Policy-based resource assignment in utility computing environments

In utility computing environments, multiple users and applications are served from the same resource pool. To maintain service level objectives and maintain high levels of utilization in the resource pool, it is desirable that resources be assigned in a manner consistent with operator policies, while ensuring that shared resources (e.g., networks) within the pool do not become bottlenecks. This paper addresses how operator policies (preferences) can be included in the resource assignment problem as soft constraints. We provide the problem formulation and use two examples of soft constraints to illustrate the method. Experimental results demonstrate impact of policies on the solution.