Systems and methods for policy-based application management

• US 20040111725A1
• Filed: 11/07/2003
• Published: 06/10/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 11/08/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Veritas Technologies, LLC (Whitehouse Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: Symantec Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Srinivasan, Bhaskar, Nathan, Swami, Eichstaedt, Matthias
• Granted Patent: US 7,328,259 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/105
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4856 resumption being on a different machine, e.g. task migration, virtual machine migration G06F9/5088 takes precedence

Abstract

Systems and methods are provided for managing a plurality of applications comprising application instances running on a plurality of computer servers. A system for managing application includes an application scheduler. The application scheduler receives at least one policy for managing the applications over the computer servers. The application scheduler also receives usage information indicating performance of the applications and the computer servers. The application scheduler then applies the at least one policy to the usage information to determine whether policy violations exist. The application scheduler then determines and executes a modification action of the applications in response to the policy violation.

Claims

1. A method of managing a plurality of applications comprising application instances running on a plurality of computer servers, the method comprising:

receiving at least one policy for managing the applications over the computer servers;

receiving usage information indicating performance of the applications and the computer servers;

applying the at least one policy to the usage information to determine whether policy violations exist; and

determining and executing a modification action of the applications in response to the policy violation.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the modification action comprises activating an application instance on one of the computer servers.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the modification action comprises deactivating an application instance on one of the computer servers.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein the modification action comprises migrating an application instance between the computer servers.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the usage information comprises processor usage.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the usage information comprises memory usage.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the usage information comprises a number of users.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein the usage information comprises application response time to user requests.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the usage information comprises a number of connections to one of the applications.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one policy comprises enforcing a limit on processor usage.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one policy comprises enforcing a limit on memory usage.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one policy comprises enforcing a limit on connections to the applications.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one policy comprises enforcing a limit on users to the applications.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein the at least one policy is based on a server class.

15. The method of claim 1 further comprising generating and transmitting an instruction for the modification action.

16. A software product for managing a plurality of applications running on a plurality of computer servers, the software product comprising:

application scheduler software operational when executed by a processor to direct the processor to receive at least one policy for managing the applications over the computer servers, receive resource usage information indicating performance of the computer servers, receive user load information indicating usage by users of the applications, compare the at least one policy with the resource usage information and the user load information to determine whether policy violations exist, and determine and execute a modification action of the applications in response to the policy violation; and

a software storage medium operational to store the application scheduler software.

17. The software product of claim 16 wherein the modification action comprises activating an application instance on one of the computer servers.

18. The software product of claim 16 wherein the modification action comprises deactivating an application instance on one of the computer servers.

19. The software product of claim 16 wherein the modification action comprises migrating an application instance between the computer servers.

20. The software product of claim 16 wherein the usage information comprises processor usage.

21. The software product of claim 16 wherein the usage information comprises memory usage.

22. The software product of claim 16 wherein the usage information comprises a number of users.

23. The software product of claim 16 wherein the usage information comprises application response time to user requests.

24. The software product of claim 16 wherein the usage information comprises a number of connections to one of the applications.

25. The software product of claim 16 wherein the at least one policy comprises enforcing a limit on processor usage.

26. The software product of claim 16 wherein the at least one policy comprises enforcing a limit on memory usage.

27. The software product of claim 16 wherein the at least one policy comprises enforcing a limit on connections to the applications.

28. The software product of claim 16 wherein the at least one policy comprises enforcing a limit on users to the applications.

29. The software product of claim 16 wherein the at least one policy is based on a server class.

30. The software product of claim 16 wherein the application scheduler software is further operational when executed by the processor to direct the processor to generate and transmit an instruction for the modification action.

31. A system for managing a plurality of applications running on a plurality of computer servers, the system comprising:

an application scheduler configured to receive at least one policy for managing the applications over the computer servers, receive resource usage information indicating performance of the computer servers, receive user load information indicating usage by users of the applications, compare the at least one policy with the resource usage information and the user load information to determine whether policy violations exist, and determine and execute a modification action of the applications in response to the existing policy violation; and

a resource controller configured to perform the modification action on the applications.

32. The system of claim 31 wherein the modification action comprises activating an application instance on one of the computer servers.

33. The system of claim 31 wherein the modification action comprises deactivating an application instance on one of the computer servers.

34. The system of claim 31 wherein the modification action comprises migrating an application instance between the computer servers.

35. The system of claim 31 wherein the usage information comprises processor usage.

36. The system of claim 31 wherein the usage information comprises memory usage.

37. The system of claim 31 wherein the usage information comprises a number of users.

38. The system of claim 31 wherein the usage information comprises application response time to user requests.

39. The system of claim 31 wherein the usage information comprises a number of connections to one of the applications.

40. The system of claim 31 wherein the at least one policy comprises enforcing a limit on processor usage.

41. The system of claim 31 wherein the at least one policy comprises enforcing a limit on memory usage.

42. The system of claim 31 wherein the at least one policy comprises enforcing a limit on connections to the applications.

43. The system of claim 31 wherein the at least one policy comprises enforcing a limit on users to the applications.

44. The system of claim 31 wherein the at least one policy is based on a server class.

45. The system of claim 31 wherein the application scheduler is further configured to generate and transmit an instruction for the modification action.