. Thus, if the server device is taken out of operation for maintenance, it is clear that the employee onboarding service and payroll service will be impacted. Likewise, the dependencies and relationships between configuration items may be able to represent the services impacted when a particular router fails.

In general, dependencies and relationships between configuration items may be displayed on a web-based interface and represented in a hierarchical fashion. Thus, adding, changing, or removing such dependencies and relationships may be accomplished by way of this interface.

Furthermore, users from managed network300may develop workflows that allow certain coordinated activities to take place across multiple discovered devices. For instance, an IT workflow might allow the user to change the common administrator password to all discovered LINUX® devices in a single operation.

The discovery process is depicted as a flow chart inFIG. 5B. At block520, the task list in the computational instance is populated, for instance, with a range of IP addresses. At block522, the scanning phase takes place. Thus, the proxy servers probe the IP addresses for devices using these IP addresses, and attempt to determine the operating systems that are executing on these devices. At block524, the classification phase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determine the operating system version of the discovered devices. At block526, the identification phase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determine the hardware and/or software configuration of the discovered devices. At block528, the exploration phase takes place. The proxy servers attempt to determine the operational state and applications executing on the discovered devices. At block530, further editing of the configuration items representing the discovered devices and applications may take place. This editing may be automated and/or manual in nature.

The blocks represented inFIG. 5Bare for purpose of example. Discovery may be a highly configurable procedure that can have more or fewer phases, and the operations of each phase may vary. In some cases, one or more phases may be customized, or may otherwise deviate from the exemplary descriptions above.

V. Infrastructure as Code

As previously noted, “third-party networks” may be remote server devices that can be used for outsourced computational, data storage, communication, and service hosting operations. Examples of third-party networks may include AMAZON WEB SERVICES® and MICROSOFT® AZURE®. Managed network300may use one or more third-party networks to deploy applications and services to its users, clients, and customers. For instance, if managed network300provides online music streaming services, a third-party network may be configured to store the music files and provide web interface and streaming capabilities. In this way, the enterprise of managed network300does not have to build and maintain its own servers for these operations. By using the capabilities of third-party networks, managed network300may create a “cloud computing infrastructure”, or more particularly, a computing infrastructure that wholly or partially utilizes the remote server devices of third-party networks. In example embodiments, third-party networks may also be referred to as “cloud-based networks.”

In many circumstances, managed network300may be responsible for configuring and arranging (e.g., otherwise referred to as orchestrating) components of a cloud computing infrastructure. As an example, deploying an application may entail an application developer of managed network300provisioning a virtual machine (VM) on a cloud-based network and configuring the VM with an operating system that can support the needs of the application. Once the VM is configured, the application developer may access the VM (e.g., via a secure shell protocol) and manually start the application. Only then may the application be ready for use. As described to herein, the above approach for deploying applications may be referred to as a “manual” deployment approach.

A significant challenge in the manual deployment approach is that, because managed network300may have multiple application developers working on each application, deployments may be inconsistent. For example, VM configurations may differ depending on the application developer deploying the application. Moreover, extraneous VM instances may be provisioned for each application if the application developers do not communicate with each other. This may result in unwanted variance in configurations, extraneous infrastructure nodes, and other issues.

One solution for addressing these challenges is using infrastructure as code (IaC). IaC is a paradigm that provides a programmatic way of defining and orchestrating a cloud computing infrastructure through the use of a single source code file (which may be referred to herein as a “template file”). By treating the cloud computing infrastructure as a mutable file, common file maintenance practices may be applied to ensure greater infrastructure consistency. That is, the single source code file may be kept under a version control system to allow auditability, reproducible builds, and testing practices among application developers and system administrators. In practice, remote network management platform320may provide managed network300with IaC capabilities through an IaC platform. An example of an IaC platform is TERRAFORM®.

