SOFTWARE MANAGEMENT SYSTEM FOR NETWORK DATA PROCESSING SYSTEMS

• US 20110239189A1
• Filed: 03/25/2010
• Published: 09/29/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 03/25/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Attalla, Emad
• Granted Patent: US 8,713,525 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 717/121
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/65 Updates security arrangements therefor G06F21/57
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration

Abstract

A method, data processing system, and computer program product are presented for planning upgrades to a network data processing system. A processor unit identifies configuration information for hardware and software programs for a plurality of computers in the network data processing system. The processor unit obtains end of life dates for the software programs, release dates for the replacement software programs, and prerequisites for replacement software programs for the software programs identified in the configuration information. The processor unit identifies at least one change to the plurality of computers based on the configuration information and a set of prerequisites in the prerequisites for each of a plurality of replacement software programs for a plurality of software programs in the software programs. The processor unit generates at least one upgrade plan to implement at least one change to the plurality of computers in which a number of overlaps between life cycles for the plurality of replacement software programs and life cycles for the plurality of software programs in the software programs is increased.

Claims

1. A method for planning upgrades to a network data processing system, the method comprising:

a processor unit identifying configuration information for software programs for a plurality of computers in the network data processing system;

the processor unit obtaining end of life dates for the software programs, release dates for replacement software programs, and prerequisites for the replacement software programs for the software programs identified in the configuration information;

the processor unit identifying at least one change to the plurality of computers based on the configuration information and a set of prerequisites in the prerequisites for each of a plurality of replacement software programs for a plurality of software programs in the software programs; and

the processor unit generating at least one upgrade plan to implement the at least one change to the plurality of computers in which a number of overlaps between life cycles for the plurality of replacement software programs and life cycles for the plurality of software programs in the software programs is increased.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of the processor unit identifying the configuration information for the software programs in the network data processing system comprises:

the processor unit querying the plurality of computers in the network data processing system to identify the configuration information for the software programs in the network data processing system.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the step of the processor unit querying the plurality of computers in the network data processing system to identify the configuration information for the software programs in the network data processing system is performed periodically.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of the processor unit identifying the configuration information for the software programs in the network data processing system comprises:

the processor unit identifying the configuration information for the software programs in the network data processing system from a bill of materials for the software programs in the network data processing system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of the processor unit obtaining the end of life dates for the software programs, the release dates for the replacement software programs for the software programs, and the prerequisites for the replacement software programs for the software programs identified in the configuration information comprises:

the processor unit querying a website for each vendor for the software programs in the configuration information for the end of life dates for the software programs, the release dates for the replacement software programs for the software programs, and the prerequisites for the replacement software programs of the software programs identified in the configuration information.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of the processor unit identifying the at least one change to the plurality of computers based on the configuration information and the set of prerequisites in the prerequisites for the each of the plurality of replacement software programs for the plurality of software programs comprises:

the processor unit identifying a number of upgrades to at least one software program in the plurality of computers needed to meet the set of prerequisites based on at least one of current hardware, current software programs, and the set of prerequisites for the plurality of replacement software programs for the plurality of software programs.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein each upgrade plan in the at least one upgrade plan comprises at least one deployment occurring during at least one upgrade cycle.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of the processor unit generating at least one upgrade plans to implement the at least one change to the plurality of computers in which the number of overlaps between the life cycles for the plurality of replacement software programs and the life cycles for the plurality of software programs in the software programs is increased comprises:

the processor unit selecting an upgrade plan in the at least one upgrade plan to implement the at least one change to the plurality of computers in which the number of overlaps between the life cycles for the plurality of replacement software programs and the life cycles for the plurality of software programs in the software programs is increased.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein each upgrade plan in the at least one upgrade plan extends supportability of the network data processing system.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one upgrade plan takes into account a number of rules for changes to the network data processing system.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the prerequisites comprise at least one of hardware, the software programs, and operating system requirements.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information is for the software programs and for hardware.

13. A method for providing a network planning service to a customer, the method comprising:

a processor unit querying a plurality of computers in a network data processing system for configuration information for software programs in the plurality of computers in the network data processing system;

the processor unit querying websites for vendors to obtain end of life dates for the software programs, release dates for replacement software programs for the software programs, and prerequisites for the replacement software programs for the software programs identified in the configuration information;

the processor unit identifying at least one change to the plurality of computers based on the configuration information and a set of prerequisites for a plurality of replacement software programs in the replacement software programs for a plurality of software programs in the software programs; and

the processor unit generating at least one upgrade plan to implement the at least one change to the plurality of computers in which a number of overlaps between life cycles for the plurality of replacement software programs and life cycles for the plurality of software programs in the software programs is increased.

