Hardware architecture for cloud services

The claimed subject matter provides systems and/or methods that facilitate dynamically allocating resources (e.g., hardware, software, . . . ) supported by a third party service provider. The third party service provider can support any number of services that can be concurrently requested by several clients without user perception of degraded computing performance as compared to conventional systems/techniques due to improved connectivity and mitigated latencies. An interface component can receive a request from a client device. Further, a dynamic allocation component can apportion resources (e.g., hardware resources) supported by the third party service provider to process and respond to the request based at least in part upon subscription data. Moreover, a user state evaluator can determine a state associated with a user and/or the client device; the state can be utilized by the dynamic allocation component to tailor resource allocation.

BACKGROUND

Conventionally, most computational tasks are performed upon a client or a server within a proprietary intranet. For example, a software application resident upon a client can be utilized by the client to effectuate operations such as creating data, obtaining data, manipulating data and/or storing data in memory associated with the client. Further, corporate entities and universities oftentimes employ one or more servers to perform tasks such as data storage/retrieval, data warehousing/analysis, electronic mail and/or backup. These clients and/or servers within the proprietary intranet can include software applications that provide functionality such as network browsing, word processing, electronic mail management, and so forth.

In typical client-server architectures, hardware resources of clients and servers on proprietary intranets are utilized to effectuate the aforementioned computationally intensive tasks. However, client and server hardware resources can be expensive, difficult and time consuming to install, update, troubleshoot and maintain. According to an illustration, upgrading server hardware of corporate entities can lead to lengthy downtimes during which electronic mail communications are halted, employees are unable to access data retained on the servers, customers are unable to view content or effectuate online commercial transactions with the corporate entities, and the like; thus, in addition to costs associated with purchasing the hardware, the corporate entity is faced with lost profits, customer frustration, diminished employee productivity, and so forth.

Moreover, conventional client devices can be constrained by limited storage, processing power, security, bandwidth, redundancy, graphical display rendering capabilities, etc. Upgrading hardware resources associated with client devices can be effectuated by purchasing replacement client devices or components of the client devices that can be installed such as central processing units (CPUs), random access memory (RAM), hard disks, video display controllers, and the like; however, upgraded client devices can still be constrained by the above-noted limitations. For example, typical cellular telephones or personal digital assistants (PDAs) may be unable to store large libraries of video files in memory of such devices. Thus, desired computational tasks can be omitted due to limitations of hardware resources.

SUMMARY

The following presents a simplified summary in order to provide a basic understanding of some aspects described herein. This summary is not an extensive overview of the claimed subject matter. It is intended to neither identify key or critical elements of the claimed subject matter nor delineate the scope thereof. Its sole purpose is to present some concepts in a simplified form as a prelude to the more detailed description that is presented later.

The claimed subject matter relates to systems and/or methods that facilitate dynamically allocating resources (e.g., hardware, software, . . . ) supported by a third party service provider. The third party service provider can support any number of services that can be concurrently requested by several clients without user perception of degraded computing performance as compared to conventional systems/techniques due to improved connectivity and mitigated latencies. An interface component can receive a request from a client device. Further, a dynamic allocation component can apportion resources (e.g. hardware resources) supported by the third party service provider to process and respond to the request based at least in part upon subscription data. Moreover, a user state evaluator can determine a state associated with a user and/or the client device; the state can be utilized by the dynamic allocation component to tailor resource allocation.

In accordance with various aspects of the claimed subject matter, hardware resources (e.g., related to processing, storage, connectivity, caching, . . . ) supported by a third party service provider can be allocated dynamically, for example, based upon subscription related data. Additionally or alternatively, resources can be allotted as a function of time based upon user need, user frustration, number of requests, identity of requesting users, subscriptions associated with requesting users, type of resources requested, time of day, geographic location, cost/benefit analysis, client device capabilities, and the like. Resources hosted by the third party service provider can be leveraged to mitigate constraints such as hardware limitations (e.g. limited storage, processing power, bandwidth, connectivity, . . . ), expensive and time-consuming maintenance and upgrading, and the like, which can be typically associated with client-side devices and/or servers within proprietary intranets.

Pursuant to one or more aspects of the claimed subject matter, an amount of memory allotted for a particular user can be dependent upon the user's subscription. According to a further example, a user may purchase a number of central processing unit (CPU) cycles hosted by the third party service provider, and the CPU cycles can be employed in connection with processing request(s). Also, redundancy can be allocated based upon a subscription, and thus, hardware resource utilization can be accordingly apportioned; thus, a subscription can enable persistently storing copies of a subscriber's data in memory of data store(s) supported by the third party service provider. Moreover, alternative communication paths (e.g. between a client and the third party service provider, between disparate third party service providers, . . . ) can be allocated based on a subscription for utilization upon failure of a primary communication path.

The following description and the annexed drawings set forth in detail certain illustrative aspects of the claimed subject matter. These aspects are indicative, however, of but a few of the various ways in which the principles of such matter may be employed and the claimed subject matter is intended to include all such aspects and their equivalents. Other advantages and novel features will become apparent from the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the drawings.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Furthermore, the claimed subject matter may be implemented as a method, apparatus, or article of manufacture using standard programming and/or engineering techniques to produce software, firmware, hardware, or any combination thereof to control a computer to implement the disclosed subject matter. The term “article of manufacture” as used herein is intended to encompass a computer program accessible from any computer-readable device, carrier, or media. For example, computer readable media can include but are not limited to magnetic storage devices (e.g., hard disk, floppy disk, magnetic strips, . . . ), optical disks (e.g., compact disk (CD), digital versatile disk (DVD), . . . ), smart cards, and flash memory devices (e.g., card, stick, key drive, . . . ). Additionally it should be appreciated that a carrier wave can be employed to carry computer-readable electronic data such as those used in transmitting and receiving electronic mail or in accessing a network such as the Internet or a local area network (LAN). Of course, those skilled in the art will recognize many modifications may be made to this configuration without departing from the scope or spirit of the claimed subject matter. Moreover, the word “exemplary” is used herein to mean serving as an example, instance, or illustration. Any aspect or design described herein as “exemplary” is not necessarily to be construed as preferred or advantageous over other aspects or designs.

