Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture for implementing a runtime logging service storage infrastructure

• US 7,062,516 B2
• Filed: 09/18/2001
• Issued: 06/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 09/18/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Sun Microsystems Incorporated (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Bhat, Guruprasad
• Primary Examiner(s): Coby, Frantz
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, MERILYN P
• Application Number:
  US09/953,899
• Publication Number:
  US 20030055808A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,729 Days
• Field of Search: 707/1, 707/102, 707200-204, 707/8, 707/10, 707/3, 709/219, 709/224, 709/226, 709/201, 709/203, 709/220, 709/227, 711/203, 711/117
• US Class Current: 707/694
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/142 Reconfiguring to eliminate the error group management mechanisms in a peer-to-peer network H04L67/1044
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2358 Change logging, detection, and notification replication G06F16/27
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/955 Object-oriented
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99938 Concurrency, e.g. lock management in shared database
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99953 Recoverability

Abstract

Methods, systems and articles of manufacture consistent with the present invention configure a computing system with a logging service that interacts with implementation objects associated with particular types of storage devices through a storage interface. The implementation objects may include processes used to access the storage devices during logging operations. The logging service may also be configured to adjust which storage device is to be used for logging operations without restarting the computing system. This adjustment may be made through a property file that includes properties specific to individual types of storage devices. The property file may be modified to include new properties by a system administrator or by the logging service during runtime operations of the computing system. The new properties may designate new storage devices to be used by the logging service to perform subsequent logging operations.

Claims

1. A method in a computer system, comprising:

performing logging operations using a first storage device associated with the computer system by a first object;

detecting an event associated with the logging operations; and

performing subsequent logging operations using a second storage device based on the detected event without restarting the computer system, wherein performing subsequent logging operations comprises;

creating a second object associated with the second storage device without restarting the computer system, wherein a property file is defined in one of a Common Information Model Object Manager (CIMOM) and a repository, and wherein creating the second object comprises creating the second object based on a property defined in the property file; and

performing the subsequent logging operations using the second object.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein creating the second object based on the property further comprises:

activating the property such that another property corresponding to the first storage device is no longer used by the computing system for logging operations.

3. A method for logging data during runtime in a Common Information Model (CIM) configured computer system, comprising:

receiving a request to perform a logging operation;

providing a reference to an implementation object associated with a storage device to a logging service, wherein providing a reference comprises;

determining whether a logging policy associated with the logging operation exists; and

creating the implementation object based on the logging policy; and

performing the logging operation using the implementation object such that data is logged in the storage device.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the logging operation is one of writing to a log file, deleting a log record, deleting a log file, reading a log record, creating a backup copy of a log record, creating a backup copy of a log file, and a request to list all records in a log file.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein providing a reference comprises:

providing the reference to the logging service based on a logging policy.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the logging policy comprises one of:

(i) a policy to associate logging operations directed to backing up data with the storage device;

(ii) a policy to associate logging operations provided after a predetermined time of day with the storage device;

(iii) a policy to associate logging operations associated with an unavailable default storage device with the storage device; and

(iv) a policy to associate logging operations corresponding to error messages with the storage device.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the logging policy is a policy that detects when a default memory device is running out of memory space, and wherein providing the reference based on the logging policy comprises:

associating the logging operation with the storage device when the default storage device is running out of memory space.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein the logging service is implemented within a Common Information Model Object Manager (CIMOM).

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the storage device is an object of a CIM class.

10. A method for logging data during runtime in a Common Information Model (CIM) configured computer system, comprising:

receiving a request to perform a logging operation;

providing a reference to an implementation object associated with a storage device to a logging service;

determining whether a logging policy associated with the logging operation exists; and

performing the logging operation using the implementation object such that data is logged in the storage device;

wherein the logging policy is configured to instruct the logging service to deactivate a default property associated with a default implementation object and activate a runtime property associated with the implementation object, and wherein creating the implementation object further comprises;

creating the implementation object based on the runtime property.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein performing a logging operation comprises:

using the implementation object to access the storage device.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein the logging policy is a policy that detects when a default memory device is running out of memory space, and wherein providing the reference further comprises:

associating the logging operation with the storage device when the default storage device has run out of memory space.

13. A method for performing a logging process in a computer system, comprising:

providing, in a property file, a first property reflecting a first storage device;

creating a first object associated with a first storage device based on the first property;

accessing the first storage device to perform a first logging operation using the first object;

providing, in the property file, a second property representing a second storage device during runtime of the computer system;

creating a second object associated with the second storage device based on the second property; and

accessing the second storage device to perform a second logging operation using the second object.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein providing the second property comprises:

detecting an event associated with the first logging operation; and

refreshing the property file with the second property based on the detected event.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein the event associated with one of:

(i) an availability of memory space in the first storage device;

(ii) a type of logging operation; and

(iii) a timestamp associated with the first logging operation.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

detecting a logging policy associated with the event.

17. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and second storage devices are the same type of storage device.

18. The method of claim 13, wherein the first and second storage devices are different types of storage devices.

19. The method of claim 13, wherein at least one of the first and second logging operations comprises one of:

(i) an operation to write to a log file;

(ii) an operation to read a log file;

(iii) an operation to read a log record within a log file;

(iv) an operation to delete a log file;

(v) an operation to create a backup copy of a log file;

(vi) an operation to delete a log record within a log file; and

(vii) an operation to create a backup copy of a log record within a log file.

20. The method of claim 13, wherein the steps of providing the first and second properties are performed by a logging service configured within a Common Information Model Object Manager (CIMOM) and the steps of accessing the first and second storage devices are performed by a process configured to provide an interface between the logging service and the first and second objects.

21. A method for performing a logging process in a computer system, comprising:

providing, in a property file, a first property reflecting a first storage device;

creating a first object associated with a first storage device based on the first property;

accessing the first storage device to perform a first logging operation using the first object;

providing, in the property file, a second property representing a second storage device during runtime of the computer system;

creating a second object associated with the second storage device based on the second property;

accessing the second storage device to perform a second logging operation using the second object; and

detecting a logging policy associated with the event, wherein the logging policy prioritizes the first and second properties such that the second property has a higher priority than the first property.

22. A computer system for processing logging operations, comprising:

a property file defining a first property associated with a first storage device and a second property associated with a second storage device;

a management structure comprising;

(i) a first object associated with the first property,

(ii) a second object associated with the second property, and

(ii) a logging service for processing a first logging operation based on the first property and first object, and modifying the property file to process a second logging operation based on the second property and second object without restarting the computer system; and

an interface for accessing the first storage device during the first logging operation based on the first object, and accessing the second storage device during the second logging operation based on the second object.

23. The system of claim 22, wherein the logging service is configured to detect an event associated with the first logging operation and to modify the property file based on the detected event.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the logging service is further configured to process a logging policy when the event is detected, wherein the logging policy instructs the logging service to modify the property file.

25. The system of claim 22, wherein the interface is configured to provide a first handle associated with the first object to the logging service based on the first property during the first logging operation and to provide a second handle associated with the second object to the logging service based on the second property during the second logging operation.

26. The system of claim 22, wherein the system is configured to allow a system administrator to add a third property associated with a third storage device to the property file during runtime of the computer system.

27. The system of claim 26, wherein the logging service is configured to process a third logging operation by refreshing the property file with the third property to allow the interface to access the third storage device.

28. The system of claim 27, wherein the system is configured to allow the system administrator to add a third object associated with the third property and the interface accesses the third storage device based on the third object.

29. The system of claim 22, wherein the logging service is configured to add a third property associated with a third storage device to the property file during runtime of the computer system.

30. The system of claim 26, wherein the logging service is configured to process a third logging operation by refreshing the property file with the third property to allow the interface to access the third storage device.

31. The system of claim 27, wherein the logging service is configured to create a third object associated with the third property and the interface accesses the third storage device based on the third object.

32. The system of claim 22, wherein the logging service modifies the property file based on a logging policy.

33. The system of claim 32, wherein the logging policy is one of:

a policy to associate logging operations directed to backing up data with the second storage device, a policy to associate logging operations provided after a predetermined time of day with the second storage device, a policy to associate logging operations associated with an unavailable default storage device with the second storage device, and a policy to associate logging operations corresponding to error messages with the second storage device.

34. A system for performing logging operations, comprising:

a logging service for logging data in a first storage device based on a first property stored in a property file, and

an interface for providing an object associated with the first storage device to the logging service based on the first property,

wherein the logging service uses the object to log data in the storage device and wherein the logging service may modify the property file without restarting the system in order to log additional data in a second storage device.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein the logging service modifies the property file by activating a second property and the interface provides to the logging service a second object associated with the second storage device based on the second property in order to log the additional data.

36. The system of claim 34, wherein the interface provides a handle associated with the object to the logging service and the logging service loads the object using the handle.

37. The system of claim 34, wherein the logging service modifies the property file based on a logging policy.

38. The system of claim 37, wherein the logging policy directs the logging service to add a new property associated with a new storage device in the property file and use the new property for logging the additional data in the new storage device.

39. The system of claim 38, wherein the interface provides a new object associated with the new storage device to the logging service based on the new property.

40. The system of claim 39, wherein the logging service uses the new object to log data in the new storage device.

41. The system of claim 34, wherein the logging service modifies the property file based on instructions received from a system administrator.

42. The system of claim 41, wherein the instructions include a request to perform a refresh of the property file after the system administrator adds a second property associated with the second storage device in the property file.