Method and apparatus for visualizing metrics in a data space

• US 7,103,843 B2
• Filed: 05/25/2001
• Issued: 09/05/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 05/25/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Washburn, Jeffery R., Hand, Leonard S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vu, Kieu D.
• Assistant Examiner(s): LEE, TING ZHOU
• Application Number:
  US09/865,368
• Publication Number:
  US 20020175941A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,929 Days
• Field of Search: 345/733, 345/734, 345/736, 345/738, 345/764, 345/853, 345/854, 345/771, 345/772, 345/744, 709/200, 709/223, 709/224, 715/734, 715/853, 715/744
• US Class Current: 715/734
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/323 Visualisation of programs or trace data

Abstract

The present invention discloses a method and apparatus for dynamically monitoring and visualizing metrics within a system that has values which change over time. The values associated with these metrics can be specific to entities within the system or they can be common system-wide metrics. Various attributes can be defined for the metrics to be visualized. The values can then be determined in conformance with these defined data attributes. The values can be mapped to appropriate unique indicators which can be used to represent a visual indication of the determined value. The graphical representation of the entities within the system can be displayed along with unique indicator used to represent the value associated with the metric to be displayed. The metrics to be displayed can be selected from a list. Additionally, the measurements can be periodically made and the display accordingly updated.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring and visualizing a plurality of metrics in a dynamic data space, the method comprising:

defining metrics, each of said defined metrics corresponding to at least one entity in the dynamic data space, wherein each entity is a network component;

defining a maximum and a minimum value for each of said metrics;

quantizing discrete levels between said defined maximum and said defined minimum value;

assigning a unique indicator to each of said quantized discrete levels;

determining a value for each of said defined metrics and responsively determining said unique indicator corresponding to said value;

receiving a user selection of particular ones of said entities via a graphical user interface;

providing graphical display representations of said unique indicators associated with said selected entities within a graphical user interface of a machine remotely located from said at least one entity, said graphical user interface changing to reflect changes to said selected entities and simultaneously displaying four distinct sections configured, respectively, as a node map section, a node detail section, a map view section, and a reset section;

displaying in said node map section a plurality of icons in conjunction with said unique indicators, each icon corresponding to a network component and indicating a physical type of the corresponding to a network component and further displaying links connecting at least of one said icons to at least one other of said icons, each link illustrating a relative communication relationship between linked network components;

simultaneously displaying in said node detail section information pertaining to each of the selected entities;

simultaneously displaying in said map view section a list of user-selectable metrics for allowing a user to select metrics for display in said node map section; and

simultaneously displaying in said reset section a selectable list of all entities and network components, selection of a least one entry of the selectable list providing a reset function to allow a user to perform at least one of initializing and setting a default value for at least of one said defined metrics.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein said assigning step, comprises designating a user configurable unique indicator selected from the group consisting of a different color, a different shade and a different pattern to each of said quantized discrete level.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of determining said value comprises the steps of:

monitoring said at least one entity with at least one software agent remotely located from a machine upon which said graphical user interface resides; and

said software agents interrogating each said entity within the dynamic data space for said determined value.

4. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of determining said value further comprises automatically updating said graphical display representations of said selected ones of said entities in said graphical user interface.

5. The method according to claim 1, wherein said selected ones of said metrics are selected from a list of metrics displayed within said graphical user interface.

6. The method according to claim 1, further comprising updating said graphical representations dynamically based upon subsequent value determinations.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein said step of determining said value and said providing step are configurably periodic.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said a maximum and minimum values are user configurable values.

9. A method for visualizing metrics for at least one component in a heterogeneous content delivery network (CDN), the method comprising:

defining metrics characterizing the performance of components in the CDN;

computing values for said defined metrics;

defining a maximum value and a minimum value for each of said defined metrics;

quantizing discrete levels between said defined maximum value and said defined minimum value;

assigning a unique indicator to each said quantized discrete level;

providing a graphical display of said unique indicators associated with said computed values within a graphical user interface of a machine remotely located from the component, said graphical display displaying user selected ones of said defined metrics, said graphical display changing in response to changes in said computed values and changes occurring in said components;

displaying in a node map section of said graphical display a plurality of icons in conjunction with said unique indicators, each icon corresponding to a component with the CDN and indicating a physical type of the corresponding component and further displaying links connecting at least one said icons to at least one other of said icons, each link illustrating a relative communication relationship between linked network components;

simultaneously displaying in a distinct node detail section information pertaining to each of the selected metrics;

simultaneously displaying in a distinct map view section a list of user-selectable metrics for allowing a user to select metrics for display in said node map section; and

simultaneously displaying in a distinct reset section a selectable list of all metrics and components within the CDN, selection of at least one entry of the selectable list providing a reset function to allow a user to perform at least one of initializing and setting a default value for at least one of said defined metrics.