Notably, while the embodiments herein use “template files” to illustrate IaC concepts, in practice, IaC platforms may use several mechanisms to orchestrate computing resources of one or more cloud-based networks. For example, rather than using a file to represent a desired state of one or more cloud-based networks, an IaC platform may be configured to interpret command line interface (CLI) or application programming interface (API) commands to update an internal state of the IaC platform. For this reason, in some embodiments, an IaC template file may be referred to as a “template representation.”

FIG. 6illustrates features, components, and/or operations for an IaC approach of managing cloud computing infrastructures, in accordance with example embodiments. AlthoughFIG. 6illustrates a specific arrangement, operations disclosed herein may be carried out in the context of similar and/or other arrangement(s) as well without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

FIG. 6includes cloud-based networks600, which may be used by managed network300to deploy applications and services to its clients and customers. Cloud-based networks600may take on some or all of the properties discussed for third-party networks340. Cloud-based networks600may contain communicatively coupled computing resources (e.g., servers, software applications, databases, and/or other resources) hosted by a mix of cloud computing providers. For example, load balancer604, virtual machine606, data storage608, domain name server610, and firewall612may be computing resources that are allocated within a cloud network602provided by AMAZON WEB SERVICES®, while virtual machine616may be a computing resource allocated within a cloud network614provided MICROSOFT® AZURE®. Despite differences in cloud computing providers/networks, computing resources of different cloud-based networks may engage in communication to exchange data and/or perform computational operations. For example, by using a VPN connection, virtual machine616may engage in communication with the components of cloud network602. Thus, in practice, cloud-based networks600may include computing resources from several cloud computing providers. This may be beneficial, as different cloud computing providers may offer different services to managed network300.

In accordance with the present disclosure, IaC platform620may enable managed network300to orchestrate computing resources of cloud-based networks600. By facilitating interactions with multiple cloud providers, IaC platform620can act as a single source for orchestrating cloud computing infrastructure. In some cases, IaC platform620may be implemented as a separate computational device that can be accessed by managed network300, for example, through a CLI, API, or web interface. In other cases, IaC platform may be implemented on a computational device within managed network300.

IaC platform620may utilize entries of template file622to orchestrate the computing resources of cloud-based networks600. Entries in template file622may be written in a structured data format (e.g., JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) or HASHICORP® configuration language (HCL)) that can be interpreted by IaC platform620to represent a desired state of cloud-based networks600. Each entry may provide specific details about a computing resource. These details may take the form of one or more key-value pairs (herein referred to as configurable parameters). In particular, configurable parameters may differ between cloud providers. As an example, a common configurable parameter for a virtual machine resource can be the physical location for which the virtual machine is requested. As such, entries describing virtual machines provided by AMAZON WEB SERVICES® may label this configurable parameter as “region”, whereas entries describing virtual machines provided by MICROSOFT® AZURE® may label configurable parameter as “area”. Other differences in configurable parameters between cloud providers may exist.

An initial step to using template file622may be to configure one or more cloud providers for which computing resources are requested. For example, template file622may contain an entry with the following format:

In this entry, the “provider” parameter may indicate a specific cloud provider (in this case AMAZON WEB SERVICES®) for which computing resources are requested. The “access key” parameter may indicate credentials needed to access a specific account of managed network300on the cloud provider.

Continuing from the above example, for each cloud provider, many different types of computing resources may be requested (e.g., servers, databases, load balancers, etc.). As such, template file622may contain an entry with the following format:

This entry specifies a computing resource (in this case, an “aws_instance” provided by AMAZON WEB SERVICES®) and a name for the computing resource (in this case “example”). In the above example, the computing resource includes several configurable parameters. The “ami” parameter may refer to virtual machine image that contains operating systems/virtual application software to operate the computing resource. The example above sets this parameter to a specific virtual machine image provided by AMAZON WEB SERVICES®. Given that cloud providers have data centers spread across the world, the “region” parameter may indicate a particular location for which computing resources for the cloud provider should be operating. The “instance type” parameter may specify the hardware for the resource, including the amount of CPU, memory, disk space, and networking specifications. The example above sets this parameter to specific hardware configuration provided by AMAZON WEB SERVICES®. And the “count” parameter may specify the number of instances of the resource that should be operating (in this case 5).

