Patent ID: 8671407

Claim:
A method of resource allocation within a datacenter comprising: receiving a request for resources from a user, the request comprising a number of virtual machines, a user-specified performance characteristic, an oversubscription factor, and a group size; mapping the request to physical resources within the datacenter to allocate the requested number of virtual machines on physical machines within the datacenter, mapping the request to physical resources within the datacenter to allocate the requested number of virtual machines including mapping the request to allocate a virtual oversubscribed cluster to the user, the virtual oversubscribed cluster including the requested number of virtual machines arranged in groups of the specified size, each group comprising virtual machines connected to a virtual group switch and wherein the virtual oversubscribed cluster further comprises a virtual root switch connected to all of the virtual group switches; and if the allocation is successful, updating stored data identifying residual capacity on a set of elements within the datacenter as a result of the allocation of virtual machines to the user; and sending a message to the user accepting the request.