Intelligent system control agent for managing jobs on a network by managing a plurality of queues on a client

• US 7,085,831 B2
• Filed: 01/16/2002
• Issued: 08/01/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 01/16/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Larkin, Michael K.
• Primary Examiner(s): Wiley, David
• Assistant Examiner(s): AVELLINO, JOSEPH E
• Application Number:
  US10/050,411
• Publication Number:
  US 20030135617A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,658 Days
• Field of Search: 709/202, 709208-209, 709217-219, 709/224, 709223-229, 718102-108, 705/8, 3703954-39543, 370/230
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4862 the task being a mobile agent, i.e. specifically designed to migrate

Abstract

Disclosed is a robust intelligent system control agent configured to receive user job requests, submit the user job requests to selected qualified clients for servicing, and monitor the progress of the requests. The system is also configured with the capability of relocating a system control agent from one location within a network to another location within the network and for relocating a job request from one client to another. This ability to relocate agents and jobs provides robustness and reliability to the system, allowing the agent to move to a different machine when, for example, its current host system requires maintenance or other downtime. In order to facilitate the relocation of a job request, the state of the request is temporarily stored by the agent or by other means while the job request is relocated to another client.

Claims

1. A method of operating a software control agent, comprising:

automatically selecting based upon a predetermined criterion one of a plurality of clients to submit the user request to for service of the request, each client comprising a plurality of queue types, each queue type having an individual scheme for prioritizing jobs;

sending the user request over a communication channel to the selected client;

instructing the agent to relocate to a known agent endpoint by a system administrator;

stopping to accept new job requests by the agent;

waiting for pending/current request relocations to finish by the agent;

flushing in-process requests to a state storage system by the agent;

requesting the new endpoint to instantiate a new agent by the agent;

waiting while the new agent populates its database with the data from the state storage system by the agent;

sending a message to all federated agents that the agent for a domain is relocated to the new agent by a first agent;

sending a message to all clients in the domain that the agent is relocated to the new agent by the first agent; and

sending a request to the first agent'"'"'s endpoint to close the first agent by the new agent.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising maintaining an awareness of the state of the selected client.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing an agent endpoint module configured to allow the mobility of an agent from one system to another.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising communicating and interacting with a plurality of agents.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising relocating a user requested job from one client to another.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising automatically relocating the user request from the selected client within a network to another client within the network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein automatically relocating the user request from the selected client within the network to another client within the network further comprises:

instructing the selected client to relocate the user request by a system administrator or agent;

sending the user request to a state storage system by the selected client;

sending instructions to the new client to access the user request from the state storage system by the agent;

accessing the user request from the state storage system by the new client; and

relocating the user request to the new client.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein each client comprises at least three queue types.

9. An article of manufacture comprising a storage medium readable by a processor and to perform a method of operating a software control agent, comprising:

receiving a user request;

automatically selecting based upon a predetermined criterion one of a plurality of clients to submit the user request to for service of the user request, each client comprising a plurality of queue types, each queue type having an individual scheme for prioritizing jobs;

sending the user request over a communication channel to the selected client;

instructing the agent to relocate to a known agent endpoint by a system administrator;

stopping to accept new job requests by the agent;

waiting for pending/current request relocations to finish by the agent;

flushing in-process requests to a state storage system by the agent;

requesting the new endpoint to instantiate a new agent by the agent;

waiting while the new agent populates its database with the data from the state storage system by the agent;

sending a message to all federated agents that the agent for a domain is relocated to the new agent by a first agent;

sending a message to all clients in the domain that the agent is relocated to the new agent by the first agent; and

sending a request to the first agent'"'"'s endpoint to close the first agent by the new agent.

10. The article of manufacture of claim 9, further comprising maintaining an awareness of the state of the selected client.

11. The article of manufacture of claim 9, further comprising providing an agent endpoint module configured to allow the mobility of an agent from one system to another.

12. The article of manufacture of claim 9, further comprising automatically relocating a user requested job from one client within a network to another client within the network.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 9, wherein each client comprises at least three queue types.