Now turning to the figures,FIG. 1illustrates a system100that facilitates adjusting utilization and/or allocation of hardware resource(s) to remote clients. The system100includes a third party service provider102that can concurrently service requests from several clients without user perception of degraded computing performance as compared to conventional techniques where computational tasks can be performed upon a client or a server within a proprietary intranet. The third party service provider102(e.g., “cloud”) supports a collection of hardware and/or software resources104. The hardware and/or software resources104can be maintained by an off-premises party, and the resources104can be accessed and utilized by identified users over a network (e.g., Internet, WAN, . . . ). Resources104provided by the third party service provider102can be centrally located and/or distributed at various geographic locations. For example, the third party service provider102can include any number of data center machines that provide resources104. The data center machines can be utilized for storing/retrieving data, effectuating computational tasks, rendering graphical outputs, routing data, and so forth.

According to an illustration, the third party service provider102can provide any number of resources104such as data storage services, computational services, word processing services, electronic mail services, presentation services, spreadsheet services, gaming services, web syndication services (e.g., subscribing to a RSS feed), and any other services or applications that are conventionally associated with personal computers and/or local servers. Further, utilization of any number of third party service providers similar to the third party service provider102is contemplated. According to an illustration, disparate third party service providers can be maintained by differing off-premise parties and a user can employ (e.g. concurrently, at different times, . . . ) all or a subset of the third party service providers.

By leveraging resources104supported by the third party service provider102, limitations commonly encountered with respect to hardware associated with clients and servers within proprietary intranets can be mitigated. Off-premises parties, instead of users of clients or network administrators of servers within proprietary intranets, can maintain, troubleshoot, replace and update the hardware resources104. Further, for example, lengthy downtimes can be mitigated by the third party service provider102utilizing redundant resources104; thus, if a subset of the resources104are being updated or replaced, the remainder of the resources104can be utilized to service requests from users. According to this example, the resources104can be modular in nature, and thus, resources104can be added, removed, tested, modified, etc. while the remainder of the resources104can support servicing user requests. Moreover, hardware resources104supported by the third party service provider102can encounter fewer constraints with respect to storage, processing power, security, bandwidth, redundancy, graphical display rendering capabilities, etc. as compared to conventional hardware associated with clients and servers within proprietary intranets.

The system100can include a client device106that employs resources104of the third party service provider102. Although one client device106is depicted, it is to be appreciated that the system100can include any number of client devices similar to the client device106, and the plurality of client devices can concurrently utilize supported resources104. By way of illustration, the client device106can be a desktop device (e.g., personal computer), portable device (e.g., laptop, tablet, handheld such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), portable music player, portable gaming device, . . . ), mobile phone, home media center, and the like. Further, the client device106can be an embedded system that can be physically limited, and hence, it can be beneficial to leverage resources104of the third party service provider102; for example, the embedded system can be included in a car, a global positioning system (GPS) navigation system, an intelligent agricultural watering system, buoy sensors in the ocean, a household appliance, medical equipment, industrial machinery, and so forth. According to another example, the client device106can be associated with surface(s) (e.g., walls that can be interactive screens within buildings such as houses, offices, retail establishments, . . . ) that can interact with user(s) (e.g., by displaying data and/or obtaining user input, . . . ). The client device106can be a thin client utilized to access services hosted by the third party service provider102with minimal latency. Further, the client device106can interact with a user (e.g., receive user input, output content from the third party service provider102, . . . ).

Resources104can be shared amongst a plurality of client devices subscribing to the third party service provider102(however, it is contemplated that the claimed subject matter is not limited to allocating resources104based upon subscriptions). According to an illustration, one of the resources104can be at least one central processing unit (CPU), where CPU cycles can be employed to effectuate computational tasks requested by the client device106. Pursuant to this illustration, the client device106can be allocated a subset of an overall total number of CPU cycles, while the remainder of the CPU cycles can be allocated to disparate client device(s). Additionally or alternatively, the subset of the overall total number of CPU cycles allocated to the client device106can vary over time. Further, a number of CPU cycles can be purchased by the user of the client device106. In accordance with another example, the resources104can include data store(s) that can be employed by the client device106to retain data. The user employing the client device106can have access to a portion of the data store(s) supported by the third party service provider102, while access can be denied to remaining portions of the data store(s) (e.g., the data store(s) can selectively mask memory based upon user/device identity, permissions, . . . ). It is contemplated that any additional types of resources104can likewise be shared.

The third party service provider102can further include an interface component108that can receive input(s) from the client device106and/or enable transferring a response to such input(s) to the client device106(as well as perform similar communications with any disparate client devices). According to an example, the input(s) can be request(s), data, executable program(s), etc. For instance, request(s) from the client device106can relate to effectuating a computational task, storing/retrieving data, rendering a user interface, and the like via employing one or more resources104. Further, the interface component108can obtain and/or transmit data over a network connection. According to an illustration, executable code can be received and/or sent by the interface component108over the network connection. Pursuant to another example, a user (e.g. employing the client device106) can issue commands via the interface component108(e.g., “run this application”, “delete this file”, . . . ).