Notably, the entries above are just illustrations of entries and configurable parameters that may be included in template file622. For example, template file622may include configurable parameters that describe dependencies between computing resources, disk space, IP addresses, ports, and/or other features. Moreover, even though the above examples were discussed in connection with AMAZON WEB SERVICES®, the examples are solely a convenient conceptual representation and are not intended to be limiting with respect to example embodiments or techniques described herein. For example, other cloud providers such as MICROSOFT® AZURE® or IBM CLOUD® may contain similar entries and configurable parameters in template file622. As such, template file622may integrate multiple computing resources across multiple cloud providers in a single file.

Generally, users from managed network300may add/remove entries and/or modify configuration parameters of template file622to signify desired changes cloud-based networks600. For example, if a user from managed network300wishes to change the cloud provider of a virtual machine, the user may modify the configuration parameters related to the cloud provider (e.g., change “aws_instance” to “ibm_instance” and so on). Advantageously, a user can use template file622to modify cloud providers and/or configuration parameters of computing resources within having to physically interact with each of the cloud providers.

Upon detecting a change to template file622, IaC platform620may automatically synchronize cloud-based networks600and template file622through plan phase624and apply phase626.

During plan phase624, computing resources of cloud-based networks600(i.e., resources that are actually in operation“) may be reconciled with the template file622(i.e., resources that should be in operation”). In other words, based on the entries listed (or not listed) in template file622, plan phase624may identify computing resources that should be added (or removed) from cloud-based networks600. For example, DNS610and data storage608may be listed as entries in template file622, but may not exist as computing resources in cloud-based networks600. In this scenario, plan phase624may then identify DNS610and data storage608as computing resources that should be provisioned in cloud-based networks600. As another example, load balancer604may be a computing resource operating on cloud-based networks600, but may not have a corresponding entry in template file622. In this scenario, plan phase624may identify load balancer604as a resource that should be removed from cloud-based networks600. As used herein, the identification of computing resources that should be added (or removed) from cloud-based networks600may be referred to as a “plan”.

During apply phase626, the plan generated from plan phase624may be applied to cloud-based networks600. That is, computing resources listed in the plan may be provisioned (or removed) onto cloud-based networks600. Thus, apply phase may involve IaC platform620engaging in communication cloud providers to provision (or remove) computing resources. In some cases, provisioning of resources may be ordered so as to capture dependencies that exist between computing resources of cloud-based networks600. For example, DNS610may rely on load balancer604for operation. Thus, load balancer604should be provisioned before provisioning DNS610. When one or more resources may be provisioned in parallel, IaC platform620may be configured to provision items in parallel to save time.

Notably, the phases above are used for the purpose of example. In practice, IaC platform620may use more or fewer phases to synchronize cloud-based networks600and template file622.

However, even with the benefits described above, IaC may still have drawbacks. As an initial matter, deploying applications using IaC platform620may still involve substantial knowledge of cloud computing and IaC paradigms, limiting the usage of IaC to application developers and system administrations of managed network300. This may be detrimental to the speed and efficiency of managed network300, as non-technical users, such as project managers with no experience with cloud computing, may want to deploy infrastructure instances. Additionally, interaction with IaC platform620may be limited to actions on a CLI, which may be complex and confusing to all but the experienced user.

