System and method for managing the performance of a computer system based on operationalcharacteristics of the system components

• US 20040103181A1
• Filed: 11/27/2002
• Published: 05/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/27/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Wood, Eric Joseph, Chambliss, David Darden, Pandey, Prashant, Chung, Leonard Chi Chiu, Belknap, Peter Clayton
• Granted Patent: US 7,457,864 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/024 using relational databases for representation of network management data, e.g. managing via structured query language [SQL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning

Abstract

A performance manager and method for managing the performance of a computer system based on a system model that includes measured entities representing the operational characteristics of the system components and relationships among the measured entities. The performance manager includes data producers for interacting with the interface agents of the components, an engine for exchanging information with the data producers and the system model, and an interaction model for determining relevant measured entities in the system model. The system model and interaction model are maintained in a repository where data might be accessed via an access interface. Incoming performance data is analyzed by an analyzer in the background to detect trends and relationships among the entities. An operator might review the relevant entities and apply controls to selected entities to manage the overall system performance as well as to resolve problems affecting the performance of the components in the system.

Claims

1. A performance manager for use with a computer system, the system including a plurality of components each associated with a set of performance characteristics, the manager comprising:

a system model representing the state of the system and including a plurality of measured entities and relationships among the entities, the entities representing the performance characteristics of the components;

a plurality of data producers for providing the system model with performance information about the components; and

an interaction model for determining the most relevant entities affecting the system performance.

2. The performance manager as recited in claim 1 further comprising a visualizer for presenting the most relevant entities to a system operator and allowing the operator to apply changes to the component performance characteristics through the interaction model.

3. The performance manager as recited in claim 1, wherein the data producers communicate with the components in the system through a plurality of interface agents.

4. The performance manager as recited in claim 1 further comprising an engine between the data producers and the interaction model for exchanging data with the data producers and providing data to the system model.

5. The performance manager as recited in claim 1, wherein the system model and interaction model are maintained in a data repository.

6. The performance manager as recited in claim 5, wherein the repository further includes an access interface to allow access to data in the repository.

7. The performance manager as recited in claim 1, wherein each measured entity corresponds to a set of metrics and controls, the controls capable of changing the performance characteristics of the components associated with the measured entity.

8. The performance manager as recited in claim 7 further comprising an analyzer for analyzing the performance information and detecting relationships among the measured entities.

9. The performance manager as recited in claim 8, wherein each relationship is represented as a data object in the system model.

10. The performance manager as recited in claim 8, wherein each relationship includes a plurality of dependencies each corresponding to a first metric in a first measured entity and a second metric in a second measured entity.

12. The performance manager as recited in claim 8, wherein the relationships are created and modified based on operator input.

13. The performance manager as recited in claim 8 wherein the relationships are created and modified based on the component performance information.

14. The performance manager as recited in claim 8, wherein the relationships are created and modified based on the information provided by the data producers.

15. The performance manager as recited in claim 1, wherein the system model evaluates the measured entities based on a plurality of temperature scales and thermometers, each temperature scale denoting a context for analyzing the performance of the system, and each thermometer designating a performance measurement as compared to a threshold value.

11. The performance manager as recited in claim 11, wherein each dependency is associated with a strength and a confidence, the strength indicating a degree of correlation between the respective first and second metrics, the confidence indicating a likelihood that the dependency exists.

16. A method for managing performance of a computer system including a plurality of components each associated with a set of performance characteristics, the method comprising the steps of:

representing the state of the system as a system model, the system model including a plurality of measured entities and relationships among the entities, the entities representing the performance characteristics of the components;

providing the system model with performance, configuration and diagnostic information about the components; and

determining the most relevant entities affecting the system performance based on the system model.

17. The method as recited in claim 16 further comprising the step of presenting the most relevant entities to a system operator in an interaction session.

18. The method as recited in claim 17, wherein:

each measured entity corresponds to a plurality of metrics and controls, the controls affecting the operation of the components associated with said measured entity; and

the method further comprises the step of changing the controls associated with the most relevant measured entities to improve the performance of the system.

19. The method as recited in claim 17 further comprising the step of diagnosing a performance problem in the system using the performance manager.

20. The method as recited in claim 17 further comprising the step of selecting one of the measured entities as a focus entity;

and

the step of determining includes the step of computing an entity priority function based on the focus entity and the entity relationship.

21. A computer-program product for managing the performance of a computer system, the system including a plurality of components each associated with a set of performance characteristics, the computer-program product comprising:

a computer-readable medium;

means, provided on the computer-readable medium, for representing the state of the system as a system model, the system model including a plurality of measured entities and relationships among the entities, the entities representing the performance characteristics of the components;

means, provided on the computer-readable medium, for providing the system model with performance, configuration and diagnostic information about the components; and

means, provided on the computer-readable medium, for determining the most relevant entities affecting the system performance based on the system model.

22. The computer-program product as recited in claim 23 further comprising means, provided on the computer-readable medium, for presenting the most relevant entities to a system operator in an interaction session.

23. The computer-program product as recited in claim 21, wherein:

each measured entity is associated with a plurality of metrics and controls, the controls affecting the operation of the components corresponding to said each measured entity; and

the computer-program product further comprises means, provided on the computer-readable medium, for changing the controls associated with the most relevant measured entities to improve the performance of the system.

24. The computer-program product as recited in claim 22 further comprising means, provided on the computer-readable medium, for diagnosing a performance problem in the system using the performance manager.

25. The computer-program product as recited in claim 22 further comprising:

means, provided on the computer-readable medium, for selecting one of the measured entities as a focus entity; and

means, provided on the computer-readable medium, for computing an entity priority function based on the focus entity and the entity relationship.