Moreover, the third party service provider102includes a dynamic allocation component110that apportions resources104(e.g., hardware resource(s)) supported by the third party service provider102to process and respond to the input(s) (e.g., request(s), data, executable program(s), . . . ) obtained from the client device106. The dynamic allocation component110can allot resources104based upon subscription data. Further, the resource allotment provided by the dynamic allocation component110can vary as a function of time based on considerations such as needs of users, authorization level, upcoming events (e.g., evinced by calendars, meeting requests, indications of time frames, . . . ), frustrations of users, availability of resources104, number of requests (e.g., from particular user(s), group(s) of users, all users, . . . ), identity of requesting users, subscriptions associated with requesting users (e.g., subscription level), type of resource(s)104requested, time of day, day, geographic location, cost/benefit analysis, client device106capabilities, and so forth.

Users can subscribe to utilize resources104hosted by the third party service provider102. According to an illustration, disparate subscription levels can be offered in connection with resources104of the third party service provider102. For instance, a higher level subscription can provide increased processing power, bandwidth, storage capacity, services, and so forth as compared to a lower level subscription. Pursuant to a further example, each subscription level can provide a corresponding minimum level of resource assignment by the dynamic allocation component110; however, if fewer requests by subscribers with high level subscriptions are obtained at a particular time, the dynamic allocation component110can alter the resource assignment above the minimum level. Further, subscriptions can be obtained for individual users and/or groups of users. Thus, corporate entities can purchase subscriptions that can be utilized by their respective employees.

Subscription data (e.g., that can be retained by the third party service provider102, included and/or altered with input(s) from the client device106, . . . ) can be utilized to distribute the resources104. For instance, an amount and/or type of memory allotted for a particular user can be dependent upon the user's subscription data. Moreover, a user may purchase a number of CPU cycles associated with a data center machine, which can be employed in connection with processing input(s). Also, redundancy can be allocated based upon subscription data, and thus, hardware resource utilization can be accordingly apportioned; therefore, a subscription can provide for persistently storing copies of a subscriber's data in memory of more than one data center machine. Moreover, the dynamic allocation component110can allocate alternative communication paths (e.g., between the client device106and the interface108of the third party service provider102, between the third party service provider102and disparate third party service provider(s), . . . ) based upon subscription data (e.g., upon failure of a primary communication path). Further, resources such as, for instance, communication bandwidth, security levels, archival length, etc. can be allotted by the dynamic allocation component110. It is to be appreciated, however, that the claimed subject matter is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

According to another example, subscriptions need not be utilized in connection with allocating resources104of the third party service provider102. Pursuant to this example, resources104can be allotted by the dynamic allocation component110in association with advertising. Thus, advertisements can be generated, stored, provided by, etc. the third party service provider102(e.g., via employing apportioned resources104) to the client device106, while the client device106(and/or the user) need not have a subscription. In accordance with an example, the dynamic allocation component110can enable providing targeted advertising by tailoring resources104utilized for yielding advertisements for disparate users based upon considerations such as transaction history, user attentional status, user schedule, location, and so forth.

Pursuant to a further example, users can employ resources104of the third party service provider102anonymously and/or on a pay-as-you go basis. For instance, a user can pay a one time fee to convert a library of .wma files into .mp3files without revealing her identity and without subscribing to the third party service provider102.

Although the interface component108is depicted as being separate from the dynamic allocation component110, it is contemplated that the dynamic allocation component110can include the interface component108or a portion thereof Also, the interface component108can provide various adaptors, connectors, channels, communication paths, etc. to enable interaction with the dynamic allocation component110.

With reference toFIG. 2, illustrated is a system200that apportions resource(s) based upon considerations of user state. The system200includes the third party service provider102that supports any number of resources104(e.g., hardware, software, firmware, . . . ) that can be employed by the client device106(and/or disparate client device(s) (not shown)). The third party service provider102further comprises the interface component108that receives resource utilization requests (e.g., requests to effectuate operations utilizing resources104supported by the third party service provider102) from the client device106and the dynamic allocation component110that partitions resources104(e.g., between users, devices, computational tasks, . . . ). Moreover, the dynamic allocation component110can further include a user state evaluator202, an enhancement component204and an auction component206.

The user state evaluator202can determine a state associated with a user and/or the client device106employed by the user, where the state can relate to a set of properties such as behaviors, frustrations, needs, configurations, attributes, conditions, preferences, contexts, information content, authorization levels, capabilities, and/or roles. For instance, the user state evaluator202can analyze explicit and/or implicit information obtained from the client device106(e.g., via the interface component108) and/or retrieved from memory associated with the third party service provider102(e.g., preferences indicated in subscription data). State related data yielded by the user state evaluator202can be utilized by the dynamic allocation component110to tailor the apportionment of resources104.