To address these and other issues, the entity operating remote network management platform320may provide a customizable software application to allow both technical and non-technical users from managed network300to orchestrate computing resources offered by cloud-based networks. As will be discussed in more detail below, the improved approaches described herein may dynamically identify customizable parameters of an IaC template file and provide users with options to populate these parameters, rather than having to rely on the assistance of an application developer or system administrator. Once populated, the approaches described herein provide a method to consume the IaC template and provision the appropriate infrastructure components. Advantageously, the embodiments described herein present a technical improvement for utilizing IaC by providing a customizable interface and method for orchestrating computing resources without the need to consult with application developers or system administrators.

VI. Programmatic Integration with Cloud Services

Disclosed herein is an approach for integrating a computational instance of a remote network management platform with a customizable software application to allow both technical and non-technical users from a managed network to orchestrate computing resources on a cloud computing infrastructure. The disclosed approach could provide an advantage and improvement over current IaC practices. For example, the customizable software application may allow for validity checks and dropdown options that control the types of computing resources that may be provisioned, thus limiting or preventing input errors and/or ensuring adherence to certain rules. Moreover, through the use of intuitive questions provided to the user, the customizable software application could offer the capabilities of multiple cloud providers without users necessarily having to learn about the cloud computing paradigms respectively supported by the each of the different cloud providers. Other advantages and improvements are possible.

FIG. 7Aillustrates features, components, and/or operations of computing system700. Computing system700includes four main components, managed network300, computational instance322, infrastructure as code (IaC) server730, and cloud-based networks600, all communicatively connected, for example, by way of a network. AlthoughFIG. 7Aillustrates a specific arrangement, operations disclosed herein may be carried out in the context of similar and/or other arrangement(s) as well without departing from the scope of the present disclosure.

In particular, computing system700may include server device(s) (not shown). The server device(s) may contain or may otherwise have access to program instructions executable by processor(s), so as to cause the computing system700to carry out various operations described herein. On this point, the server device(s) may include server device(s) disposed within computational instance322. Additionally or alternatively, the server device(s) may include server device(s) disposed within the managed network300and/or within IaC server730.

Managed network300may be an enterprise network used by an entity for computing and communications tasks, as well as storage of data. In examples, managed network300may be a subscriber to computing resources on cloud-based networks600. These resources may include computational, data storage, communication, and/or other services. Managed network300may include one or more proxy servers312. Possibly with the assistance of proxy servers312, computational instance322may be able to orchestrate computing resources of cloud-based networks600that are used by managed network300.

Computational instance322may be disposed within remote network management platform320and dedicated to managed network300. Computational instance322may store, in CMDB500, discovered configuration items that represent the environment of managed network300. Furthermore, computational instance322may include cloud service catalog710to allow users from managed network300to orchestrate computing resources provided by cloud-based networks600.

Cloud service catalog710may be a customizable software application presented as a web page or series of web pages hosted by computational instance322and provided to a user from managed network300upon request. In particular, cloud service catalog710may include one or more “catalog items” that are presented to the user as actionable entities. As used herein, a catalog item may be a blueprint for prospective computing resources that, as a unit, provide a specific computing function. For example, a catalog item712may be associated with a web application. As such, the blueprint for catalog item712may include an operating system, a web server, and a database. As another example, catalog item714may be associated with an infrastructure monitoring tool. Thus, the blueprint catalog item714may include a monitoring service, a storage volume, and a visualization application. As catalog items are merely blueprints for prospective computing resources, details of the prospective computing resources (otherwise known as catalog item variables) may be provided by the user in order to provision the catalog item onto cloud-based networks600. In more particular terms, a user may provide catalog item variables to associate the prospective computing resources with a group of virtual or physical computing resources on cloud-based networks600that can actually execute the specific computing function of the catalog item (which may be referred to herein as “target computing resources”).