10. The method according to claim 9, wherein said defined metrics are selected from the group consisting of CPU load, run queue size, memory usage, connections, and disk I/O usage.

11. The method according to claim 9, wherein said assigning step, comprises designating a user configurable unique indicator selected from the group consisting of a different color, a different shade, and a different pattern to each of said quantized discrete level.

12. The method according to claim 9, wherein said computing step, comprises the steps of:

monitoring said at least one component with at least one software agent remotely located from a machine upon which said graphical user interface resides; and

said software agents interrogating each one of said components for said computed values.

13. The method according to claim 9, further comprising updating said graphical display dynamically based upon subsequent value determinations.

14. The method according to claim 9, wherein said step of providing said graphical display, comprises:

providing a graphical representation of each one of said components, each one of said components represented by a node in said graphical display.

15. The method according to claim 9, wherein said defined metrics are selected from a list of metrics displayed within said graphical display.

16. The method according to claim 9, wherein said computing step and said providing step are configurably periodic.

17. A method for monitoring a component in a content delivery network (CDN), comprising:

selecting based upon user input at least one monitored metric corresponding to a component in the CDN;

determining a value for said selected metric;

assigning a discrete quantized level to said determined value based on a predefined maximum and a predefined minimum value for said selected metric;

computing a display indicator based on said assigned quantized level;

providing said display indicator on a graphical display of a machine remotely located from the component, said display indicator providing a visual representation of said monitored metric for the component in the network;

displaying in a distinct node map section of said graphical display an icon in conjunction with said display indicator, said icon corresponding to said component and indicating a physical type of said component;

simultaneously displaying in a distinct node detail section information pertaining to said component;

simultaneously displaying in a distinct map view section a list of user-selectable metrics for allowing a user to select metrics for display in said node map section; and

simultaneously displaying in a distinct reset section a selectable list providing a reset function to allow a user to perform at least one of initializing and setting a default value for said at least one monitored metric.

18. The method according to claim 17, wherein said monitored metric is selected from the group consisting of a CPU load, a network capacity, a run queue size, a connection capacity, a memory usage, a page ins capacity, a disk I/O, and a reference count.

19. The method according to claim 17, wherein said display indicator is an indicator selected from the group consisting of a color, a shade of gray, and a pattern.

20. A system for monitoring components in a content delivery network (CDN), comprising:

plurality of software agents for retrieving values for metrics from the components within a heterogeneous CDN;

a processor remotely located from said software agents for determining a user configurable graphical representation for each of said retrieved values, wherein different graphical representations are determined for different quantized ranges of said retrieved values; and

a graphical user interface of a machine remotely located from at least one of the components for presenting said determined graphical representation, said graphical user interface having a user selectable list of said metrics, said graphical user interface changing to reflect changes to said selections, wherein said graphical user interface includes four distinct sections configured, respectively, as a node map section, a node detail section, a map view section, and a reset section;

said node map section for displaying a plurality of icons in conjunction with unique indicators, each icon corresponding to a component with the CDN and indicating a physical type of the corresponding component, and further displaying links connecting at least one said icons to at least one other of said icons, each link illustrating a relative communication relationship between linked network components;

said node detail section for simultaneously displaying information pertaining to each of the selected metrics;

said distinct map view section for simultaneously displaying a list of user-selectable metrics for allowing a user to select metrics for display in said node map section; and

said distinct reset section for simultaneously displaying a selectable list of all metrics and components within the CDN, selection of at least one entry of the selectable list providing a reset function to allow a user to perform at least one of initializing and setting a default value for at least one of said defined metrics.

21. A machine readable storage having stored thereon, a computer program having a plurality of code sections for visualizing a plurality of metrics in a dynamic data space, said code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the steps of:

defining metrics, each of said defined metrics corresponding to at least one entity in the dynamic data space, wherein each entity is a network component;

defining a maximum and a minimum value for each of said metrics;

quantizing discrete levels between said defined maximum and said defined minimum value;

assigning a unique indicator to each of said quantized discrete levels;

determining a value for each of said defined metrics and responsively determining said unique indicator corresponding to said value;

receiving a user selection of particular ones of said entities via a graphical user interface;

providing graphical display representations of said unique indicators associated with said selected entities within a graphical user interface of a machine remotely located from said at least one entity, said graphical user interface changing to reflect changes to said selected entities and simultaneously displaying four distinct sections configured, respectively, as a node map section, a node detail section, a map view section, and a reset section;

displaying in said node map section a plurality of icons in conjunction with said unique indicators, each icon corresponding to a network component and indicating a physical type of the corresponding network component and further displaying links connecting at least of one said icons to at least one other of said icons, each link illustrating a relative communication relationship between linked network components;

simultaneously displaying in said node detail section information pertaining to each of the selected entities;

simultaneously displaying in said man view section a list of user-selectable metrics for allowing a user to select metrics for display in said node map section; and

simultaneously displaying in said reset section a selectable list of all entities and network components, selection of a least one entry of the selectable list providing a reset function to allow a user to perform at least one of initializing and setting a default value for at least one of said defined metrics.

