Resource management method and system with rule based consistency check

• US 7,340,513 B2
• Filed: 08/13/2003
• Issued: 03/04/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/2002
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: D'Alo', Salvatore, Di Balsamo, Arcangelo, Donatelli, Alessandro, Marinelli, Claudio
• Primary Examiner(s): Burgess; Glenton B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kunamneni; Hari P
• Application Number:
  US10/639,865
• Publication Number:
  US 20040111497A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,665 Days
• Field of Search: 717/178, 717/173, 709/229
• US Class Current: 709/221
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality

Abstract

A resource management method (400c) and a corresponding system implementing an adaptive model are proposed. The method allows an authority to define a desired target state of several kinds of resources, which are directly controlled by different subjects. The authority publishes (460) a series of rules in a shared repository; each rule indicates the target state of a resource for a corresponding logic or physic category of the subjects. Each subject retrieves (444-456;462-468) the rules corresponding to its logic category from the shared repository. The rules are then applied (458;469) by the subject; as a result, the physic category of the subject is updated. The subject now retrieves and applies the rules corresponding to its physic category. In this way, different dependency schemes may be implemented without any explicit definition in the rules.

Claims

1. In a data processing structure with a distributed architecture including a plurality of subject entities and at least one authority entity, a resource management method for consistently self-configuring the plurality of subject entities, each subject entity in the plurality of subject entities controlling an instance of at least one resource and belonging to at least one logic category of a plurality of logic categories and to at least one physic category of a plurality of physic categories, the at least one authority entity defining a target state of the at least one resource, wherein the method includes the steps of:

publishing a plurality of rules by the at least one authority entity, at least one rule of the plurality of rules including an indication of the target state of the at least one resource for the at least one logic category of each subject entity and at least a further rule of the plurality of rules including the indication of the target state of the resource for the at least one physic category of each subject entity, and for each subject entity;

determining if a current state of the at least one resource on the subject entity corresponds to the target state;

responsive to the current state failing to correspond to the target state, enforcing a management action to bring the current state of the at least one resource to the target state;

responsive to the current state corresponding to the target state, retrieving a first set of rules from the plurality of rules corresponding to the at least one logic category of the subject entity;

configuring the subject entity according to the target state by applying the first set of rules;

retrieving a second set of rules from the plurality of rules corresponding to the at least one physic category of the subject entity; and

configuring the subject entity according to the target state by applying the second set of rules.

2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the step of publishing the plurality of rules includes inserting the plurality of rules into a shared memory space accessible by the subject entities.

3. The method according to claim 1, wherein each logic category includes a dynamic component, the method further including the step of detecting the dynamic component of the at least one logic category of the subject entity by retrieving the dynamic component associated with an identifier of the subject entity from a further shared memory space accessible by the subject entities.

4. The method according to claim 1, further including the step of detecting the at least one physic category of the subject entity by performing a scan of hardware and/or software characteristics of the subject entity.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the at least one resource consists of a scanner module for detecting the hardware and/or software characteristics of the subject entity, and wherein at least one of the plurality of rules defines the hardware and/or software characteristics to be detected by the scanner module.

6. In a data processing structure with a distributed architecture including a plurality of subject entities and at least one authority entity, a resource management system for consistently self-configuring the plurality of subject entities, each subject entity in the plurality of subject entities controlling an instance of at least one resource and belonging to at least one logic category of a plurality of logic categories and to at least one physic category of a plurality of physic categories, the at least one authority entity including means for defining a target state of the at least one resource by publishing a plurality of rules, at least one rule of the plurality of rules including an indication of the target state of the at least one resource for the at least one logic category of each subject entity and at least a further rule of the plurality of rules including the indication of the target state of the resource for the at least one physic category of each subject entity, and each subject entity including means for determining if a current state of the at least one resource on the subject entity corresponds to the target state;

responsive to the current state failing to correspond to the target state, means for enforcing a management action to bring the current state of the at least one resource to the target state;

responsive to the current state corresponding to the target state, means for retrieving a first set of rules from the plurality of rules corresponding to the at least one logic category of the subject entity and a second set of rules from the plurality of rules corresponding to the at least one physic category of the subject entity; and

means for configuring the subject entity according to the target state by applying the first set of rules and the second set of rules.

7. The resource management system according to claim 6, wherein each logic category includes a dynamic component, further including means for detecting the dynamic component of the at least one logic category of the subject entity by retrieving the dynamic component associated with an identifier of the subject entity from a further shared memory space accessible by the subject entities.

8. The resource management system according to claim 6, further including means for detecting the at least one physic category of the subject entity by performing a scan of hardware and/or software characteristics of the subject entity.

9. The resource management system according to claim 8, wherein the at least one resource consists of a scanner module for detecting the hardware and/or software characteristics of the subject entity, and wherein at least one of the plurality of rules defines the hardware and/or software characteristics to be detected by the scanner module.

10. In a data processing structure with a distributed architecture including a plurality of subject entities and at least one authority entity, a computer of a subject entity in the plurality of subject entities suitable to be used in a resource management method for consistently self-configuring the subject entity, each subject entity controlling an instance of at least one resource and belonging to at least one logic category of a plurality of logic categories and to at least one physic category of a plurality of physic categories, the at least one authority entity defining a target state of the resources by publishing a plurality of rules, at least one rule of the plurality of rules including an indication of the target state of the at least one resource for the at least one logic category of each subject entity and at least a further rule of the plurality of rules including the indication of the target state of the resource for the at least one physic category of each subject entity, and wherein the computer includes means for determining if a current state of the at least one resource on the subject entity corresponds to the target state;

responsive to the current state failing to correspond to the target state, means for enforcing a management action to bring the current state of the at least one resource to the target state;

responsive to the current state corresponding to the target state, means for retrieving a first set of rules from the plurality of rules corresponding to the at least one logic category of the subject entity and a second set of rules from the plurality of rules corresponding to the at least one physic category of the subject entity; and

means for configuring the subject entity according to the target state by applying the first set of rules and the second set of rules.

11. The computer of the subject entity according to claim 10, wherein each logic category includes a dynamic component, further including means for detecting the dynamic component of the at least one logic category of the subject entity by retrieving the dynamic component associated with an identifier of the subject entity from a further shared memory space accessible by the subject entities.

12. The computer of the subject entity according to claim 10, further including means for detecting the at least one physic category of the subject entity by performing a scan of hardware and/or software characteristics of the subject entity.

13. The computer of the subject entity according to claim 12, wherein the at least one resource consists of a scanner module for detecting the hardware and/or software characteristics of the subject entity, and wherein at least one of the plurality of rules defines the hardware and/or software characteristics to be detected by the scanner module.