Graphic user interface for managing a server system

• US 6,128,016 A
• Filed: 12/20/1996
• Issued: 10/03/2000
• Est. Priority Date: 12/20/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Coelho, Robert A., Bertone, James
• Primary Examiner(s): Huynh, Ba
• Application Number:
  US08/771,616
• Time in Patent Office: 1,383 Days
• Field of Search: 345/348, 345/349, 345/352, 345/356, 345/357, 345/335, 345/338, 345/347, 707/101, 707/102, 707/103, 707/104, 709/223, 709/224, 709/225, 709/226
• US Class Current: 715/808
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/033 Pointing devices displaced or positioned by the user , e.g. mice, trackballs, pens or joysticks; Accessories therefor digitisers characterised by the transducing means G06F3/041
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

A graphical user interface provides a navigation model in the form of a hierarchical tree structure which is representative of a server system a user selected to manage. The hierarchical tree structure is populated or built to include a number of icons representative of different classes or categories of major components and their associated subcomponents contained in the selected server system and their logical relationships. In response to user icon selections, the navigation model expands and collapses the tree structure in a predetermined manner so as to enable the user to easily navigate through the different levels of components and subcomponents of the server with a minimum amount of information and determine status in addition to setting threshold values for items to be managed within the server system.

Claims

1. A method of organizing a graphical user inter-face application facility used for managing an operatively connected server system containing a number of major components and subcomponents, the graphical user inter-face being coupled to a server management framework facility containing graphical display apparatus, the method comprising the steps of:

(a) generating for display by the graphical display apparatus, a single hierarchical tree structure representing one of a number of server systems being managed, the tree structure having a number of levels with a root node at a first level and a number of subordinate nodes at succeeding levels, the number of subordinate nodes representing each different major server component of the server system, the major components being logically partitioned into succeeding levels which define subcomponents;

(b) associating and displaying a label representative of the server system at the root node, a number of different labels representative of the different major components at corresponding subordinate nodes and additional labels representative of the different subcomponents at corresponding subordinate nodes at expanded levels of the tree structure until a leaf endpoint is reached, the labels and subordinate nodes being displayed so as to delineate physical and logical relationships of the major components and their respective subcomponents; and

(c) expanding the different levels of the tree structure in response to user selections for enabling a user to navigate through the plurality of levels of the server system for obtaining status and displaying labels representing the different subcomponents of the major components and their logical relationships to each other within the levels being accessed, each leaf endpoint defining a leaf element displaying an information dialog box window as the leaf element of each node and subordinate node, each information dialog box window containing a number of selectable entries which provide visual display of detailed information about the particular major component or subcomponent selected for access for providing rapid information retrieval with a minimum amount of information entities.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each leaf endpoint defines a leaf element and wherein step (c) further includes displaying an information dialog box window as the leaf element of each node and subordinate node, each information dialog box window containing a number of selectable entries which provide visual display of detailed information about the particular major component or subcomponent selected for access.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein a number of the major components of the first level fall within the following categories:

configuration, mass storage and environment.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the labels includes an icon representation of one of the major components or subcomponents of the server system for providing maximum effective visualization of server system major components and subcomponents partitioning.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein the method further includes the steps of:

(d) accessing the server system for a number of information items identifying server type and characteristics of the major components and subcomponents of the server system; and

,

(e) building the hierarchical tree structure according to the information items defining the characteristics of the server system furnished by the server system.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein step (d) is initially performed when the server system is first selected and the application facility is launched.

7. The method of claim 5 wherein the information items defining the characteristics of the server system include items designating the number of central processing units (CPUs), the number of memory subsystems, the number of physical slots, the number of drive bays, the number of power supplies, the number of serial ports, the number of parallel ports, the number of input/output devices including associated controllers and the number of environmental status indications contained within the server system.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the server system is housed in an enclosure and wherein the items defining the number of environmental status indications include enclosure door status and enclosure fan status indicators corresponding in number to a number of sensors contained within the enclosure.

9. The method of claim 5 wherein the accessing and building operations of steps (d) and (e) are repeated each time the graphical user interface application facility is initialized.

