CONFIGURING DATA COLLECTION RULES IN A DATA MONITORING SYSTEM

• US 20100070447A1
• Filed: 09/18/2008
• Published: 03/18/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Pfuntner, John C., Graf, Isaac J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,346,743 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 706/47
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3058 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring environmental properties or parameters of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring of power, currents, temperature, humidity, position, vibrations thermal management in cooling arrangements of a computing system G06F1/206

Abstract

A computer implemented method of adjusting a monitoring system having data collection nodes with instances of templates for collecting data according to data collection rules includes receiving a data propagation path specifying a hierarchy for at least a portion of the templates, the hierarchy specifying a child template, parent templates for the child template, and an order for the parent templates. The method also includes specifying an event data collection rule for the first child template and configuring parent data collection rules for the parent templates accordingly. The parent data collection rules include a data retrieval rule for retrieving event data associated with the event data collection rule or a data aggregation rule for combining the event data associated with the event data collection rule and multiple instances of the child template. The method also includes updating the instances in the data collection nodes.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of adjusting a monitoring system, said monitoring system comprising a plurality of data collection nodes, each of said plurality of data collection nodes having one or more instances of at least one of a plurality of templates for configuring data collection at each of said plurality of data collection nodes, the method comprising:

receiving a data propagation path specifying a hierarchy for at least a portion of said plurality of templates, said hierarchy specifying at least a first child template, one or more parent templates for said child template, and an order for said parent templates;

specifying at least one event data collection rule for said first child template;

configuring one or more parent data collection rules for said parent templates based on said event data collection rule, said parent data collection rules comprising at least one of a data retrieval rule for retrieving event data associated with said event data collection rule and a data aggregation rule for combining said event data associated with said event data collection rule and two or more instances of said first child template; and

updating in said plurality of data collection nodes a one or more instances of said plurality of templates based on said specifying said event data collection rule and said configuring said parent data collection rules, wherein said each of said instances.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein if at least one of parent data collection rules comprises a data retrieval rule, said data retrieval rule specifies retrieving said event data associated with said event data collection rule from a previous one of said templates according to said order in said hierarchy.

3. The method of claim 1, said configuring further comprising:

comparing said event data collection rule to said parent data collection rules of a selected template of said parent templates; and

if said parent data collection rules for said selected template fail to provide for retrieval of said event data associated with said event data collection rule, adding a first new parent data collection rule for said selected template for collecting said event data associated with said event data collection rule from a preceding template in said data propagation path.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

if said parent data collection rules for said selected template fail to provide for combining of said event data from two or more instances of said first child template, adding at least one second new parent data collection rule for said selected template for combining said event data associated with said event data collection rule from said two or more instances.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

responsive to said configuring, generating a name for each of said first and said second new data collection rules, said name specifying said event data collection rule associated with said first and said second new data collection rules and said selected parent template, and said preceding template in said data propagation path.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said second new parent data collection rule comprises at least one among a rule for obtaining a sum of said event data from said two or more instances, a rule for obtaining an average value of said event data from said two or more instances, a rule for obtaining a maximum value from said event data from said two or more instances, and a rule for obtaining a minimum value from said event data from said two or more instances.

7. A monitoring system, comprising:

a storage element for receiving a data propagation path specifying a hierarchy for at least a portion of a plurality of templates, said plurality of templates specifying data collection rules for plurality of data collection nodes, each of said plurality of data collection nodes having one or more instances of at least one of said templates, and said hierarchy specifying at least a first child template, one or more parent templates for said child template, and an order for said parent templates; and

a processing element for configuring one or more parent data collection rules for said parent templates based on said event data collection rule and for updating said instances in said plurality of data collection nodes based on said configuring of said parent data collection rules, wherein said dependent parent data collection rules comprise at least one of a data retrieval rule for retrieving event data associated with said event data collection rule and a data aggregation rule for combining said event data associated with said event data collection rule and two or more instances of said first child template.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein if at least one of parent data collection rules comprises a data retrieval rule, said data retrieval rule specifies retrieving said event data associated with said event data collection rule from a previous one of said data collection templates according to said order in said hierarchy.

