Connection manager, method, system and program product for centrally managing computer applications

• US 7,886,295 B2
• Filed: 02/17/2005
• Issued: 02/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 02/17/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Burger, Ernest J., Tse-Lam, So Ying, Stafford, Andrew C., Kapogiannis, Maria T.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zhen; Li B
• Assistant Examiner(s): Kawsar; Abdullah Al
• Application Number:
  US11/059,892
• Publication Number:
  US 20060190948A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,182 Days
• Field of Search: 718/1, 718100-106, 719/312, 719/313, 719/314, 719/315, 719/318, 719/329, 714/1, 714/2, 714/25, 714/37, 714/38, 714/39, 714/47, 714/51
• US Class Current: 718/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/547 Messaging middleware
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/546 Message passing systems or structures, e.g. queues

Abstract

The present invention provides a connection manager, method, system and program product for centrally managing computer applications. Specifically, under the present invention, a connection manager is provided that centrally manages the applications through a queue broker, and communicates with components of a heartbeat manager and cleanup manager. The connection manager of the present invention provides, among other things, a centralized point for: (1) applications to directly connect to one another; (2) heartbeats of the applications to be monitored; and (3) any necessary cleanup actions to be implemented.

Claims

1. A computer system comprising:

at least one computing device including a connection manager for centrally managing computer applications by performing a method including;

registering the connection manager with a queue broker and one or more applications;

monitoring a connection manager command queue by the connection manager that receives a request message from one or more applications through the queue broker that is posted to the queue broker by the one or more applications;

publishing a response message to the request message in a connection manager response queue;

sending the response message to the queue broker;

a heartbeat manager monitoring a heartbeat queue, wherein the heartbeat queue receives heartbeat messages from the one or more computer applications indicating their continued operation, and

creating records of heartbeat messages in a heartbeat table upon registration of the one or more computer applications, wherein the records comprise application unique ID and availability status;

putting a dead application message in the connection manager command queue when the heartbeat queue fails to receive the heartbeat messages by the heartbeat manager;

putting a cleanup message in a cleanup queue in response to the dead application message being put in the connection manager command queue by the connection manager;

monitoring the cleanup queue, and in response to the dead application message, to remove records of heartbeat messages in the heartbeat table by the connection manager; and

taking cleanup actions in response to the dead application messages including removing records corresponding to dead applications from a cleanup table.

2. The computer system of claim 1, wherein the queue broker comprises:

a connection manager control queue for initially receiving the request message from the one or more applications;

a broker control queue for receiving a registration message from the one or more applications and a registration message from the connection manager; and

a connection manager response queue for receiving the response message from the connection manager.

3. The computer system of claim 2, further comprising:

a connection manager return code queue for receiving connection manager return code from the queue broker;

a set of application return code queues for receiving computer application return code from the queue broker; and

a set of application response queues for receiving the response messages from the connection manager response queue of the queue broker.

4. The computer system of claim 1, further comprising a connection manager table containing records of the computer applications.

5. A method for centrally managing computer applications, comprising:

registering the computer applications with a connection manager and a queue broker;

receiving heartbeat messages indicating the status of the computer applications in a heartbeat queue that is monitored by a heartbeat manager from the computer applications, and

creating records of heartbeat messages in a heartbeat table upon registration of the computer application, wherein the records comprise application unique ID and availability status;

the heartbeat manager putting a dead application message in a connection manager command queue that is monitored by the connection manager if the heartbeat messages are not received;

the connection manager putting a cleanup message in a cleanup queue that is monitored by a cleanup manager in response to the dead application message being put in the connection manager command queue; and

monitoring the cleanup queue, and in response to the dead application message removing records of heartbeat messages in the heartbeat table by the heartbeat manager; and

taking cleanup actions in response to the dead application messages including removing records corresponding to dead applications from a cleanup table.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the registering step comprises receiving subscription requests for the connection manager and the computer application in a broker control queue of the queue broker.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the registering of the computer application comprises the connection manager creating a record for the computer application in the heartbeat table that is managed by the heartbeat manager, and in a connection manager table that is managed by the connection manager.

