Method of administering software components using asynchronous messaging in a multi-platform, multi-programming language environment

• US 6,904,593 B1
• Filed: 03/24/2000
• Issued: 06/07/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Sen, Sreerupa, Fong, Kester Lijen
• Primary Examiner(s): CHAVIS, JOHN Q
• Application Number:
  US09/534,703
• Time in Patent Office: 1,901 Days
• Field of Search: 717/171, 717120-123, 717101-103, 709/223
• US Class Current: 717/171
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4492 Inheritance

Abstract

A method for performing life cycle management of business software applications and their components across a multiple-platform, multiple-language network. The method takes advantage of the inheritance properties of object-oriented programming (OOP) by developing all components of a business application from a set of base classes, thus deploying a common set of methods across all application components. The Central Administrator then determines when a need to reconfigure one or more components of the business application has arisen. The Central Administrator then modifies or replaces existing components of the business application or installs entirely new components over the network without end user interaction. In one embodiment of the present invention, the Central Administrator is aided by a set of Distributed Administrators located on each virtual node server/host computer of a business application operating over a network.

Claims

1. A method of managing software components, said method comprising:

deploying one or more software components on a plurality of computer platforms wherein said components interoperate with each other to execute a business application;

monitoring said components with an Administrator, said Administrator functioning independently of said components, said Administrator comprising a Central Administrator and a plurality of Distributed Administrators where each computer platform has one of the Distributed Administrators;

determining a need to reconfigure one or more said components based upon a health status message from an agent in a computer platform to a Distributed Administrator in the computer platform, based upon a process schedule check of the computer platform by the Distributed Administrator, or based upon a health status message from each Distributed Administrator to the Central Administrator;

wherein the Distributed Administrator is a process manager for a process of the agent;

wherein each of the components is managed by an associated container and runs in the context of the agent;

wherein the container receives and processes life-cycle messages and other administrative messages from the Central Administrator to one of the components and provides a thread of execution to one of the components; and

wherein the agent can read and respond to the messages; and

modifying or replacing one or more said components using said Administrator in response to said determining;

wherein said monitoring, said determining, and said modifying are performed without reference to said computer platforms and wherein said modifying or replacing reconfigures said business application without terminating said business application;

wherein said modifying or replacing one or more said components comprises;

sending, by the Central Administrator, configuration information and a message indicating that a component is to be modified or replaced, where the message is sent to a queue of the component;

reading, by a container, the message from the queue, and passing, by the container, the configuration information to the component; and

controlling, by the Central Administrator, the modifying or replacing of the component.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein two or more of said plurality of computer platforms are geographically separated from each other.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said monitoring comprises receiving health status messages each containing only changes in health status since receipt of a last health status message.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the software components belong to the business application, and wherein a health status message includes content that is determined by at least one parameter that is critical to the business application.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the software components are developed from a set of base classes that utilize object oriented programming (OOP) methods, in order to deploy a common set of OOP methods across all software components.

15. The method of claim 1, wherein an instance of a software component is configured to run as a single thread or as multiple threads within an agent.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein a Distributed Administrator is configured to spawn an agent, in response to an instruction from the Central Administrator.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the Distributed Administrator passes a configuration file to the agent, where the configuration file includes configuration information for the agent.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein the Central Administrator and Distributed Administrators perform crash recovery for a computer platform.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein a software component is a simplest addressable logical element within the business application.

31. The method of claim 1, wherein the agent sends heartbeat signals to the Central Administrator to indicate that the agent is available and sends health status messages to the Distributed Administrators, wherein the health status messages are associated with the containers and components of the agent.

33. The method of claim 1, wherein the agent sends the health status message to the Distributed Administrator at a regular interval.

34. The method of claim 1, wherein the process schedule check is performed by checking, by the Distributed Administrator, a process schedule table that indicates a status of the agent.

4. A computer system for managing software components, comprising computer instructions for:

deploying one or more software components on a plurality of computer platforms wherein said components interoperate with each other to execute a business application;

monitoring said components with an Administrator, said Administrator functioning independently of said components, said Administrator comprising a Central Administrator and a plurality of Distributed Administrators where each computer platform has one of the Distributed Administrators;

determining a need to reconfigure one or more said components based upon a health status message from an agent in a computer platform to a Distributed Administrator in the computer platform, based upon a process schedule check of the computer platform by the Distributed Administrator, or based upon a health status message from each Distributed Administrator to the Central Administrator;

wherein the Distributed Administrator is a process manager for a process of the agent;

wherein each of the components is managed by an associated container and runs in the context of the agent;

wherein the container receives and processes life-cycle messages and other administrative messages from the Central Administrator to one of the component and provides a thread of execution to one of the component; and

wherein the agent can read and respond to the messages; and

modifying or replacing one or more said components using said Administrator in response to said determining;

wherein said monitoring, said determining, and said modifying are performed without reference to said computer platforms and wherein said modifying or replacing reconfigures said business application without terminating said business application;

wherein said modifying or replacing one or more said components comprises;

sending, by the Central Administrator, configuration information and a message indicating that a component is to be modified or replaced, where the message is sent to a queue of the component;

reading, by a container, the message from the queue, and passing, by the container, the configuration information to the component; and

controlling, by the Central Administrator, the modifying or replacing of the component.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein two or more of said plurality of computer platforms are geographically separated from each other.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein said monitoring comprises receiving health status messages each containing only changes in said health status since receipt of a last health status message.

32. The method of claim 4, wherein the agent sends heartbeat signals to the Central Administrator to indicate that the agent is available and sends health status messages to the Distributed Administrators, wherein the health status messages are associated with the containers and components associated with the agent.

