Automated problem identification system

• US 6,678,639 B2
• Filed: 07/27/2001
• Issued: 01/13/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/04/2000
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Treece, Alan J., Little, Mike E., Helgren, Matt J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Hoff, Marc S.
• Assistant Examiner(s): MILLER, CRAIG S
• Application Number:
  US09/917,597
• Publication Number:
  US 20020052718A1
• Time in Patent Office: 900 Days
• Field of Search: 702/117-120, 702/186-188, 702/FOR.103, 702/FOR.104, 702/FOR.134, 702/FOR.135, 702/FOR.139, 702/FOR.170, 702/FOR.171, 714/47, 714/36-39, 714/25, 714/48, 714/49, 714/52, 706/916, 706/45, 706/47, 706/50
• US Class Current: 702/188
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2257 using expert systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/00 Computing arrangements using knowledge-based models
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/025 Extracting rules from data

Abstract

The present invention provides an automated problem identification system. The invention analyzes a customer'"'"'s computing environment, including administration practices, system configuration including hardware, software and the operating system. Then the invention compares the computing environment to an internal rules database. The internal rules database is a compilation of various problems that are known to exist on various configurations. Then, instead of calling an expert when there is a problem and repeating the process for every customer, the invention uses a proactive approach by analyzing a given system configuration and comparing it to a body of known problems, before the system breaks down.

Claims

1. A method for automated problem identification comprising:

providing a set of information for a computer environment, wherein the set of information includes system configuration information;

performing a check of said set of information for the computer environment;

determining if said check is satisfied, wherein the determining includes comparing at least a portion of the set of information with a portion of an internal rules database, the internal rules database comprising known problems for a set of system configurations;

providing a notice, if said check is not satisfied.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing uses a knowledge base comprising a series of the checks, the checks including information regarding potential computer environment problems.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein said determining uses a knowledge engine to interpret the check against the set of information for the computer environment including interacting with the knowledge base.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a computer room temperature is within an acceptable range.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a power and environmental certification has occurred within a range.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if one or more grounding points reference a PDU ground.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a root password has been changed within a range.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a hard copy of an escalation procedure is available.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a server response time is fast enough.

10. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a new hardware validation process occurs.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a file backup for an operating system of the computer environment occurs regularly.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a backup is tested regularly.

13. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a document exists regarding OS and data set recovery.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a data center has its access controlled.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a data center has its access monitored and logged.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if an access procedure for after hours personnel exists.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if an escalation procedure document exists.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if all members have an understanding of an escalation procedure.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a process for emergency changes exists.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a maintenance schedule exists.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a pre production review policy for mission critical systems exists.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a budget for training exists.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a potential for a security risk exists due to a local root access via a netpr exploit.

24. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a disk array patch cluster is current.

25. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a controller for a primary boot disk and a mirror are the same.

26. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a raw disk device or a quick I/O also use ASYNC I/O.

27. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a filesystem uses a quick I/O.

28. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a quantity of host adapters is large.

29. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a firmware for a disk drive is current.

30. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a power supply for two differing disk arrays in the computer environment is the same.

31. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a current restorable OS backup was restored with a file backup utility.

32. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if one or more cables are cleanly routed.

33. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a system console is clearly labeled.

34. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a fast Ethernet NIC is operating at a half duplex.

35. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a NIC has an excessive amount of I/O errors.

36. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if an ability to print kernel routine names is enabled in case of a watchdog reset.

37. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a Y2K OS patch is a minimum version.

38. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a GBIC is a current version.

39. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a firmware for a drive is a current version.

40. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if one or more cables are clearly labeled.

41. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a log book exists and is current.

42. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if an OS mirror recovery process is documented.

43. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if an OS disk mirror recovery process is documented.

44. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a diag-device and a boot-device value is the same.

45. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a system is accessible.

46. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a field information notice or a field change order applies to the computer environment.

47. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a correctable ECC error exists.

48. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if an OS recovery process is documented.

49. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a root user system prompt contains a system hostname.

50. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if a kernel state of a plex is disabled.

51. The method of claim 1 wherein said performing comprises:

determining if an ability to monitor a service, an application, and a host system exists.

52. The method of claim 1, wherein the notice includes a recommendation for dressing a problem identified by the not satisfied check.

53. An automated problem identification system for identifying and correcting problems in a computer environment comprising:

a store storing configuration and administration information for the computer environment;

a checks input module selectively providing a check configured to be applied to said configuration and administration information for said computer environment;

a knowledge engine determining if said check is satisfied; and

a notice generator generating a notice configured to be provided, if said check is not satisfied.

