Real-time information technology environments

• US 8,775,591 B2
• Filed: 12/22/2010
• Issued: 07/08/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2007
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bobak, Mythili K., Chang, Chun-Shi, McConnell, Tim A., Swanson, Michael D.
• Primary Examiner(s): GEORGANDELLIS, ANDREW C
• Application Number:
  US12/975,520
• Publication Number:
  US 20110093853A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,294 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0654 using network fault recovery ring fault isolation or reconfiguration in loop networks without recovery actions by a network management system H04L12/437
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/085 Retrieval of network configuration; Tracking network configuration history
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

Real-time data of business applications of an Information Technology environment is monitored to obtain information to be used in managing the environment. A business application includes processing collectively performed by a plurality of components of the environment. A component includes one or more resources, and therefore, in one example, the real-time data being monitored is associated with those resources.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of facilitating management of an Information Technology (IT) environment, said computer-implemented method comprising:

performing, by a processor coupled to a memory, monitoring for a chosen business application of the IT environment, the business application including a set of resources and relationships associated with those resources and having a quantifiable management goal explicitly defined for the business application, the performing monitoring being programmatically initiated based on the set of resources and meeting the quantifiable management goal, said performing monitoring comprising monitoring selected real-time data located in a cache and associated with the set of resources and relationships of the business application, and wherein the performing monitoring comprises requesting information about one or more resources of the set of resources of the business application, the requesting comprising providing a group of requests to request the information, and altering a number of requests in the group of requests to meet the quantifiable management goal explicitly defined for the business application;

updating at least a portion of the cache based on the monitoring;

determining, based on an action to be taken, whether real-time data in the cache associated with the action is sufficient, in terms of being current, to be used for the action and to meet the quantifiable management goal explicitly defined for the business application;

using real-time data in the cache for the action, based on the determining indicating sufficiency for the action to be taken; and

updating at least a portion of the real-time data in the cache to obtain more recent data for the action, based on the determining indicating insufficiency.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the set of resources comprises at least one of a computer system, an operating system, a database, a transaction monitor, a storage facility, a network connection, an application container, an application, vendor provided hardware or vendor provided software.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, further comprising forming a definition of the business application, the definition comprising a Recovery Segment.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the selected real-time data comprises at least one of state data, property/value data, operation execution time duration for one or more operations on a resource or performance data.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 4, further comprising maintaining running statistics on operation execution time duration.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring comprises periodic gathering of the selected real-time data.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein a frequency of the periodic gathering is dynamically adjusted.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the periodic gathering is commenced based on notification of a change associated with the business application.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the periodic gathering is commenced based on initiation of a periodic poll.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the monitoring reflects a dynamic change in topology of the business application.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 10, wherein the dynamic change in topology comprises at least one of adding a resource to the business application, deleting a resource from the business application, adding a resource relationship to the business application or deleting a resource relationship from the business application.

12. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the action comprises one of specification of triggers in determining operational dependency ordering or assessment of state for resources when a recovery action is to be formulated.

13. A computer system for facilitating management of an Information Technology (IT) environment, said computer system comprising:

a memory; and

a processor in communications with the memory, wherein the computer system is configured to perform a method, said method comprising;

performing monitoring for a chosen business application of the IT environment, the business application including a set of resources and relationships associated with those resources and having a quantifiable management goal explicitly defined for the business application, the performing monitoring being programmatically initiated based on the set of resources and meeting the quantifiable management goal, said performing monitoring comprising monitoring selected real-time data located in a cache and associated with the set of resources and relationships of the business application, and wherein the performing monitoring comprises requesting information about one or more resources of the set of resources of the business application, the requesting comprising providing a group of requests to request the information, and altering a number of requests in the group of requests to meet the quantifiable management goal explicitly defined for the business application;

updating at least a portion of the cache based on the monitoring;

determining, based on an action to be taken, whether real-time data in the cache associated with the action is sufficient, in terms of being current, to be used for the action and to meet the quantifiable management goal explicitly defined for the business application;

using real-time data in the cache for the action, based on the determining indicating sufficiency for the action to be taken; and

updating at least a portion of the real-time data in the cache to obtain more recent data for the action, based on the determining indicating insufficiency.

14. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the monitoring comprises periodic gathering of the selected real-time data.

15. The computer system of claim 13, wherein the monitoring reflects a dynamic change in topology of the business application.

16. A computer program product for facilitating management of an Information Technology (IT) environment, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable storage medium readable by a processor and storing instructions for execution by the processor for performing a method comprising;

performing monitoring for a chosen business application of the IT environment, the business application including a set of resources and relationships associated with those resources and having a quantifiable management goal explicitly defined for the business application, the performing monitoring being programmatically initiated based on the set of resources and meeting the quantifiable management goal, said performing monitoring comprising monitoring selected real-time data located in a cache and associated with the set of resources and relationships of the business application, and wherein the performing monitoring comprises requesting information about one or more resources of the set of resources of the business application, the requesting comprising providing a group of requests to request the information, and altering a number of requests in the group of requests to meet the quantifiable management goal explicitly defined for the business application;

updating at least a portion of the cache based on the monitoring;

determining, based on an action to be taken, whether real-time data in the cache associated with the action is sufficient, in terms of being current, to be used for the action and to meet the quantifiable management goal explicitly defined for the business application;

using real-time data in the cache for the action, based on the determining indicating sufficiency for the action to be taken; and

updating at least a portion of the real-time data in the cache to obtain more recent data for the action, based on the determining indicating insufficiency.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the monitoring comprises periodic gathering of the selected real-time data.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the monitoring reflects a dynamic change in topology of the business application.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the action comprises one of specification of triggers in determining operational dependency ordering or assessment of state for resources when a recovery action is to be formulated.

20. A computer-implemented method of facilitating management of an Information Technology (IT) environment, said computer-implemented method comprising:

performing, by a processor coupled to a memory, monitoring for a chosen business application of the IT environment, the business application including a set of resources and relationships associated with those resources and having a quantifiable management goal explicitly defined for the business application, and the performing monitoring being programmatically initiated based on the set of resources and meeting the quantifiable management goal, said performing monitoring comprising monitoring selected real-time data located in a cache and associated with the set of resources and relationships of the business application;

updating at least a portion of the cache based on the monitoring;

determining, based on an action to be taken, whether real-time data in the cache associated with the action is sufficient, in terms of being current, to be used for the action and to meet the quantifiable management goal explicitly defined for the business application, wherein the action comprises one of specification of triggers in determining operational dependency ordering or assessment of state for resources when a recovery action is to be formulated;

using real-time data in the cache for the action, based on the determining indicating sufficiency for the action to be taken; and

updating at least a portion of the real-time data in the cache to obtain more recent data for the action, based on the determining indicating insufficiency.