Projecting an effect, using a pairing construct, of execution of a proposed action on a computing environment

• US 8,990,810 B2
• Filed: 12/28/2007
• Issued: 03/24/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 12/28/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Bobak, Mythili K., McConnell, Tim A., Swanson, Michael D.
• Primary Examiner(s): KESSLER, GREGORY AARON
• Application Number:
  US11/965,913
• Publication Number:
  US 20090172688A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,643 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 718/100
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06 Resources, workflows, human or project management; Enterprise or organisation planning; Enterprise or organisation modelling

Abstract

The projected effect of executing a proposed action on the computing environment is determined. Based on the projected effect, programmatic enforcement of whether the action is allowed to execute or not is provided. The action is selected based on the current status of the environment.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of managing processing within a computing environment, said computer-implemented method comprising:

projecting an effect on the computing environment of execution of a proposed action, said proposed action selected based on real-time conditions of the computing environment, and wherein the projecting the effect comprises;

selecting from a data structure at least one pairing construct of a plurality of pairing constructs explicitly specified in the data structure, the at least one pairing construct providing an external expression of resources, relationships among the resources, and operations to be taken on the resources, the selecting being based on an indication of an input resource and resource operation data; and

using the at least one pairing construct in projecting the effect of the proposed action, wherein a pairing construct of the at least one pairing construct explicitly specified in the data structure and to be used in projecting the effect of the proposed action includes an external expression of an indication of a resource associated with the proposed action, an external expression of a particular operation on the resource, and an external expression of an indication of an effect the particular operation on the resource will have on a state of that resource or another entity within the computing environment, wherein the external expression of the indication of the effect the particular operation will have is customer-defined and alterable during runtime, in which specification of at least one of operation effect and constraint information is dynamically alterable; and

programmatically determining, based on the projected effect, whether the proposed action is to be executed or is to be prevented from being executed.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein said resource is shared by a plurality of business applications of the computing environment.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the proposed action has a non-shared resource associated therewith, and wherein the projected effect is based on a changed state of the non-shared resource.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the projected effect comprises degrading the resource or another resource.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the pairing construct includes an operation effect pairing used to specify the effect executing the operation on the resource has on the state of the resource or the another entity.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the projected effect comprises at least one of having no unacceptable effect on the resource or another resource, degrading the resource or another resource, failing the resource or another resource, making unavailable the resource or another resource.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the proposed action is for a business application of the computing environment, and wherein the projected effect comprises at least one of no unacceptable effect on another business application, a failure of another business application, or a degrading of another business application.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 7, wherein the projecting the effect takes into consideration criticality of at least one of the business application and the another business application.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the programmatically determining comprises using one or more effect conditions to determine whether the proposed action is to be executed.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 9, wherein the one or more effect conditions are included in one or more constraint pairings used to make the determination.

11. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the proposed action is directed by at least two management components of the computing environment.

12. A computer system to manage processing within a computing 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;

projecting an effect on the computing environment of execution of a proposed action, said proposed action selected based on real-time conditions of the computing environment, and wherein the projecting the effect comprises;

selecting from a data structure at least one pairing construct of a plurality of pairing constructs explicitly specified in the data structure, the at least one pairing construct providing an external expression of resources, relationships among the resources, and operations to be taken on the resources, the selecting being based on an indication of an input resource and resource operation data; and

using the at least one pairing construct in projecting the effect of the proposed action, wherein a pairing construct of the at least one pairing construct explicitly specified in the data structure and to be used in projecting the effect of the proposed action includes an external expression of an indication of a resource associated with the proposed action, an external expression of a particular operation on the resource, and an indication of an effect the particular operation on the resource will have on a state of that resource or another entity within the computing environment, wherein the external expression of the indication of the effect the particular operation will have is customer-defined and alterable during runtime, in which specification of at least one of operation effect and constraint information is dynamically alterable; and

programmatically determining, based on the projected effect, whether the proposed action is to be executed or is to be prevented from being executed.

13. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the resource is shared by a plurality of business applications of the computing environment.

14. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the action has a non-shared resource associated therewith, and wherein the projected effect is based on a changed state of the non-shared resource.

15. The computer system of claim 12, wherein the projected effect comprises degrading the resource or another resource.

16. A computer program product for managing processing within a computing environment, said 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;

projecting an effect on the computing environment of execution of a proposed action, said proposed action selected based on real-time conditions of the computing environment, and wherein the projecting the effect comprises;

selecting from a data structure at least one pairing construct of a plurality of pairing constructs explicitly specified in the data structure, the at least one pairing structure providing an external expression of resources, relationships among the resources, and operations to be taken on the resources, and wherein the selecting is based on an indication of an input resource and resource operation data; and

using the at least one pairing construct in projecting the effect of the proposed action, wherein a pairing construct of the at least one pairing construct explicitly specified in the data structure and to be used in projecting the effect of the proposed action includes an external expression of an indication of a resource associated with the proposed action, an external expression of a particular operation on the resource, and an external expression of an indication of an effect the particular operation on the resource will have on a state of that resource or another entity within the computing environment, wherein the external expression of the indication of the effect the particular operation will have is customer-defined and alterable during runtime, in which specification of at least one of operation effect and constraint information is dynamically alterable; and

programmatically determining, based on the projected effect, whether the proposed action is to be executed or is to be prevented from being executed.

17. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the resource is shared by a plurality of business applications of the computing environment.

18. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the action has a non-shared resource associated therewith, and wherein the projected effect is based on a changed state of the non-shared resource.

19. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the projected effect comprises degrading the resource or another resource.

20. The computer program product of claim 16, wherein the proposed action is for a business application of the computing environment, and wherein the projected effect comprises at least one of no unacceptable effect on another business application, a failure of another business application, or a degrading of another business application.