METHODS AND SYSTEMS FOR DYNAMIC GROUPING OF ENTERPRISE ASSETS

• US 20090300181A1
• Filed: 05/30/2008
• Published: 12/03/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: MARQUES, Joseph Robert
• Granted Patent: US 8,918,507 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5061 Partitioning or combining of resources

Abstract

Embodiments relate to systems and methods for dynamic grouping of enterprise assets. A management engine can receive a query to interrogate a set of enterprise resources, such as servers deployed on a network. A user can transmit a query to the management engine, including a specification of attributes by which to group targeted machines to include in the query. The query can include at least a simple group query and a pivoted group query. A simple group query can include an identifier as a simple group expression, and the target can include attributes to match with resources. A pivoted group query can include compound terms or attributes to be used to group resources in the query, such as resources having a parent/child relationship or other hierarchical relationship. The processes of construction of queries and aggregation of resources identified by those queries can all be integrated by the management engine.

Claims

1. A method of managing a system comprising:

receiving a request to extract a group of resources, from an inventory of resources, based on attributes of the resources, the inventory of resources comprises hardware resources, software resources, and service resources;

generating a query for identifying the resources matching the request, wherein the query comprises a format compatible with the resources from the inventory;

receiving the identified resources; and

creating the group of resources containing the identified resources.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

creating an individual group for identified resource; and

populating the individual group with secondary resources associated with the identified resource.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning a unique identifier to the group.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a request for a management process, the management process comprising the group identifier; and

performing the management process on resources of the group associated with the unique identifier.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the request comprises a common format.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the request comprises:

receiving multiple requests the group of the resources, from the inventory of resources, based on the attributes of the resources; and

combining the multiple requests in order to generate the group.

7. A system for providing management processes, comprising:

a network interface coupled to at least one network; and

a management tool, communicating with the network interface, the management tool being configured to

receive a request to extract a group of resources, from an inventory of resources, based on attributes of the resources, the inventory of resources comprises hardware resources, software resources, and service resources;

generate a query for identifying the resources matching the request, wherein the query comprises a format compatible with the resources from the inventory;

receive the identified resources; and

create the group of resources containing the identified resources.

8. The system of claim 7, the management tool being further configured to—

create an individual group for identified resource; and

populate the individual group with secondary resources associated with the identified resource.

9. The system of claim 7, the management tool being further configured to—

assign a unique identifier to the group.

10. The system of claim 7, the management tool being further configured to—

receive a request for a management process, the management process comprising the group identifier; and

perform the management process on resources of the group associated with the unique identifier.

11. The system of claim 7, wherein the request comprises a common format.

12. The system of claim 7, wherein the receiving the request comprises:

receiving multiple requests the group of the resources, from the inventory of resources, based on the attributes of the resources; and

combining the multiple requests in order to generate the group.

13. A management tool, embodied in a computer readable medium and configured to cause a computer to perform the method, comprising:

receiving a request to extract a group of resources, from an inventory of resources, based on attributes of the resources, the inventory of resources comprises hardware resources, software resources, and service resources;

generating a query for identifying the resources matching the request, wherein the query comprises a format compatible with the resources from the inventory;

receiving the identified resources; and

creating the group of resources containing the identified resources.

14. The management tool of claim 13, farther comprising:

creating an individual group for identified resource; and

populating the individual group with secondary resources associated with the identified resource.

15. The management tool of claim 13, further comprising:

assigning a unique identifier to the group.

16. The management tool of claim 13, further comprising:

receiving a request for a management process, the management process comprising the group identifier; and

performing the management process on resources of the group associated with the unique identifier.

17. The management tool of claim 13, wherein the request comprises a common format.

18. The management tool of claim 13, wherein the receiving the request comprises:

receiving multiple requests the group of the resources, from the inventory of resources, based on the attributes of the resources; and

combining the multiple requests in order to generate the group.