User interface that facilitates node pinning for a proactive monitoring tree

• US 10,310,708 B2
• Filed: 07/20/2016
• Issued: 06/04/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 04/30/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Splunk Inc.
• Original Assignee: Splunk Inc.
• Inventors: Fletcher, Tristan, Noel, Cary Glen, Bhide, Alok
• Primary Examiner(s): Lee, James J
• Application Number:
  US15/215,430
• Publication Number:
  US 20160328099A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,049 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/323 Visualisation of programs or trace data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/815 Virtual middleware or OS functionality using virtual machines to implement generic software techniques for error detection or fault masking G06F11/1484
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2203/04803 Split screen, i.e. subdividing the display area or the window area into separate subareas
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0484 for the control of specific functions or operations, e.g. selecting or manipulating an object, an image or a displayed text element, setting a parameter value or selecting a range
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H10N 30/01 Manufacture or treatment

Abstract

In some embodiments, in response to the user selecting a first node in the tree to be pinned, the system displays a first detail panel for the first node, wherein the first detail panel displays state information for the first node, wherein the state information is frozen at the time of pinning. Moreover, in response to the user selecting a second node in the tree to be pinned, the system displays a second detail panel for the second node, wherein the second detail panel displays state information for the second node, wherein the state information is frozen at the time of pinning. Note that the first detail panel is displayed concurrently with the second detail panel to facilitate comparing state information between the first and second nodes.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for displaying a hierarchical computing environment, the method comprising:

causing display, in a graphical user interface, of the hierarchical computing environment as a tree, wherein nodes of the tree represent at least a subset of entities in the hierarchical computing environment and edges of the tree represent parent-child relationships between the entities, wherein the displayed tree is generated based upon associated values of at least one of a user-selected first performance metric, time range, or entity type, for nodes in the first tree;

in response to obtaining a first indication that a user selected a node in the tree, causing display of a first detail panel for the first selection of a node concurrently with the tree, wherein the first detail panel includes first state information for the first selection of a node, based on the at least one user-selected first performance metric, time range, or entity type, that remains unchanged after the pinning;

in response to receiving a user selection of at least one of a second performance metric, time range, or entity type, causing modifications to the displayed tree based upon associated values of at least one of a user-selected second performance metric, time range, or entity type, for nodes in the tree; and

in response to obtaining an indication that the user selected a node in the tree to be pinned subsequent to the modifications to the displayed tree, causing display of a second detail panel for the second selection of a node concurrently with the tree as modified and the first detail panel, wherein the second detail panel includes second state information for the second selection of a node, based on the at least one user-selected second performance metric, time range, or entity type, that remains unchanged after the pinning.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

when the first selection of a node is a parent node, the first state information for the node includes an aggregated configuration information of one or more descendants of the node; and

when the first selection of a node is a leaf node, the first state information for the node includes a configuration information for the node.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the first detail panel includes a value of a first performance metric for the first selection of a node.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein first detail panel includes a graph showing the value of the first performance metric.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein (1) when the first selection of a node and the second selection of a node are the same node, and (2) when the user changes a selected performance metric from a first performance metric to a second performance metric prior to the obtaining of the indication of the second selection of a node:

the first detail panel including a value of the first performance metric for the node; and

the second detail panel including a value of the second performance metric for the node.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising:

receiving, from the user, a selection of the first performance metric from a set of monitored performance metrics; and

obtaining values of the first performance metric for the subset of entities.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the first performance metric relates to one or more of:

central-processing unit (CPU) utilization;

memory utilization;

disk utilization;

network utilization; and

power consumption.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein the first performance metric is measured over a user-specified time interval.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the subset of entities includes one or more of:

a virtual machine;

a host system that executes one or more virtual machines;

a cluster comprising one or more host systems; and

a virtual center comprising one or more clusters.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, when the first selection of a node is a parent node, the first state information for the node includes a plurality of configuration information of a plurality of descendants of the first node.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium storing instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to perform a method for displaying a hierarchical computing environment, the method comprising:

causing display, in a graphical user interface, of the hierarchical computing environment as a tree, wherein nodes of the tree represent at least a subset of entities in the hierarchical computing environment and edges of the tree represent parent-child relationships between the entities, wherein the displayed tree is generated based upon associated values of at least one of a user-selected first performance metric, time range, or entity type, for nodes in the first tree;

in response to obtaining a first indication that a user selected a node in the tree, causing display of a first detail panel for the first selection of a node concurrently with the tree, wherein the first detail panel includes first state information for the first selection of a node, based on the at least one user-selected first performance metric, time range, or entity type, that remains unchanged after the pinning;