By way of example, the user state evaluator202can determine user frustration. According to this example, the user state evaluator202can infer frustration from delays, failures, errors, and the like associated with requests from the client device106to employ resources104. Further, the user state evaluator202can analyze variations in frequency of user input (e.g., user repeatedly providing the same input such as depressing a key on a keyboard or a mouse button with a high frequency prior to obtaining a response to the input), tone of input (e.g. intonation in user speech evaluated with speech recognition), physical movements and/or actions (e.g., sensor in a screen that detects when users hit the screen from frustration), facial expressions, and so forth to deduce user frustration. Additionally or alternatively, the client device106can obtain explicit user input related to his or her frustration level (e.g., user can select a button that indicates she is frustrated with performance of a requested service supported by the third party service provider102, . . . ). As a level of frustration of the user increases as determined by the user state evaluator202, the dynamic allocation component110can provide the user with an increased share of resources104, and the share can be reduced as the analyzed frustration level diminishes.

According to another illustration, the user state evaluator202can consider characteristics of the client device106, which can be used to apportion resources104by the dynamic allocation component110. For instance, the user state evaluator202can identify that the client device106is a cellular telephone with limited display area. Thus, the dynamic allocation component110can employ this information to reduce resources104utilized to render an image upon the client device106since the cellular telephone may be unable to display a rich graphical user interface. Further, the user state evaluator202can perform a cost/benefit analysis based upon characteristics of the client device106. For example, if minimal benefit is derived from increasing an allocation of resources104to the client device106(e.g., due to limited processing power, display real estate, bandwidth, memory, and so forth of the client device106) while increasing costs (e.g., opportunity costs associated with not allotting such resources104to disparate client devices, computational tasks, and the like), then the user state evaluator202can provide an output to the dynamic allocation component110that enables limiting share(s) of resources104related to client devices unable to fully utilize such resources104.

Other examples of information that the user state evaluator202can evaluate include a number of concurrent requests from the client device106, corporate hierarchy (e.g., provide a corporate CEO with more resources as compared to a new employee when both individuals utilize a common subscription, . . . ), and characteristics of computational tasks (e.g., importance of the tasks, upcoming deadlines/events by which the tasks are needed, . . . ). For instance, the client device106can be utilized to download a video file for persistent storage upon the client device106. The client device106can be employed to indicate an expected viewing time for the video file (and/or a time by which the download is desired to be completed); thus, if the video is to be viewed within thirty minutes, more bandwidth can be allocated as compared to when the video is expected to be viewed in two days. Pursuant to this example, differential billing can be utilized to charge more for a quicker download. It is to be appreciated that the user state evaluator202can additionally or alternatively consider any disparate types of information to effectuate state analysis.

Moreover, the enhancement component204can facilitate increasing an allocation of resources104for a particular user and/or client device106. For instance, the enhancement component204can receive explicit input to increase the amount and/or alter the type of resources utilized with the client device106(e.g. Supersize Me!). According to an example, an icon can be displayed as part of a graphical user interface rendered upon the client device106, and selection of the icon can increase (e.g., temporarily, permanently, . . . ) resources104assigned to the client device106. Pursuant to this example, additional monetary charges in addition to subscription costs can be applied to the user's account. Additionally or alternatively, subscriptions can include a preset number of opportunities to dynamically increase allocation of resources104.

Further, the auction component206can enable users to auction unutilized resources104. For instance, if a user (temporarily) utilizes less than all the resources104he is entitled to (e.g., according to the subscription data, as distributed by the dynamic allocation component110, . . . ), that user can offer them to other users that need additional resources104. Thus, unutilized resources104can be sold, bartered, donated, traded, exchanged, auctioned, etc. to disparate users. According to an example, the unutilized resources104can be dynamically priced. For instance, pricing of the resources104can vary over time based upon supply of available resources104(e.g., amount of resources104for sale, auction, trade, or the like by a plurality of users) and/or demand for the available resources104. Moreover, depending upon a subscription level, unutilized resources104offered for transfer with a higher level subscription can be priced higher as compared to unutilized resources104associated with a lower level subscription. Upon a disparate user obtaining the resources104(e.g., by way of purchase, auction, trade, . . . ), the dynamic allocation component110can apportion these newly obtained resources104to the disparate user. Further, a market (e.g., stock market) can be built upon the transfer of the resources104; thus, options, hedge bets, and the like can be traded based upon this market.

The auction component206can obtain user input indicating a user's resources104to offer to disparate users. Thus, the user can designate a subset or all of the resources104(to which he is entitled) to be offered for transfer via the auction component206. According to another example, the auction component206can automatically offer resources104to disparate users. For instance, if unused resources104are set to expire at an upcoming time, the auction component206can automatically offer to sell, trade, auction, etc. these resources (and/or provide a suggestion to the user to offer the unused resources). Moreover, the auction component206can evaluate historical trends associated with resource104utilization to determine whether the user has an excess amount of allocated resources, and thereafter offer or suggest to offer the resources104(or a portion of the resources104) to disparate users. According to another example, the auction component206can evaluate that a first user is not utilizing a portion or all of his apportioned resources104, while a second user needs additional resources104; thus, the auction component206can automatically broker a trade of resources104between the users. For instance, the auction component206can trade resources104to be utilized within a short time frame for resources104to be employed at a later time. Additionally or alternatively, the auction component206can trade a first type of resource104for a second type of resource104(e.g., trade bandwidth for CPU cycles). In accordance with another example, the auction component206can enable selling resources104back to the third party service provider102(e.g., in return for a refund of a portion of a subscription fee, . . . ).

