Policy processing system, method, and program

• US 8,707,386 B2
• Filed: 09/27/2006
• Issued: 04/22/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 09/27/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Original Assignee: NEC Corporation
• Inventors: Igakura, Tomohiro
• Primary Examiner(s): Cervetti, David Garcia
• Application Number:
  US12/088,274
• Publication Number:
  US 20090260051A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,764 Days
• Field of Search: 726/1
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/076 by exceeding a count or rate limit, e.g. word- or bit count limit
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/1461 Backup scheduling policy
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3452 Performance evaluation by statistical analysis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/88 Monitoring involving counting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2209/484 Precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4825 Interrupt from clock, e.g. time of day
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4881 Scheduling strategies for dispatcher, e.g. round robin, multi-level priority queues

Abstract

In a policy handling system performing automatic execution, management, and control of a system, a policy retrieving section (102) retrieves a policy associated with a triggering condition, and notifies a policy-execution-pattern analyzing section (105) of the retrieved policy. A policy-operation-log retrieving section (106) refers to a policy-operation-log storage section (107) to acquire the number of triggering times of the retrieved policy in a predetermined history acquisition period. The policy-execution-pattern analyzing section (105) compares the number of triggering times of the retrieved policy against a predetermined threshold and causes an abnormality notifying section (108) to issue abnormality information when the number of triggering times exceeds the threshold.

Claims

1. A policy handling system, for managing a management-targeted system based on at least two or more policies, each of which includes description of a triggering condition for triggering the policy and operation to be executed after triggering, the system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a policy-operation-log storage unit which stores ID of a triggered policy and triggered time in association with each other;

wherein the at least one processor comprises an abnormality detecting unit which comprises;

a policy-operation-log retrieving section configured to receive a notification of a satisfied policy having a triggering condition which is satisfied and subsequently refer to the policy-operation-log storage unit to acquire a triggered frequency of said satisfied policy;

a policy-execution-pattern analyzing section configured to determine whether or not said satisfied policy is abnormal based on the triggered frequency of said satisfied policy acquired by the policy-operation-log retrieving section; and

an operation executing section configured to execute operation of said satisfied policy when said satisfied policy is determined normal and to stop executing operation of said satisfied policy when said satisfied policy is determined abnormal.

3. The policy handling system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the policy-operation-log retrieving section acquires a number of triggering times of said satisfied policy during a history acquisition period before receiving the notification, and the policy-execution-pattern analyzing section determines that said satisfied policy is abnormal when the number of triggering times of said satisfied policy during the history acquisition period exceeds a predetermined threshold.

4. The policy handling system according to claim 3, further comprising a history acquisition period storage unit which stores a policy and a history acquisition period in association with each other;

wherein the policy operation-log retrieving section comprises a history-acquisition-period acquisition section configured to refers to the history acquisition period storage unit and to acquire the history acquisition period of said satisfied policy.

5. The policy handling system according to claim 4, wherein the policy operation-log retrieving section further comprises a history-acquisition period calculation section configured to calculate an average and a variance of at least one of a past triggered frequency and a triggering time interval, to calculate the history acquisition period based on the calculated average and variance, and to store the obtained history acquisition period in the history acquisition-period storage unit.

6. The policy handling system according to claim 3, further comprising a policy-triggering-count-threshold storage unit which stores a policy and a threshold in association with each other;

wherein the policy execution-pattern analyzing section comprises a policy-triggering-count-threshold acquisition section configured to refer to the policy-triggering-count-threshold storage unit, and to acquire the threshold.

7. The policy handling system according to claim 6, wherein the policy execution-pattern analyzing section comprises a policy-triggering-count-threshold calculation section configured to calculate an average and a variance of a number of triggering times of said satisfied policy during a specific period, to calculate the threshold based on the calculated average and variance, and to store the calculated threshold in the policy-triggering-count-threshold storage unit.

8. The policy handling system according to claim 1 or 2, wherein the policy-operation-log retrieving section comprises a policy-approximation-degree evaluating section configured to determine a degree of approximation between policies based on at least one of the triggering condition and an operation to be executed, and the policy-approximation-degree evaluating section is configured to regard an approximating policy, determined to be approximating said satisfied policy, as the same as said satisfied policy, to acquire, from the policy-operation-log storage unit, a number of triggering times of the approximating policy.

9. The policy handling system according to claim 1 or 2, further comprising a policy flag table which stores said satisfied policy and an influence-degree flag indicating whether or not policy operation abnormality determination processing needs to be performed for said satisfied policy;

wherein the policy-execution-pattern analyzing section comprises a policy flag evaluating section configured to refer to the policy flag table, and to determine whether or not said satisfied policy is abnormal.

10. The policy handling system according to claim 1 or 2,

further comprising a policy database which stores policies;

wherein the at least one processor further comprises a policy executing unit comprising;

an event monitoring section configured to monitor an event generated in a management-targeted system; and

a policy retrieving section configured to refer to the policy database when the event monitoring section detects occurrence of an event corresponding to the triggering condition, and to retrieve said satisfied policy and notify the policy operation-log retrieving section of the retrieved policy.

