Patent ID: 7895317

Claim:
A distributed computing system comprising: a first set of resources, wherein resources in the first set of resources are capable of providing a flux service, wherein the flux service is a top-level service that represents a defined set of functionalities; a second set of resources, wherein resources in the second set of resources are capable of providing interpretation services, wherein each of the interpretation services represents a defined set of functionalities provided to another service within the distributed computing system; and a control node that automatically controls the distributed computing system, wherein the control node comprises: a first set of resource governors, each of which implement a finite state machine that governs a process that causes an individual one of the resources in the first set of resources to start providing or stop providing the flux service; a first service governor distinct from the first set of resource governors, wherein the first service governor implements a finite state machine that controls whether resource governors in the first set of resource governors initiate the processes that cause resources in the first set of resources to start providing or stop providing the flux service; and a service-level agreement (SLA) governor that receives monitoring data that indicates a current service level of the flux service provided by the distributed computing system and causes the first service governor to enhance the service level of the flux service when the current service level of the flux service does not satisfy a service-level agreement, wherein the service-level agreement describes an expected level of service for the flux service provided by distributed computing system, wherein the SLA governor uses a set of rules to determine whether the current service level of the flux service satisfies the service-level agreement and causes the first service governor to enhance the service level of the flux service when the current service level of the flux service does not satisfy the service-level agreement, and wherein each rule in the set of rules conforms to a rule language and expresses a set of triggering conditions and a set of implied actions, such that when the triggering conditions are met; the actions are eligible to be performed.