Correlating cross process and cross thread execution flows in an application manager

• US 7,949,673 B2
• Filed: 12/15/2005
• Issued: 05/24/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 12/15/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: CA, Inc. (d/b/a CA Technologies) (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Computer Associates Think Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Vanrenen, Gabriel J., Puryear, Daryl L., Cobb, Jeffrey R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Mofiz; Apu M
• Assistant Examiner(s): Rahman; Mohammad N
• Application Number:
  US11/304,041
• Publication Number:
  US 20070143323A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,986 Days
• Field of Search: 707/718, 707/769, 707/802
• US Class Current: 707/769
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5038 considering the execution order of a plurality of tasks, e.g. taking priority or time dependency constraints into consideration scheduling strategies G06F9/4881 and subgroups

Abstract

Data relating to execution flows running on different processes or threads at a computer system is correlated. The execution flows may represent sequences of software components that are invoked or other computer system resources that are consumed. A first execution flow fulfills a first request by transmitting a second request which initiates a second execution flow, such as at another computer system. The second request includes meta data which identifies a context of the first request, such as a URL, an agent which monitors the first execution flow, and the component in the first execution flow which initiated the second request. A manager receives information regarding the first execution flow from the first agent, and information regarding the second execution flow, along with the meta data, from a second agent, for correlating the first and second execution flows. The received information may include execution flow shape data.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for monitoring execution flows, comprising:

receiving first aggregated data regarding at least a first producer sequence of invoked components which is initiated in response to at least a first user request which includes at least a first uncompressed URL;

the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components is associated with at least a first process or thread of at least one instrumented application;

the first aggregated data being obtained by monitoring the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components and automatically categorizing the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components into a producer execution flow shape;

the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components provides to at least a second process or thread of the at least one instrumented application;

(i) a first producer request which includes the first uncompressed URL and (ii) meta data which includes a compressed URL which is derived by compressing the first uncompressed URL, where the meta data is sent as additional data with the first producer request, and the at least a second process or thread includes a method which has instrumentation that looks for and digests the meta data;

receiving the meta data along with second aggregated data regarding at least a first consumer sequence of invoked components, the at least a first consumer sequence of invoked components is associated with the at least a second process or thread and is initiated in response to the first producer request;

the second aggregated data being obtained by monitoring the at least a first consumer sequence of invoked components and automatically categorizing the at least a first consumer sequence of invoked components into a consumer execution flow shape; and

using the meta data, including the compressed URL, correlating the consumer execution flow shape with the producer execution flow shape.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the automatically categorizing the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components uses lossy compression.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the meta data includes an identifier of an agent from which the first aggregated data is received, the agent gathers information from instrumentation of the at least one instrumented application; and

the correlating identifies the producer execution flow shape using the identifier of the agent in the meta data.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the first producer request is provided by a particular invoked component in the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components;

the meta data includes an identifier of the particular invoked component; and

the correlating identifies the producer execution flow shape using the identifier of the particular invoked component in the meta data.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving third aggregated data regarding at least a second consumer sequence of invoked components, along with additional meta data, the at least a second consumer sequence of invoked components is initiated in response to a second producer request, the third aggregated data being obtained by categorizing the at least a second consumer sequence of invoked components into an additional consumer execution flow shape, where the first, second and third aggregated data are received at a manager computing system from first, second and third computing systems, respectively; and

the correlating uses the additional meta data.

17. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving third aggregated data regarding at least a second consumer sequence of invoked components which is initiated in response to a second producer request communicated by at least a second producer sequence of invoked components, where the at least a second producer sequence of invoked components is initiated in response to at least a second user request which includes at least a second uncompressed URL, and the at least a second consumer sequence of invoked components is automatically categorized into an additional consumer execution flow shape;

receiving additional meta data associated with the third aggregated data; and

using the additional meta data to correlate the additional consumer execution flow shape with the producer execution flow shape.

18. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the automatically categorizing selects the producer execution flow shape from among a plurality of predefined producer execution flow shapes, as a closest match among the plurality of predefined producer execution flow shapes.

19. The computer-implemented method of claim 18, wherein:

the plurality of predefined producer execution flow shapes are predefined in a learning period.

20. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising:

using the meta data to correlate the at least a first consumer sequence of invoked components with the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components.

21. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the first and second aggregated data are received at a manager computing system from first and second computing systems, respectively;

the producer execution flow shape is communicated from the first computing system to the manager computing system in place of the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components; and

the consumer execution flow shape is communicated from the second computing system to the manager computing system in place of the at least a first consumer sequence of invoked components.

