Method and system for determining compatibility of computer systems

• US 7,809,817 B2
• Filed: 09/26/2006
• Issued: 10/05/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 04/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cirba, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Cirba, Inc.
• Inventors: Hillier, Andrew D.
• Primary Examiner(s): Follansbee; John
• Assistant Examiner(s): Mejia; Anthony
• Application Number:
  US11/535,355
• Publication Number:
  US 20070250615A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,470 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0869 Validating the configuration within one network element
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0873 Checking configuration conflicts between network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

Systems and method for performing a consolidation analysis and visually representing the analysis are provided. The analysis is conducted by performing an audit, performing system compatibility and workload compatibility analyses using the audit data and rule sets. The results of the individual analyses are combined to create an overall compatibility co-habitation analysis and visual consolidation roadmap including scorecard information. The system and workload analyses may be performed to contribute to the overall co-habitation analyses, but also performed on their own.

Claims

1. A method for determining compatibilities for a plurality of computer systems comprising:

generating a configuration compatibility score for each pair of said plurality of systems based on configuration data obtained for each of said plurality of systems;

generating a workload compatibility score for each pair of said plurality of systems based on workload data obtained for each of said plurality of systems; and

generating a co-habitation score for each pair of said plurality of systems using the respective configuration compatibility score and workload compatibility score, said co-habitation score indicating an overall compatibility for each system with respect to the others of said plurality of systems.

2. A method according to claim 1 further comprising generating a graphical interface for displaying said compatibility scores, said graphical interface comprising a matrix of cells, each said cell corresponding to a pair of said plurality of computer systems, each row of said matrix indicating one of said plurality of computer systems and each column of said matrix indicating one of said plurality of computer systems, each cell displaying a compatibility score indicating the compatibility of the respective pair of said plurality of systems indicated in the corresponding row and column, and computed according to predefined criteria.

3. A method according to claim 2 wherein upon selecting said cells, information related to the respective score is provided.

4. A method according to claim 1 further comprising generating a report indicative of said compatibilities according to said compatibility scores.

5. A method according to claim 1 wherein said configuration compatibility score is computed by applying at least one rule set comprising one or more parameters in said configuration data.

6. A method according to claim 5 further comprising assigning a weight to each said parameter indicative of the importance of said parameter to the compatibility of said plurality of systems, said configuration compatibility score being computed for each pair of said plurality of computer systems according to said weights.

7. A method according to claim 5 wherein said configuration compatibility scores are computed by iteratively decrementing an initial value to produce a final value and applying one of said weights at each iteration.

8. A method according to claim 1 wherein said workload compatibility score is computed by computing a stacked workload value for each pair of said plurality of systems at one or more time instance according to said workload data.

9. A method according to claim 8 wherein said stacked workload value is computed according to maximum sustained workloads and maximum peak workloads for each said pair.

10. A method according to claim 9 wherein said stacked workload value considers said maximum sustained workloads at like times and worst times, and considers said maximum peak workloads at like times and worst times.

11. A method according to claim 1 further comprising performing an audit of each of said plurality of systems to obtain said configuration data and said workload data.

12. A method according to claim 1 further comprising stacking said workload data for a plurality of source systems on a target system to virtualize a multi-stacked system, and generating a workload compatibility score for said multi-stacked system based on said stacked workload data.

19. A method according to claim 2 wherein each said cell comprises a background pattern chosen from a plurality of background patterns based on said compatibility score.

20. A method according to claim 19 wherein said background patterns are different colors, said colors each representing a range of score values.

21. A method according to claim 20 further comprising enabling said range to be selectively changed.

22. A method according to claim 2 wherein said compatibility score is based on one of configuration data, workload data and a combination of configuration and workload data.

13. A computer readable storage medium comprising computer executable instructions for determining compatibilities for a plurality of computer systems, said computer readable storage medium comprising instructions for:

generating a configuration compatibility score for each pair of said plurality of systems based on configuration data obtained for each of said plurality of systems;

generating a workload compatibility score for each pair of said plurality of systems based on workload data obtained for each of said plurality of systems; and

generating a co-habitation score for each pair of said plurality of systems using the respective configuration compatibility score and workload compatibility score, said co-habitation score indicating an overall compatibility for each system with respect to the others of said plurality of systems.

14. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 13 further comprising instructions for generating a report comprising said compatibility scores according to a report template.

15. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 14, further comprising instructions for indicating the type of analysis to be performed and compiled.

16. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 13 wherein said configuration compatibility score is computed by applying at least one rule set comprising one or more parameters in said configuration data.

17. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 13 wherein said workload compatibility score is computed by computing a stacked workload value for each pair of said plurality of systems at one or more time instance according to said workload data.

18. A computer readable storage medium according to claim 13, further comprising instructions for generating a graphical interface for displaying said compatibility scores, said graphical interface comprising a matrix of cells, each said cell corresponding to a pair of said plurality of computer systems, each row of said matrix indicating one of said plurality of computer systems and each column of said matrix indicating one of said plurality of computer systems, each cell displaying a compatibility score indicating the compatibility of the respective pair of said plurality of systems indicated in the corresponding row and column, and computed according to predefined criteria.