Pursuant to a further example, the auction component206can enable a buyer to indicate an interest in purchasing resources104. Thus, the buyer can employ the auction component206to provide information related to desired resources104(e.g., type of resource104, time for resource104utilization, desired resource104amount, . . . ). According to this example, the auction component206can enable a user with unused resources104to sell, trade, barter, etc. the resources104to the buyer (e.g., by accepting the offer, counter offering, . . . ). In accordance with a further example, the auction component206can effectuate an auction whereby sellers bid for a price at which they will sell the resources104to buyers. Moreover, the auction component206can enable negotiating between parties involved in potential transactions related to resources104(e.g. provide a forum in which the parties can provide counteroffers to each other). Additionally, the auction component206can determine a fair market price for resources104involved in a transfer (e.g., based upon historical transaction data, supply of resources104being offered by a plurality of users, demand for resources104, . . . ); thus, a buyer and a seller can agree to an exchange and the auction component206can set the price. However, it is to be appreciated that the claimed subject matter is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

Referring toFIG. 3, illustrated is a system300that employs load balancing to optimize utilization of resources104. The system300includes the third party service provider102that communicates with the client device106(and/or any disparate client device(s) and/or disparate third party service provider(s)). The third party service provider102can include the interface component108that transmits and/or receives data from the client device106and the dynamic allocation component110that allots resources104(e.g., provides shared access to hardware resources104to the client device106based at least in part upon subscription data). The dynamic allocation component110can further comprise a load balancing component302that optimizes utilization of resources104. By employing the load balancing component302, overall capacity associated with the third party service provider102can be increased. Pursuant to an example, the load balancing component302can dynamically adjust prices of resources104based upon global demand. In accordance with this example, a long running job (e.g., compressing a video stream, . . . ) can be scheduled to “steal” cycles when demand is low; thus, leftover resources104during times of lower demand can be allocated by the load balancing component302.

According to an example, the load balancing component302can yield an output that enables the dynamic allocation component110to allocate resources104based on geographic location and/or time of day associated with the geographic location. Pursuant to this example, the load balancing component302can enable assigning increased percentages of overall resources104to client device(s) in a geographic location during typical business hours and decreased percentages at nighttime. For instance, at 9:00 AM EST (6:00 AM PST), the load balancing component302can determine to allocate more bandwidth (e.g., resource104) to client device(s) located in New York versus client device(s) positioned in California.

In accordance with another illustration, the third party service provider102can enable enterprises to work with multiple offices and thereby allow for forming virtual enterprises. With virtual enterprises, people need not be physically located in particular locations, yet can have full access to resources104. Further, members associated with the virtual enterprises (e.g., employees, . . . ) can utilize a common subscription associated with the enterprise and/or any number of disparate subscriptions. A subscription for a group of users at various locations (e.g. members associated with virtual enterprises) can provide a minimum level of resources104for the group while the load balancing component302can optimize allotment of resources104between the group members (e.g., shift shared resources104between group members utilizing a common subscription).

Moreover, the load balancing component302can monitor resources104of the third party service provider102to detect failures. If a subset of the resources104fails, the load balancing component302can continue to optimize the remaining resources104. Thus, if a portion of the total number of processors fails, the load balancing component302can enable redistributing cycles associated with the non-failing processors.

Now turning toFIG. 4, illustrated is a system400that archives and/or analyzes data utilizing the third party service provider102. The third party service provider102can include the interface component108that enables communicating with the client device106. Further, the third party service provider102comprises the dynamic allocation component110that can apportion data retention resources, for example. Moreover, the third party service provider102can include an archive component402and any number of data store(s)404. Access to and/or utilization of the archive component402and/or the data store(s)404by the client device106(and/or any disparate client device(s)) can be controlled by the dynamic allocation component110. The data store(s)404can be centrally located and/or positioned at differing geographic locations. Further, the archive component404can include a management component406, a versioning component408, a security component410, a permission component412, an aggregation component414, and/or a restoration component416.

The data store(s)404can be, for example, either volatile memory or nonvolatile memory, or can include both volatile and nonvolatile memory. By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory can include read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory can include random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), Rambus direct RAM (RDRAM), direct Rambus dynamic RAM (DRDRAM), and Rambus dynamic RAM (RDRAM). The data store(s)404of the subject systems and methods is intended to comprise, without being limited to, these and any other suitable types of memory. In addition, it is to be appreciated that the data store(s)404can be a server, a database, a hard drive, and the like.

The management component406facilitates administering data retained in the data store(s)404. The management component406can enable providing multi-tiered storage within the data store(s)404, for example. According to this example, unused data can be aged-out to slower disks and important data used more frequently can be moved to faster disks; however, the claimed subject matter is not so limited. Further, the management component406can be utilized (e.g. by the client device106) to organize, annotate, and otherwise reference content without making it local to the client device106. Pursuant to an illustration, enormous video files can be tagged via utilizing a cell phone. Moreover, the management component406enables the client device106to bind metadata, which can be local to the client device106, to file streams (e.g., retained in the data store(s)404); the management component406can enforce and maintain these bindings.

Additionally or alternatively, the management component406can allow for sharing data retained in the data store(s)404with disparate users and/or client devices. For example, fine-grained sharing can be supported by the management component406(e.g. a user can input “share this document with Alex” or “share all appointments with Teresa”, . . . ). Also, the management component406can mitigate accidental editing of a user's document regardless of a level of permissions; instead, the management component406can yield a notification that new version(s) exist, and the user can organize, annotate, or delete those versions independently of other version(s). According to a further example, the management component406can provide file synchronization.

