System and method for remotely monitoring and managing applications across multiple domains

• US 7,062,540 B2
• Filed: 01/05/2001
• Issued: 06/13/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2000
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Blue Yonder Group, Inc. (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Original Assignee: i2 Technologies US Incorporated (Panasonic Holdings Corporation)
• Inventors: Mehta, Rubesh, Reddy, Padma P
• Primary Examiner(s): Knight, Anthony
• Assistant Examiner(s): PHAM, THOMAS K
• Application Number:
  US09/755,751
• Publication Number:
  US 20020091753A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,985 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/202, 709/217, 709/218, 709/219, 700/26, 700/143, 714/47, 714/48, 714/25, 714/30
• US Class Current: 709/217
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/544 Remote
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/542 Event management; Broadcasting; Multicasting; Notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0246 Exchanging or transporting network management information using the Internet; Embedding network management web servers in network elements; Web-services-based protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/02 for separating internal from external traffic, e.g. firewalls

Abstract

A system (10) for enabling remote monitoring and management of one or more applications (42) within a domain (30) includes one or more computers (40) that execute one or more applications (42) being monitored and managed. The system (10) also includes a firewall (50) that limits access to the applications (42). The system (10) further includes an application management layer (70) within the domain (30) that includes one or more agents (72) that each monitor applications (42) and that generate notifications in response to the occurrence of events associated with the applications (42). The system (10) also includes a communication layer (60) within the domain (30) that retrieves and communicates the notifications to a monitoring and management portal (20) using a communication protocol providing access through the firewall (50). The communication layer (60) may also receive a command for a particular application (42) and communicate the command to an agent (72) associated with the application (42). The agent (72) executes the command using a monitor (74) that interfaces with the application (42).

Claims

1. A system for enabling remote monitoring and management of one or more applications within a domain, the domain being one of a plurality of such domains, the system comprising:

one or more computers within the domain and coupled to a network, each operable to execute one or more applications being monitored and managed;

a firewall operable to limit access to the applications within the domain from the network;

an application management layer within the domain comprising;

one or more agents each operable to monitor one or more corresponding applications in response to a command received from a monitoring and management portal coupled to the network outside the domain, and generate notifications in response to the occurrence of events associated with the corresponding applications; and

a gateway operable to receive one or more of the notifications and store the notifications in a database; and

a communication layer within the domain operable to;

retrieve one or more of the notifications from the database in response to a request received from the monitoring and management portal coupled to the network outside the domain, the request communicated to the communication layer using a communication protocol providing access through the firewall; and

communicate the notifications to the monitoring and management portal using the communication protocol to enable remote monitoring and management of the associated applications.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each agent includes one or more monitors each operable to interface with a particular corresponding application.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein one or more of the notifications comprise information regarding the state of an associated application.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication layer comprises:

a servlet engine operable to execute a servlet, the servlet operable to;

query the database to retrieve the one or more notifications from the database; and

generate a response including the notifications that may be interpreted by a web browser within the monitoring and management portal; and

a web server operable to receive the response from the servlet engine and communicate the response to the web browser using the network.

5. The system of claim 1, wherein the communication protocol comprises hypertext transport protocol (HTTP).

6. The system of claim 1, wherein the request from the monitoring and management portal comprises a request for the state of a particular application.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the request from the monitoring and management portal comprises a request for all notifications of a particular type relating to one or more selected applications in one or more selected domains.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the applications comprise electronic marketplace enabling applications.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the applications comprise business processes.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the domain is distributed from others of the plurality of domains.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the communication layer is further operable to;

receive a command for a particular application communicated from the monitoring and management portal using a communication protocol providing access through the firewall associated with each selected domain; and

communicate the command to an agent associated with the application to which the command is directed; and

the agent is further operable to execute the command using a monitor within the agent associated with the application to which the command is directed and corresponding to the particular application, the monitor operable to interface with the particular corresponding application.