9. The system of claim 7, wherein said processing element is further configured during said configuring for:

comparing said event data collection rule to said parent data collection rules of a selected template of said parent templates; and

if said parent data collection rules for said selected template fail to provide for retrieval of said event data associated with said event data collection rule, adding a first new parent data collection rule for said selected template for collecting said event data associated with said event data collection rule from a preceding template in said data propagation path.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein said processing element is further configured for:

if said parent data collection rules for said selected template fail to provide for combining of said event data from two or more instances of said first child template, adding at least one second new parent data collection rule for said selected template for combining said event data associated with said event data collection rule from said two or more instances.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein said processing element is configured for:

responsive to said configuring, generating a name for each of said first and said second new data collection rules, said name said specifying said event data collection rule associated with said first and said second new data collection rules and said selected parent template, and said preceding template in said data propagation path.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein said second new parent data collection rule comprises at least one among a rule for obtaining a sum of said event data from said two or more instances, a rule for obtaining an average value of said event data from said two or more instances, a rule for obtaining a maximum value from said event data from said two or more instances, and a rule for obtaining a minimum value from said event data from said two or more instances.

13. A computer-readable storage, having stored thereon a computer program for adjusting a monitoring system, said monitoring system comprising a plurality of data collection nodes, each of said plurality of data collection nodes having one or more instances of at least one of a plurality of templates for configuring data collection at each of said plurality of data collection nodes, each of said instances collecting data according to one or more data collection rules specified in said plurality of templates, the computer program comprising a plurality of code sections, the code sections executable by a computer for causing the computer to perform the steps of:

receiving a data propagation path specifying a hierarchy for at least a portion of said plurality of templates, said hierarchy specifying at least a first child template, one or more parent templates for said child template, and an order for said parent templates;

specifying at least one event data collection rule for said first child template;

configuring one or more parent data collection rules for said parent templates based on said event data collection rule, said parent data collection rules comprising at least one of a data retrieval rule for retrieving event data associated with said event data collection rule and a data aggregation rule for combining said event data associated with said event data collection rule and two or more instances of said first child template; and

updating in said plurality of data collection nodes a one or more instances of said plurality of templates based on said specifying said event data collection rule and said configuring said parent data collection rules, wherein said each of said instances.

14. The computer-readable storage of claim 13, wherein if at least one of parent data collection rules comprises a data retrieval rule, said data retrieval rule specifies retrieving said event data associated with said event data collection rule from a previous one of said templates according to said order in said hierarchy.

15. The computer-readable storage of claim 13, said configuring further comprising:

comparing said event data collection rule to said parent data collection rules of a selected template of said parent templates; and

if said parent data collection rules for said selected template fail to provide for retrieval of said event data associated with said event data collection rule, adding a first new parent data collection rule for said selected template for collecting said event data associated with said event data collection rule from a preceding template in said data propagation path.

16. The computer-readable storage of claim 15, further comprising:

if said parent data collection rules for said selected template fail to provide for combining of said event data from two or more instances of said first child template, adding at least one second new parent data collection rule for said selected template for combining said event data associated with said event data collection rule from said two or more instances.

17. The computer-readable storage of claim 16, further comprising:

responsive to said configuring, generating a name for each of said first and said second new data collection rules, said name specifying said event data collection rule associated with said first and said second new data collection rules and said selected parent template, and said preceding template in said data propagation path.

18. The computer-readable storage of claim 16, wherein said second new parent data collection rule comprises at least one among a rule for obtaining a sum of said event data from said two or more instances, a rule for obtaining an average value of said event data from said two or more instances, a rule for obtaining a maximum value from said event data from said two or more instances, and a rule for obtaining a minimum value from said event data from said two or more instances.