Scalable monitoring method and device

• US 7,054,932 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2000
• Issued: 05/30/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 12/16/1999
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bull Sas (Atos SE)
• Original Assignee: Bull Sas (Atos SE)
• Inventors: Li, Xiaobo, Herrmann, Marc
• Primary Examiner(s): Cardone, Jason
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mirza, Adnan M.
• Application Number:
  US09/736,304
• Publication Number:
  US 20010032259A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,992 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 709/225, 709/226, 709/227, 709/239
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99939 Privileged access

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method and device for the scalable monitoring of a computer system comprising a plurality of computer units constituting hardware resources to be monitored forming a monitored domain, the method being implemented by means of a central computer system called a manager connected to a communication network that allows the transfer of information between at least one resource and the manager. The method comprises a step for organizing the monitored domain into monitored subdomains comprising a predetermined maximum number of resources, and a step for automatically creating and configuring, for each subdomain, an information synthesis node comprising at least one synthesis agent stored in the storage means of a resource. Each synthesis agent is designed to synthesize indicator values calculated and stored in the storage means of at least one resource. These indicators represent an operational status of the resources of the subdomain and are evaluated by indicator agents installed in these resources. Each indicator agent is uniquely identified by the name of the indicator it calculates and by the subdomain in which it is installed, and is associated with each synthesis agent using the corresponding indicator value. A further step allows for modifying the associations between the synthesis agents and the indicator agents when the predetermined maximum number of resources in a subdomain is reached, in order to accommodate the addition or deletion of indicators so that the new architecture of the monitored domain comprises, in each subdomain, a number of resources lower than the predetermined maximum number of resources.

Claims

1. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system comprising a plurality of computer units constituting hardware resources to be monitored forming a monitored domain, and a manager comprising a central computer system connected to a communication network that allows transfer of information between at least one of the resources and the manager, said resources including memories and having installed therein indicator agents, the method comprising:

organizing the monitored domain into a plurality of monitored subdomains (d1, d2) comprising a predetermined maximum number of resources (A1, A2, B1, B2),

providing a plurality of indicators, said indicators representing an operational status of the resources of a subdomain,

specifying the subdomain(s) of the computer system in which each indicator should be deployed,

automatically creating and configuring, for each subdomain, an information synthesis node comprising at least one synthesis agent stored in a memory of a resource,

providing said resources with indicator agents for evaluating said indicators, each indicator agent being uniquely identified by the name of the indicator the indicator agent calculates and by the subdomain in which said indicator agent is installed,

for each subdomain, associating each indicator agent with each synthesis agent using the corresponding indicator value, the structure of each synthesis agent being identical to that of an indicator agent,

for each subdomain, using indicator agents for calculating and storing indicator values in the memory of at least one resource,

synthesizing by each synthesis agent said stored indicator values to define corresponding indicators, and

modifying the associations between the synthesis agents and the indicator agents when the predetermined maximum number of resources in a subdomain is reached, in order to accommodate the addition or deletion of indicators so that the monitored domain comprises a new architecture having, in each subdomain, a number of resources lower than the predetermined maximum number of resources.

2. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 1, wherein the configuring an information synthesis node comprises, for each synthesis agent:

searching, in a table stored in the memory of a resource, for the name of the indicator agent or agents required to calculate the indicator of the synthesis agent, and

subscribing the synthesis agent to the indicator agents identified during the searching, said subscribing allowing each synthesis agent to automatically receive, in a corresponding subscription table stored in the storage means of a resource, the new values of the indicators found.

3. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 2, wherein the searching comprises:

sending notification by the synthesis agent to a naming service dedicated to storing the associations between a subdomain name, an indicator agent and an indicator, said notification comprising the name of a given subdomain and a given indicator.

4. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 1, wherein the modifying the associations comprises:

installing at least one indicator agent in each new resource added to a subdomain,

sending, to the synthesis agents requiring the value of the indicator of the new indicator agent or agents, a notification comprising the identification of the new indicator agent or agents, and

subscribing each synthesis agent to the new indicator agents required to calculate the indicator of the synthesis agent.

5. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 2, wherein the modifying the associations comprises:

installing at least one indicator agent in each new resource added to a subdomain,

sending, to the synthesis agents requiring the value of the indicator of the new indicator agent or agents, a notification comprising the identification of the new indicator agent or agents, and

subscribing each synthesis agent to the new indicator agents required to calculate the indicator of the synthesis agent.

6. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 3, wherein the modifying the associations comprises:

installing at least one indicator agent in each new resource added to a subdomain,

sending, to the synthesis agents requiring the value of the indicator of the new indicator agent or agents, a notification comprising the identification of the new indicator agent or agents, and

subscribing each synthesis agent to the new indicator agents required to calculate the indicator of the synthesis agent.

7. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 1, wherein the modifying the association comprises:

selecting, for each subdomain, the resources to be deleted,

sending, to the synthesis agents using the value of the indicator of the indicator agent or agents installed in the selected resource or resources, a notification comprising the identification of the deleted indicator agent or agents, and

unsubscribing the synthesis agents from the indicator agents whose indications are contained in the notification.

8. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 2, wherein the modifying the associations comprises:

selecting, for each subdomain, the resources to be deleted,

sending, to the synthesis agents using the value of the indicator of the indicator agent or agents installed in the selected resource or resources, a notification comprising the identification of the deleted indicator agent or agents, and

unsubscribing the synthesis agents from the indicator agents whose indications are contained in the notification.

9. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 3, wherein the modifying the associations comprises:

selecting, for each subdomain, the resources to be deleted,

sending, to the synthesis agents using the value of the indicator of the indicator agent or agents installed in the selected resource or resources, a notification comprising the identification of the deleted indicator agent or agents, and

unsubscribing the synthesis agents from the indicator agents whose indications are contained in the notification.

10. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 4, wherein the modifying the associations comprises:

selecting, for each subdomain, the resources to be deleted,

sending, to the synthesis agents using the value of the indicator of the indicator agent or agents installed in the selected resource or resources, a notification comprising the identification of the deleted indicator agent or agents, and

unsubscribing the synthesis agents from the indicator agents whose indications are contained in the notification.

11. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 5, wherein the modifying the associations comprises:

selecting, for each subdomain, the resources to be deleted,

sending, to the synthesis agents using the value of the indicator of the indicator agent or agents installed in the selected resource or resources, a notification comprising the identification of the deleted indicator agent or agents, and

unsubscribing the synthesis agents from the indicator agents whose indications are contained in the notification.

12. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 6, wherein the modifying the associations comprises:

selecting, for each subdomain, the resources to be deleted,

sending, to the synthesis agents using the value of the indicator of the indicator agent or agents installed in the selected resource or resources, a notification comprising the identification of the deleted indicator agent or agents, and

unsubscribing the synthesis agents from the indicator agents whose indications are contained in the notification.

13. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 1, further comprising determining the maximum number of resources per subdomain to minimize the cost of calculating the indicators, or the number of synthesis nodes.

14. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 2, further comprising determining the maximum number of resources per subdomain to minimize the cost of calculating the indicators, or the number of synthesis nodes.

15. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 3, further comprising determining the maximum number of resources per subdomain to minimize the cost of calculating the indicators, or the number of synthesis nodes.

16. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 4, further comprising determining the maximum number of resources per subdomain to minimize the cost of calculating the indicators, or the number of synthesis.

17. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 7, further comprising determining the maximum number of resources per subdomain to minimize the cost of calculating the indicators, or the number of synthesis.

18. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 8, further comprising determining the maximum number of resources per subdomain to minimize the cost of calculating the indicators, or the number of synthesis nodes.

19. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 9, further comprising determining the maximum number of resources per subdomain to minimize the cost of calculating the indicators, or the number of synthesis nodes.

20. A method for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 10, further comprising determining the maximum number of resources per subdomain to minimize the cost of calculating the indicators, or the number of synthesis nodes.

26. A scalable monitoring device for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 13, wherein said modification means comprises means for creating and storing at least one indicator agent in each new resource added to a subdomain, means for sending, to the synthesis agents requiring the value of the indicator of the new indicator agent or agents, a notification comprising the identification of the new indicator agents or agents, and means for subscribing each synthesis agent to the new indicator agents required to calculate the indicator of the synthesis agent.