12. A method for remotely monitoring applications across a plurality of domains, comprising:

detecting the occurrence of events associated with a plurality of applications executed on a plurality of computers within a plurality of domains;

each domain coupled to a network and including a firewall limiting access to the applications within the domain, wherein the detecting is initiated in response to a command received from a monitoring and management portal coupled to the network outside the domain;

generating notifications in response to the occurrence of the events, each notification associated with at least one application;

storing at least some of the notifications in databases within the domains that comprise the associated applications;

retrieving notifications from the databases of a plurality of selected domains in response to a request received from the monitoring portal coupled to the network outside the domain, the request communicated to the selected domains using a communication protocol providing access through the firewalls associated with the selected domains;

communicating the retrieved notifications from each of the selected domains to the monitoring portal using the communication protocol; and

making the retrieved notifications from each of the selected domains available at a computer associated with the monitoring portal for viewing in a unified manner.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein detecting the occurrence of events comprises monitoring each application using one or more agents within the associated domain, each agent including one or more monitors each operable to interface with a particular corresponding application within the domain.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising configuring the agents and monitors from the monitoring portal using HTTP communications with web servers within the domains, each web server operable to communicate configuration instructions received from the monitoring portal to the agents within the associated domain.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein one or more of the notifications comprise information regarding the state of an application.

16. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

generating a response at each domain including the retrieved notifications for the domain that may be interpreted by a web browser within the monitoring portal; and

communicating the response to the web browser using the network.

17. The method of claim 12, further comprising:

receiving the retrieved notifications from each of the selected domains at the monitoring portal; and

aggregating the retrieved notifications from each of the selected domains for display to a user of the monitoring portal in a unified view.

18. The method of claim 12, wherein the communication protocol comprises hypertext transport protocol (HTTP).

19. The method of claim 12, wherein the request from the monitoring portal comprises a request for the state of a particular application.

20. The method of claim 12, wherein the request from the monitoring portal comprises a request for all notifications of a particular type relating to one or more selected applications in one or more selected domains.

21. The method of claim 12, wherein the applications comprise electronic marketplace enabling applications.

22. The method of claim 12, wherein the applications comprise business processes.

23. The method of claim 12, wherein the domains are distributed from one another.

24. A method for remotely managing applications across a plurality of domains, comprising:

generating a command for each of a plurality of applications at a management portal coupled to a network, the applications executed on a plurality of computers within a plurality of domains, the applications being of a common type, each domain coupled to the network and including a firewall limiting access to the applications within the domain, wherein at least one command is for initiating monitoring of at least one of the applications;

communicating the commands to a communication layer within each of one or more selected domains using a communication protocol providing access through the firewall associated with each selected domain, each selected domain comprising an application to which a command is directed;

within each selected domain, communicating the command from the communication layer to an agent associated with the application to which the command is directed; and

within each selected domain, executing the command using a monitor within the agent associated with the application to which the command is directed and corresponding to the particular application, the monitor operable to interface with the particular corresponding application.

25. The method of claim 24, wherein the communication protocol comprises hypertext transport protocol (HTTP).

26. The method of claim 24, wherein the communication layer within each domain comprises a web server operable to receive the command from the management portal.

27. The method of claim 24, wherein the communication layer within each domain is operable to:

communicate with the management portal using hypertext transport protocol (HTTP); and

communicate with the agents within the domain using one or more application program interfaces associated with each agent.

28. The method of claim 24, wherein the applications comprise electronic marketplace enabling applications.

29. The method of claim 24, wherein the applications comprise business processes.

30. The method of claim 24, wherein the domains are distributed from one another.

31. Software for enabling remote monitoring and management of one or more applications within a domain, the domain being one of a plurality of such domains, the software embodied in a computer-readable medium and, when executed by a computer, operable to:

detect, in response to a command received from a monitoring and management portal coupled to the network outside the domain, the occurrence of events associated with a plurality of applications executed on a plurality of computers within a plurality of domains, each domain coupled to a network and including a firewall limiting access to the applications within the domain;

generate notifications in response to the occurrence of the events, each notification associated with at least one application;

store at least some of the notifications in databases within the domains that comprise the associated applications;

retrieve notifications from the databases of a plurality of selected domains in response to a request received from the monitoring portal coupled to the network outside the domain, the request communicated to the selected domains using a communication protocol providing access through the firewalls associated with the selected domains; and

communicate the retrieved notifications from each of the selected domains to the monitoring portal using the communication protocol.

