Provisioning and Managing a Cluster Deployed on a Cloud

1. A method comprising: receiving a request to launch a clustered computing application on a cluster of nodes, each node in the cluster being a virtual instance of a machine within a virtualization service; monitoring, using a processor of a control server, a status of the nodes in the cluster to determine an availability of a database server within the virtualization service; in response to the determining of the availability of the database server, sending a notification message to an application server, the notification message including information for the application server to connect to the database server; in response to determining that the database server and the application server have started, configuring a load balancer to deliver messages to the application server; and subsequent to launching the clustered computing application, automatically changing a size of the cluster based on data for the clustered computing application and on cluster-sizing rules.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the load balancer is configured to deliver messages to the application server in response to determining that all required servers have started.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the database server is hosted on at least one server of the cluster.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically changing the size of the cluster comprises: receiving a request to change the size of the cluster; and performing the change in response to the request, wherein performing the change comprises at least one of the following: starting an additional node hosting at least one of an additional database server or an additional application server, or stopping an existing node hosting at least one of an existing database server or an existing application server.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein automatically changing the size of the cluster comprises: receiving a request to change the size of the cluster; and performing the change in response to the request, wherein the request to change the size of the cluster is in response to executing one or more rules provided by a rules engine.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the notification message further includes information for discovering other nodes in the cluster.

7. The method of claim 1 , further comprising issuing a message addressed to a database failover replica in response to the determining of the availability of the database server, the database failover replica to configure itself for replication of the database server, wherein the database server is a primary database instance.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the clustered computing application comprises: a load balancing tier comprising the load balancer executing on a first node in the cluster; an application tier comprising the application server executing on a second node in the cluster; and a database tier comprising the database server executing on a third node in the cluster.

9. A tangible machine-readable storage device in communication with at least one processor, the tangible machine-readable storage device having instructions which when executed by the at least one processor, cause a control server to perform operations comprising: receiving a request to launch a clustered computing application on a cluster of nodes, each node in the cluster being a virtual instance of a machine within a virtualization service; determining that a database server within the virtualization service is available; in response to determining the database server is available, sending a notification message to an application server, the notification message including information for connecting to the database server; in response to determining that the database server and the application server have started, configuring a load balancer to deliver messages to the application server; and subsequent to launching the clustered computing application, changing a size of the cluster based on data for the clustered computing application and on cluster-sizing rules.

10. The tangible machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein the load balancer is configured to deliver messages to the application server in response to determining that all required servers have started.

11. The tangible machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein the database server is hosted on at least one server of the cluster.

12. The tangible machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein changing the size of the cluster comprises: receiving a request to change the size of the cluster; and performing the change in response to the request, wherein performing the change comprises at least one of the following: starting an additional node hosting at least one of an additional database server or an additional application server, or stopping an existing node hosting at least one of an existing database server or an existing application server.

13. The tangible machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein changing the size of the cluster comprises: receiving a request to change the size of the cluster; and performing the change in response to the request, wherein the request to change the size of the cluster is in response to executing one or more rules provided by a rules engine.

14. The tangible machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein the notification message further includes information for discovering other nodes in the cluster.

15. The tangible machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein the operations further comprise issuing a message addressed to a database failover replica in response to determining the database server is available, the database failover replica to configure itself for replication of the database server, wherein the database server is a primary database instance.

16. The tangible machine-readable storage device of claim 9 , wherein the clustered computing application comprises: a load balancing tier comprising the load balancer executing on a first node in the cluster, an application tier comprising the application server executing on a second node in the cluster, and a database tier comprising the database server executing on a third node in the cluster.

17. A computer-implemented system comprising: one or more processors of a control server; and one or more computer storage media storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, implement a method comprising: receiving a request to launch a clustered computing application on a cluster of nodes, each node in the cluster being a virtual instance of a machine within a virtualization service, monitoring a status of the nodes in the cluster to determine an availability of a database server within the virtualization service, in response to the determining of the availability of the database server, sending a notification message addressed to an application server, the notification message including information for connecting to the database server, in response to determining that the database server and the application server have started, configuring a load balancer to deliver messages to the application server, and changing a size of the cluster based on data for the clustered computing application and on cluster-sizing rules.

18. The computer-implemented system of claim 17 , wherein the load balancer is configured to deliver messages to the application server in response to detecting that all required servers have started.

19. The computer-implemented system of claim 17 , wherein changing the size of the cluster comprises: receiving a request to change the size of the cluster; and performing the change in response to the request, wherein performing the change comprises at least one of the following: starting an additional node hosting at least one of an additional database server or an additional application server, or stopping an existing node hosting at least one of an existing database server or an existing application server.

20. The computer-implemented system of claim 17 , wherein changing the size of the cluster comprises: receiving a request to change the size of the cluster; and performing the change in response to the request, wherein the request to change the size of the cluster is in response to executing one or more rules provided by a rules engine.