Weighted determination in configuration management systems
First Claim
1. A method for resolving conflicting details in configuration reports comprising:
- receiving by a computer a plurality of configuration reports, the received reports reflecting configuration states or configuration state changes about a single configurable item, the configurable item having a plurality of reported configurable elements, the configuration reports being received from a plurality of different sources and being of unknown correctness regarding actual states of the single configurable item and its one or more installed elements;
assigning by a computer a weight value to each reported single configurable element which conflicts with another reported single configurable element in the configuration reports using one or more computer-based weighting rules, wherein the rules comprise a determination of a likelihood of correctness of each conflicting reported element actually being present and enabled in the configurable item, and wherein the conflict comprises at least one element detail selected from the group consisting of revision level, version level, patch level, capacity, license status, age, percentage of capacity used, percentage of capacity unused, installation date, and removal date, and excluding operational fault status;
resolving by a computer each conflict by selecting by a computer only one of each of the conflicting elements having greater assigned likelihood of correctness weight values and preferences; and
creating by a computer a new configuration report for the selected single configurable item by producing a report containing only the single selected configurable elements having the greater likelihood of being present and enabled in the configurable item, and omitting non-selected configurable elements.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A system, method, and medium for providing configurable item configuration data by receiving a plurality of configuration data sets from a plurality of sources, all which pertain to the same configurable item (CI), then using weighting rules and preferences to assign weight values for each option, feature, and component in each report according to discrepancies and commonalities between the data sets, creating a new data set for the configurable item by selecting options, features, and components having the greatest weight values among all of the data sets, assigning confidence factors to each option, feature, and component by weight comparisons between the plurality of data sets; updating a configuration management database entry for the configurable item accordingly. The confidence factors are useful for inhibiting regulated processes, such as software release processes and change control processes, and for generating human-readable configuration reports indicating confidence levels of the reports and their contents.
86 Citations
33 Claims
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1. A method for resolving conflicting details in configuration reports comprising:
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receiving by a computer a plurality of configuration reports, the received reports reflecting configuration states or configuration state changes about a single configurable item, the configurable item having a plurality of reported configurable elements, the configuration reports being received from a plurality of different sources and being of unknown correctness regarding actual states of the single configurable item and its one or more installed elements; assigning by a computer a weight value to each reported single configurable element which conflicts with another reported single configurable element in the configuration reports using one or more computer-based weighting rules, wherein the rules comprise a determination of a likelihood of correctness of each conflicting reported element actually being present and enabled in the configurable item, and wherein the conflict comprises at least one element detail selected from the group consisting of revision level, version level, patch level, capacity, license status, age, percentage of capacity used, percentage of capacity unused, installation date, and removal date, and excluding operational fault status; resolving by a computer each conflict by selecting by a computer only one of each of the conflicting elements having greater assigned likelihood of correctness weight values and preferences; and creating by a computer a new configuration report for the selected single configurable item by producing a report containing only the single selected configurable elements having the greater likelihood of being present and enabled in the configurable item, and omitting non-selected configurable elements. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 24, 25)
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12. A computer program product for resolving conflicting details in configuration reports comprising:
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one or more computer readable memory devices suitable for encoding software programs; and one or more computer instructions encoded by the one or more computer readable memory devices for causing a processor to; receive a plurality of configuration reports, the configuration reports reflecting configuration states or configuration state changes about a single configurable item, the configurable item having a plurality of reported configurable elements, the configuration reports being received from a plurality of different sources and being of unknown correctness regarding actual states of said single configurable item and its one or more installed elements; assign a weight value to each reported single configurable element which conflicts with another reported single configurable element in the configuration reports using one or more computer-based weighting rules, wherein the rules comprise a determination of a likelihood of correctness of each conflicting reported element actually being present and enabled in the configurable item, and wherein the conflict comprises at least one element detail selected from the group consisting of revision level, version level, patch level, capacity, license status, age, percentage of capacity used, percentage of capacity unused, installation date, and removal date, and excluding operational fault status; resolve each conflict by selecting only one of each of the conflicting elements having greater assigned likelihood of correctness weight values and preferences; and create a new configuration report for the selected single configurable item by producing a report containing only the single selected configurable elements having the greater likelihood of being present and enabled in the configurable item, and omitting non-selected configurable elements. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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23. A system for resolving conflicting details in configuration reports comprising:
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a computing platform having a processor; a receiver portion of the computing platform for receiving a plurality of configuration reports, the received reports reflecting configuration states or configuration state changes about a single configurable item, the configurable item having a plurality of reported configurable elements, the configuration reports being received from a plurality of different sources and being of unknown correctness regarding actual states of the single configurable and its one or more installed configurable elements; a weight assigner portion of the computing platform for assigning a weight value to each reported single configurable element which conflicts with another reported single configurable element in the received configuration using one or more computer-based weighting rules, wherein the rules comprise a determination of a likelihood of correctness of each conflicting reported element actually being present and enabled in the configurable item, and wherein the conflict comprises at least one element detail selected from the group consisting of revision level, version level, patch level, capacity, license status, age, percentage of capacity used, percentage of capacity unused, installation date, and removal date, and excluding operational fault status; a resolver portion of the computing system for resolving each conflict by selecting only one of each of the conflicting elements having greater assigned likelihood of correctness weight values and preferences; and a report creator portion of the computing platform for creating a new configuration report for the selected single configurable item by producing a report containing only the selected configurable elements having the greater likelihood of being present and enabled in the configurable item and omitting non-selected configurable elements. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33)
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Specification