Abstract: There is provided in an embodiment of the present invention a method wherein a processor may receive a test configuration deployment plan (TCDP) template. A user may select the test configuration deployment plan template and provide time schedule, and specific software application names and version numbers as settings for variables within the test configuration deployment plan template, in effect making a subscription request, wherein the processor receives or otherwise prompts to receive such information. Provided such resources are available at the requested time, the processor may wait until that time and provision the test configuration deployment plan to a data center resource. Test cases are run and results are collected until time or test cases are exhausted. The processor may then release resources that had been allocated to the subscription, which may include a step of undeploying or unprovisioning.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer instructions are provided for deploying and instantiating multiple instances of applications in automated data centers using an application deployment template. A first mechanism is provided to deploy multiple instances of applications using an application deployment plan template. The first mechanism uses deployment parameter sets to generate corresponding deployment plans based on the deployment template. A second mechanism is provided to instantiate multiple instances of applications using deployment plan templates. A service catalog that is exposed to consumers for selection of catalog items is built on top of the second mechanism. During the cataloging and order fulfillment process, the second mechanism instantiates multiple instances of applications using the generated deployment plans and an application model to deploy multiple application instances. An existing order may also be modified or terminated responsive to a user request or service term expiration.

Abstract: A web service interface defined for a billing service, comprising a plurality of application programming interfaces, where each application programming interface is associated with a billing function provided by the billing service, where each of the application programming interfaces can be implemented such that the billing function associated therewith is performed after a web service invocation that commands performance of that billing function is received by the web service interface. The web service interface is used to provide the billing service as a web service to computing applications in a distributed network environment.

Abstract: A method, an apparatus, and computer instructions are provided for determining data center resource availability using multiple time domain segments. A reservation class is provided that includes a start time, duration and the number of units required. A scheduled resource class is provided with an availability and an available method. The availability method creates a set of segments for a list of reservations and iterates each segment to determine whether there are enough resources for the required units. The availability method then combines all adjacent reservations and removes reservations that are too short for the duration. The available method provides a way for user to determine if resources are available at and for a given time. A composite resource class is also provided for more than one scheduled resource with an availability and available method.

Abstract: There is provided a method, a data processing system and a computer program product for maintaining service reliability in a data center. A probability of breach of a resource in the data center is determined. A breach of a resource may be the failure of the resource, the unavailability of a resource, the underperformance of a resource, or other problems with the resource. If the probability of breach exceeds a predetermined value, then additional resources are made available to the data center in order to prevent a breach of the resource from affecting the performance of the data center.

Abstract: A method, an apparatus, and computer instructions are provided for determining data center resource availability using multiple time domain segments. A reservation class is provided that includes a start time, duration and the number of units required. A scheduled resource class is provided with an availability and an available method. The availability method creates a set of segments for a list of reservations and iterates each segment to determine whether there are enough resources for the required units. The availability method then combines all adjacent reservations and removes reservations that are too short for the duration. The available method provides a way for user to determine if resources are available at and for a given time. A composite resource class is also provided for more than one scheduled resource with an availability and available method.

Abstract: A method, an apparatus, and computer instructions are provided for a design pattern for automating service provisioning. Embodiments of the invention provide a catalog item management system that comprises a set of service and catalog item management functions that manage lifecycles of services and catalog items. Embodiments of the invention also provide an order fulfillment system that comprises a set of order, subscription, and service instance functions for managing orders, subscriptions, and service instances in order to provision and deprovision an application. In addition, embodiments of the invention provide a calendar reservation and scheduling system that presents a list of resource availabilities using an algorithm. Furthermore, embodiments of the invention provide a provisioning process that includes a process order method that initiates reservation of resources, provisioning, deprovisioning, and modification of services based on an order type.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer instructions are provided for deploying and instantiating multiple instances of applications in automated data centers using an application deployment template. A first mechanism is provided to deploy multiple instances of applications using an application deployment plan template. The first mechanism uses deployment parameter sets to generate corresponding deployment plans based on the deployment template. A second mechanism is provided to instantiate multiple instances of applications using deployment plan templates. A service catalog that is exposed to consumers for selection of catalog items is built on top of the second mechanism. During the cataloging and order fulfillment process, the second mechanism instantiates multiple instances of applications using the generated deployment plans and an application model to deploy multiple application instances. An existing order may also be modified or terminated responsive to a user request or service term expiration.

Abstract: A web service interface defined for a billing service, comprising a plurality of application programming interfaces, where each application programming interface is associated with a billing function provided by the billing service, where each of the application programming interfaces can be implemented such that the billing function associated therewith is performed after a web service invocation that commands performance of that billing function is received by the web service interface. The web service interface is used to provide the billing service as a web service to computing applications in a distributed network environment.