Through the web page or series of web pages, users from managed network300may select one or more catalog items from cloud service catalog710to provision onto cloud-based networks600. Such selection may involve answering a series of questions about the selected catalog item. By answering these questions, a user can effectively choose the catalog item variables that form the target computing resources of the catalog item. For example, the user may be asked to specify a cloud provider on which to deploy the catalog item, a geographic region on which the catalog item should be operating, and so on. As shown inFIG. 7A, computing resources722,724, and726can illustrate physical computing resources that can result from user's answers to these questions. For example, computing resource722may be a UBUNTU® LINUX® operating system (with the catalog item variables being LINUX® and UBUNTU®). Further, computing resource724may an APACHE® web server provided by MICROSOFT® AZURE® (with the catalog item variables being APACHE® and MICROSOFT® AZURE®). And computing resource726may be a MySQL database with 2TB of storage (with the catalog item variables being MySQL and 2TB). As such, these combined acts of (i) choosing a catalog item and (ii) answering questions related to the catalog item may be referred to as designing a “stack”.

Upon receiving a design for a stack, cloud service catalog710may: (i) determine, based on the answers to questions, the catalog item variables, (ii) populate entries in an IaC template file to match the catalog item variables, and (iii) transmit the IaC template file to IaC server730. As shown inFIG. 7A, populated template file720may represent such an IaC template file that may be created from a designed stack.

IaC server730may be a computing device on computing system700that includes the software of an IaC platform. In one example, IaC server730may be a separate computational entity from managed network300. In this situation, the credentials to access IaC server730may be held by proxy servers312. In another example, IaC server730may be a computational entity that is part of managed network300. In either case, IaC server730can be configured with credentials to access cloud-based networks600.

After receiving populated template file720, IaC server730may use populated template file720to execute a plan phase and an apply phase. As described in connection withFIG. 6, a plan phase may identify, based on the entries in the populated template file, the target computing resources that should be added to (or removed from) cloud-based networks600,while the apply phase operation may actually provision the target computing resources onto cloud-based networks600. Upon executing these phases, IaC server730may notify proxy server312about the computing resources that were added to cloud-based networks600. Such information may be obtained, for example, from each of the cloud providers of cloud-based networks600for which computing resources were provisioned. Proxy server312may transmit this information to computational instance322to allow for discovery of the newly added computing resources. In line with the discussion above, discovered computing resources may then be stored in CMDB500.

To add new catalog items to cloud service catalog710, a user from managed network300may transmit template file750to computational instance322. In example embodiments, template file750may contain entries corresponding to computing resources on cloud-based networks600. Template file750may be transmitted by way of a graphical interface provided to managed network300by computational instance322. This interface could be arranged to allow users from managed network300to upload and/or copy the contents of template file750onto computational instance322. Upon receiving template file750, computational instance322may provide the contents of the file to cloud service catalog710to convert the entries of template file750into a catalog item.

This conversion process can be illustrated inFIG. 7B. At block752, cloud service catalog710may utilize a customized parser to: (i) analyze the entries of template file750, and (ii) determine configurable parameters within the entries. Because of the structured data format (e.g., JSON, HCL) of template file750, the customized parser may be preconfigured with concatenations of the nested objects and/or arrays (herein referred to as paths) to locate certain configurable parameters within template file750. Using such paths can be advantageous when parsing the template file750, because not all configurable parameters may be of interest and paths can be used to define the configurable parameters that are of interest.

At block754, the determined configurable parameters within the entries of template file750may be converted into catalog item questions. For example, a “count” parameter could be transformed into the question: “How many instances do you want?” As other example, a “provider” parameter could be transformed into the question “Which cloud service would you like to use?” As an even further example, an “instance type” parameter could be transformed into the question “What instance would you like to deploy?” Other questions are also possible.

As block756, cloud service catalog710may configure validity checks for each question. For example, if a user answers the question “What cloud service would you like to use?” with a response “123”, cloud service catalog710may be configured to display an error message indicating that the response is not a recognized cloud provider. As another example, rather than allowing users to enter to textual responses to questions, cloud service catalog710can configure answers as dropdown boxes. Using the previous example, given the question “What cloud service would you like to use?”, a dropdown menu may provide the options of AMAZON WEB SERVICES®, MICROSOFT® AZURE® or IBM CLOUD®.

