Adaptive management method and system with automatic dependency resolution
First Claim
1. In a data processing system including a plurality of subject entities and at least one authority entity, an autonomic management method for self-configuring the subject entities, each subject entity belonging to at least one of a plurality of categories, wherein the method includes the steps of:
- the at least one authority entity publishing a plurality of rules each one defining a target state for a category, the target state of at least one rule being a prerequisite for the target state of at least one further rule,each subject entity retrieving the rules for the corresponding at least one category,applying each retrieved rule to configure the subject entity according to the target state, the application of the retrieved rule failing when at least one corresponding prerequisite is not available on the subject entity, andrepeating the application of each failed rule to configure the subject entity according to the target state specified in the failed rule when all the corresponding prerequisites are available.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A resource management method (300) and a corresponding system are proposed. In the solution of the invention, an authority publishes (324) multiple rules, each one defining a desired target configuration for a category of subjects (without any information about their dependencies). Each subject retrieves (320–322, 326) the rules corresponding to its category in a random order. The rules are then applied (427–439) on the subject according to a trial-and-fail approach. Particularly, the application of any failed rule is continually repeated (427–448), until all the rules are successfully applied (463) or a deadlock condition is detected (451). In this way, any dependency is automatically resolved on the subject at run time. Moreover, as soon as all the rules have been successfully applied the compliance of the subject to the rules is verified (455–457) again; should the subject be not compliant to one or more rules any longer, an infinite loop condition is detected (466).
21 Citations
20 Claims
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1. In a data processing system including a plurality of subject entities and at least one authority entity, an autonomic management method for self-configuring the subject entities, each subject entity belonging to at least one of a plurality of categories, wherein the method includes the steps of:
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the at least one authority entity publishing a plurality of rules each one defining a target state for a category, the target state of at least one rule being a prerequisite for the target state of at least one further rule, each subject entity retrieving the rules for the corresponding at least one category, applying each retrieved rule to configure the subject entity according to the target state, the application of the retrieved rule failing when at least one corresponding prerequisite is not available on the subject entity, and repeating the application of each failed rule to configure the subject entity according to the target state specified in the failed rule when all the corresponding prerequisites are available. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
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- 8. In a data processing system including a plurality of subject entities and at least one authority entity, an autonomic management system for self-configuring the subject entities, each subject entity belonging to at least one of a plurality of categories, wherein the at least one authority entity includes means for publishing a plurality of rules each one defining a target state for a category, the target state of at least one rule being a prerequisite for the target state of at least one further rule, and wherein each subject entity includes means for retrieving the rules for the corresponding at least one category, means for applying each retrieved rule to configure the subject entity according to the target state, the application of the retrieved rule failing when at least one corresponding prerequisite is not available on the subject entity, and means for repeating the application of each failed rule to configure the subject entity according to the target state specified in the failed rule when all the corresponding prerequisites are available.
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15. A computer program product comprising a computer useable medium having a computer readable program, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a subject entity computing device, causes the subject entity computing device to:
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receive a plurality of rules published by at least one authority entity, each rule defining a target state for a category, the target state of at least one rule being a prerequisite for the target state of at least one further rule, apply each rule to configure the subject entity computing device according to the target state, the application of the rule failing when at least one corresponding prerequisite is not available on the subject entity computing device, and repeat the application of each failed rule to configure the subject entity computing device according to the target state specified in the failed rule when all the corresponding prerequisites are available. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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Specification