7. A computer readable storage medium, comprising computer instructions for:

deploying one or more software components on a plurality of computer platforms wherein said components interoperate with each other to execute a business application;

monitoring said components with an Administrator, said Administrator functioning independently of said components, said Administrator comprising a Central Administrator and a plurality of Distributed Administrators where each computer platform has one of the Distributed Administrators;

determining a need to reconfigure one or more said components based upon a health status message from an agent in a computer platform to a Distributed Administrator in the computer platform, based upon a process schedule check of the computer platform by the Distributed Administrator, or based upon a health status message from each Distributed Administrator to the Central Administrator;

wherein the Distributed Administrator is a process manager for a process of the agent;

wherein each of the components is managed by a container and runs in the context of the agent;

wherein the container receives and processes life-cycle messages and other administrative messages from the Central Administrator to one of the components and provides a thread of execution to one of the components; and

wherein the agent can read and respond to the messages; and

modifying or replacing one or more said components using said Administrator in response to said determining;

wherein said monitoring, said determining, and said modifying are performed without reference to said computer platforms and wherein said modifying or replacing reconfigures said business application without terminating said business application;

wherein said modifying or replacing one or more said components comprises;

sending, by the Central Administrator, configuration information and a message indicating that a component is to be modified or replaced, where the message is sent to a queue of the component;

reading, by a container, the message from the queue, and passing, by the container, the configuration information to the component; and

controlling, by the Central Administrator, the modifying or replacing of the component.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein two or more of said plurality of computer platforms are geographically separated from each other.

9. The method of claim 7, wherein said monitoring comprises receiving health status messages each containing only changes in said health status since receipt of a last health status message.

10. A computer data signal embodied in a carrier wave, comprising computer instructions for:

deploying one or more software components on a plurality of computer platforms wherein said components interoperate with each other to execute a business application;

monitoring said with components with an Administrator, said Administrator functioning independently of said components, said Administrator comprising a Central Administrator and a plurality of Distributed Administrators where each computer platform has one of the Distributed Administrators;

determining a need to reconfigure one or more said components based upon a health status message from an agent in a computer platform to a Distributed Administrator in the computer platform, based upon a process schedule check of the computer platform by the Distributed Administrator, or based upon a health status message from each Distributed Administrator to the Central Administrator;

wherein the Distributed Administrator is a process manager for a process of the agent;

wherein each of the components is managed by a container and runs in the context of the agent;

wherein the container receives and processes life-cycle messages and other administrative messages from the Central Administrator to one of the components and provides a thread of execution to one of the components; and

wherein the agent can read and respond to the messages; and

modifying or replacing one or more said components using said Administrator in response to said determining;

wherein said monitoring, said determining, and said modifying are performed without reference to said computer platforms and wherein said modifying or replacing reconfigures said business application without terminating said business application;

wherein said modifying or replacing one or more said components comprises;

sending, by the Central Administrator, configuration information and a message indicating that a component is to be modified or replaced, where the message is sent to a queue of the component;

reading, by a container, the message from the queue, and passing, by the container, the configuration information to the component; and

controlling, by the Central Administrator, the modifying or replacing of the component.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein two or more of said plurality of computer platforms are geographically separated from each other.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein said monitoring comprises receiving health status messages each containing only changes in said health status since receipt of a last health status message.

20. A method of managing software components, said method comprising:

deploying one or more software components on a plurality of computer platforms wherein said components interoperate with each other to execute a business application;

monitoring said components with an Administrator, said Administrator functioning independently of said components, said Administrator comprising a Central Administrator and a plurality of Distributed Administrators where each computer platform has one of the Distributed Administrators;

wherein the Distributed Administrator is a process manager for a process of the agent;

wherein each of the components is managed by a container and runs in the context of the agent;

wherein the container receives and processes life-cycle messages and other administrative messages from the Central Administrator to one of the components and provides a thread of execution to one of the components; and

wherein the agent can read and respond to the messages; and

determining a need to reconfigure one or more said components based upon a health status message from an agent in a computer platform to a Distributed Administrator in the computer platform, based upon a process schedule check of the computer platform by the Distributed Administrator, or based upon a health status message from each Distributed Administrator to the Central Administrator; and

modifying or replacing one or more said components using said Administrator in response to said determining;

wherein said modifying or replacing one or more said components comprises;

sending, by the Central Administrator, configuration information and a message indicating that a component is to be modified or replaced, where the message is sent to a queue of the component;

reading, by a container, the message from the queue, and passing, by the container, the configuration information to the component; and

controlling, by the Central Administrator, the modifying or replacing of the component.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein two or more of said plurality of computer platforms are geographically separated from each other.

22. The method of claim 20 wherein said monitoring comprises receiving health status messages each containing only changes in said health status since receipt of a last health status message.

23. The method of claim 20, wherein a health status message includes content that is determined by at least one parameter that is critical to the business application.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the software components are developed from a set of base classes that utilize object oriented programming (OOP) methods, in order to deploy a common set of OOP methods across all software components.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein an instance of a software component is configured to run as a single thread or as multiple threads within an agent.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein a Distributed Administrator is a process manager for a process of an agent.

27. The method of claim 20, wherein a Distributed Administrator is configured to spawn an agent, in response to an instruction from the Central Administrator.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the Distributed Administrator passes a configuration file to the agent, where the configuration file includes configuration information for the agent.

29. The method of claim 20, wherein the Central Administrator and Distributed Administrators perform crash recovery for a computer platform.

30. The method of claim 20, wherein a software component is a simplest addressable logical element within the business application.