At block758, the catalog item and the related questions may be added to cloud service catalog710. Advantageously, the process ofFIG. 7Ballows template file750to be defined by technical users with knowledge of cloud computing paradigms, and then made available to non-technical users from managed network300. Additionally, the conversion process ofFIG. 7Bmay allow cloud service catalog710to disassociate entries of template file750from a specific cloud-based provider. For example, suppose template file750contains entries corresponding to computing resources provided by AMAZON WEB SERVICES®. By converting template file750into a catalog item and then allowing users to answer questions that decide the target computing resources of the catalog item, cloud service catalog710may, in effect, permit users to select a cloud-based provider other than AMAZON WEB SERVICES® to provide the target computing resources of the catalog item, for example, MICROSOFT® AZURE®.

FIG. 8illustrates a provisioning procedure800using the components of computing system700, in accordance with example embodiments. At step802, managed network300may transmit a template file, for example template file750, to computational instance322. As discussed, the template file may contain entries corresponding to target computing resources on cloud-based networks600. The transmission may be facilitated, for example, via a graphical user interface provided by computational instance322to managed network300.

At step804, the computational instance322may parse the received template file to identify configurable parameters within the template file. This may be performed, for example, through the customizable parser of cloud service catalog710. Once parsed, the computational instance322may generate one or more new catalog items and questions relating to the new catalog items. At step806, computational instance322may provide an updated cloud service catalog interface to managed network300, for example, through a web page or series of web pages. The updated cloud service catalog may contain the new catalog items corresponding to the parsed template file.

At step808, a user from manage network300may design a stack by: (i) choosing a catalog item from the cloud service catalog, and (ii) answering questions related to the catalog item. This may be performed, for example, via a web browser and may involve the user choosing a cloud catalog item to provision.

At step810, computational instance322may determine, based on the user's answers to questions, catalog item variables for the catalog item. Then, computational instance322may populate entries of an laC template file to match the catalog item variables. At step812, the populated IaC template file may be transmitted to IaC server730.

At step814, after receiving the IaC template file, IaC server730may execute a plan phase operation to identify target computing resources that should be added to cloud-based networks600. As noted above, this operation may result in a “plan” created by IaC server730. Then, IaC server730may execute an apply phase operation on the “plan” to provision the target computing resources onto cloud-based networks600. During the apply phase, IaC server may receive configuration details relating to each of the newly provisioned computing resources. At step816, IaC server730may provide these configuration details to computational instance322. At step818, the configuration details may be used by computational instance322to perform discovery on the newly provisioned computing resources.

VII. Example Operations

FIG. 9is a flow chart illustrating an example embodiment. The process illustrated byFIG. 9may be carried out by a computing device, such as computing device100, and/or a cluster of computing devices, such as server cluster200. However, the process can be carried out by other types of devices or device subsystems. For example, the process could be carried out by a portable computer, such as a laptop or a tablet device.

Block900involves obtaining, by a cloud service catalog software application with access to a particular catalog item that defines prospective computing resources that provide a computing function, a selection of the particular catalog item. The cloud service catalog software application is executable on one or more server devices disposed within a computational instance of a remote network management platform. The computational instance is dedicated to a managed network that has access to computing resources of one or more remote networks. In particular, the selection includes a set of catalog item variables that: (i) associate the prospective computing resources with the one or more remote networks, and (ii) determine configuration details for the prospective computing resources.

Block902involves populating, by the cloud service catalog software application, a template representation. The template representation includes entries for the set of catalog item variables.

Block904involves transmitting, by the cloud service catalog software application to an IaC server, the template representation. The IaC server is configured to: (i) identify, based on the entries in the template representation, target computing resources of the one or more remote networks that can perform the computing function, and (ii) provision the target computing resources onto the one or more remote networks.

