Microsoft Technology Licensing, LLC

Joshua Boehm

John Raymond Justice

Stephen John Butler

Stefan Keir Gordon

Dave Lalor

Systems and methods are provided for optimizing allocation of client devices, such as gaming devices, to different available data centers and servers, such as gaming servers, within a data center. The allocation maintains a satisfactory user experience while balancing costs and resource usage. Embodiments of the invention match a client to a data center and server based on a set of criteria related to the client device, user of the client device, game or application the user desires to play, available data centers for supporting the client device, and conditions of the network between the client device and data center. An allocation algorithm may be used to determine resource-efficient allocation. In one embodiment, a bidding process is employed wherein a client and data center are matched based on bids received from data centers. In one embodiment, allocation is periodically evaluated to determine if reassignment to another data center is needed.

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Seattle, WA, United States of America

Joshua Boehm