Moreover, the management component406can enable browsing and/or searching for data retained in the data store(s)404. A user's data can be heterogeneously distributed in the data store(s)404. For instance, subsets of the user data can be stored in data store(s)404as well as disparate data store(s) hosted by differing off-premises parties. The management component406can enable searching and/or browsing the user data without consideration of the physical topology of the storage devices utilized to retain the data. Thus, browsing effectuated with the management component406of “all my pictures” allows a user to view all pictures stored upon any data store (e.g. hosted by any number of third party service providers, . . . ).

The management component406additionally can enable metadata and content to be treated differently. For instance, asking a question about a700Mb movie need not imply that the user desires to copy the movie to her hard drive. Further, looking for a document remotely on a home machine does not mean that the user wants to copy all documents to her office machine. Thus, schedule and policy for synchronization of metadata and for synchronization of file streams can be orthogonal.

The versioning component408can enable retaining and/or tracking versions of data. For instance, the versioning component408can identify a latest version of a document (regardless of a saved location within data store(s)404). Additionally, upon saving a document, the versioning component408can create a new version of the document and link the versions. Thus, the versioning component408can enable retaining data (e.g., all versions of a document) unless an explicit instruction to delete data is obtained (e.g. from the user of the client device106). Further, the versioning component408can facilitate continuously auto-saving data.

The security component410limits availability of resources based on user identity and/or authorization level. For example, the security component410can protect against unauthorized access and/or use of data retained by the archive component402. The security component410enhances confidentiality, integrity and availability of the archived data. For instance, the security component410can encrypt data transferred to the client device106and/or decrypt data obtained from the client device106. Moreover, the security component410can certify and/or authenticate data retained by the archive component402. According to an example, the security component410can analyze whether a user can access and/or use data based upon an identity determined from usernames, passwords, personal identification numbers, personal status, management positions, occupation hierarchy, biometric indicia (e.g., voice recognition, fingerprint analysis, retina analysis, . . . ), and the like. Additionally or alternatively, the security component410can limit access to other resources; for example, the security component410can mitigate an ability of a computation to use unbounded amounts of memory and/or CPU cycles (e.g., denial of service), or run any program (or parts thereof).

The permission component412can enable a user to assign arbitrary access permissions to various users, groups of users and/or all users. For instance, the permission component412can obtain explicit preferences (e.g., from the client device106, included with subscription data, . . . ) related to granting of permissions from a user, which can be enforced. Additionally or alternatively, the permissions can be implied and/or inferred by the permission component412based upon considerations related to the user's history, permissions set by disparate users, type of content, and so forth.

Further, the aggregation component414assembles and/or analyzes collections of data. The aggregation component414can seamless incorporate third party data into a particular user's data. Additionally, the aggregation component414can combine data from any number of users that employ the third party service component102and/or disparate sources (e.g., sensors, cameras, . . . ) and perform data correlation across service platforms and/or applications. According to an example, the aggregation component414can track motion of objects monitored with RFID devices (e.g., utilizing RFID with cloud services tags), and an analysis performed upon the motion data by the aggregation component414can identify bottlenecks in shipping. Moreover, the aggregation component414can effectuate data mining on the collected data. However, the claimed subject matter is not limited to the aforementioned examples.

Moreover, the restoration component416rolls back data retained by the archive component402. For example, the restoration component416can continuously record an environment associated with the third party service provider102. Further, the restoration component416can playback the recording.

Turning toFIG. 5, illustrated is a system500that interconnects distributed data retained at various geographic locations. The system500includes the third party service provider102that can include any number of data stores502(e.g., the data store(s)404ofFIG. 4). Further, the third party service provider102can include a distributed data interconnection component504that can communicate with remotely hosted data store(s)506(e.g., data store(s) hosted by disparate off-premises parties).

The data stores502can be positioned at any geographic location with respect to one another; for example, a subset of the data stores502can be clustered together at a physical location and a disparate subset of the data stores502can be positioned at a geographically distinct location. According to an example, the data stores502can communicate with each other (and/or any disparate component(s) (not shown) utilized to access data retained in the data stores502) via wireless connections. For instance, line of sight, non-wired communication lasers (e.g. utilizing digital light processing (DLP) mirrors, . . . ) can be employed to wirelessly communicate between the data stores502. Additionally or alternatively, wired connections can be utilized between data stores502. Pursuant to another illustration, the data stores502can utilize solid state storage with no moving parts; however, the subject claims are not so limited. In accordance with a further example, the data stores502can utilize optimized silicon that addresses the storage architecture associated with the third party service provider102.

The distributed data interconnection component504enables communicating with remotely hosted data store(s)506. By way of example, a search can be performed over a user's data retained by the data stores502and the remotely hosted data store(s)506. The distributed data interconnection component504can allow for seamless interaction such as searching, browsing, editing, and so forth of data stored in the remotely hosted data store(s)506. Thus, a common repository (e.g., hosted by a single third party service provider, . . . ) for all user data need not be employed.

With reference toFIG. 6, illustrated is a system600that provides various resources supported by a third party service provider. The system600includes the client device106and/or the third party service provider102, which can further comprise the interface component108and the dynamic allocation component110. Moreover, the third party service provider102can additionally include resources (e.g., resources104ofFIG. 1) such as a service component602, a rendering component604, and/or a pipelining component606.

The service component602can effectuate performing service(s) supported by the third party service provider102. The service component602can enable storing, collecting, manipulating, outputting, etc. data. According to an example, the service component602can provide a machine translation service that can translate speech to text, a first language to a second language (e.g., English to Chinese, . . . ), and so forth; however, the claimed subject matter is not limited to the aforementioned example.

