Techniques for evaluating server system reliability, vulnerability and component compatibility using crowdsourced server and vulnerability data

• US 10,608,911 B2
• Filed: 11/20/2018
• Issued: 03/31/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/27/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Datagrid Systems, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Nickolov, Peter, Schibler, Ross, Armijo, Bert
• Primary Examiner(s): Mirza, Adnan M
• Application Number:
  US16/197,273
• Publication Number:
  US 20190097907A1
• Time in Patent Office: 497 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/658 Incremental updates; Differential updates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0869 Validating the configuration within one network element
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1433 Vulnerability analysis

Abstract

Various aspects described herein are directed to different techniques for: evaluating server system reliability, vulnerability and component compatibility using crowdsourced server and vulnerability data; generating automated recommendations for improving server system metrics; and automatically and conditionally updating or upgrading system packages/components.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for facilitating automated management of a plurality of subscriber systems communicatively coupled to a computer network, the plurality of subscriber systems including a first subscriber system, the method comprising causing at least one processor to execute instructions for:

accessing first subscriber system telemetry information relating to an operating environment of the first subscriber system;

identifying, using the first subscriber system telemetry information, a first set of configuration elements associated with the first subscriber system;

acquiring crowdsourced telemetry information for a plurality of systems, the crowdsourced telemetry information including information about attributes, characteristics and/or configuration elements relating to respective operating environments of the plurality of systems;

analyzing the first subscriber system telemetry information and the crowdsourced telemetry information to evaluate at least one metric associated with at least one entity of the first subscriber system, wherein the at least one metric includes at least one performance metric associated with the at least one entity of the first subscriber system; and

automatically implementing or initiating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, a first set of activities relating to management of the first subscriber system;

wherein the first set of activities includes at least one activity selected from a group consisting of;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, first subscriber system reliability information, the first subscriber system reliability information identifying at least one configuration element of the first subscriber system which may cause reliability issues at the first subscriber system;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, first subscriber system compatibility information, the first subscriber system compatibility information identifying at least one configuration element installed at the first subscriber system which may cause compatibility issues at the first subscriber system;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, the first subscriber system vulnerability information identifying at least one configuration element installed at the first subscriber system which may cause vulnerability issues at the first subscriber system;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, at least one configuration recommendation relating to a recommended modification of at least one configuration element at the first subscriber system;

automatically initiating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, at least one modification of at least one configuration element at the first subscriber system; and

automatically preventing, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, initiation of at least one modification of at least one configuration element at the first subscriber system.

2. A computer implemented system for facilitating automated management of a plurality of subscriber systems communicatively coupled to a computer network, the plurality of subscriber systems including a first subscriber system, the system comprising:

at least one processor;

at least one interface;

a memory storing a plurality of instructions;

the at least one processor being operable to execute a plurality of instructions stored in the memory for causing at least one component of the computer network to;

access first subscriber system telemetry information relating to an operating environment of the first subscriber system;

identify, using the first subscriber system telemetry information, a first set of configuration elements associated with the first subscriber system;

acquire crowdsourced telemetry information for a plurality of systems, the crowdsourced telemetry information including information about attributes, characteristics and/or configuration elements relating to respective operating environments of the plurality of systems;

analyze the first subscriber system telemetry information and the crowdsourced telemetry information to evaluate at least one metric associated with at least one entity of the first subscriber system, wherein the at least one metric includes at least one performance metric associated with the at least one entity of the first subscriber system; and

automatically implement or initiate, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, a first set of activities relating to management of the first subscriber system;

wherein the first set of activities includes at least one activity selected from a group consisting of;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, first subscriber system reliability information, the first subscriber system reliability information identifying at least one configuration element of the first subscriber system which may cause reliability issues at the first subscriber system;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, first subscriber system compatibility information, the first subscriber system compatibility information identifying at least one configuration element installed at the first subscriber system which may cause compatibility issues at the first subscriber system;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, the first subscriber system vulnerability information identifying at least one configuration element installed at the first subscriber system which may cause vulnerability issues at the first subscriber system;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, at least one configuration recommendation relating to a recommended modification of at least one configuration element at the first subscriber system;

automatically initiating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, at least one modification of at least one configuration element at the first subscriber system; and

automatically preventing, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, initiation of at least one modification of at least one configuration element at the first subscriber system.

3. The computer implemented system of claim 2 wherein the first subscriber system corresponds to a system or component selected from a group consisting of:

a physical server, a virtual server, a virtual machine, a switch, a router, a mobile device, a network device, a printer, and a container.