11. The policy handling system according to claim 10, wherein the policy retrieving section is configured to store the retrieved policy and a retrieval time instant of thereof in the policy operation-log storage unit in association with each other.

12. The policy handling system according to claim 10, wherein the at least one processor further comprises a plurality of the policy executing unit, which are connected to the abnormality detecting unit through a communication line.

13. The policy handling system according to claim 10, further comprising a stopped-policy storage unit which stores a policy for which a trigger is to be stopped;

wherein the policy execution-pattern analyzing section is further configured to store a policy determined to be abnormal in the stopped-policy storage section, and the policy retrieving section comprises a policy-execution controlling section configured to refer to the stopped-policy storage unit and to determine whether or not triggering of said satisfied policy is to be stopped.

14. The policy handling system according to claim 10, further comprising a policy chain information storage unit;

wherein the policy-execution-pattern analyzing section is further configured to register a policy determined to be abnormal in the policy chain information storage unit in association with the triggered frequency and a latest execution time instant of the policy.

15. The policy handling system according to claim 14, wherein the policy retrieving section comprises a policy-execution-interval controlling section configured to calculate, if the retrieved policy has been registered in the policy-chain-information storage unit, an estimated execution time instant of the retrieved policy based on the execution frequency and a latest execution time of the retrieved policy stored in the policy-chain-information storage unit, and causes the operation executing section to delay execution of the retrieved policy until the calculated estimated execution time.

16. The policy handling system according to claim 15, wherein the policy retrieving section is further configured to register the policy for which execution is stopped and estimated execution time instant of the policy in an operation standby table in association with each other, and to cause the operation executing section to execute the policy of which the execution is stopped at the estimated execution time instant registered in the operation standby table.

17. The policy handling system according to claim 14, wherein the policy retrieving section comprises a policy-approximation degree evaluating section configured to determine a degree of approximation between policies based on at least one of the triggering condition and operation to be executed, and to update the execution frequency of the policy determined to be abnormal and execution frequency of a policy determined by the policy approximation-degree evaluating section to be approximating the abnormal policy stored in the policy-chain-information storage unit.

2. A policy handling system for managing a management-targeted system based on at least two or more policies, each of which includes description of a triggering condition for triggering the policy and operation to be executed after triggering, the system comprising:

at least one processor; and

a policy-operation-log storage unit which stores ID of a triggered policy and triggered time in association with each other;

wherein the processor comprises an abnormality detecting unit which comprises;

a policy-operation-log retrieving section configured to receive a notification of a satisfied policy having a triggering condition which is satisfied and subsequently refer to the policy-operation-log-storage unit to acquire a triggered frequency of said satisfied policy;

a policy-execution-pattern analyzing section configured to determine whether or not said satisfied policy is abnormal based on the triggered frequency of said satisfied policy acquired by the policy-operation-log retrieving section;

an operation executing section configured to execute the operation of said satisfied policy when said satisfied policy is determined normal; and

an output unit comprising an abnormality notifying section configured to output a notification that an abnormality occurs in said satisfied policy operation when said satisfied policy is determined abnormal.

18. A method for detecting an abnormity of a policy in a policy handling system for managing a management-targeted system based on at least two or more policies in each of which a triggering condition for triggering the policy and operation to be executed are associated with each other, the method comprising:

a policy-operation-log retrieving section of a processor receiving a notification of a satisfied policy having a triggering condition which is satisfied and subsequently referring to a policy-operation-log storage unit which stores ID of a triggered policy and triggered time in association with each other, to acquire a triggered frequency of said satisfied first policy;

a policy-execution-pattern analyzing section of the processor determining whether or not said satisfied policy is abnormal based on the acquired triggered frequency of said satisfied policy; and

an operation execution section of the processor executing operation of said satisfied policy when said satisfied policy is determined normal; and

stopping executing operation of said satisfied policy when said satisfied policy is determined abnormal.

20. The method for detecting an abnormity of a policy according to claim 18 or 19, wherein

the acquiring the triggered frequency comprises acquiring, from the policy-operation-log storage unit a number of triggering times of said satisfied policy during a history acquisition period before receiving the notification, and

the determining whether or not said satisfied policy is abnormal comprises determining that said satisfied policy is abnormal when the number of triggering times of said satisfied policy during the history acquisition period exceeds a predetermined threshold.

21. The method for detecting an abnormity of a policy according to claim 20, wherein the acquiring the triggered frequency comprises referring to a history-acquisition period storage unit which stores a policy and a history acquisition period in association with each other, and acquiring the history acquisition period of said satisfied policy.

22. The method for detecting an abnormity of a policy according to claim 21, further comprising:

the processor calculating an average and a variance of at least one of a past triggered frequency and a triggering time interval, calculating the history acquisition period of said satisfied policy based on the calculated average and the variance, and storing the obtained history acquisition period in the history acquisition-period storage unit.

23. The method for detecting an abnormity of a policy according to claim 20, wherein the determining whether or not said satisfied policy is abnormal further comprises acquiring the threshold from a policy-triggering-count-threshold storage unit which stores a policy and a threshold in association with each other.