21. A device for the scalable monitoring of a computer system comprising:

a plurality of computer units constituting hardware resources to be monitored and forming a monitored domain, said resources including memories having stored therein indicator agents,

means for organizing the monitored domain into monitored subdomains comprising a predetermined maximum number of resources,

a plurality of indicators characterizing the status or the operation of one or more resources of the computer system, each indicator agent being adapted for evaluating an indicator, each indicator agent being uniquely identified by the name of the indicator said indicator agent calculates and by the subdomain in which the indicator agent is installed,

means for creating and configuring, in a memory of at least one resource, information synthesis nodes comprising at least one synthesis agent stored in said memory of at least one resource to define corresponding indicators, the structure of each synthesis agent being identical to that of an indicator agent so as to evaluate corresponding defined indicators the configuration of a synthesis agent comprising the storage, in the memory of a resource, of the associations between the synthesis agent and indicator agents, and

means for modifying the associations between the synthesis agents and the indicator agents when the predetermined maximum number of resources in a subdomain is reached, so that the new architecture of the monitored domain comprises, in each subdomain, a number of resources lower than the predetermined maximum number of resources.

22. A scalable monitoring device for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 21, wherein said means for configuring a synthesis node comprises means for searching, in a table stored in the memory of a resource, for the name of the indicator agent or agents required to calculate the indicator of the synthesis agent, and means for subscribing the synthesis agent to the indicator agents identified by the means for searching;

said means for subscribing allowing each synthesis agent to automatically receive, in a synthesis agent subscription table stored in the memory of a resource, new values of the indicators found.

23. A scalable monitoring device for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 22, wherein said search means comprises means for sending a notification by the synthesis agent to a naming service dedicated to storing, in a table stored in the memory of a resource, the associations between a subdomain name, an indicator agent and an indicator, said notification comprising the name of a given subdomain and a given indicator, and means for sending a notification by the naming service to the requesting synthesis agent, of the name of the indicator agent or agents corresponding to the association of the given subdomain and the given indicator.

24. A scalable monitoring device for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 21, wherein said modification means comprises means for creating and storing at least one indicator agent in each new resource added to a subdomain, means for sending, to the synthesis agents requiring the value of the indicator of the new indicator agent or agents, a notification comprising the identification of the new indicator agents or agents, and means for subscribing each synthesis agent to the new indicator agents required to calculate the indicator of the synthesis agent.

25. A scalable monitoring device for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 22, wherein said modification means comprises means for creating and storing at least one indicator agent in each new resource added to a subdomain, means for sending, to the synthesis agents requiring the value of the indicator of the new indicator agent or agents, a notification comprising the identification of the new indicator agents or agents, and means for subscribing each synthesis agent to the new indicator agents required to calculate the indicator of the synthesis agent.

27. A scalable monitoring device for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 21, wherein said modification means comprises means for selecting, for each subdomain of the resources to be deleted, means for sending, to the synthesis agents using the value of the indicator of the indicator agent or agents installed in the selected resource or resources, a notification comprising the identification of the deleted indicator agent or agents, and means for unsubscribing the synthesis agents from the indicator agents whose identifications are contained in the notification.

28. A scalable monitoring device for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 22, wherein said modification means comprises means for selecting, for each subdomain of the resources to be deleted, means for sending, to the synthesis agents using the value of the indicator of the indicator agent or agents installed in the selected resource or resources, a notification comprising the identification of the deleted indicator agent or agents, and means for unsubscribing the synthesis agents from the indicator agents whose identifications are contained in the notification.

29. A scalable monitoring device for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 23, wherein said modification means comprises means for selecting, for each subdomain of the resources to be deleted, means for sending, to the synthesis agents using the value of the indicator of the indicator agent or agents installed in the selected resource or resources, a notification comprising the identification of the deleted indicator agent or agents, and means for unsubscribing the synthesis agents from the indicator agents whose identifications are contained in the notification.

30. A scalable monitoring device for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 24, wherein said modification means comprises means for selecting, for each subdomain of the resources to be deleted, means for sending, to the synthesis agents using the value of the indicator of the indicator agent or agents installed in the selected resource or resources, a notification comprising the identification of the deleted indicator agent or agents, and means for unsubscribing the synthesis agents from the indicator agents whose identifications are contained in the notification.

31. A scalable monitoring device for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 21, further comprising means for determining the maximum number of resources per subdomain for minimizing the cost of calculating the indicators, or the number of synthesis nodes.

32. A scalable monitoring device for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 24, further comprising means for determining the maximum number of resources per subdomain for minimizing the cost of calculating the indicators, or the number of synthesis nodes.

33. A scalable monitoring device for scalable monitoring of a computer system according to claim 27, further comprising means for determining the maximum number of resources per subdomain for minimizing the cost of calculating the indicators, or the number of synthesis nodes.