Method and architecture for monitoring the health of servers across data networks

• US 6,738,811 B1
• Filed: 03/31/2000
• Issued: 05/18/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 03/31/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Supermicro Computer Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Supermicro Computer Incorporated
• Inventors: Liang, Charles
• Primary Examiner(s): Wiley, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): Avellino, Joseph E.
• Application Number:
  US09/540,154
• Time in Patent Office: 1,509 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 714/47, 714/57, 714/2, 454/184, 702/33
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/147 for predicting network behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5058 Service discovery by the service manager
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring

Abstract

A health diagnostic system capable for monitoring the health condition of computing device on a network is disclosed. According to one aspect of the present invention, a computing device is installed a module that can provoke the monitoring process that periodically samples values representing the health condition of the computing device. The sampled values are then sent back to the monitoring server for analysis. Meanwhile a monitoring server receives the sampled values and performs data analysis to determine if the computing device is in a good/poor condition based on historic data that are further used to predicate what the remaining time is for the computing device to actually break down so that necessary measures may be taken to prevent an actual breakdown.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring the health of registered devices across a data network, the method comprising:

receiving a message from the data network according to a predetermined schedule, the message including groups of data, each of the groups of data including at least one measured value reflecting current condition of a component running in one of the registered devices and surrounding values sampled substantially at the same time when the measured value is obtained;

determining if the component is in a normal condition by comparing the measured value with a set of criteria designated for the component, wherein the criteria is based on at least a first and a second set of historic data, each of the first set of historic data being a consolidated representation of the measured value collected for a specific duration, and each of the second set of historic data being a consolidated representation of one type of the surrounding values collected for the same corresponding specific duration; and

sending a notification to the data network when the component is determined to not be in the normal condition.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the one of the registered devices is selected from a group consisting of a personal computing device, a desktop computer and a server computer.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the one of the registered devices is coupled in the data network;

and wherein the data network is the Internet.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one of the registered devices executes a module that samples the measured value at a predefined time.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the module sends the message over the data network.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the determining if the component is in a normal condition comprises comparing the consolidated representation of the measured value with the consolidated representation of the one type of the surrounding values to determine if the measured value appears abnormal.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein, when the measured value appears not abnormal, the determining if the component is in a normal condition comprises:

comparing the measured value with a predefined range; and

sending a notification to an owner of the one of the registered devices when the measured value is determined out of the predefined range.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein, when the measured value appears not abnormal, the determining if the component is in a normal condition comprises predicating a remaining time of the component to operate normally based on comparing the measured value to a set of historic data.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the historic data are collected collectively before the measured value is obtained.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the measured value is archived in a set of historic data that are collected collectively before the measured value is obtained.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the component is a piece of hardware part operating in the registered server.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the piece of hardware part is selected from a group consisting of a power supply, a cooling fan, a memory device, a hard disk.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the sending a notification to the data network comprises providing solutions to restoring a health condition of the component.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the solutions include date, time and how the component will be replaced with a replacement.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein the component is an application software module executing in the registered server.

16. The method of claim 15, wherein the sending a notification to the data network comprises providing solutions to restoring a health condition of the application software module.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the notification includes a status report of the application software module so that an owner of the registered server understands what to do with the application software module.

18. A method for monitoring the health of registered devices across a data network, the method comprising:

sampling a status of a number of predefined parameters of components according to a predetermined schedule;

obtaining, substantially at the same time, respective surrounding values about each of the number of predefined parameters;

sending a message over the network to a server, the message including the status of the predefined parameters of the components, wherein the server includes a monitoring module configured to determine whether any one of the components is in a normal condition by comparing the status of each predefined parameters with a set of criteria desigated therefor, the criteria is based on at least a first and a second set of historic data, each of the first set of historic data being a consolidated representation of the status of the each of the predefined parameters collected for a specific duration, and each of the second set of historic data being a consolidated representation of one type of the surrounding values collected for the same corresponding specific duration; and

receiving a notification when one of the predefined parameters is determined to be abnormal.

19. The method of claim 18, wherein the notification is in a form selected from a group consisting of an email, an alert signal, a pager message and a phone call.

20. The method of claim 18, wherein the sampling status is performed by executing an application module that is configured to cause a measurement of each of the predefined parameters.

21. A system for monitoring the health of registered devices across a data network, the system comprising:

a number of hardware units, each installed in one of the registered devices and, when operating, measuring a status of a number of predefined parameters in one of the registered devices and obtaining, substantially at the same time, respective surrounding values about each of the number of predefined parameters;

a number of software units, each installed in one of the registered devices and, when executing, sending a message to the data network, wherein the message includes the status as well as the respective surrounding values; and

a monitoring server, coupled to the data network and upon receiving the message, providing a diagnostic analysis on the status included in the message by comparing the status of each of the predefined parameters with a set of criteria designated therefor, the criteria being based on at least a first and a second set of historic data, each of the first set of historic data being a consolidated representation of the status of the each of the predefined parameters collected for a specific duration, and each of the second set of historic data being a consolidated representation of one type of the surrounding values collected for the same corresponding specific duration, the monitoring server sending a notification when the diagnostic analysis determines that the status is abnormal.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein each of the hardware units causes the one of the registered devices to download a monitoring application module from a designated web site, the monitoring application module including pertinent information regarding what, when and how the number of predefined parameters shall be monitored.