The rendering component604can enable the client device106to generate an output that can be yielded to a user. For instance, the rendering component604can facilitate displaying a graphical user interface with the client device106. Moreover, the rendering component604can be a real time render farm that can include a plurality of graphics processing units (GPUs). The rendering component604can yield a high resolution graphics image that can be transmitted from the third party service provider102to the client device106via the interface component108. Further, the rendering component604can tailor the rendered user interface based upon characteristics associated with the client device106(and/or any disparate client device(s)); accordingly, the rendering component604can consider characteristics such as display size and/or processing limitations, and can transfer data to the client device106as a function of these characteristics.

Moreover, the pipelining component606can enable selectively piping data from the third party service provider102to the client device106. The pipelining component606can push subsets of large amounts of data. For instance, the client device106can be employed to view an image; upon zooming into a portion of the image, the pipelining component606can intelligently pass data to the client device106to enable viewing the zoomed portion of the image.

Turning toFIG. 7, illustrated is a system700that infers a state associated with a device and/or user, and the state can be utilized to dynamically adjust an allocation of resource(s)104. The system700can include the third party service provider102, resource(s)104, and the dynamic allocation component110, each of which can be substantially similar to respective components described above. The system700can further include an intelligent component702. The intelligent component702can be utilized by the dynamic allocation component110to infer user frustration and/or need. According to an example, the intelligent component702can deduce that user frustration is above a threshold level; thus, the dynamic allocation component110can modify an allotment of the resource(s)104corresponding to the particular user. The intelligent component702can effectuate this inference based upon user input, historical data, failures, errors, delays, and so forth. Pursuant to another illustration, the intelligent component702can perform inferences related to trends in requests for resource(s)104. Thus, the intelligent component702can determine likelihoods associated with types of resource(s)104requested, amounts of resource(s) requested, time of day of requests, source of requests, and so forth. Based upon the inferred trends, the dynamic allocation component110can partition resource(s)104to various users and/or client devices.

FIGS. 8-10illustrate methodologies in accordance with the claimed subject matter. For simplicity of explanation, the methodologies are depicted and described as a series of acts. It is to be understood and appreciated that the subject innovation is not limited by the acts illustrated and/or by the order of acts, for example acts can occur in various orders and/or concurrently, and with other acts not presented and described herein. Furthermore, not all illustrated acts may be required to implement the methodologies in accordance with the claimed subject matter. In addition, those skilled in the art will understand and appreciate that the methodologies could alternatively be represented as a series of interrelated states via a state diagram or events.

With reference toFIG. 8, illustrated is a methodology800that facilitates allotting and utilizing resources hosted by a third party service provider. At802, a request for a resource (and/or a plurality of resources) supported by a third party service provider can be received. The resource can be a hardware and/or software resource. For instance, the resource can enable storing and/or retrieving data, effectuating computational tasks, rendering graphical outputs, routing data, and so forth. Further, the resource can be shared by any number of disparate users and/or remote client devices. At804, the resource (and/or plurality of resources) can be dynamically allocated based at least in part upon a subscription. For instance, the subscription can provide a minimum allocation of the resource (e.g., minimum allotted bandwidth, CPU cycles, memory, . . . ). Further, resource allocation can vary over time based upon user need, user frustration, number of requests, identity of requesting users, subscriptions associated with requesting users, type of resource requested, time of day, geographic location, cost/benefit analysis, client device capabilities, and the like. At806, the request can be responded to by utilizing the allocated resources. For instance, the allocated resources can be employed to effectuate a computational task, store data, retrieve data, manipulate data, render a displayed output, transfer data, and so forth.

Turning toFIG. 9, illustrated is a methodology900that facilitates altering resource allocation based upon a state (e.g., associated with user(s) and/or client device(s)). At902, a state associated with a client device (and/or a user) can be evaluated. For example, the state can relate to user frustration, characteristics of the client device (e.g., limitations in processing power, display real estate, bandwidth, memory, . . . ), concurrent requests from the client device, a corporate hierarchy, and/or characteristics of a computational task requested by the client device. At904, a resource allotment can be dynamically altered based upon the state. According to an illustration, as user frustration increases, the resource allotment can provide an increased share of resources (e.g., more CPU cycles, increased bandwidth, additional caching, . . . ). At906, a computational task can be effectuated utilizing the resource allotment.

Turning toFIG. 10, illustrated is a methodology1000that facilitates searching distributed data retained in allocated memory. At1002, a query can be obtained at a third party service provider. The query can be, for instance, associated with a search request. At1004, data stores hosted by the third party service provider and remotely hosted data stores can be concurrently searched based upon the query. For instance, searches associated with the data stores hosted by the third party service provider can be effectuated by communicating between the data stores via wireless connections. Further, searching can be effectuated over allocated portions of the data stores and/or remotely hosted data stores (e.g., allotted to a user, shared with the user, . . . ). Moreover, searching can be performed without migrating data from the remotely hosted data stores to the data stores associated with the third party service provider. At1006, a search result corresponding to the query can be generated. The generated search result can be returned to a client device that provided the query, for instance.

In order to provide additional context for implementing various aspects of the claimed subject matter,FIGS. 11-12and the following discussion is intended to provide a brief, general description of a suitable computing environment in which the various aspects of the subject innovation may be implemented. For instance,FIGS. 11-12set forth a suitable computing environment that can be employed in connection with dynamically allocating resource(s) supported by a third party service provider to client device(s). While the claimed subject matter has been described above in the general context of computer-executable instructions of a computer program that runs on a local computer and/or remote computer, those skilled in the art will recognize that the subject innovation also may be implemented in combination with other program modules. Generally, program modules include routines, programs, components, data structures, etc., that perform particular tasks and/or implement particular abstract data types.