22. The computer-implemented method of claim 5, wherein:

the producer execution flow shape is communicated from the first computing system to a manager computing system in place of the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components;

the consumer execution flow shape is communicated from the second computing system to the manager computing system in place of the at least a first consumer sequence of invoked components; and

the additional consumer execution flow shape is communicated from the third computing system to the manager computing system in place of the at least a second consumer sequence of invoked components.

23. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the at least a first process or thread runs at a first computing system;

the at least a second process or thread runs at a second computing system; and

the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components provides the first producer request and the meta data to the at least a second process or thread by establishing a connection between the first and second computing systems, and communicating the first producer request and the meta data to the at least a second process or thread via the connection.

24. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, wherein:

the meta data includes an identifier of an agent from which the first aggregated data is received; and

the correlating identifies the producer execution flow shape using the identifier of the agent in the meta data.

27. At least one processor readable storage device having processor readable code embodied thereon for programming at least one processor to perform the computer-implemented method of claim 1.

30. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the first aggregated data is received from a first agent, which monitors the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components;

the meta data along with second aggregated data is received from a second agent, which monitors the at least a first consumer sequence of invoked components, the first and second agents gather information from instrumentation of the at least one instrumented application; and

the second agent saves the meta data for use in providing the second aggregated data.

31. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the first producer request and the meta data are transmitted to the at least a second process or thread in a remote call using an external service which allows the additional data to be transparently sent on the remote call.

32. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein:

the at least a second process or thread sends data back to the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components in response to the first producer request.

6. A computer-implemented method for monitoring execution flows, comprising:

monitoring at least a first producer execution flow which;

(a) is initiated in response to at least a first user request which includes a first uncompressed URL, (b) represents at least a first producer sequence of invoked components, and (c) initiates a producer request which includes the first uncompressed URL;

the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components is associated with at least a first process or thread of at least one instrumented application;

compressing the at least a first uncompressed URL to provide a compressed URL;

responsive to the monitoring, automatically categorizing the at least a first producer execution flow into a first execution flow shape using lossy compression so that the first execution flow shape comprises a first sequence of invoked components which represents the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components;

providing, to at least a second process or thread of the at least one instrumented application;

(i) the producer request which includes the first uncompressed URL, and (ii) meta data including the compressed URL, the producer request initiates at least a first consumer execution flow based on the first uncompressed URL, the at least a first consumer execution flow represents at least a first consumer sequence of invoked components, and is associated with the at least a second process or thread, where the meta data is sent as additional data with the producer request, and the at least a second process or thread includes a method which has instrumentation that looks for and digests the meta data; and

communicating data representing the first execution flow shape to a manager, the manager also receives the meta data including the compressed URL, where the data representing the first execution flow shape and the meta data, including the compressed user-facing data, is usable by the manager in correlating a second execution flow shape with the first execution flow shape, where the second execution flow shape is obtained by automatically categorizing the at least a first consumer execution flow.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein:

the at least a first producer execution flow occurs at a first computing device, the at least a first consumer execution flow occurs at a second computing device, the manager is at a third computing device and the meta data is communicated from the first computing device to the manager via the second computing device.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein:

the second execution flow shape comprises a second consumer sequence of invoked components; and

the meta data is used to correlate the first sequence of consumer invoked components with the second sequence of consumer invoked components.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein:

the producer request is provided by a particular invoked component in the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components;

the meta data comprises an identifier of the particular invoked component; and

the meta data is usable by the manager in correlating the second execution flow shape with the first execution flow shape by identifying the first execution flow shape using the identifier of the particular invoked component in the meta data.

16. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein:

the meta data is generated by an agent which performs the monitoring, the meta data includes an identifier of the agent; and

the meta data is usable by the manager in correlating the second execution flow shape with the first execution flow shape by identifying the first execution flow shape using the identifier of the agent in the meta data.

25. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein:

the at least a first process or thread runs at a first computing system;

the at least a second process or thread runs at a second computing system; and

the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components provides the first producer request and the meta data to the at least a second process or thread by establishing a connection between the first and second computing systems, and communicating the first producer request and the meta data to the at least a second process or thread via the connection.

26. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein:

the meta data is generated by an agent which performs the monitoring, the meta data includes an identifier of the agent; and

the meta data is usable by the manager in correlating the second execution flow shape with the first execution flow shape by identifying the first execution flow shape using the identifier of the agent in the meta data.