24. The method for detecting an abnormity of a policy according to claim 23, further comprising:

the processor calculating an average and a variance of a number of triggering times of said satisfied policy during a specific period;

calculating the threshold based on the calculated average and variance; and

storing the threshold in the policy-triggering-count-threshold storage unit.

25. The method for detecting an abnormity of a policy according to claim 18 or 19, further comprising the processor determining a degree of approximation between policies based on at least one of the triggering condition and an operation to be executed,

wherein the acquiring the triggered frequency comprises regarding an approximating policy, determined to be approximating said satisfied policy, as the same as said satisfied policy and acquiring, from the policy operation-log storage unit, a number of triggering times of the approximating policy.

26. The method for detecting an abnormality of a policy according to claim 18 or 19, further comprising, before the determining whether or not said satisfied policy is abnormal, the processor referring to a policy flag table, which stores a policy and an influence-degree flag indicating whether or not policy operation-abnormality determination processing needs to be performed for said satisfied policy.

19. A method for detecting an abnormity of a policy in a policy handling system for managing a management-targeted system based on at least two or more policies in each of which a triggering condition for triggering the policy and operation to be executed are associated with each other, the method comprising:

a policy-operation-log retrieving section of a processor receiving a notification of a satisfied policy having a triggering condition which is satisfied and subsequently referring to a policy-operation-log storage unit which stores ID of a triggered policy and triggered time in association with each other, to acquire a triggered frequency of said satisfied policy;

a policy-execution-pattern analyzing section of the processor determining whether or not said satisfied policy is abnormal based on the acquired triggered frequency of said satisfied policy;

an operation execution section of the processor executing operation of said satisfied policy when said satisfied policy is determined normal; and

an output unit outputting a notification that an abnormality occurs in said satisfied policy operation when said satisfied policy is determined abnormal.

27. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program on which a central processing unit (CPU) is run for managing a management-targeted system based on at least two or more policies in each of which a triggering condition for triggering the policy and operation to be executed are associated with each other, the program being configured to cause the CPU to perform the operations of:

receiving a notification of a satisfied policy having a triggering condition which is satisfied, and subsequently referring to a policy-operation-log storage unit which stores ID of a triggered policy and triggered time in association with each other, to acquire a triggered frequency of said satisfied policy;

determining whether or not said satisfied policy is abnormal based on the acquired triggered frequency of said satisfied policy; and

executing operation of said satisfied policy when said satisfied policy is determined normal; and

stopping executing operation of said satisfied policy when said satisfied policy is determined abnormal.

29. The program according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the acquiring the triggered frequency comprises acquiring a the number of triggering times of the policy during a history acquisition period before receiving the notification, and the determining whether or not said satisfied policy is abnormal comprises determining that said satisfied policy is abnormal when the number of triggering times of said satisfied policy during the history acquisition period exceeds a predetermined threshold.

30. The program according to claim 29, wherein the acquiring the triggered frequency comprises referring to a history-acquisition-period storage unit which stores a policy and a history acquisition period in association with each other, and acquiring the history acquisition period of said satisfied policy.

31. The program according to claim 30, wherein the program is further configured to cause the CPU to perform:

calculating an average and a variance of at least one of past triggered frequency and triggering time interval and calculating the history acquisition period based on the calculated average and the variance, and storing the obtained history acquisition period in the history-acquisition period storage unit.

32. The program according to claim 29, wherein the determining whether or not said satisfied policy is abnormal further comprises acquiring the threshold from a policy-triggering-count-threshold storage unit which stores a policy and a threshold in association with each other.

33. The program according to claim 32, wherein the program is further configured to cause the CPU to perform:

calculating an average and a variance of a number of triggering times of said satisfied policy during a specific period, calculating the threshold based on the calculated average and variance, and storing the threshold in the policy-triggering-count-threshold storage unit.

34. The program according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the program is further configured to cause the CPU to perform:

determining a degree of approximation between policies based on at least one of triggering condition and an operation to be executed,

wherein the acquiring the triggered frequency comprises regarding an approximating policy, determined to be approximating said satisfied policy, as said satisfied policy and acquiring, from the policy-operation-log storage unit, a number of triggering times of the approximating policy.

35. The program according to claim 27 or 28, wherein the program is further configured to cause the CPU to perform:

before determining whether said satisfied policy is abnormal or not, referring to a policy flag table which stores a policy and an influence-degree flag indicating whether or not the policy operation-abnormality determination processing needs to be performed for said satisfied policy.

28. A non-transitory computer readable medium encoded with a computer program on which a central processing unit (CPU) is run for managing a management-targeted system based on at least two or more policies in each of which a triggering condition for triggering the policy and operation to be executed are associated with each other, the program being configured to cause the CPU to perform the operations of:

receiving a notification of a satisfied policy having a triggering condition which is satisfied and subsequently referring to a policy-operation-log storage unit which stores ID of a triggered policy and triggered time in association with each other to acquire a triggered frequency;

determining whether or not said satisfied policy is abnormal based on the acquired triggered frequency of said satisfied policy;

executing operation of said satisfied policy when said satisfied policy is determined normal; and

outputting a notification that an abnormality occurs in said satisfied policy operation when the said satisfied policy is determined abnormal.