TECHNIQUES FOR TRACKING RESOURCE USAGE STATISTICS PER TRANSACTION ACROSS MULTIPLE LAYERS OF PROTOCOLS

• US 20130198363A1
• Filed: 01/27/2012
• Published: 08/01/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Tejerina, David Nunez, Mathur, Siddhartha, Kleewein, James, Ozhan, Ozan, Kolluru, Raghu, Hamza, Adrian
• Granted Patent: US 9,686,152 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3419 by assessing time
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3476 Data logging G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/865 Monitoring of software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/87 Monitoring of transactions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/091 Measuring contribution of individual network components to actual service level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34

Abstract

Techniques to track resource usage statistics per transaction across multiple layers of protocols and across multiple threads, processes and/or devices are disclosed. In one embodiment, for example, a technique may comprise assigning an activity context to a request at the beginning of a first stage, where the activity context has an initial set of properties. The values of the properties may be assigned to the properties in the initial set during the first stage. The value of a property may be stored on a data store local to the first stage. The activity context may be transferred to a second stage when the request begins the second stage. The transferred activity context may include a property from the initial set of properties. The stored values may be analyzed to determine a resource usage statistic. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

assigning an activity context to a request at the beginning of a first stage, wherein the activity context has an initial set of properties;

assigning values to the properties in the initial set during the first stage;

storing a value of a property on a data store local to the first stage;

transferring the activity context to a second stage when the request begins the second stage;

collecting the stored values; and

generating a log file from the stored values.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein a stage comprises at least one of:

a thread, a process, or a device.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

adding a property to the set of properties during a stage.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

analyzing the log file to determine a resource usage statistic.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

using the resource usage statistic to at least one of;

adjust a throttling algorithm;

determine a peak usage time;

determine a response time;

determine a relative resource usage of a first client-initiated action and a second client-initiated action; and

debug a resource performance problem.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

determining at least one of;

a number of processing unit cycles;

a number of read operations;

a number of write operations;

a number of database accesses;

a number of times a protocol is used;

a number of requests from an application;

a number of requests from a client;

a number of requests from a user;

a latency time;

a total activity time; and

a peak request time.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transferring a subset of the properties of the activity context to the second stage, the subset comprising fewer properties than all of the properties in the activity context.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein a property comprises at least one of:

an activity identifier;

a user identifier;

an email address;

an authentication type;

an authentication token;

a tenant identifier;

a tenant type;

a component;

a component instance;

a feature;

a protocol of the request;

client information;

an action;

a resource usage metric;

metadata; and

a client version.

9. An article comprising a computer readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed cause a system to:

assign an activity context to a request at the beginning of a first stage, wherein the activity context has an initial set of properties;

assign values to the properties in the initial set during the first stage;

store a value of a property on a data store local to the first stage; and

transfer the activity context to a second stage when the request begins the second stage.

10. The article of claim 9, the medium further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

collect the stored values; and

generate a log file from the stored values.

11. The article of claim 10, the medium further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

analyze the log file to determine a resource usage statistic.

12. The article of claim 11, the medium further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

use the resource usage statistic to at least one of;

adjust a throttling algorithm;

determine a peak usage time;

determine a response time; and

debug a resource performance problem.

13. The article of claim 12, the medium further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to determine at least one of:

a number of processing unit cycles;

a number of read operations;

a number of write operations;

a number of database accesses;

a number of times a protocol is used;

a number of requests from an application;

a number of requests from a client;

a number of requests from a user;

a latency time;

a total activity time; and

a peak request time.

14. The article of claim 9, the medium further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

add a property to the set of properties during a stage.

15. The article of claim 9, the medium further comprising instructions that when executed cause the system to:

transfer a subset of the properties of the activity context to the second stage, the subset comprising fewer properties than all of the properties in the activity context.

16. An apparatus, comprising:

a processing unit;

a memory to store a data store;

a resource handler executing on the processing unit to;

assign an activity context to a request at the beginning of a first stage, wherein the activity context has an initial set of properties;

assign values to the properties in the initial set during the first stage;

store a value of a property on the data store; and

transfer the activity context to a second stage when the request begins the second stage.

17. The apparatus of claim 16, further comprising a logger executing on the processing unit to:

collect the stored values;

generate a log file from the stored values; and

store the log file on the data store.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, further comprising a workload manager executing on the processing unit to:

analyze the log file to determine a resource usage statistic.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, the workload manager further to:

use the resource usage statistic to at least one of;

adjust a throttling algorithm;

determine a peak usage time;

determine a response time; and

debug a resource performance problem.

20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein a property is added to the set of properties during a stage.