4. The computer implemented system of claim 2 wherein the first subscriber system telemetry information includes at least one type of information selected from a group consisting of:

a package version, a package name, an IP address, an open port, a network connection, a configuration parameter, an OS version, CPU consumption, memory consumption, a network service end connection, a configuration element, a configuration parameter value, a reboot event, a crash event, an error event, an system health status, a system or application log event, and a successful event.

5. The computer implemented system of claim 2:

wherein the first set of activities includes automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, first subscriber system reliability information, the first subscriber system reliability information identifying a first configuration element installed at the first subscriber system which may cause reliability issues at the first subscriber system; and

wherein the first configuration element corresponds to a configuration element selected from a group consisting of;

a system component or device, a package name, a package version, a package release, a container name, a container version, a virtual machine, a system attribute, a system characteristic, an operating system name, an operating system version, an operating system release, a configuration parameter or setting, a BIOS version, a driver name, a driver version, and a firmware version.

6. The computer implemented system of claim 2:

wherein the first set of activities includes automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, first subscriber system reliability information, the first subscriber system reliability information identifying a first configuration element not installed at the first subscriber system which may cause reliability issues at the first subscriber system; and

wherein the first configuration element corresponds to a configuration element selected from a group consisting of;

a system component or device, a package name, a package version, a package release, a container name, a container version, a virtual machine, a system attribute, a system characteristic, an operating system name, an operating system version, an operating system release, a configuration parameter or setting, a BIOS version, a driver name, a driver version, and a firmware version.

7. The computer implemented system of claim 2:

wherein the first set of activities includes automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, first subscriber system compatibility information, the first subscriber system compatibility information identifying a first configuration element installed at the first subscriber system which may cause compatibility issues at the first subscriber system; and

wherein the first configuration element corresponds to a configuration element selected from a group consisting of;

a system component or device, a package name, a package version, a package release, a container name, a container version, a virtual machine, a system attribute, a system characteristic, an operating system name, an operating system version, an operating system release, a configuration parameter or setting, a BIOS version, a driver name, a driver version, and a firmware version.

8. The computer implemented system of claim 2:

wherein the first set of activities includes automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, first subscriber system compatibility information, the first subscriber system compatibility information identifying a first configuration element not installed at the first subscriber system which may cause compatibility issues at the first subscriber system; and

wherein the first configuration element corresponds to a configuration element selected from a group consisting of;

a system component or device, a package name, a package version, a package release, a container name, a container version, a virtual machine, a system attribute, a system characteristic, an operating system name, an operating system version, an operating system release, a configuration parameter or setting, a BIOS version, a driver name, a driver version, and a firmware version.

9. The computer implemented system of claim 2:

wherein the first set of activities includes automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, first subscriber system vulnerability information, the first subscriber system vulnerability information identifying a first configuration element installed at the first subscriber system which may cause vulnerability issues at the first subscriber system; and

wherein the first configuration element corresponds to a configuration element selected from a group consisting of;

a system component or device, a package name, a package version, a package release, a container name, a container version, a virtual machine, a system attribute, a system characteristic, an operating system name, an operating system version, an operating system release, a configuration parameter or setting, a BIOS version, a driver name, a driver version, and a firmware version.

10. The computer implemented system of claim 2:

wherein the first set of activities includes automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, first subscriber system vulnerability information, the first subscriber system vulnerability information identifying a first configuration element not installed at the first subscriber system which may cause vulnerability issues at the first subscriber system; and

wherein the first configuration element corresponds to a configuration element selected from a group consisting of;

a system component or device, a package name, a package version, a package release, a container name, a container version, a virtual machine, a system attribute, a system characteristic, an operating system name, an operating system version, an operating system release, a configuration parameter or setting, a BIOS version, a driver name, a driver version, and a firmware version.

11. The computer implemented system of claim 2:

wherein the first set of activities includes automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, at least one configuration recommendation relating to a recommended modification of at least one configuration element at the first subscriber system; and

wherein the at least one configuration recommendation includes at least one configuration recommendation selected from a group consisting of;

a package change recommendation, a package version change recommendation, a code change recommendation, a system attribute change recommendation, a system characteristic change recommendation, a system configuration parameter change recommendation, a component version change recommendation, a container change recommendation, an operating system change recommendation, a component change recommendation, a virtual machine change recommendation, a version upgrade recommendation, and a version downgrade recommendation.

12. The computer implemented system of claim 2:

wherein the first set of activities includes automatically initiating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, at least one modification of at least one configuration element at the first subscriber system; and

wherein the at least one modification includes at least one activity selected from a group consisting of;

change of system component, change of system component version, change of configuration setting or parameter, change of system package, change of system package version, change of system container, change of system container version, change of OS version, change of virtual machine, change of system configuration parameter, change of system attribute, change of system resource allocation, and change of system operational parameter.