54. The system of claim 53 further comprising:

an internal rules database configured to be consulted by the knowledge engine during the determining and comprising a compilation of various problems identified for configurations for computer environments.

55. The system of claim 53:

wherein the knowledge engine interacts with a knowledge base to determine if said check should be performed.

56. A computer program product comprising:

a computer usable medium having computer readable program code embodied therein configured to automatically identify a problem in a computer environment, said computer program product comprising;

computer readable code configured to cause a computer to provide information for the computer environment;

computer readable code configured to cause a computer to perform a check of said information for the computer environment;

computer readable code configured to cause a computer to determine if said check is satisfied, wherein the determining includes comparing a portion of the information with an internal rules database comprising previously-identified problems for varying configurations of computer environments; and

computer readable code configured to cause a computer to provide a notice, if said check is not satisfied.

57. The computer program product of claim 56 wherein said computer readable code configured to cause a computer to perform uses a knowledge base comprising checks including information corresponding to identifying and correcting problems in the varying computer environments.

58. The computer program product of claim 57 wherein said computer readable code configured to cause a computer to determine uses a knowledge engine to interpret the check against the information for the computer environment including interacting with the knowledge base.

59. A method for inspecting a computer environment for potential problems identified for various configurations of other computer environments, comprising:

providing a set of checks for the potential problems, each of the checks including a rule for use in determining whether the checks are passed or failed;

receiving a set of information corresponding to computer software and hardware in the computer environment;

identifying a set of the checks based on the set of information that are applicable to the computer environment; and

determining whether the rules in the applicable checks are satisfied by the set of information for the computer environment to identify which ones of the applicable checks are failed.

60. The method of claim 59, further including for each of the failed checks generating a report identifying the failed checks.

61. The method of claim 60, wherein the report includes information for each of the failed checks on corrective actions useful for passing the failed check.

62. The method of claim 59, further including generating a severity indicator indicating a level of risk for unplanned downtime or data corruption for the computer environment based on the determining.

63. The method of claim 62, wherein the level of risk is selected from the group consisting of low risk, medium risk, and high risk and wherein the set of checks are divided into three subsets consisting of low risk checks, medium risk checks, and high risk checks, the generating of the severity indicator being performed based on which of the three subsets a failed check is a member.

64. The method of claim 59, further including repeating the determining for the checks that based on the determining pass the rules of the checks.

65. The method of claim 59, wherein the checks are selected from the group of checks consisting of:

determining if a computer room temperature is within an acceptable range;

determining if a power and environmental certification has occurred within a range;

determining if one or more grounding points reference a PDU ground;

determining if a root password has been changed within a range;

determining if a hard copy of an escalation procedure is available;

determining if a server response time is fast enough;

determining if a new hardware validation process occurs;

determining if a file backup for an operating system of the computer environment occurs regularly;

determining if a backup is tested regularly;

determining if a document exists regarding OS and data set recovery;

determining if a data center has its access controlled;

determining if a data center has its access monitored and logged;

determining if an access procedure for after hours personnel exists;

determining if an escalation procedure document exists;

determining if all members have an understanding of an escalation procedure;

determining if a process for emergency changes exists;

determining if a maintenance schedule exists;

determining if a pre production review policy for mission critical systems exists;

determining if a budget for training exists;

determining if a potential for a security risk exists due to a local root access via a netpr exploit;

determining if a disk array patch cluster is current;

determining if a controller for a primary boot disk and a mirror are the same;

determining if a raw disk device or a quick 110 also use ASYNC I/O;

determining if a filesystem uses a quick 110;

determining if a quantity of host adapters is large;

determining if a firmware for a disk drive is current;

determining if a power supply for two differing disk arrays in the computer environment is the same;

determining if a current restorable OS backup was restored with a file backup utility;

determining if one or more cables are cleanly routed;

determining if a system console is clearly labeled;

determining if a fast Ethernet NIC is operating at a half duplex;

determining if a NIC has an excessive amount of I/O errors;

determining if an ability to print kernel routine names is enabled in case of a watchdog reset;

determining if a GBIC is a current version;

determining if a firmware for a drive is a current version;

determining if one or more cables are clearly labeled;

determining if a log book exists and is current;

determining if an OS mirror recovery process is documented;

determining if an OS disk mirror recovery process is documented;

determining if a diag-device and a boot-device value is the same;

determining if a system is accessible;

determining if a field information notice or a field change order applies to the computer environment;

determining if a correctable ECC error exists;

determining if an OS recovery process is documented;

determining if a root user contains a system hostname;

determining if a kernel state of a plex is disabled; and

determining if an ability to monitor a service, an application, and a host system exists.