System management method and apparatus

• US 5,692,106 A
• Filed: 06/06/1994
• Issued: 11/25/1997
• Est. Priority Date: 10/13/1992
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: QNAP Systems Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Mellor, Paul V., Towers, Simon J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hafiz, Tariq R.
• Application Number:
  US08/244,664
• Time in Patent Office: 1,268 Days
• Field of Search: 395/50, 395/51, 395/53, 395/54, 395/60, 395/75
• US Class Current: 706/45
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/043 Distributed expert systems; Blackboards
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0813 characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
• 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

Abstract

To facilitate the carrying out of a range of different types of management task in a computer system (such as fault diagnosis and service installation), declarative models (22) are constructed of the various services provided by the system (10-13). These models (22) specify the requirements that need to be met for the corresponding service to be available. These requirements are set out in terms of the system entities that need to be present and the inter-relationships of these entities. In addition, each management task is specified in a corresponding task program (21) in terms of general inferencing operations that can be performed on any of the models. Execution of a particular management task involves carrying out inferencing operations on the appropriate service model (22) in accordance with the task program (21) for the management task under consideration.

Claims

1. A system management method of carrying out at least one management task in relation to at least one service intended to be provided by a computer system including cooperating physical and logical entities, said method comprising the steps of:

providing for the or each said at least one service, a respective declarative model specifying independently of any particular said task, requirements needing to be met for the service to be available, these requirements being set out in terms of the entities required and the inter-relationships of the required entities, providing for the or each said at least one management task, respective task control means for controlling performance of the corresponding task in a manner independent of any particular said model and in terms of general inferencing operations that can be performed on any said model, and performing a said at least one management task in relation to a said at least one service by a process, activating the process so inferencing operations are performed on the corresponding declarative model under the control of the said task control means relevant to that management task.

2. A system management method according to claim 1, wherein each said task control means comprises a respective task program for controlling the operation of an inference engine used to perform said at least one management task.

3. A system management method according to claim 1, wherein each said task control means is embodied, at least in part, in a respective inference engine used to perform the corresponding task.

4. A system management method according to claim 1, wherein said computer system provides multiple services in respect of which multiple tasks are to be effected, said method involving providing a respective said service model for each said multiple service and a respective said task control means for each said multiple task.

5. A system management method according to claim 1, wherein said computer system is capable of supporting a plurality of instantiations of a said service, the said step of carrying out a said at least one management task in relation to a said at least one service, involving identifying a said instantiation of the service for which the task is to be carried out and then using the appropriate service model to inference information in relation to the identified service instantiation.

6. A system management method according to claim 1, wherein at least one said declarative model comprises a hierarchical structure of declarative statements inter-relating entities, statements lower in the hierarchy serving to detail requirements specified by statements higher in said hierarchy.

7. A system management method according to claim 6, wherein said at least one model includes, in addition to said statements specifying requirement statements generally inter-relating said entities and usable to infer whether a particular said requirement has been met.

8. A system management method according to claim 6, wherein a plurality of said service models are provided each specifying a respective said service, at least two said models being associated such that statements set out in one said model and involving a particular said entity are usable in another model that also refers to that entity.

9. A system management method according to claim 1, wherein said requirements comprise both a set of essential technical requirements and a further set of operational policy requirements, these sets being specified separately from each other.

10. A system management method according to claim 1, wherein said step of carrying out a said at least one management task involves interacting with said system to ascertain either directly or through inferencing from the results of the interaction, whether a said requirement relevant to the service concerned is met by the system.

11. A system management method according to claim 1, wherein said method further comprises the step of providing a fact base holding facts on the status of the system, said step of carrying out a said at least one management task involving referring to said fact base to ascertain whether a said requirement relevant to the service concerned can be performed by the system in the status it has.

12. A system management method according to claim 1, wherein said method further comprises the step of providing a fact base holding facts on the status of the system, said step of carrying out a said at least one management task including ascertaining whether a said requirement relevant to the service concerned is met by the system by referring to said fact base for facts relevant to said requirement, and in the event that insufficient facts about the status of the system are present in the fact base to ascertain whether said requirement is met, interacting with the system to ascertain either directly or through inferencing from the results of this interaction the further needed facts about the status of the system.

13. A system management method according to claim 12, wherein the results derived from interacting with the system are stored in said fact base.

14. A system management method according to claim 1, wherein said management task being carried out is a fault diagnosis task.

15. A system management method according to claim 1 wherein said step of carrying out a said management task involves changing said system to meet a said requirement of the service concerned, the changing step being performed by adding or removing an entity or by modifying the inter-relationship between at least two said entities.

16. A system management method according to claim 15, wherein said management task being carried out is an installation of said service.

17. A system management method according to claim 1 wherein said computer system comprises a network of computers.

18. System management apparatus for carrying out at least one management task in relation to at least one service intended to be provided by a computer system including cooperating physical and logical entities, said apparatus comprising:

a declarative model specifying independently of any particular said task, the requirements needing to be met for the service to be available, these requirements being set out in terms of the entities required and the inter-relationships of the required entities, one of said declarative models being provided for the or each said at least one service,

inference engine means for carrying out inferencing operations in relation to a said declarative model,

task control means, one of said task control means being respectively provided for the or each said at least one management task, each task control means being arranged for controlling performance of the corresponding task by said inference engine means in a manner independent of any particular said model and in terms of general inferencing operations, and

means for causing a said at least one management task to be carried out in relation to a said at least one service, said means for causing being arranged for causing said inference engine means to operate on the corresponding declarative model under the control of the said task control means relevant to that management task.

19. System management apparatus according to claim 18, said apparatus further comprising fact base means storing facts about the status of said system, and interaction means for interacting with said system to ascertain either directly or through inferencing from the results of the interaction, facts about the status of the system, said inference engine means being operative in the course of carrying out a said management task for (a) checking whether a said requirement is being met by said system by referring to said fact base means and (b) causing said interaction means to interact with the system to elicit further facts in the event that insufficient facts about the status of the system are present in the fact base means.