Block906involves receiving, from the IaC server, identification information related to the target computing resources.

Some embodiments involve obtaining, by the cloud service catalog software application, a second selection of a second particular catalog item. The cloud service catalog software application has access to the second particular catalog item that defines second prospective computing resources that provide a second computing function. In particular, the second selection includes second set of catalog item variables that: (i) associate the second prospective computing resource with the one or more remote networks, and (ii) determine configuration details for the second prospective computing resources. The embodiments may also involve populating, by the cloud service catalog software application, a second template representation, where the second template representation includes entries for the second set of catalog item variables. The embodiments may also involve transmitting, by the cloud service catalog software application to the IaC server, the second template representation, where the IaC server is configured to (i) identify, based on the entries in the second template representation, second target computing resources of the one or more remote networks that can perform the second computing function, and (ii) provision the second target computing resources onto the one or more remote networks. The embodiments may also involve receiving, from the IaC server, second identification information related to the second target computing resources.

Some embodiments involve receiving, from a client device, a template representation containing entries defining target computing resources to be provisioned on the one or more remote networks. The embodiments may also involve converting, by the cloud service catalog software application, the template representation into the particular catalog item, wherein the converting involves (i) creating the prospective computing resources based on the entries, (ii) identifying configurable parameters related to the entries, and (iii) creating the set of catalog item variables based on the configurable parameters.

In some embodiments, the entries defining target computing resources are complex data objects and identifying configurable parameters related to the entries includes specifying paths within the complex data objects in which the configurable parameters of the entries are located.

In some embodiments, the one or more remote networks are cloud-based networks that are physically distinct from the remote network management platform and the managed network, and the remote network management platform and the managed network both access the one or more remote networks by way of a wide-area network.

Some embodiments involve discovering, by the cloud service catalog software application and from the identification information related to the target computing resources, representations of configuration items associated with the target computing resources. The embodiments may also involve storing, in persistent storage disposed within the computational instance, the representations of configuration items, where the persistent storage contains, in tables, representations of discovered configuration items related to the managed network.

In some embodiments, obtaining the selection of the particular catalog item involves: (i) generating, by the cloud service catalog software application, one or more graphical user interfaces with data entry elements for selecting the particular catalog item and associated catalog item variables from a plurality of catalog items, (ii) providing, by the cloud service catalog software application and to a client device associated with the managed network, the one or more graphical user interfaces, and (iii) receiving, by the cloud service catalog software application, from the client device, and entered by way of the data entry elements, the selection of the particular catalog item.

In some embodiments, the data entry elements are configured with validity checks that, based at least on the prospective computing resources, determine the entries that are permitted for the data entry elements.

In some embodiments, provisioning the target computing resources onto the one or more remote networks involves the IaC server confirming that the target computing resources have yet to be provisioned onto the one or more remote networks.

In some embodiments, the IaC server is disposed within the managed network.

In some embodiments, a system may involve means for obtaining, by a cloud service catalog software application with access to a particular catalog item that defines prospective computing resources that provide a computing function, a selection of the particular catalog item. The cloud service catalog software application is executable on one or more server devices disposed within a computational instance of a remote network management platform. The computational instance is dedicated to a managed network that has access to computing resources of one or more remote networks. In particular, the selection includes a set of catalog item variables that: (i) associate the prospective computing resources with the one or more remote networks, and (ii) determine configuration details for the prospective computing resources. The system may also involve means for populating, by the cloud service catalog software application, a template representation. The template representation includes entries for the set of catalog item variables. The system may also involve means for transmitting, by the cloud service catalog software application to an infrastructure as code (IaC) server, the template representation. The IaC server is configured to: (i) identify, based on the entries in the template representation, target computing resources of the one or more remote networks that can perform the computing function, and (ii) provision the target computing resources onto the one or more remote networks. The system may also involve means for receiving, from the IaC server, identification information related to the target computing resources.