28. At least one processor readable storage device having processor readable code embodied thereon for programming at least one processor to perform the computer-implemented method of claim 6.

33. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein:

the producer request and the meta data are transmitted to the at least a second process or thread in a remote call using an external service which allows the additional data to be transparently sent on the remote call.

10. A computer-implemented method for monitoring execution flows, comprising:

monitoring at least a first consumer execution flow which;

(a) is executed in response to a producer request, and (b) which represents at least a first consumer sequence of invoked components;

the producer request;

(c) is received from at least a first producer execution flow, (d) includes at least a first uncompressed URL, (e) includes meta data comprising a compressed URL which is obtained by compressing the at least a first uncompressed URL, and (f) is associated with at least a first process or thread of at least one instrumented application;

the at least a first consumer sequence of invoked components is associated with at least a second process or thread of the at least one instrumented application;

the meta data is received as additional data with the producer request, and the at least a second process or thread includes a method which has instrumentation that looks for and digests the meta data;

responsive to the monitoring, automatically categorizing the at least a first consumer execution flow into a consumer execution flow shape using lossy compression so that the consumer execution flow shape comprises a representative sequence of invoked components which represents the at least a first consumer sequence of invoked components; and

communicating (f) data representing the consumer execution flow shape and (g) the meta data, to a manager, the meta data, including the compressed URL, being usable by the manager in correlating the data representing the consumer execution flow shape with data representing an execution flow shape of the at least a first producer execution flow.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein:

the meta data comprises an identifier of an agent, associated with the at least a first producer execution flow, that provides the meta data, the agent gathers information from instrumentation of the at least one instrumented application; and

the meta data is usable by the manager in correlating the second execution flow shape with the first execution flow shape by identifying the first execution flow shape using the identifier of the agent in the meta data.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein:

the at least a first producer sequence of invoked components includes a particular software component that provides the producer request;

the meta data comprises an identifier of the particular software component; and

the meta data is usable by the manager in correlating the second execution flow shape with the first execution flow shape by identifying the first execution flow shape using the identifier of the particular software component.

29. At least one processor readable storage device having processor readable code embodied thereon for programming at least one processor to perform the computer-implemented method of claim 10.

34. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein:

the producer request and the meta data are received at the at least a second process or thread in a remote call using an external service which allows the additional data to be transparently sent on the remote call.

13. At least one processor readable storage device having processor readable code embodied thereon for programming at least one processor to perform a method for monitoring execution flows, the method comprising:

monitoring at least a first producer execution flow of first executing software based on instrumentation of the first executing software, the at least a first producer execution flow is initiated in response to at least a first user request which includes at least first uncompressed user-facing data, and the at least a first producer execution flow represents a sequence of invoked components;

the at least a first producer execution flow is associated with at least a first process or thread;

compressing the at least first uncompressed user-facing data to provide compressed user-facing data;

the at least a first producer execution flow provides a producer request based on the at least a first user request;

providing, to at least a second process or thread;

(i) the producer request, which includes the at least first uncompressed user-facing data, and (ii) meta data, which includes the compressed user-facing data, where the producer request initiates at least a first consumer execution flow of second executing software based on the at least first uncompressed user-facing data;

the at least a first consumer execution flow represents a sequence of invoked components;

automatically categorizing the at least a first producer execution flow into a first execution flow shape using lossy compression so that the first execution flow shape comprises a first sequence of invoked components which represents the sequence of invoked components of the at least a first producer execution flow; and

communicating data representing the first execution flow shape to a manager, the manager also receives the meta data, including the compressed user-facing data, where the data representing the first execution flow shape and the meta data, including the compressed user-facing data, is usable by the manager in correlating data representing a second execution flow shape of the at least a first consumer execution flow with the first execution flow shape.

14. The at least one processor readable storage device of claim 13, wherein:

the meta data comprises an identifier of an agent that initiates the communicating of the data representing the first execution flow shape to the manager, the agent gathers information from the instrumentation of the first executing software, and the manager identifies the first execution flow shape using the identifier of the agent in the meta data.

15. The at least one processor readable storage device of claim 13, wherein:

the sequence of invoked components of the at least a first producer execution flow includes a particular software component that causes the producer request to be communicated;

the meta data comprises an identifier of the particular software component; and

the manager identifies the first execution flow shape using the identifier of the particular software component.