System, method and computer program product for discovery in a distributed computing environment

• US 6,549,932 B1
• Filed: 06/03/1998
• Issued: 04/15/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: McNally, Michael, Vetter, Brian Jay
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Assistant Examiner(s): Cardone, Jason D.
• Application Number:
  US09/089,961
• Time in Patent Office: 1,777 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 709/244, 709/105, 709/239, 709/240, 709/313, 709/317, 709/318, 709/320, 709/202, 370/252, 370/253, 370/254, 340/825.06, 340/825.16, 714/47
• US Class Current: 709/202
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4862 the task being a mobile agent, i.e. specifically designed to migrate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/048 mobile agents
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A large distributed enterprise includes computing resources including a management server servicing a plurality of endpoint machines. A management infrastructure include a runtime engine is deployed on given endpoint machines. In response to a task deployment request at an administrative server, discovery agents may be launched into the computer network. When a software agent arrives at a given machine that supports the runtime engine, the agent is executed to determine whether the endpoint is a candidate for a particular task deployment.

Claims

1. A method of discovery in a distributed computer network having a management server servicing a set of machines, comprising the steps of:

deploying instances of a runtime engine across a subset of the machines to create a distributed runtime environment in the distributed computer network;

in response to a task deployment request, migrating a discovery agent across a given set of nodes in the computer network; and

executing the discovery agent in the runtime environment at each node at which the discovery agent is received to perform the following steps;

(a) determining whether the machine at the node is a target of the task deployment request;

(b) identifying a given subset of nodes associated with the node that remain candidates for the task deployment request;

(c) deploying the discovery agent to the given subset; and

(d) repeating steps (a)-(c) until the targets are identified or all network paths are exhausted.

2. The method as described in claim 1 further including the step of compiling a list of machines that are to receive the task deployment.

3. A method of discovery in a distributed computer network having a management server servicing a set of machines, comprising the steps of:

deploying instances of a runtime engine across a subset of the machines to create a distributed runtime environment in the distributed computer network;

in response to a task deployment request, deploying a discovery agent into the computer network from a source; and

at a given machine supporting an instance of the runtime engine, executing the discovery agent using the runtime engine to perform a discovery operation.

4. The discovery method as described in claim 3 wherein the discovery operation is selected from a group of discovery operations consisting of identifying machines suitable for a task deployment, identifying a set of resources associated with a machine, identifying a machine type, and identifying a given characteristic of a resource at a machine.

5. The discovery method as described in claim 3 further including the step of collecting information discovered by the discovery agent.

6. The discovery method as described in claim 5 further including the step of returning the discovery agent to the source.

7. The discovery method as described in claim 3 further including the step of cloning the discovery agent at the machine.

8. The discovery method as described in claim 7 further including the step of launching the cloned discovery agent along a new path in the computer network.

9. The discovery method as described in claim 3 wherein the runtime environment comprises a runtime engine and the discovery agent is a set of one or more tasks executable by the runtime engine.

10. The method as described in claim 9 wherein the computer network is the Internet, the runtime engine is associated with a browser and the discovery agent is an applet.

11. A task discovery method in a large, distributed computer network having a management server servicing a set of machines, wherein a given subset of the machines include a previously-deployed runtime environment, comprising the steps of:

in response to a task deployment request, launching discovery agents into the computer network from the management server;

at a given machine in the subset, executing one of the discovery agents using the runtime environment on the machine;

returning information to the management server identifying the machines in the subset that are to receive a task deployment.

12. The method as described in claim 11 further including the step of displaying a list of the machines identified.

13. The method as described in claim 11 wherein at least one of the discovery agents is customized based on the task deployment request.

14. The method as described in claim 11 wherein the runtime environment comprises a runtime engine and each discovery agent is a set of one or more tasks executable by the runtime engine.

15. The method as described in claim 14 wherein the computer network is the Internet, the runtime engine is associated with a browser and the discovery agent is an applet.

16. A task discovery method operative in a large, distributed computer network in which a management infrastructure is supported, comprising the steps of:

selecting at least one software agent from a set of software agents; and

migrating the selected software agent across a given set of nodes in the computer network to identify target machines for the task deployment.

17. The method as described in claim 16 wherein the selecting step includes identifying a given characteristic of the task and selecting the software agent based on the given characteristic.

18. The method as described in claim 16 wherein the migrating step includes cloning the software agent at given node and moving the cloned software agent along a network path.

19. The method as described in claim 16 wherein the management infrastructure includes a runtime environment deployed at given nodes of the computer network and the software agent is a set of one or more tasks executed by the runtime environment.

20. The method as described in claim 19 wherein the computer network is the Internet, the runtime environment is associated with a browser and the software agent is an applet.

21. An apparatus connectable into a large distributed enterprise having a management server servicing a set of endpoint machines for effecting a discovery operation, comprising:

a plurality of instances of a runtime engine, with each instance supported at a given endpoint machine;

means, responsive to a task deployment request, for selecting a software agent executable by the runtime engine at a given endpoint machine; and

means for deploying the selected software agent into the computer network to perform a discovery operation.

22. A discovery system connectable into a large distributed enterprise having a management server servicing a set of endpoint machines for deploying a task, comprising:

a plurality of instances of a runtime engine each supported on a given endpoint machine; and

means, responsive to a discovery request, for dispatching a set of one or more software agents into the distributed enterprise to identify machines that satisfy a given criteria, wherein a given software agent is executable by the runtime engine at a given endpoint machine.

23. The system as described in claim 22 wherein the given criteria is a determination that the endpoint machine is a candidate for the discovery operation.

24. The system as described in claim 22 further including means for generating software agents.

25. The system as described in claim 24 wherein the generating means includes means for customizing a given software agent as a function of the discovery operation.

26. A computer program product in a computer-readable medium for use in a computer having a processor, a memory, and means for connecting the computer into a large distributed enterprise having a management server, the computer program product comprising:

a runtime engine downloaded to the computer during a first operation; and

a software agent deployed to the computer during a discovery operation and being executable by the runtime environment to discover whether the computer satisfies a given criteria.

27. The computer program product as described in claim 26 wherein the software agent includes one or more tasks selected as a function of the discovery operation.

28. The computer program product as described in claim 26 wherein the runtime environment is associated with a browser of the computer and the software agent is an applet.

29. A computer program product in a computer-readable medium for use in a computer having a processor, a memory, and means for connecting the computer into a large distributed computer network, the computer network having a management server servicing a set of machines, the computer program product comprising:

a plurality of instances of a runtime engine, each runtime engine for use at a given machine;

a set of software agents, each of the software agents comprising a set of one or more tasks;

means, responsive to a given request, for selecting a software agent to be deployed into the network, the software agent being executable by the runtime engine at a given endpoint machine to determine whether the given endpoint machine is a candidate to receive a task to be subsequently deployed.