10. The method of claim 5 wherein the management framework facility includes a topological map for displaying where the server system is located and wherein the method further includes the step of integrating the graphical user interface application facility within the management framework facility to enable user selection of the server system for launching the graphical user interface application facility as a seamless operation.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein the hierarchical tree structure is organized into multilevels enabling the tree structure to be extended to accommodate new types of server systems.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the tree structure is extended by adding a number of new subordinate nodes or deleting a number of existing subordinate nodes either at a particular level or at different succeeding levels.

13. The method of claim 2 wherein the method further includes the step of:

coloring the icons representing major components and their subcomponents in a predetermined manner for signaling occurrences of server system problem conditions at a high level of the tree structure for immediate user identification of each major component associated with a problem condition and user specific identification of any subcomponent of each major component associated with that problem condition through an expansion of the tree structure.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein the icon coloration step includes:

allocating a first color for coloring each icon to denote an absence of a problem condition, a second color for coloring each icon to denote an initial problem condition and a third color for coloring each icon to denote a more serious problem condition.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein the icon coloration step further includes:

selecting the color for each icon denoting the more serious problem condition upon occurrences of more than one problem condition pertaining to a particular major component.

16. The method of claim 14 wherein the icon coloration step further includes:

recoloring each icon displaying a problem condition to the first color upon removal of that problem condition from the server system.

17. A graphical user interface navigational mechanism which operatively couples to a management facility operatively coupled to a graphical display system, the facility running on a hardware platform for managing a number of server systems containing a number of major components and subcomponents, each of which operate under the control of a network operating system, each server system comprising a plurality of components and at least one management information component for storing information describing a set of server specific variables and the hierarchy used in managing server components, the navigational mechanism comprising:

a tree structure mechanism for displaying a single hierarchical tree representing the server system being managed, the tree structure having a number of levels containing a root node at a first level and a number of subordinate nodes at succeeding levels, the number of subordinate nodes representing each different server major component of the server system, the major components being logically partitioned into succeeding levels defining subcomponents of each logically partitioned major component, the tree structure being operative to associate and display a label representative of the server system at the root node and a number of different labels representative of the different major components and their respective subcomponents at corresponding ones of the number of subordinate nodes at succeeding levels of the tree structure until a leaf endpoint is reached, the labels and subordinate nodes being displayed so as to delineate physical and logical relationships of the major components and their respective subcomponents; and

,

a user interface mechanism operatively coupled to the tree structure mechanism, the user interface mechanism responsive to input selections to cause the tree structure mechanism to expand to the different levels of the tree structure for enabling the user to navigate through the plurality of levels of the server system being managed for ascertaining informational status and to display labels corresponding to the different subcomponents of the major components and their logical relationships to each other within the levels being accessed, each leaf endpoint of the tree structure mechanism defining a leaf element which includes components for generating an information dialog box window as the leaf element of each node and each subordinate node, each information dialog box window containing a number of selectable entries which provide visual display of detailed information about the particular major component or subcomponent selected for access for providing rapid information retrieval with a minimum amount of information entities.

18. The graphical interface navigational mechanism of claim 17 wherein each leaf endpoint of the tree structure mechanism defines a leaf element and wherein the tree structure mechanism includes components for generating an information dialog box window as the leaf element of each node and each subordinate node, each information dialog box window containing a number of selectable entries which provide visual display of detailed information about the particular major component or subcomponent selected for access.

19. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 17 wherein a number of the major components of the first level fall within categories which include the following:

configuration, mass storage and environment.

20. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 17 wherein the tree structure mechanism generates for each of the labels, an icon representation of a corresponding one of the major components and subcomponents of the server system for providing ease of visualization of server system major components and subcomponents partitioning.

27. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 17 wherein the hierarchical tree structure is organized into multilevels enabling the tree structure to be easily extended to accommodate new types of server systems.

28. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 27 wherein the tree structure is extended by adding or deleting a number of subordinate nodes either at a particular level or at different succeeding levels.

29. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 18 wherein the mechanism further includes:

an associative trap mechanism for processing trap signals received from the server system operatively coupled to the tree structure mechanism, the trap mechanism causing the tree structure mechanism to perform an icon coloration operation for signaling occurrences of server system problem conditions at a high level of the tree structure enabling immediate identification of each major component associated with a problem condition and specific identification of any subcomponent of the major component associated with that problem condition by expanding the tree structure down to a particular level.

30. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 29 wherein the trap mechanism causes the tree structure mechanism to generate a first color for coloring each icon to denote an absence of a problem condition, a second color for coloring each icon to denote an initial problem condition, and a third color for coloring each icon to denote a more serious problem condition.

31. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 29 wherein the trap mechanism causes the tree structure mechanism to generate the color for each icon denoting the more serious problem condition during occurrences of different types of problem conditions pertaining to a major component.

32. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 29 wherein the trap mechanism causes the tree structure mechanism to recolor each icon displaying a problem condition to the first color upon removal of that problem condition from the server system being monitored.

33. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 19 wherein first and second levels of the tree structure contain the root node and the subordinate nodes respectively, the tree structure mechanism in response to user selections generates a first screen display containing an icon depicting the type of server system being monitored, a second screen display containing icons depicting the major components of the server system, and a third screen display containing icons depicting the subcomponent of each major component of the server system.

21. A graphical user interface navigational mechanism which operatively couples to a management facility operatively coupled to a graphical display system, the facility running on a hardware platform for managing a number of server systems containing a number of major components and subcomponents, each of which operate under the control of a network operating system, each server system comprising a plurality of components and at least one management information component for storing information describing a set of server specific variables and the hierarchy used in managing server components, the navigational mechanism comprising:

a tree structure mechanism for displaying a single hierarchical tree representing the server system being managed, the tree structure having a number of levels containing a root node at a first level and a number of subordinate nodes at succeeding levels, the number of subordinate nodes representing each different server major component of the server system, the major components being logically partitioned into succeeding levels defining subcomponents of each logically partitioned major component, the tree structure being operative to associate and display a label representative of the server system at the root node and a number of different labels representative of the different major components and their respective subcomponents at corresponding ones of the number of subordinate nodes at succeeding levels of the tree structure until a leaf endpoint is reached, the labels and subordinate nodes being displayed so as to delineate physical and logical relationships of the major components and their respective subcomponents;

a user interface mechanism operatively coupled to the tree structure mechanism, the user interface mechanism responsive to input selections to cause the tree structure mechanism to exand to the different levels of the tree structure for enabling the user to navigate through the plurality of levels of the server system being managed for ascertaining informational status and to display labels corresponding to the different subcomponents of the major components and their logical relationships to each other within the levels being accessed for providing rapid information retrieval with a minimum amount of information entities; and

an access mechanism for accessing a number of information items from the server system, the information items including identifying server type and characteristics of the server system; and

wherein the tree structure mechanism is operative to build the hierarchical tree structure according to those information items defining the characteristics of the server system furnished by the server system selected to be managed.

22. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 21 wherein the access mechanism initially accesses server information items when the server system is first selected and the graphical user interface navigational mechanism is launched.

23. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 21 wherein the information items defining the characteristics of the server system include items designating the number of central processing units (CPUs), the number of memory subsystems, the number of physical slots, the number of drive bays, the number of power supplies, the number of serial ports, the number of parallel ports, the number of input/output devices including associated controllers and the number of environmental sensors contained within the server system selected to be managed.

24. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 23 wherein each server system is housed within an enclosure and wherein the items defining the number of environmental sensors include enclosure door status and enclosure fan status indicators.

25. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 21 wherein the access mechanism and tree structure mechanism respectively access information items and build the tree structure each time the graphical user interface mechanism is initialized.

26. The graphical user interface navigational mechanism of claim 21 wherein the management framework facility includes a topological map for displaying where each server system is located and wherein the navigational mechanism is integrated within the management framework facility to enable selection of server systems for launching the graphical user interface navigational mechanism as a seamless operation.