Methods and apparatus for topology discovery and representation of distributed applications and services
First Claim
1. A computer-based method for generating a topology associated with a computing environment, the method comprising the steps of:
- a first automated step of identifying components in the computing environment and their dependencies, wherein identification comprises computing and traversing at least a portion of a model representative of an existence of one or more relationships associated with at least a portion of the components of the computing environment and which is capable of accounting for a full lifecycle associated with at least one component of the computing environment, wherein a component is capable of being a software component and dependencies of the component comprise at least one of one or more other components depending on the component and one or more other components the component depends on, and further wherein the full lifecycle comprises a design stage, a deployment stage, and a runtime stage; and
a second automated step of presenting the one or more identified components in a topological representation based on the one or more relationships associated with the one or more identified componentswherein the model is in a form comprising a functional categorization, a structural categorization and an operational categorization such that the topological representation comprises a functional plane, a structural plane and an operational plane respectively corresponding to at least a portion of the functional categorization, the structural categorization and the operational categorization of the model.
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Abstract
A technique for generating a topology associated with a computing environment comprises the following steps/operations. First, components in the computing environment and their dependencies are identified. Identification comprises computing and traversing at least a portion of a model representative of an existence of one or more relationships associated with at least a portion of the components of the computing environment and which is capable of accounting for a full lifecycle (e.g., including deployment, installation and runtime) associated with at least one component of the computing environment. Then, the one or more identified components are presented in a topological representation based on the one or more relationships associated with the one or more identified components. The topological representation comprises a functional plane, a structural plane and an operational plane respectively corresponding to at least a portion of a functional categorization, a structural categorization and an operational categorization of the model. By way of example, the inventive techniques may be applied to a distributed computing environment. The computing environment may also be an autonomic computing environment.
141 Citations
37 Claims
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1. A computer-based method for generating a topology associated with a computing environment, the method comprising the steps of:
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a first automated step of identifying components in the computing environment and their dependencies, wherein identification comprises computing and traversing at least a portion of a model representative of an existence of one or more relationships associated with at least a portion of the components of the computing environment and which is capable of accounting for a full lifecycle associated with at least one component of the computing environment, wherein a component is capable of being a software component and dependencies of the component comprise at least one of one or more other components depending on the component and one or more other components the component depends on, and further wherein the full lifecycle comprises a design stage, a deployment stage, and a runtime stage; and a second automated step of presenting the one or more identified components in a topological representation based on the one or more relationships associated with the one or more identified components wherein the model is in a form comprising a functional categorization, a structural categorization and an operational categorization such that the topological representation comprises a functional plane, a structural plane and an operational plane respectively corresponding to at least a portion of the functional categorization, the structural categorization and the operational categorization of the model. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. Apparatus for generating a topology associated with a computing environment, the apparatus comprising:
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at least one processor operative to;
(I) automatically identify components in the computing environment and their dependencies, wherein identification comprises computing and traversing at least a portion of a model representative of an existence of one or more relationships associated with at least a portion of the components of the computing environment and which is capable of accounting for a full lifecycle associated with at least one component of the computing environment, wherein a component is capable of being a software component and dependencies of the component comprise at least one of one or more other components depending on the component and one or more other components the component depends on, and further wherein the full lifecycle comprises a design stage, a deployment stage, and a runtime stage; and
(ii) automatically present the one or more identified components in a topological representation based on the one or more relationships associated with the one or more identified components; andmemory, coupled to the at least one processor, operative to store at least a portion of results associated with the identifying and presenting operations wherein the model is in a form comprising a functional categorization, a structural categorization and an operational categorization such that the topological representation comprises a functional plane a structural plane and an operational plane respectively corresponding to at least a portion of the functional categorization, the structural categorization and the operational categorization of the model. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. An article of manufacture for generating a topology associated with a computing environment, comprising a machine readable medium containing one or more programs which when executed implement the steps of:
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a first automated step of identifying components in the computing environment and their dependencies, wherein identification comprises computing and traversing at least a potion of a model representative of an existence of one or more relationships associated with at least a portion of the components of the computing environment and which is capable of accounting for a full lifecycle associated with at least one component of the computing environment, wherein a component is capable of being a software component and dependencies of the component comprise at least one of one or more other components depending on the component and one or more other components the component depends on, and further wherein the full lifecycle comprises a design stage, a deployment stage, and a runtime stage; and a second automated step of presenting the one or more identified components in a topological representation based on the one or more relationships associated with the one or more identified components wherein the model is in a form comprising a functional categorization, a structural categorization and an operational categorization such that the topological representation comprises a functional plane, a structural plane and an operational plane respectively corresponding to at least a portion of the functional categorization, the structural categorization and the operational categorization of the model.
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Specification