Moreover, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the inventive methods may be practiced with other computer system configurations, including single-processor or multi-processor computer systems, minicomputers, mainframe computers, as well as personal computers, hand-held computing devices, microprocessor-based and/or programmable consumer electronics, and the like, each of which may operatively communicate with one or more associated devices. The illustrated aspects of the claimed subject matter may also be practiced in distributed computing environments where certain tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linked through a communications network. However, some, if not all, aspects of the subject innovation may be practiced on stand-alone computers. In a distributed computing environment, program modules may be located in local and/or remote memory storage devices.

FIG. 11is a schematic block diagram of a sample-computing environment1100with which the claimed subject matter can interact. The system1100includes one or more client(s)1110. The client(s)1110can be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The system1100also includes one or more server(s)1120. The server(s)1120can be hardware and/or software (e.g., threads, processes, computing devices). The servers1120can house threads to perform transformations by employing the subject innovation, for example.

One possible communication between a client1110and a server1120can be in the form of a data packet adapted to be transmitted between two or more computer processes. The system1100includes a communication framework1140that can be employed to facilitate communications between the client(s)1110and the server(s)1120. The client(s)1110are operably connected to one or more client data store(s)1150that can be employed to store information local to the client(s)1110. Similarly, the server(s)1120are operably connected to one or more server data store(s)1130that can be employed to store information local to the servers1120.

With reference toFIG. 12, an exemplary environment1200for implementing various aspects of the claimed subject matter includes a computer1212. The computer1212includes a processing unit1214, a system memory1216, and a system bus1218. The system bus1218couples system components including, but not limited to, the system memory1216to the processing unit1214. The processing unit1214can be any of various available processors. Dual microprocessors and other multiprocessor architectures also can be employed as the processing unit1214.

The system memory1216includes volatile memory1220and nonvolatile memory1222. The basic input/output system (BIOS), containing the basic routines to transfer information between elements within the computer1212, such as during start-up, is stored in nonvolatile memory1222. By way of illustration, and not limitation, nonvolatile memory1222can include read only memory (ROM), programmable ROM (PROM), electrically programmable ROM (EPROM), electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), or flash memory. Volatile memory1220includes random access memory (RAM), which acts as external cache memory. By way of illustration and not limitation, RAM is available in many forms such as static RAM (SRAM), dynamic RAM (DRAM), synchronous DRAM (SDRAM), double data rate SDRAM (DDR SDRAM), enhanced SDRAM (ESDRAM), Synchlink DRAM (SLDRAM), Rambus direct RAM (RDRAM), direct Rambus dynamic RAM (DRDRAM), and Rambus dynamic RAM (RDRAM).

It is to be appreciated thatFIG. 12describes software that acts as an intermediary between users and the basic computer resources described in the suitable operating environment1200. Such software includes an operating system1228. Operating system1228, which can be stored on disk storage1224, acts to control and allocate resources of the computer system1212. System applications1230take advantage of the management of resources by operating system1228through program modules1232and program data1234stored either in system memory1216or on disk storage1224. It is to be appreciated that the claimed subject matter can be implemented with various operating systems or combinations of operating systems.

A user enters commands or information into the computer1212through input device(s)1236. Input devices1236include, but are not limited to, a pointing device such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, touch pad, keyboard, microphone, joystick, game pad, satellite dish, scanner, TV tuner card, digital camera, digital video camera, web camera, and the like. These and other input devices connect to the processing unit1214through the system bus1218via interface port(s)1238. Interface port(s)1238include, for example, a serial port, a parallel port, a game port, and a universal serial bus (USB). Output device(s)1240use some of the same type of ports as input device(s)1236. Thus, for example, a USB port may be used to provide input to computer1212, and to output information from computer1212to an output device1240. Output adapter1242is provided to illustrate that there are some output devices1240like monitors, speakers, and printers, among other output devices1240, which require special adapters. The output adapters1242include, by way of illustration and not limitation, video and sound cards that provide a means of connection between the output device1240and the system bus1218. It should be noted that other devices and/or systems of devices provide both input and output capabilities such as remote computer(s)1244.

Computer1212can operate in a networked environment using logical connections to one or more remote computers, such as remote computer(s)1244. The remote computer(s)1244can be a personal computer, a server, a router, a network PC, a workstation, a microprocessor based appliance, a peer device or other common network node and the like, and typically includes many or all of the elements described relative to computer1212. For purposes of brevity, only a memory storage device1246is illustrated with remote computer(s)1244. Remote computer(s)1244is logically connected to computer1212through a network interface1248and then physically connected via communication connection1250. Network interface1248encompasses wire and/or wireless communication networks such as local-area networks (LAN) and wide-area networks (WAN). LAN technologies include Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI), Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI), Ethernet, Token Ring and the like. WAN technologies include, but are not limited to, point-to-point links, circuit switching networks like Integrated Services Digital Networks (ISDN) and variations thereon, packet switching networks, and Digital Subscriber Lines (DSL).

Communication connection(s)1250refers to the hardware/software employed to connect the network interface1248to the bus1218. While communication connection1250is shown for illustrative clarity inside computer1212, it can also be external to computer1212. The hardware/software necessary for connection to the network interface1248includes, for exemplary purposes only, internal and external technologies such as, modems including regular telephone grade modems, cable modems and DSL modems, ISDN adapters, and Ethernet cards.