13. The computer implemented system of claim 2:

wherein the first set of activities includes automatically preventing, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, initiation of at least one modification of at least one configuration element at the first subscriber system; and

wherein the at least one modification includes at least one activity selected from a group consisting of;

change of system component, change of system component version, change of configuration setting or parameter, change of system package, change of system package version, change of system container, change of system container version, change of OS version, change of virtual machine, change of system configuration parameter, change of system attribute, change of system resource allocation, and change of system operational parameter.

14. The computer implemented system of claim 2 being further operable to cause the at least one processor to execute instructions for causing at least one component of the computer network to:

automatically initiate a first conditional modification of a first configuration element at the first subscriber system if it is determined that specific threshold criteria has been satisfied for allowing the conditional modification of the first configuration element to proceed;

automatically prevent initiating a first conditional modification of a first configuration element at the first subscriber system if it is determined that specific threshold criteria has not been satisfied for allowing the conditional modification of the first configuration element to proceed; and

wherein the first conditional modification includes at least one activity selected from a group consisting of;

change of system component, change of system component version, change of configuration setting or parameter, change of system package, change of system package version, change of system container, change of system container version, change of OS version, change of virtual machine, change of system configuration parameter, change of system attribute, change of system resource allocation, and change of system operational parameter.

15. The computer implemented system of claim 2, wherein the plurality of subscriber systems further comprises a second subscriber system, the system being further operable to cause the at least one processor to execute additional instructions for causing at least one component of the computer network to:

automatically implement or initiate, based on the analysis of the crowdsourced telemetry information, a second set of activities relating to management of the second subscriber system;

wherein the second set of activities includes at least one activity selected from a group consisting of;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the crowdsourced telemetry information, second subscriber system reliability information, the second subscriber system reliability information identifying at least one configuration element of the second subscriber system which may cause reliability issues at the second subscriber system;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the crowdsourced telemetry information, second subscriber system compatibility information, the second subscriber system compatibility information identifying at least one configuration element installed at the second subscriber system which may cause compatibility issues at the second subscriber system;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the crowdsourced telemetry information, the second subscriber system vulnerability information identifying at least one configuration element installed at the second subscriber system which may cause vulnerability issues at the second subscriber system;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the crowdsourced telemetry information, at least one configuration recommendation relating to a recommended modification of at least one configuration element at the second subscriber system;

automatically initiating, based on the analysis of the crowdsourced telemetry information, at least one modification of at least one configuration element at the second subscriber system; and

automatically preventing, based on the analysis of the crowdsourced telemetry information, initiation of at least one modification of at least one configuration element at the second subscriber system.

16. A non-transitory computer usable medium for use in a computer network comprising a plurality of subscriber systems, the computer network including at least one processor, the computer usable medium having computer readable code embodied therein, the computer readable code comprising computer code for causing at least one processor to execute instructions stored in at least one memory for:

accessing first subscriber system telemetry information relating to an operating environment of the first subscriber system;

identifying, using the first subscriber system telemetry information, a first set of configuration elements associated with the first subscriber system;

acquiring crowdsourced telemetry information for a plurality of systems, the crowdsourced telemetry information including information about attributes, characteristics and/or configuration elements relating to respective operating environments of the plurality of systems;

analyzing the first subscriber system telemetry information and the crowdsourced telemetry information to evaluate at least one metric associated with at least one entity of the first subscriber system, wherein the at least one metric includes at least one performance metric associated with the at least one entity of the first subscriber system; and

automatically implementing or initiating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, a first set of activities relating to management of the first subscriber system;

wherein the first set of activities includes at least one activity selected from a group consisting of;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, first subscriber system reliability information, the first subscriber system reliability information identifying at least one configuration element of the first subscriber system which may cause reliability issues at the first subscriber system;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, first subscriber system compatibility information, the first subscriber system compatibility information identifying at least one configuration element installed at the first subscriber system which may cause compatibility issues at the first subscriber system;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, the first subscriber system vulnerability information identifying at least one configuration element installed at the first subscriber system which may cause vulnerability issues at the first subscriber system;

automatically generating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, at least one configuration recommendation relating to a recommended modification of at least one configuration element at the first subscriber system;

automatically initiating, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, at least one modification of at least one configuration element at the first subscriber system; and

automatically preventing, based on the analysis of the first subscriber system telemetry information and crowdsourced telemetry information, initiation of at least one modification of at least one configuration element at the first subscriber system.