Method and system for collecting, aggregating and viewing performance data on a site-wide basis

• US 7,792,948 B2
• Filed: 03/29/2002
• Issued: 09/07/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 03/30/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: BMC Software Incorporated (KKR & Co., Inc.)
• Original Assignee: BMC Software Incorporated (KKR & Co., Inc.)
• Inventors: Bi, Haifen, Zhao, Ling Z., Cline, Troy L., Braddy, Rick G., Goldberg, Jay R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Nawaz; Asad M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Survillo; Oleg
• Application Number:
  US10/113,322
• Publication Number:
  US 20030023712A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,084 Days
• Field of Search: 709/207, 709/203, 709/219, 709/224, 707/10, 707/1, 707/4, 707/6, 717/174, 714/47
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5096 wherein the managed service relates to distributed or central networked applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/06 Generation of reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0823 Errors, e.g. transmission errors
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0852 Delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/091 Measuring contribution of individual network components to actual service level

Abstract

Systems and methods for network service management, wherein the internet service management system includes one or more components which collectively enable an administrator to obtain a site-wide view of network activities on servers such as web servers, FTP servers, e-mail servers, domain name servers, etc. In addition to collecting information relating to web server latency and processing time, the internet service management system may collect actual user transaction information and system information from end users on client computers. The internet service management system may provide domain summary information for a domain, or it may provide management information organized by “categories” according to how a site manager wants to view and manage his business; e.g., byline of business (books, auctions, music, etc.), by site function (searches, shopping cart, support, quotes, sales automation), or most any other categorization customers may choose.

Claims

1. A method for monitoring a site comprising:

providing a plurality of first servers and a plurality of corresponding clients interconnected over a network, and a site monitor data collector running on a site monitor server including a site monitor data processor and a site monitor knowledge module;

receiving at each of the plurality of first servers in the network a first file comprising first information from a first agent residing on each of the plurality of corresponding clients, wherein

each of the first agents includes a Synthetic Transaction Monitor (STM) or a Java Application Response Time Analyzer (JARTA) executing on the corresponding client that collects at least a portion of the first information, the first information comprising performance data associated with the one of the first servers and one of a plurality of applications on the corresponding client, and

each first server of the plurality of first servers and the clients corresponding to said each first server form at least a part of a domain in the network;

collecting, by each of the first servers, second information from a second agent residing on each of the first servers, wherein the collected second information comprises performance data associated with the corresponding first server, the collected second information forming a second file;

forwarding, by each of the first servers, received first files and the formed second file to the site monitor data collector of the site monitor server;

periodically aggregating, by the site monitor data processor, the plurality of first files and the plurality of second files received from the plurality of first servers;

at the site monitor server further performing the steps of;

examining the received first files and the received second files to associate category identifiers with the first information in each of the first files and the second information in each of the second files, wherein the category identifiers correspond to one or more of the plurality of applications, the domain or a combination of one or more of the plurality of applications and the domain;

grouping the examined information from the received first and second files into subsets based upon associated category identifiers; and

displaying site-wide views based on the subsets of said examined information, wherein the site-wide views include an application view or a domain view.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising computing derived information based upon the collected first information or the collected second information, wherein the first agents or the second agents executing on the clients or the first servers are configured to compute the derived information.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein displaying site-wide views based on the grouped information comprises displaying one or more subsets of the collected information and the derived information.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the first agents are configured to generate the first files as eXtensible Markup Language (XML) files.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the site monitor data collector is configured to queue received XML files and to periodically process the received XML files.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein grouping the examined information into subsets comprises identifying one or more category identifiers associated with the examined information and grouping the examined information into subsets based upon the identified category identifiers, wherein the category identifiers comprise keywords.

7. A system comprising:

a network comprising;

a plurality of domains, each domain comprising;

a plurality of clients executing one or more applications, each of the clients having a first agent including a Synthetic Transaction Monitor (STM) or a Java Application Response Time Analyzer (JARTA) executing on the corresponding client that collects first information in a first file;

a plurality of first servers executing first computer instructions stored on a computer readable media, the first instructions that, when executed, cause each of the plurality of first servers to perform the steps of;

receiving the first file from each of the clients, the first file comprising first information from the first agent residing on each of the plurality of corresponding clients during a time period, wherein the first information comprises performance data associated with the corresponding first server and one or more applications;

collecting second information in a second file, wherein the collected second information comprises performance data associated with said each first server;

forwarding, by each of the first servers, received first files and the formed second file to the site monitor data collector of the site monitor server; and

a site monitor server including a site monitor data processor, a site monitor knowledge module and a site monitor data collector, and comprising a second set of instructions that, when executed, perform the steps of;

receiving the first and second files from each of the plurality of first servers at the site monitor data collector;

at the expiration of the time period, aggregating the set of first and second files received during the time period;

examining the received first files and the received second files to associate category identifiers with the first information in each of the first files and the second information in each of the second files, wherein the category identifiers correspond to one or more of the plurality of applications, a domain or a combination of one or more of the plurality of applications and a domain;

grouping the examined information into subsets based upon the associated category identifiers; and

displaying site-wide views based on the subsets of the examined information, wherein the site-wide views include an application view or a domain view.

