Flexible delegation of management function for self-managing resources

• US 8,719,400 B2
• Filed: 03/02/2010
• Issued: 05/06/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 03/02/2010
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Brittenham, Peter James, Lindquist, David Bruce, Subramanian, Balan
• Primary Examiner(s): Avellino, Joseph E
• Assistant Examiner(s): KHAN, AFTAB N
• Application Number:
  US12/715,411
• Publication Number:
  US 20110219068A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,526 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 709/220, 709/221, 714/25, 714/48, 717/177
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 15/16 Combinations of two or more digital computers each having at least an arithmetic unit, a program unit and a register, e.g. for a simultaneous processing of several programs coordinating program control therefor G06F9/52; in regulating and control system G05B
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/00 Information retrieval; Database structures therefor; File system structures therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/044 comprising hierarchical management structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0896 Bandwidth or capacity management, i.e. automatically increasing or decreasing capacities flow or congestion control using dynamic resource allocation, e.g. in-call renegotiation, H04L47/76
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning

Abstract

Included are method, article of manufacture, and device that serve to identify the status of a network resource along with whether the network resource is a self-managing resource. When autonomic management capabilities are identified, an autonomic management rule for management of the network resource may be generated and sent, over a network, for receipt and use by the identified self-managing resource.

Claims

1. An autonomic management device comprising:

a bus;

memory coupled to the bus; and

a microprocessor coupled to the bus, wherein the microprocessor is programmed to

randomly or periodically monitor one or more network resources for detecting an anomaly with subscription or performance criteria associated with the one or more network resources wherein the network resource is either an autonomic manager or a self-managing resource of the network;

identify a real-time and historic pattern of data flow sent across the network and accompanying real-time and historic patterns of resource action based on the data flow;

after identifying the pattern of data flow and the accompanying pattern of resource action based on the data flow, generate an autonomic management rule for management of the network resource based on detecting an anomaly with a monitored resource, where detecting includes evaluating autonomic manager resource load indications or Service Level Agreement (SLA) minimum thresholds, or pattern existence, or improper load, or level of SLA is not being met;

determine whether a monitored resource is a resource in a cluster of application resources;

the autonomic management rule comprising instruction code;

the autonomic management rule being dynamically moveable from hierarchical management resources, to peer-management network resources, to self-management network resources;

the autonomic management rule includes at least one or more of;

instructions for storage allocation, or task prioritization, or subscription of a resource over the network;

the autonomic management rule associated with the identified real-time and historic pattern of data flow and the accompanying real-time and historic pattern of resource action based on the data flow; and

,

after identifying the status of the network resource, send the autonomic management rule, over the network, for receipt by the network resource or to a location that can accept the autonomic management rule near the network resource.

2. The autonomic management device of claim 1 wherein the microprocessor is further programmed to

retrieve, for execution, an autonomic management rule from a network resource, and execute the autonomic management rule and

identify the status of a network resource.

3. The autonomic management device of claim 1 wherein the instructions generated for the resource to execute are executed by the resource when the resource has network access and does not have network access.

4. The autonomic management device of claim 1 wherein the autonomic management rule is sent from a first network with the microprocessor, to a second network with a network resource and without the autonomic manager.

5. The autonomic management device of claim 1 wherein the microprocessor is further programmed to bundle resources that share one or more functions into a group, wherein, after identifying the status of the network resource, the autonomic management rule is sent to a resource in the group.

6. The autonomic management device of claim 1, further programmed to:

retrieve from a database, stored autonomic management rules and data; and

compare the retrieved autonomic management rules and the data with data extracted from data flows in a network.

7. The autonomic management device of claim 1 wherein the autonomic management rule comprises code for power settings and limitations, memory settings, prioritization of tasks within a network resource, and service offerings for a network resource.

8. The autonomic management device of claim 1 further programmed to change one or more subscriptions to a network resource when sending an autonomic management rule or a bundle of autonomic management rules.

9. The autonomic management device of claim 1 further programmed to:

monitor an application server to determine whether or not its performance is impacted by self-management processing.

10. The autonomic management device of claim 1 further programmed to:

instruct a self-managing network resource to stop executing autonomic management rules when the processor recognizes a decrease in performance of the self-managing network resource; and

regain responsibility for management of that self-managing network resource.

11. The autonomic management device of claim 1 wherein the real-time and historic patterns of data flow comprises one or more of the following:

a relationship between the resource from which data was received and the resource on which action is taken, or

a subscription made and satisfied over the network, or

a subscription requests made over the network, or

data collection and the associated burden for collection, or

data collected and the associated use of the data, or

the size of a data stream and its impact on network, or

the size of a data stream and its impact on network traffic as compared to corrective action.

12. A nontransitory article of manufacture comprising:

a nontransitory computer readable medium, the medium containing instructions, which when executed, cause a microprocessor to

identify the status of a network resource and whether the network resource is a self-managing resource,

determine whether a monitored resource is a resource in a cluster of application resources,

randomly or periodically monitor one or more network resources for detecting an anomaly with subscription or performance criteria associated with the one or more network resources wherein the network resource is either an autonomic manager or a self-managing resource;

identify a real-time and historic pattern of data flow sent across a network and accompanying real-time and historic patterns of resource action over the network;

after identifying the pattern of data flow and the accompanying pattern of resource action, generate an autonomic management rule for management of the network resource based on detecting an anomaly with a monitored resource, where detecting includes evaluating autonomic manager resource load indications, or Service Level Agreement (SLA) minimum thresholds, or pattern existence, or improper load, or level of SLA is not being met;

the autonomic management rule comprising instruction code;

the autonomic management rule being dynamically moveable from hierarchical management resources, to peer-management network resources, to self-management network resources;

the autonomic management rule including at least one or more instructions for storage allocation or task prioritization, or subscription of a resource over the network;

the autonomic management rule associated with the identified real-time and historic pattern of data flow and the accompanying real-time and historic pattern of resource action; and

after identifying the status of the network resource, send the autonomic management rule, over a network, for receipt by the network resource or for receipt nearby the network resource.

13. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein the instructions also cause a microprocessor to retrieve, for execution, an autonomic management rule from a network resource, and execute the autonomic management rule.

14. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein the instructions also cause a microprocessor to send autonomic management rules from a first network with the microprocessor, to a second network, with a network resource that is a self-managing resource.

15. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein the instructions also cause a microprocessor to bundle resources that share one or more functions into a group, wherein, after identifying the status of the network resource, send the autonomic management rule to a resource in the group.

16. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein the instructions also cause a microprocessor to:

retrieve from a database, stored autonomic management rules and data; and

compare the retrieved autonomic management rules and the data with data extracted from data flows in a network.

17. The article of manufacture of claim 12 wherein the medium contains further instructions, which when executed cause the microprocessor to:

monitor performance of a self-managing resource and compare this monitored performance to a standard set in a service level agreement, and

if the service level agreement standard is not met, adjust the management function performed by the self-managing resource or retake management responsibility for the self-managing resource.