System and method for determining whether to reschedule malware scans based on power-availability information for a power grid and power-usage information for the scans

• US 9,052,904 B1
• Filed: 09/05/2008
• Issued: 06/09/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 09/05/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Gen Digital Inc.
• Original Assignee: Symantec Corporation (NortonLifeLock Inc.)
• Inventors: Cooley, Shaun, Newstadt, Keith
• Primary Examiner(s): Huisman, David J
• Application Number:
  US12/204,893
• Time in Patent Office: 2,468 Days
• Field of Search: 700/295, 705/7.22, 705/412, 713/300, 713/310, 713/320, 713/340, 718/102
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 1/329 by task scheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/56 Computer malware detection or handling, e.g. anti-virus arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4893 taking into account power or heat criteria power management in computers in general G06F1/3203; thermal management in computers in general G06F1/206
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/06312 Adjustment or analysis of established resource schedule, e.g. resource or task levelling, or dynamic rescheduling
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 50/06 Energy or water supply
• CPC Class Codes: Y02D 10/00 Energy efficient computing, e.g. low power processors, power management or thermal management
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 20/222 Demand response systems, e.g. load shedding, peak shaving
• CPC Class Codes: Y04S 40/20 Information technology specific aspects, e.g. CAD, simulation, modelling, system security

Abstract

A computer-implemented method for determining whether to reschedule tasks on computing devices based on power-availability information for a power grid may comprise: 1) identifying at least one task scheduled to execute on a computing device, 2) receiving power-availability information for the power grid, and then 3) determining, based on the power-availability information, whether to reschedule the task. Corresponding systems and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

Claims

1. A system for determining whether to reschedule tasks on a plurality of computing devices based on needs of a power grid, the system comprising:

a task-scheduling module and a power-estimation module programmed to;

receive power-availability information for the power grid from a power utility that supplies power via the power grid, wherein the power-availability information identifies a low level of power availability on the power grid;

identify a plurality of instances of a scan for malicious software that are scheduled to simultaneously execute on the plurality of computing devices at a scheduled time;

calculate a power-usage delta for the instances of the scan for malicious software that identifies an estimated amount of power required to simultaneously execute the instances of the scan for malicious software on the plurality of computing devices by measuring an amount of power that is expected to be consumed by the plurality of computing devices when simultaneously executing the instances of the scan, wherein measuring the amount of power that is expected to be consumed by the plurality of computing devices when simultaneously executing the instances of the scan comprises;

measuring an amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are not idle;

estimating a percentage of the plurality of computing devices'"'"' resources that the instances of the scan for malicious software will consume;

subtracting an amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are idle from the amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are not idle; and

multiplying a result of subtracting the amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are idle from the amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are not idle by the estimated percentage;

determine, by analyzing both the power-availability information and the estimated amount of power required to simultaneously execute the instances of the scan for malicious software on the plurality of computing devices, whether the estimated amount of power required to simultaneously execute the instances of the scan for malicious software on the plurality of computing devices is low enough to allow the instances of the scan for malicious software to simultaneously execute on the plurality of computing devices at the scheduled time despite the low level of power availability on the power grid; and

determine, based on the determination of whether the estimated amount of power required to simultaneously execute the instances of the scan for malicious software on the plurality of computing devices is low enough to allow the instances of the scan for malicious software to simultaneously execute on the plurality of computing devices at the scheduled time despite the low level of power availability on the power grid, whether to reschedule the instances of the scan for malicious software to a different time; and

at least one processor configured to execute the task-scheduling module and the power-estimation module.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein:

the task-scheduling module and the power-estimation module are further programmed to identify one or more characteristics of at least one scan from within the plurality of instances of the scan by retrieving at least one of central processing unit usage, disk-usage, and memory-usage information stored as metadata with the at least one scan.

3. A computer-implemented method for determining whether to reschedule tasks on a plurality of computing devices based on needs of a power grid, the method comprising:

receiving power-availability information for the power grid from a power utility that supplies power via the power grid, wherein the power-availability information identifies a low level of power availability on the power grid;

identifying a plurality of instances of a scan for malicious software that are scheduled to simultaneously execute on the plurality of computing devices at a scheduled time;

calculating a power-usage delta for the instances of the scan for malicious software that identifies an estimated amount of power required to simultaneously execute the instances of the scan for malicious software on the plurality of computing devices by measuring an amount of power that is expected to be consumed by the plurality of computing devices when simultaneously executing the instances of the scan, wherein measuring the amount of power that is expected to be consumed by the plurality of computing devices when simultaneously executing the instances of the scan comprises;

measuring an amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are not idle;

estimating a percentage of the plurality of computing devices'"'"' resources that the instances of the scan for malicious software will consume;

