GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE FOR MANAGING SERVICES IN A DISTRIBUTED COMPUTING SYSTEM

• US 20100131854A1
• Filed: 11/26/2008
• Published: 05/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/26/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Little, Mark Cameron
• Granted Patent: US 8,645,837 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/735
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0486 Drag-and-drop
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/61 Installation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display

Abstract

Available components that make up a distributed computing system are discovered. The available components include available hardware components and available software components that operate on the available hardware components. The available components and dependencies between the available components are graphically displayed in a map of the distributed computing system. A plurality of undeployed services is also graphically displayed. A selection of one of the plurality of undeployed services and a selection of one of the available components is received. The selected undeployed service is deployed to the selected available component.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method of managing services via a graphical user interface, comprising:

discovering available components that make up a distributed computing system, the available components including available hardware components and available software components that operate on the available hardware components;

graphically displaying the available components and dependencies between the available components in a map of the distributed computing system;

graphically displaying a plurality of undeployed services;

receiving a selection of at least one of the plurality of undeployed services and a selection of at least one of the available components; and

deploying the selected undeployed service to the selected available component.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

automatically deploying an additional service to the selected available component, wherein the selected one of the plurality of undeployed services depends on the additional service.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

upon receiving the selection of one of the available components, graphically displaying additional information about the selected available component.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, upon receiving selection of the undeployed service:

determining deployment requirements of the selected undeployed service; and

graphically indicating on the map available components that meet the deployment requirements.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein each of the undeployed services and each of the available components are represented in the graphical user interface by a distinct icon, the method further comprising:

receiving a mouse command to drag an icon representation of the selected undeployed service to an icon representation of the selected available component, wherein the mouse command initiates the deploying.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein discovering available components includes receiving information pertaining to the available components from at least one of the available components or a registry.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a selection of a deployed service that is graphically shown as being installed on a first component of the distributed computing system;

receiving a selection of a second component of the distributed computing system; and

moving the deployed service from the first component to the second component.

8. A computer readable medium including instructions that, when executed by a processing system, cause the processing system to perform a method of managing services via a graphical user interface, the method comprising:

discovering available components that make up a distributed computing system, the available components including available hardware components and available software components that operate on the available hardware components;

graphically displaying the available components and dependencies between the available components in a map of the distributed computing system;

graphically displaying a plurality of undeployed services;

receiving a selection of one of the plurality of undeployed services and a selection of one of the available components; and

deploying the selected undeployed service to the selected available component.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 8, the method further comprising:

automatically deploying an additional service to the selected available component, wherein the selected one of the plurality of undeployed services depends on the additional service.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 8, the method further comprising:

upon receiving the selection of one of the available components, graphically displaying additional information about the selected available component.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 8, further comprising, upon receiving selection of the undeployed service:

determining deployment requirements of the selected undeployed service; and

graphically indicating on the map available components that meet the deployment requirements.

12. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein each of the undeployed services and each of the available components are represented in the graphical user interface by a distinct icon, the method further comprising:

receiving a mouse command to drag an icon representation of the selected undeployed service to an icon representation of the selected available component, wherein the mouse command initiates the deploying.

13. The computer readable medium of claim 8, wherein discovering available components includes receiving information pertaining to the available components from at least one of the available components or a registry.

14. The computer readable medium of claim 8, the method further comprising:

receiving a selection of a deployed service that is graphically shown as being installed on a first component of the distributed computing system;

receiving a selection of a second component of the distributed computing system; and

moving the deployed service from the first component to the second component.

15. A computing apparatus that is a component of a distributed computing system, comprising:

a memory including instructions for deploying services via a graphical user interface; and

a processor, connected with the memory, to execute the instructions, wherein the instructions cause the processor to;

discover available components that make up a distributed computing system, the available components including available hardware components and available software components that operate on the available hardware components;

graphically display the available components and dependencies between the available components in a map of the distributed computing system;

graphically display a plurality of undeployed services;

receive a selection of one of the plurality of undeployed services and a selection of one of the available components; and

deploy the selected undeployed service to the selected available component.

16. The computing apparatus of claim 15, the processor further to automatically deploy an additional service to the selected available component, wherein the selected one of the plurality of undeployed services depends on the additional service.

17. The computing apparatus of claim 15, processor further to, upon receiving the selection of one of the available components, graphically display additional information about the selected available component.

18. The computing apparatus of claim 15, the processor further to, upon receiving selection of the undeployed service, determine deployment requirements of the selected undeployed service, and graphically indicate on the map available components that meet the deployment requirements.

19. The computing apparatus of claim 15, wherein each of the undeployed services and each of the available components are represented in the graphical user interface by a distinct icon, the processor further to receive a mouse command to drag an icon representation of the selected undeployed service to an icon representation of the selected available component, wherein the mouse command initiates the deploying.

20. The computing apparatus of claim 15, wherein discovering available components includes receiving information pertaining to the available components from at least one of the available components or a registry.

21. The computing apparatus of claim 15, the processor further to receive a selection of a deployed service that is graphically shown as being installed on a first component of the distributed computing system, receive a selection of a second component of the distributed computing system, and move the deployed service from the first component to the second component.