14. A data processing system for planning upgrades to a network data processing system comprising:

a bus;

a storage device coupled to the bus;

program code stored on the storage device; and

a processor unit connected to the bus, wherein the processor unit is configured to execute the program code to identify configuration information for software programs for a plurality of computers in the network data processing system;

obtain end of life dates for the software programs, release dates for replacement software programs for the software programs, and prerequisites for the replacement software programs for the software programs identified in the configuration information;

identify at least one change to the plurality of computers based on the configuration information and a set of prerequisites in the prerequisites for each of a plurality of replacement software programs in the replacement software programs for a plurality of software programs in the software programs; and

generate at least one upgrade plan to implement the at least one change to the plurality of computers in which a number of overlaps between life cycles for the plurality of replacement software programs and life cycles for the plurality of software programs in the software programs is increased.

15. The data processing system of claim 14, wherein in being configured to execute the program code to identify the configuration information for the software programs in the network data processing system, the processor unit is configured to execute the program code to query the plurality of computers in the network data processing system to identify the configuration information for the software programs in the network data processing system.

16. The data processing system of claim 14, wherein in being configured to execute the program code to obtain the end of life dates for the software programs, the release dates for the replacement software programs for the software programs, and the prerequisites for the replacement software programs for the software programs identified in the configuration information, the processor unit is configured to execute the program code to query a website for each vendor for the software programs in the configuration information for the end of life dates for the software programs, the release dates for the replacement software programs for the software programs, and the prerequisites for the replacement software programs of the software programs identified in the configuration information.

17. The data processing system of claim 14, wherein in being configured to execute the program code to generate the at least one upgrade plan to implement the at least one change to the plurality of computers in which the number of overlaps between the life cycles for the plurality of replacement software programs and the life cycles for the plurality of software programs in the software programs is increased, the processor unit is configured to execute the program code to select an upgrade plan in the at least one upgrade plan to implement the at least one change to the plurality of computers in which the number of overlaps between the life cycles for the plurality of replacement software programs and the life cycles for the plurality of software programs in the software programs is increased.

18. The data processing system of claim 14, wherein each upgrade plan in the at least one upgrade plan comprises at least one deployment occurring during at least one upgrade cycle.

19. The data processing system of claim 14, wherein each upgrade plan in the at least one upgrade plan extends supportability of the network data processing system.

20. A computer program product for planning upgrades to a network data processing system, the computer program product comprising:

a computer recordable storage medium;

program code, stored on the computer recordable storage medium, for identifying configuration information for software programs for a plurality of computers in the network data processing system;

program code, stored on the computer recordable storage medium, for obtaining end of life dates for the software programs, release dates for replacement software programs for the software programs, and prerequisites for the replacement software programs for the software programs identified in the configuration information;

program code, stored on the computer recordable storage medium, for identifying at least one change to the plurality of computers based on the configuration information and a set of prerequisites in the prerequisites for each of a plurality of replacement software programs for a plurality of software programs; and

program code, stored on the computer recordable storage medium, for generating at least one upgrade plan to implement the at least one change to the plurality of computers in which a number of overlaps between life cycles for the plurality of replacement software programs and life cycles for the plurality of software programs in the software programs is increased.

21. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein the program code, stored on the computer recordable storage medium, for identifying the configuration information for the software programs in the network data processing system comprises:

program code, stored on the computer recordable storage medium, for querying the plurality of computers in the network data processing system to identify the configuration information for the software programs in the network data processing system.

22. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein the program code, stored on the computer recordable storage medium, for identifying the at least one change to the plurality of computers based on the configuration information and the set of prerequisites in the prerequisites for the each of the plurality of replacement software programs for the plurality of software programs comprises:

program code, stored on the computer recordable storage medium, for identifying a number of upgrades to at least one of the software programs in the plurality of computers needed to meet the set of prerequisites based on at least one of current hardware, current software programs, and the set of prerequisites for the plurality of replacement software programs for the plurality of software programs.

23. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein the program code, stored on the computer recordable storage medium, for generating the at least one upgrade plan comprises:

program code, stored on the computer recordable storage medium, for generating the at least one upgrade plan to implement the at least one change to the plurality of computers in which the number of overlaps between the life cycles for the plurality of replacement software programs and the life cycles for the plurality of software programs in the software programs is increased and in which a number of deployments in which the at least one change to the plurality of computers occurs are reduced.

24. The computer program product of claim 20, wherein each upgrade plan in the at least one upgrade plan extends supportability of the network data processing system.

25. A method for planning upgrades to a network data processing system, the method comprising:

a processor unit identifying configuration information for hardware for a plurality of computers in the network data processing system;

the processor unit obtaining end of life dates for the hardware, release dates for replacement hardware, and prerequisites for the replacement hardware for the hardware identified in the configuration information;

the processor unit identifying at least one change to the plurality of computers based on the configuration information and a set of prerequisites in the prerequisites for each of a plurality of replacement hardware for a plurality of hardware in the hardware; and

the processor unit generating at least one upgrade plan to implement the at least one change to the plurality of computers in which a number of overlaps between life cycles for the plurality of replacement hardware and life cycles for the plurality of hardware in the hardware is increased.