subtracting an amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are idle from the amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are not idle; and

multiplying a result of subtracting the amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are idle from the amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are not idle by the estimated percentage;

determining, by analyzing both the power-availability information and the estimated amount of power required to simultaneously execute the instances of the scan for malicious software on the plurality of computing devices, whether the estimated amount of power required to simultaneously execute the instances of the scan for malicious software on the plurality of computing devices is low enough to allow the instances of the scan for malicious software to simultaneously execute on the plurality of computing devices at the scheduled time despite the low level of power availability on the power grid; and

determining, based on the determination of whether the estimated amount of power required to simultaneously execute the instances of the scan for malicious software on the plurality of computing devices is low enough to allow the instances of the scan for malicious software to simultaneously execute on the plurality of computing devices at the scheduled time despite the low level of power availability on the power grid, whether to reschedule the instances of the scan for malicious software to a different time;

wherein the method is performed by at least one hardware processor.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the power-availability information comprises at least one of:

power-capacity information for the power grid; and

power-usage information for the power grid.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising calculating, based on the power-capacity information and the power-usage information, an amount of power available on the power grid.

6. The method of claim 3, wherein the power-availability information identifies at least one of:

an amount of power currently available on the power grid; and

an amount of power expected to be available on the power grid at a future time.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein the power-availability information comprises at least one of:

computer-readable information; and

human-readable information.

8. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

identifying at least one characteristic of at least one scan from within the plurality of instances of the scan; and

transmitting the at least one characteristic of the at least one scan to a power-management mechanism.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the at least one characteristic of the at least one scan comprises at least one of:

when the at least one scan is expected to execute on at least one of the plurality of computing devices;

an expected duration of the at least one scan;

the estimated amount of power required to execute the at least one scan on at least one of the plurality of computing devices; and

a level of urgency for the at least one scan.

10. The method of claim 8, further comprising transmitting, to the power-management mechanism, a request for a task permit to allow the instances of the scan for malicious software to execute on the plurality of computing devices.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising receiving the task permit from the power-management mechanism.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the task permit specifies a preferred time for executing the instances of the scan for malicious software.

13. The method of claim 11, further comprising, in response to receiving the task permit from the power-management mechanism:

executing the instances of the scan for malicious software in accordance with the task permit;

or

executing the instances of the scan for malicious software in a manner that is not in accordance with the task permit.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising receiving a power-usage discount for executing the instances of the scan for malicious software in accordance with the task permit.

15. The method of claim 3, wherein the power grid comprises at least one of:

a power plant;

an electrical generator; and

a solar panel.

16. The method of claim 3, wherein receiving the power-availability information comprises forecasting the power-availability information based on data trends.

17. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

identifying one or more characteristics of at least one scan from within the plurality of instances of the scan by retrieving at least one of central processing unit usage, disk-usage, and memory-usage information stored as metadata with the at least one scan.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising one or more computer-executable instructions that, when executed by a hardware device that comprises at least one processor, cause the hardware device to:

receive power-availability information for a power grid from a power utility that supplies power via the power grid, wherein the power-availability information identifies a low level of power availability on the power grid;

identify a plurality of instances of a scan for malicious software that are scheduled to simultaneously execute on a plurality of computing devices at a scheduled time;

calculate a power-usage delta for the instances of the scan for malicious software that identifies an estimated amount of power required to simultaneously execute the instances of the scan for malicious software on the plurality of computing devices by measuring an amount of power that is expected to be consumed by the plurality of computing devices when simultaneously executing the instances of the scan, wherein measuring the amount of power that is expected to be consumed by the plurality of computing devices when simultaneously executing the instances of the scan comprises;

measuring an amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are not idle;

estimating a percentage of the plurality of computing devices'"'"' resources that the instances of the scan for malicious software will consume;

subtracting an amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are idle from the amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are not idle; and

multiplying a result of subtracting the amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are idle from the amount of power consumed by the plurality of computing devices when the plurality of computing devices are not idle by the estimated percentage;

determine by analyzing both the power-availability information and the estimated amount of power required to simultaneously execute the instances of the scan for malicious software on the plurality of computing devices, whether the estimated amount of power required to simultaneously execute the instances of the scan for malicious software on the plurality of computing devices is low enough to allow the instances of the scan for malicious software to simultaneously execute on the plurality of computing devices at the scheduled time despite the low level of power availability on the power grid; and

determine, based on the determination of whether the estimated amount of power required to simultaneously execute the instances of the scan for malicious software on the plurality of computing devices is low enough to allow the instances of the scan for malicious software to simultaneously execute on the plurality of computing devices at the scheduled time despite the low level of power availability on the power grid, whether to reschedule the instances of the scan for malicious software to a different time.