32. A system for enabling remote monitoring and management of one or more applications within a domain, the domain being one of a plurality of such domains, the system comprising:

means for detecting, in response to a command received from a monitoring and management portal coupled to the network outside the domain, the occurrence of events associated with a plurality of applications executed on a plurality of computers within a plurality of domains, each domain coupled to a network and including a firewall limiting access to the applications within the domain;

means for generating notifications in response to the occurrence of the events, each notification associated with at least one application;

means for storing at least some of the notifications in databases within the domains that comprise the associated applications;

means for retrieving notifications from the databases of a plurality of selected domains in response to a request received from a monitoring portal coupled to the network outside the domain, the request communicated to the selected domains using a communication protocol providing access through the firewalls associated with the selected domains; and

means for communicating the retrieved notifications from each of the selected domains to the monitoring portal using the communication protocol.

33. A system for enabling remote monitoring and management of one or more electronic marketplace enabling applications within a domain, the domain being one of a plurality of distributed domains, the system comprising:

one or more computers within the domain and coupled to a network, each operable to execute one or more electronic marketplace enabling applications being monitored and managed;

a firewall operable to limit access to the applications within the domain from the network;

an application management layer within the domain comprising;

one or more agents each operable to monitor one or more corresponding applications in response to a command received from a monitoring and management portal coupled to the network outside the domain, and generate notifications in response to the occurrence of events associated with the corresponding applications; and

a gateway operable to receive one or more of the notifications and store the notifications in a database; and

a communication layer within the domain comprising;

a servlet engine operable to execute a servlet, the servlet operable to;

query the database to retrieve one or more of the notifications from the database in response to a request received from a monitoring and management portal coupled to the network outside the domain, the request communicated to the communication layer using hypertext transport protocol (HTTP); and

generate a response including the notifications that may be interpreted by a web browser within the monitoring and management portal; and

a web server operable to receive the response from the servlet engine and communicate the response to the web browser through the firewall using HTTP to enable remote monitoring and management of the associated applications.

34. A method for remotely monitoring electronic marketplace enabling applications across a plurality of distributed domains, comprising:

receiving a command from a monitoring portal outside the domains,

detecting, in each domain in response to receipt of the command, the occurrence of events associated with a plurality of electronic marketplace enabling applications executed on a plurality of computers within the respective domains, each domain coupled to a network and including a firewall limiting access to the applications within the domain;

generating notifications in response to the occurrence of the events, each notification associated with at least one application;

storing at least some of the notifications in databases within the domains that comprise the associated applications;

retrieving notifications from the databases of a plurality of selected domains in response to a request received from the monitoring portal coupled to the network outside the domains, the request communicated to the selected domains using hypertext transport protocol (HTTP);

generating a response at each domain including the retrieved notifications for the domain that may be interpreted by a web browser within the monitoring portal;

communicating the response from each of the selected domains to the web browser through the firewall using HTTP; and

making the retrieved notifications from each of the selected domains available at a computer associated with the monitoring portal for display to a user of the monitoring portal in a unified view in which the notifications are aggregated.

35. A method for remotely managing electronic marketplace enabling applications across a plurality of distributed domains, comprising:

generating, at a management portal coupled to a network, a command for initiating monitoring of each of a plurality of electronic marketplace-enabling applications, the applications executed on a plurality of computers within a plurality of domains, the applications being of a common type, each domain coupled to the network and including a firewall limiting access to the applications within the domain;

communicating the commands to a web server within each of one or more selected domains using hypertext transport protocol (HTTP), each selected domain comprising an application to which a command is directed

within each selected domain, communicating the command from the web server to an agent associated with the application to which the command is directed; and

within each selected domain, executing the command using a monitor within the agent associated with the application to which the command is directed and corresponding to the particular application, the monitor operable to interface with the particular corresponding application.