8. The system of claim 7, wherein the second computer instructions are configured for computing derived information based upon the collected first information or the collected second information.

9. The system of claim 8, wherein displaying site-wide views based on the grouped information comprises displaying selected subsets of the collected information and the derived information.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the first agent is configured to generate the first file as an eXtensible Markup Language (XML) file.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the second computer instructions are configured for queuing received XML files and to periodically process the received XML files.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein grouping the examined information into subsets comprises identifying one or more category identifiers associated with the examined information and grouping the examined information into subsets based upon the identified category identifiers, wherein the category identifiers comprise keywords.

13. A computer program product comprising a computer-readable non-transitory medium containing one or more instructions, wherein the one or more instructions are configured to cause a system of interconnected computers comprising a plurality of first servers, a plurality of corresponding clients, and a site monitor data collector running on a site monitor server having a site monitor data processor and a site monitor knowledge module to perform the method comprising:

receiving at each of the plurality of first servers in the network a first file comprising first information from a first agent residing on each of the plurality of corresponding clients, wherein

each of the first agents includes a Synthetic Transaction Monitor (STM) or a Java Application Response Time Analyzer (JARTA) executing on the corresponding client that collects at least a portion of the first information, the first information comprising performance data associated with the one of the first servers and one of a plurality of applications on the corresponding client, and

each first server of the plurality of first servers and the clients corresponding to said each first server form at least a part of a domain in the network;

collecting, by each of the first servers, second information from a second agent residing on each of the first servers, wherein the collected second information comprises performance data associated with the corresponding first server, the collected second information forming a second file;

forwarding, by each of the first servers, received first files and the formed second file to the site monitor data collector of the site monitor server;

periodically aggregating, by the site monitor data processor, the plurality of first files and the plurality of second files received from the plurality of first servers;

the site monitor server further performing the steps of;

examining the received first files and the received second files to associate category identifiers with the first information in each of the first files and the second information in each of the second files, wherein the category identifiers correspond to one or more of the plurality of applications, the domain or a combination of one or more of the plurality of applications and the domain;

grouping the examined information from the received first and second files into subsets based upon associated category identifiers; and

displaying site-wide views based on the subsets of said examined information, wherein the site-wide views include an application view or a domain view.

14. The computer program product of claim 13, wherein the method further comprises computing derived information based upon the collected first information or the collected second information, wherein the first agents or the second agents executing on the clients or the first servers are configured to compute the derived information.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein displaying site-wide views based on the grouped information comprises displaying selected subsets of the collected information and the derived information.

16. The computer program product of claim 15, wherein the first agents are configured to generate eXtensible Markup Language (XML) files for conveying the collected data to the site monitor server.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the site monitor data collector is configured to queue received XML reports and to periodically process the received XML reports.

18. The computer program product of claim 17, wherein grouping the examined information into subsets comprises identifying one or more category identifiers associated with the examined information and grouping the examined information into subsets based upon the identified category identifiers, wherein the category identifiers comprise keywords.

19. A method of monitoring a system of servers interconnected over a network, comprising:

providing a plurality of first servers and a plurality of corresponding clients interconnected over the network, and a site monitor data collector running on a site monitor server including a site monitor data processor and a site monitor knowledge module;

receiving at each of the plurality of first servers in the network a first file of XML data comprising first information from a first agent residing on each of the plurality of corresponding clients, wherein

each of the first agents includes a Synthetic Transaction Monitor (STM) operable to intercept calls to an Internet protocol library and a Java Application Response Time Analyzer (JARTA) operable to monitor web transactions executing on the corresponding client that collects at least a portion of the first information, the portion of the first information comprising performance data associated with the one of the first servers and one of a plurality of applications on the corresponding client, and

each first server of the plurality of first servers and the corresponding clients form at least a part of a domain in the network;

collecting, by each of the first servers, second information from a second agent residing on each of the first servers, wherein the collected second information comprises performance data associated with the corresponding first server, the collected second information forming a second file;

forwarding, by each of the first servers the received first files and the formed second file to the site monitor data collector of the site monitor server;

creating a third file having third information, wherein the third information is generated by a site monitor knowledge module executing the steps of;

periodically aggregating the plurality of first files and the plurality of second files received from the plurality of first servers;

examining the second file and the first file to associate category identifiers with the first information in the first file or the second information in the second file, wherein the category identifiers correspond to one or more of the plurality of applications, one or more domains or a combination of one or more of the plurality of applications and one or more domains;

grouping the examined information from the received first and second files into subsets based upon associated category identifiers; and

displaying site-wide views based on the subsets of said examined information, wherein the site-wide views include an application view or a domain view.