23. The method of claim 21, the monitoring server further comprises:

means for receiving the message from the data network;

means for determining if the status is in a normal condition by comparing the status with a set of predefined criteria; and

means for sending the notification to the data network when the status is determined to not be in the normal condition.

24. A system for monitoring the health of registered devices across a data network, the system comprising:

a processor;

a database for storing historic data;

a memory, coupled to the processor, for storing code as a monitoring module;

the code when being executed by the processor causing the monitoring module to perform operations of;

receiving a message from the data network according to a predetermined schedule, the message including groups of data, each of the groups of data including at least one measured value reflecting current condition of a component running in one of the registered devices and surrounding values sampled at substantially the same time when the measured value is obtained;

determining if the component is in a normal condition by comparing the measured value with a set of criteria designated for the component, wherein the criteria is based on at least a first and a second set of historic data, each of the first set of historic data being a consolidated representation of the measured value collected for a specific duration, and each of the second set of historic data being a consolidated representation of one type of the surrounding values collected for the same corresponding specific duration; and

sending a notification to the data network when the component is determined to not be in the normal condition.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein the determining if the component is in a normal condition comprises comparing the consolidated representation of the measured value with the consolidated representation of the one type of the surrounding values to determine if the measured value appears abnormal.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein, when the measured value appears not abnormal, the determining if the component is in a normal condition comprises:

comparing the measured value with a predefined range; and

sending a notification to an owner of the one of the registered devices when the measured value is determined out of the predefined range.

27. The system of claim 25, wherein, when the measured value appears not abnormal, the determining if the component is in a normal condition comprises predicating a remaining time of the component to operate normally based on comparing the measured value to the historic data.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the historic data are collected collectively before the measured value is obtained.

29. The system of claim 24, wherein the measured value is archived in a set of historic data that are collected collectively before the measured value is obtained.

30. A computer program product running on a server computer for monitoring the health of registered devices across a data network, the computer program product comprises:

program code for receiving a message from the data network according to a predetermined schedule, the message including groups of data, each of the groups of data including at least one measured value reflecting current condition of a component running in one of the registered devices and surrounding values sampled at substantially the same time when the measured value is obtained;

program code for determining if the component is in a normal condition by comparing the measured value with a set of criteria designated for the component, wherein the criteria is based on at least a first and a second set of historic data, each of the first set of historic data being a consolidated representation of the measured value collected for a specific duration, and each of the second set of historic data being a consolidated representation of one type of the surrounding values collected for the same corresponding specific duration; and

program code for sending a notification to the data network when the component is determined to not be in the normal condition.

31. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the one of the registered devices is selected from a group consisting of a personal computing device, a desktop computer and a server computer.

32. The computer program product of claim 31, wherein the one of the registered devices is coupled in the data network;

and wherein the data network is the Internet.

33. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the one of the registered devices executes a module that samples the measured value at a predefined time.

34. The computer program product of claim 33, wherein the module sends the message over the data network.

35. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the program code for determining if the component is in a normal condition comprises program code for comparing the consolidated representation of the measured value with the consolidated representation of the surrounding values to determine if the measured value appears abnormal.

36. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein, when the measured value appears not abnormal, the program code for determining if the component is in a normal condition comprises:

program code for comparing the measured value with a predefined range; and

program code for sending a notification to an owner of the one of the registered devices when the measured value is determined out of the predefined range.

37. The computer program product of claim 35, wherein, when the measured value appears not abnormal, the program code for determining if the component is in a normal condition comprises program code for predicating a remaining time of the component to operate normally based on comparing the measured value to a set of historic data.

38. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the historic data are collected collectively before the measured value is obtained.

39. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the measured value is archived in a set of historic data that are collected collectively before the measured value is obtained.

40. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the component is a piece of hardware part operating in the registered server.

41. The computer program product of claim 40, wherein the piece of hardware part is selected from a group consisting of a power supply, a cooling fan, a memory device, a hard disk.

42. The computer program product of claim 41, wherein the program code for sending a notification to the data network comprises providing solutions to restoring a health condition of the component.

43. The computer program product of claim 42, wherein the solutions include date, time and how the component will be replaced with a replacement.

44. The computer program product of claim 30, wherein the component is an application software module executing in the registered server.

45. The computer program product of claim 44, wherein the program code for sending a notification to the data network comprises providing solutions to restoring a health condition of the application software module.

46. The computer program product of claim 45, wherein the notification includes a status report of the application software module so that an owner of the registered server understands what to do with the application software module.

47. A computer program product running on a server computer for monitoring the health of registered devices across a data network, the computer program product comprising:

program code for sampling a status of a number of predefined parameters of components according to a predetermined schedule;

program code for obtaining, substantially at the same time, respective surrounding values about each of the number of predefined parameters;

program code for sending a message over the network to a server, the message including the status of the predefined parameters of the components, wherein the server includes a monitoring module configured to determine whether any one of the components is in a normal condition by comparing the status of each of the predefined parameters with a set of criteria designated therefor, the criteria is based on at least a first and a second set of historic data, each of the first set of historic data being a consolidated representation of the status of the each of the predefined parameters collected for a specific duration, and each of the second set of historic data being a consolidated representation of one type of the surrounding values collected for the same corresponding specific duration; and

program code for receiving a notification when one of the predefined parameters is determined to be abnormal.

48. The computer program product of claim 47, wherein the notification is in a form selected from a group consisting of an email, an alert signal, a pager message and a phone call.

49. The computer program product of claim 47, wherein the sampling status is performed by executing an application module that is configured to cause a measurement of each of the predefined parameters.