8. The method of claim 5, further comprising:

receiving a request message for the computer application in the connection manager command queue from a connection manager control queue of the queue broker;

processing the request message in the connection manager; and

communicating a response message to the request message from the connection manager to a connection manager response queue of the broker queue.

9. The method of claim 8, further comprising communicating the response message from the connection manager response queue to an application response queue that is monitored by the computer application.

10. A system, stored in a memory and when executed by a processor, for centrally managing computer applications, comprising:

a connection manager for receiving and processing request messages from the computer applications using the processor wherein the connection manager manages a connection manager table and monitors a connection manager command queue, and wherein the connection manager command queue receives request messages from a connection manager control queue of a queue broker;

a heartbeat manager for monitoring a heartbeat of the computer applications using the processor wherein the heartbeat manager monitors a heartbeat queue, wherein the heartbeat queue receives heartbeat messages from the computer applications reflecting their continued operation, and wherein the heartbeat manager records heart beat messages in a heartbeat table and wherein the heartbeat manager puts a dead application message on the connection manager command queue when the heartbeat messages are not received; and

a cleanup manager wherein the cleanup manager manages a cleanup table and monitors a cleanup queue, and wherein the connection manager puts a cleanup message in the cleanup queue in response to the dead application message being put in the connection manager command queue and wherein the heartbeat manager removes records of heartbeat messages in the heartbeat table in response to the dead application message in the cleanup queue using the processor, wherein the cleanup manager taking cleanup actions in response to the dead application messages including removing records corresponding to dead applications from the cleanup table, wherein the records comprise application unique ID and availability status.

11. The system of claim 10, further comprising a queue broker for facilitating communications between the computer applications and the connection manager, wherein the queue broker comprises:

a connection manager control queue for initially receiving the request messages from the computer applications;

a broker control queue for receiving registration messages from the computer applications and the connection manager; and

a connection manager response queue for receiving response messages from the connection manager pursuant to the processing of the request messages by the connection manager.

12. The system of claim 11, further comprising

a connection manager return code queue for receiving connection manager return code from the queue broker;

a set of application return code queues for receiving computer application return code from the queue broker; and

a set of application response queues for receiving the response messages from the connection manager response queue of the queue broker.

13. A program product stored on a computer readable storage medium for centrally managing computer applications, the computer readable storage medium comprising program code when executed by a processor for performing the following steps:

registering a connection manager with a queue broker and one or more applications;

monitoring a connection manager command queue by the connection manager that receives request messages from the queue broker that are posted to the queue broker by the computer applications;

processing the request messages monitored in the connection manager command queue;

publishing response messages, pursuant to the processing of the request messages, to the queue broker;

a heartbeat manager monitoring a heartbeat queue, wherein the heartbeat queue receives heartbeat messages from the computer applications indicating their continued operation, and

creating records of heartbeat messages in a heartbeat table upon registration of the computer applications, wherein the records comprise application unique ID and availability status;

putting a dead application message in the connection manager command queue when the heartbeat queue fails to received heartbeat messages by the heartbeat manager;

putting a cleanup message in a cleanup queue in response to the dead application message being put in the connection manager command queue by the connection manager;

monitoring the cleanup queue, and in response to the dead application message, to remove records of heartbeat messages in the heartbeat table by the connection manager; and

taking cleanup actions in response to the dead application messages including removing records corresponding to dead applications from a cleanup table.

14. A method for deploying an application for centrally managing computer applications, comprising:

providing a computer infrastructure configured to

register the computer applications with a connection manager and a queue broker;

receive heartbeat messages in a heartbeat queue that is monitored by a heartbeat manager from the computer applications indicating their continued operation, and

create records of heartbeat messages in a heartbeat table upon registration of the one or more computer applications using the processor, wherein the records comprise application unique ID and availability status;

the heartbeat manager put a dead application message in a connection manager command queue that is monitored by the connection manager if the heartbeat messages are not received; and

the connection manager put a cleanup message in a cleanup queue that is monitored by a cleanup manager in response to the dead application message being put in the connection manager command queue;

monitoring the cleanup queue, and in response to the dead application message, to remove records of heartbeat messages in the heartbeat table by the heartbeat manager; and

taking cleanup actions in response to the dead application messages including removing records corresponding to dead applications from a cleanup table.