22. The machine readable storage according to claim 21, wherein said assigning step, comprises designating a user configurable unique indicator selected from the group consisting of a different color, a different shade and a different pattern to each of said quantized discrete level.

23. The machine readable storage according to claim 21, wherein said step of determining said value comprises the steps of:

monitoring said at least one entity with at least one software agent remotely located from a machine upon which said graphical user interface resides; and

said software agents interrogating each said entity within the dynamic data space for said determined value.

24. The machine readable storage according to claim 21, wherein said step of determining said value further comprises automatically updating said graphical display representations of said selected ones of said entities in said graphical user interface.

25. The machine readable storage according to claim 21, wherein said selected ones of said metrics are selected from a list of metrics displayed within said graphical user interface.

26. The machine readable storage according to claim 21, further comprising updating said graphical representations dynamically based upon subsequent value determinations.

27. The machine readable storage according to claim 21, wherein said step of determining said value and said providing step are configurably periodic.

28. A machine readable storage having stored thereon, a computer program having a plurality of code sections for monitoring a component in a content delivery network (CDN), said code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the steps of:

defining metrics characterizing the performance of components in the CDN;

computing values for said defined metrics;

defining a maximum value and a minimum value for each of said defined metrics;

quantizing discrete levels between said defined maximum value and said defined minimum value;

assigning a unique indicator to each said quantized discrete level;

providing a graphical display of said unique indicators associated with said computed value within a graphical user interface of a machine remotely located from the component, said graphical display displaying user selected ones of said defined metrics, said graphical display changing in response to changes in said computed values and changes occurring in said components;

displaying in a distinct node map section of said graphical display a plurality of icons in conjunction with said unique indicators, each icon corresponding to a component with the CDN and indicating a physical type of the corresponding component, and further displaying links connecting at least one of said icons to at least one other of said icons, each link illustrating a relative communication relationship between linked network components;

simultaneously displaying a distinct node detail section information pertaining to each of the selected metrics;

simultaneously displaying in a distinct map view section a list of user-selectable metrics for allowing a user to select metrics for display in said node map section; and

simultaneously displaying in a distinct reset section a selectable list of all metrics and components within the CDN, selection of at least one entry of the selectable list providing a reset function to allow a user to perform at least one of initializing and setting a default value for at least one of said defined metrics.

29. The machine readable storage according to claim 28, wherein said defined metrics are selected from the group consisting of CPU load, run queue size, memory usage, connections, and disk I/O usage.

30. The machine readable storage according to claim 28, wherein maid assigning step, comprises designating a user configurable unique indicator selected from the group consisting of a different color, a different shade, and a different pattern to each of said quantized discrete level.

31. The machine readable storage according to claim 28, wherein said computing step, comprises the steps of:

monitoring said at least one component with at least one software agent remotely located from a machine upon which said graphical user interface resides; and

said software agents interrogating each one of said components for said computed values.

32. The machine readable storage according to claim 28, further comprising updating said graphical display dynamically based upon subsequent value determinations.

33. The machine readable storage according to claim 28, wherein said step of providing said graphical display, comprises:

providing a graphical representation of each one of said components, each one of said components represented by a node in said graphical display.

34. The machine readable storage according to claim 28, wherein said defined metrics are selected from a list of metrics displayed within said graphical display.

35. The machine readable storage according to claim 28, wherein said computing step and said providing step are configurably periodic.

36. A machine readable storage having stored thereon, a computer program having a plurality of code sections for monitoring a component in a content delivery network (CDN), said code sections executable by a machine for causing the machine to perform the steps of:

selecting based upon user input at least one monitored metric corresponding to a component in the CDN;

determining a value for said selected metric;

assigning a discrete quantized level to said determined value based on a predefined maximum and predefined minimum value for said selected metric;

computing a display indicator based on said assigned quantized level;

providing said display indicator on a graphical display of a machine remotely located from the component, said display indicator providing a visual representation of said monitored metric for the component in the network;

displaying in a distinct node map section of said graphical display an icon in conjunction with said display indicator, said icon corresponding to said component and indicating a physical type of said component;

simultaneously displaying in a distinct node detail section information pertaining to said component;

simultaneously displaying in a distinct map view section a list of user-selectable metrics for allowing a user to select metrics for display in said node map section; and

simultaneously displaying in a distinct reset section a selectable list providing a reset function to allow a user to perform at least one of initializing and setting a default value for said at least one monitored metrics.

37. The machine readable storage according to claim 36, wherein said monitored metric is selected from the group consisting of a CPU load, a network capacity, a run queue size, a connection capacity, a memory usage, a page ins capacity, a disk I/O, and a reference count.

38. The machine readable storage according to claim 36, wherein said display indicator is an indicator selected from the group consisting of a color, a shade of gray, and a pattern.