PRESENTING A TEMPORAL TOPOLOGY GRAPH OF A COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT AT A GRAPHICAL USER INTERFACE

• US 20190057138A1
• Filed: 06/14/2018
• Published: 02/21/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 08/18/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Vmware LLC (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: KNOWLES, Christopher, DOYLE, Blair, BEWLEY, Alex, PARK, Jimmy
• Granted Patent: US 10,776,246 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• 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 11/301 where the computing system is a virtual computing platform, e.g. logically partitioned systems virtual machines G06F9/45533; logical partitioning of resources G06F9/5077
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3051 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the configuration of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring the presence of processing resources, peripherals, I/O links, software programs verification or detection of system hardware configuration G06F11/2247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3093 Configuration details thereof, e.g. installation, enabling, spatial arrangement of the probes
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/323 Visualisation of programs or trace data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3409 for performance assessment
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/26 Visual data mining; Browsing structured data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/288 Entity relationship models
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9024 Graphs; Linked lists G06F16/9027 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45562 Creating, deleting, cloning virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45591 Monitoring or debugging support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 Event-based monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/064 involving time analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0645 by additionally acting on or stimulating the network after receiving notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/065 : involving logical or physical relationship, e.g. grouping and hierarchies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0686 : Additional information in the notification, e.g. enhancement of specific meta-data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 : Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/145 : involving simulating, designing, planning or modelling of a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/16 : using machine learning or artificial intelligence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 : using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 : for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• 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

Abstract

In a computer-implemented method of presenting a temporal topology graph of a computing environment at a graphical user interface, a temporal topology graph of a computing environment including a plurality of managed components is accessed at a service provider, wherein the temporal topology graph includes managed component relationship data for the plurality of managed components over an available time range, wherein the service provider is remote to the computing environment. A selected time of the available time range for displaying a visualization of the temporal topology graph is determined. A visualization of the temporal topology graph of the computing environment is displayed at the selected time in a graphical user interface, wherein the visualization includes a topology of the plurality of managed components and parent/child relationships interconnecting the plurality of managed components at the selected time.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of presenting a temporal topology graph of a computing environment at a graphical user interface, the method comprising:

accessing, at a service provider, a temporal topology graph of a computing environment comprising a plurality of managed components, wherein the temporal topology graph comprises managed component relationship data for the plurality of managed components over an available time range, wherein the service provider is remote to the computing environment;

determining a selected time of the available time range for displaying a visualization of the temporal topology graph; and

displaying a visualization of the temporal topology graph of the computing environment at the selected time in a graphical user interface, wherein the visualization comprises a topology of the plurality of managed components and parent/child relationships interconnecting the plurality of managed components at the selected time.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the computing environment is a datacenter and the plurality of managed components comprises hardware components and virtual components of the datacenter.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein an instance of the managed component relationship data is generated responsive to a change in topology of the plurality of managed components of the computing environment.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the temporal topology graph comprises graphical data based on the managed component relationship data.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein the graphical data comprises nodes and edges, wherein the nodes comprise information identifying the plurality of managed components and wherein the edges comprise relationship information between the plurality of managed components.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a selectable timebar for receiving a selected time over the available time range.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

receiving a new selected time of the available time range at the selectable timebar; and

updating the visualization of the computing environment to display the topology of the computing environment at the new selected time.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

accessing event data for the plurality of managed components of the computing environment, wherein the event data comprises temporal information; and

displaying the event data proximate the selected time within the graphical user interface based on the temporal information.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 8, wherein the event data comprises at least one managed component identifier.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

responsive to receiving a selection of an event of the event data, highlighting a corresponding managed component within the graphical user interface based on the at least one managed component identifier.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, further comprising:

responsive to receiving a selection of a managed component, highlighting a corresponding event within the graphical user interface based on the at least one managed component identifier.

12. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having computer readable program code stored thereon for causing a computer system to perform a method for presenting a temporal topology graph of a computing environment at a graphical user interface, the method comprising:

accessing, at a service provider, a temporal topology graph of a computing environment comprising a plurality of managed components, wherein the temporal topology graph comprises managed component relationship data for the plurality of managed components over an available time range, wherein the service provider is remote to the computing environment;

determining a selected time of the available time range for displaying a visualization of the temporal topology graph;

displaying a visualization of the temporal topology graph of the computing environment at the selected time in a graphical user interface, wherein the visualization comprises a topology of the plurality of managed components and parent/child relationships interconnecting the plurality of managed components at the selected time;

displaying a selectable timebar for receiving a selected time over the available time range;

receiving a new selected time of the available time range at the selectable timebar; and

updating the visualization of the computing environment to display the topology of the computing environment at the new selected time.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein an instance of the managed component relationship data is generated responsive to a change in topology of the plurality of managed components of the computing environment.

14. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, wherein the temporal topology graph comprises graphical data based on the managed component relationship data.

15. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 14, wherein the graphical data comprises nodes and edges, wherein the nodes comprise information identifying the plurality of managed components and wherein the edges comprise relationship information between the plurality of managed components.

16. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 12, the method further comprising:

accessing event data for the plurality of managed components of the computing environment, wherein the event data comprises temporal information; and

displaying the event data proximate the selected time within the graphical user interface based on the temporal information.

17. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 16, wherein the event data comprises at least one managed component identifier.

18. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, the method further comprising:

responsive to receiving a selection of an event of the event data, highlighting a corresponding managed component within the graphical user interface based on the at least one managed component identifier.

19. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 17, the method further comprising:

responsive to receiving a selection of a managed component, highlighting a corresponding event within the graphical user interface based on the at least one managed component identifier.

20. A system for presenting a temporal topology graph of a computing environment at a graphical user interface, the system comprising:

a data storage unit; and

a processor communicatively coupled with the data storage unit, the processor configured to;

access, at a service provider, a temporal topology graph of a computing environment comprising a plurality of managed components, wherein the temporal topology graph comprises managed component relationship data for the plurality of managed components over an available time range, wherein the service provider is remote to the computing environment;

determine a selected time of the available time range for displaying a visualization of the temporal topology graph;

display a visualization of the temporal topology graph of the computing environment at the selected time in a graphical user interface, wherein the visualization comprises a topology of the plurality of managed components and parent/child relationships interconnecting the plurality of managed components at the selected time;

display a selectable timebar for receiving a selected time over the available time range;

receive a new selected time of the available time range at the selectable timebar; and

update the visualization of the computing environment to display the topology of the computing environment at the new selected time.