in response to receiving a user selection of at least one of a second performance metric, time range, or entity type, causing modifications to the displayed tree based upon associated values of at least one of a user-selected second performance metric, time range, or entity type, for nodes in the tree; and

in response to obtaining an indication that the user selected a node in the tree to be pinned subsequent to the modifications to the displayed tree, causing display of a second detail panel for the second selection of a node concurrently with the tree as modified and the first detail panel, wherein the second detail panel includes second state information for the second selection of a node, based on the at least one user-selected second performance metric, time range, or entity type, that remains unchanged after the pinning.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein:

when the first selection of a node is a parent node, the first state information for the node includes an aggregated configuration information of one or more descendants of the first node; and

when the first selection of a node is a leaf node, the first state information for the node includes a configuration information for the first node.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the first detail panel includes a value of a first performance metric for the first selection of a node.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein first detail panel includes a graph showing the value of the first performance metric.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein (1) when the first selection of a node and the second selection of a node are the same node, and (2) when the user changes a selected performance metric from a first performance metric to a second performance metric prior to the obtaining of the indication of the second selection of a node:

the first detail panel including a value of the first performance metric for the node; and

the second detail panel including a value of the second performance metric for the node.

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from the user, a selection of the first performance metric from a set of monitored performance metrics; and

obtaining values of the first performance metric for the subset of entities.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the first performance metric relates to one or more of:

central-processing unit (CPU) utilization;

memory utilization;

disk utilization;

network utilization; and

power consumption.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the first performance metric is measured over a user-specified time interval.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the subset of entities includes one or more of:

a virtual machine;

a host system that executes one or more virtual machines;

a cluster comprising one or more host systems; and

a virtual center comprising one or more clusters.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, when the first selection of a node is a parent node, the first state information for the node includes a plurality of configuration information of a plurality of descendants of the node.

21. A system for displaying a hierarchical computing environment, comprising:

computer memory for storing machine data; and

one or more processors configured to;

cause display, in a graphical user interface, of the hierarchical computing environment as a tree, wherein nodes of the tree represent at least a subset of entities in the hierarchical computing environment and edges of the tree represent parent-child relationships between the entities, wherein the displayed tree is generated based upon associated values of at least one of a user-selected first performance metric, time range, or entity type, for nodes in the first tree;

in response to obtaining a first indication that a user selected a node in the tree, cause display of a first detail panel for the first selection of a node concurrently with the tree, wherein the first detail panel includes first state information for the first selection of a node, based on the at least one user-selected first performance metric, time range, or entity type, that remains unchanged after the pinning;

in response to receiving a user selection of at least one of a second performance metric, time range, or entity type, cause modifications to the displayed tree based upon associated values of at least one of a user-selected second performance metric, time range, or entity type, for nodes in the tree; and

in response to obtaining an indication that the user selected a node in the tree to be pinned subsequent to the modifications to the displayed tree, cause display of a second detail panel for the second selection of a node concurrently with the tree as modified and the first detail panel, wherein the second detail panel includes second state information for the second selection of a node, based on the at least one user-selected second performance metric, time range, or entity type, that remains unchanged after the pinning.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein:

when the first selection of a node is a parent node, the first state information for the node includes an aggregated configuration information of one or more descendants of the node; and

when the first selection of a node is a leaf node, the first state information for the node includes a configuration information for the node.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein the first detail panel includes a value of a first performance metric for the first selection of a node.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein first detail panel includes a graph showing the value of the first performance metric.

25. The system of claim 21, wherein (1) when the first selection of a node and the second selection of a node are the same node, and (2) when the user changes a selected performance metric from a first performance metric to a second performance metric prior to the obtaining of the indication of the second selection of a node:

the first detail panel including a value of the first performance metric for the node; and

the second detail panel including a value of the second performance metric for the node.

26. The system of claim 23, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving, from the user, a selection of the first performance metric from a set of monitored performance metrics; and

obtaining values of the first performance metric for the subset of entities.

27. The system of claim 23, wherein the first performance metric relates to one or more of:

central-processing unit (CPU) utilization;

memory utilization;

disk utilization;

network utilization; and

power consumption.

28. The system of claim 23, wherein the first performance metric is measured over a user-specified time interval.

29. The system of claim 21, wherein the subset of entities includes one or more of:

a virtual machine;

a host system that executes one or more virtual machines;

a cluster comprising one or more host systems; and

a virtual center comprising one or more clusters.

30. The system of claim 21, when the first selection of a node is a parent node, the first state information for the node includes a plurality of configuration information of a plurality of descendants of the node.