Systems and methods for health monitor alert management for networked systems

• US 7,430,598 B2
• Filed: 11/25/2003
• Issued: 09/30/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 11/25/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Raden, Gary P., Soemo, Thomas M., Butler, Lisa M., Moerloos, Richard J. Jr., Ekmekci, Tolga Bayram, da Fonseca Melo, Eduardo
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel; Haresh N
• Application Number:
  US10/722,009
• Publication Number:
  US 20050114174A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,771 Days
• Field of Search: 709217-224, 709200-203, 717/121, 725/32, 455/186.1, 707/5, 715/719
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G16H 40/67 for remote operation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0681 Configuration of triggering conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99935 Query augmenting and refining, e.g. inexact access

Abstract

The present invention leverages a data gathering service to provide information regarding a system'"'"'s health state via a computing entity, local and/or remote. This provides an optimized means to aggregate a single network'"'"'s data and/or multiple networks'"'"' data, decreasing the amount of effort required by system administrators to manage health related alerts. In one instance of the present invention, a data gathering service aggregates health data from systems and provides access to this information via a communication means. In another instance of the present invention, aggregated, averaged data is utilized to provide manual and/or automatic control and/or management facilitation of health monitoring related tasks.

Claims

1. A method that facilitates monitoring health of a networked system, comprising:

obtaining system information from at least one computing device on the networked system based at least in part on aggregation rules, the system information includes at least one of at least one of system health data, system usage data or system performance data, the system information obtained from at least one of a health monitor alert, a registry, a running process or logs;

aggregating the obtained information to provide at least one average value for one or more desired data parameters included in the obtained system information;

storing the aggregated information in a data store;

providing automatic control of the at least one computing device based at least in part on the aggregated system information and control parameters that specify control responses, the control responses include at least one of default control responses or programmed control responses selected based upon the aggregated system information;

presenting reports in accordance with report parameters, the reports include the aggregated information, at least one of the presented reports comprising recommendations for setting health monitor alert value; and

notifying at least one user of a condition identified in the aggregated information, the notification is based at least in part on contact rules that specify conditions that require notifications and identities of the at least one user.

2. A system that facilitates health monitoring of a networked system, comprising:

at least one processor coupled to memory that executes;

a data gather component that obtains system information from at least one computing device, the data gather component aggregates the obtained system information based at least in part on aggregation parameters, the system information includes at least one of system health data, system usage data or system performance data;

a control component that provides automatic control of the at least one computing device based at least in part on the aggregated system information, the automatic control includes at least one of default control responses or programmed control responses, the control component utilizes control parameters that specify control responses based upon the aggregated information; and

a user interface that presents reports that include the aggregated information in accordance with report parameters, the user interface further enables modification of the aggregation parameters, the control parameters or the report parameters, at least one of the presented reports comprising recommendations for setting health monitor alert value.

3. The system of claim 2, the system component comprises a server.

4. The system of claim 2, at least one of the presented reports comprising, at least in part, at least one alert based on utilization of an average value of a desired data parameter of the aggregated system information and a substantially instantaneous value of the desired data parameter.

5. The system of claim 2, at least one of the presented reports comprising, at least in part, health monitoring alerts.

6. The system of claim 2, at least one of the presented reports comprising, at least in part, administrative guidance information corresponding to the networked system.

7. The system of claim 6, the administrative guidance information comprising, at least in part, recommendations for setting health monitor alert thresholds.

8. The system of claim 2, at least one of the presented reports comprises a rolling time-averaged value of a desired data parameter and a current health monitor alert threshold setting related to the desired data parameter.

9. The system of claim 8, the rolling time-average value comprising a time Averaged value over a 30 day period.

10. The system of claim 2, the aggregated information includes a rolling time-averaged value of a data parameter of the system information.

11. The system of claim 10, the rolling time-averaged value comprising a time averaged value over a 30 day time period.

12. The system of claim 2, the user interface comprising a customizable user interface.

13. The system of claim 2, the user interface comprising an interactive user interface.

14. The system of claim 13, the interactive user interface comprising a user interface that provides an input for setting a health monitor alert threshold value.

15. The system of claim 13, the interactive user interface comprising a user interface that provides manual control of health monitor alerts in addition to automatic control.

16. The system of claim 15, the control of the health monitor alerts comprising control of at least one selected from the group consisting of when health monitor alerts are displayed and what health monitor alerts are displayed.

17. The system of claim 15, the control of the health monitor alerts comprising control of health monitor alert notification.

18. The system of claim 17, the control of the health monitor alert notification comprising control of who is notified when a health monitor alert occurs.

19. The system of claim 18, the control of who is notified comprising at least one selected from the group comprising a system administrator of the networked system and an owner of the networked system.

20. The system of claim 17, the control of the health monitor alert notification comprising control of how notification occurs.

21. The system of claim 20, the control of how notification occurs comprising control of at least one selected from the group consisting of an email, a paging device, and a direct user interface display.

22. A system employing at least one system of claim 2 that provides a unified information source of health monitoring data for a plurality of networked systems.

23. A computer readable storage medium having stored thereon computer executable components of the system of claim 2.

24. A device employing the system of claim 2 comprising at least one selected from the group consisting of a computer, a server, and a handheld electronic device.

25. A system that facilitates health monitoring of a networked system, comprising:

means for obtaining and aggregating system information from at least one computing device on the networked system based at least in part on aggregation rules, the system information includes at least one of at least one of system health data, system usage data or system performance data;

means for providing automatic control of the at least one computing device based at least in part on the aggregated system information and control parameters that specify control responses, the control responses include at least one of default control responses or programmed control responses selected based upon the aggregated system information;

means for presenting reports in accordance with report parameters, the reports include the aggregated information, at least one of the presented reports comprising recommendations for setting health monitor alert value; and

means for modifying the aggregation parameters, the control parameters or the report parameters.