Determining a number of unique incidents in a plurality of incidents for incident processing in a distributed processing system

• US 9,389,943 B2
• Filed: 01/07/2014
• Issued: 07/12/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 01/07/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Boger, Lynn A.
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, KAMINI B
• Application Number:
  US14/148,829
• Publication Number:
  US 20150193295A1
• Time in Patent Office: 917 Days
• Field of Search: 714/20, 709/203, 709/223, 709/224
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0709 in a distributed system consisting of a plurality of standalone computer nodes, e.g. clusters, client-server systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0748 in a remote unit communicating with a single-box computer node experiencing an error/fault remote testing G06F11/2294
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0775 Content or structure details of the error report, e.g. specific table structure, specific error fields
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0781 Error filtering or prioritizing based on a policy defined by the user or on a policy defined by a hardware/software module, e.g. according to a severity level
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0787 Storage of error reports, e.g. persistent data storage, storage using memory protection
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3072 where the reporting involves data filtering, e.g. pattern matching, time or event triggered, adaptive or policy-based reporting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/34 Recording or statistical evaluation of computer activity, e.g. of down time, of input/output operation ; Recording or statistical evaluation of user activity, e.g. usability assessment
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0618 based on the physical or logical position
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters

Abstract

Methods, apparatuses, and computer program products for determining a number of unique incidents in a plurality of incidents for incident processing in a distributed processing system are provided. Embodiments include an incident analyzer identifying within the plurality of incidents, attribute combination entries of location identifications and incident types and analyzing each location identification in each attribute combination entry according to a sequence of the attribute combination entries including creating attribute pairs. The incident analyzer is also configured to count the attribute pairs. The number of attribute pairs is the number of unique incidents in the plurality of incidents.

Claims

1. An apparatus for determining a number of unique incidents in a plurality of incidents for incident processing in a distributed processing system, the apparatus comprising a computer processor and a computer memory operatively coupled to the computer processor, the computer memory having disposed within it computer program instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of:

identifying within the plurality of incidents, by an incident analyzer, attribute combination entries of location identifications and incident types, wherein each attribute combination entry has one location identification and a set of unique incident types corresponding to the location identification;

analyzing each location identification in each attribute combination entry according to a sequence of the attribute combination entries including for each location identification of each attribute combination entry;

determining whether the set of unique incident types within the attribute combination entry includes an incident type not selected for pairing with another location identification in an attribute pair;

if the set of unique incidents types includes an incident type not selected for pairing with another location identification in an attribute pair, selecting the incident type for pairing with the location identification in an attribute pair and creating an attribute pair of the selected incident type and the location identification; and

counting the attribute pairs;

wherein the number of attribute pairs is the number of unique incidents in the plurality of incidents.

2. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising computer program instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of creating the sequence of the attribute combination entries;

wherein creating the sequence of the attribute combination entries includes sorting the attribute combination entries based on one of a number of incident types within each set of unique incident types and a number of location identifications.

3. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein determining whether the set of unique incident types corresponding to the location identification within the attribute combination entry includes an incident type not selected for pairing with another location identification in an attribute pair further comprises:

maintaining a list of selected incident types that have already been selected for pairing with a location identification in an attribute pair; and

comparing the set of unique incident types to the list of selected incident types.

4. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising computer program instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of:

identifying attribute combination entries having identical sets of incident types; and

merging the identified attribute combination entries.

5. The apparatus of claim 1 further comprising computer program instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of:

determining that the number of unique incidents is greater than or equal to a predetermined number; and

executing an action in response to determining that the number of unique incidents is greater than or equal to the predetermined number.

6. The apparatus of claim 1 wherein executing an action includes at least one of creating an alert and suppressing an incident.

7. A computer program product for determining a number of unique incidents in a plurality of incidents for incident processing in a distributed processing system, the computer program product disposed upon a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, the computer program product comprising computer program instructions that when executed by a computer cause the computer to carry out the steps of identifying within the plurality of incidents, by an incident analyzer, attribute combination entries of location identifications and incident types, wherein each attribute combination entry has one location identification and a set of unique incident types corresponding to the location identification;

analyzing each location identification in each attribute combination entry according to a sequence of the attribute combination entries including for each location identification of each attribute combination entry;

determining whether the set of unique incident types within the attribute combination entry includes an incident type not selected for pairing with another location identification in an attribute pair;

if the set of unique incidents types includes an incident type not selected for pairing with another location identification in an attribute pair, selecting the incident type for pairing with the location identification in an attribute pair and creating an attribute pair of the selected incident type and the location identification; and

counting the attribute pairs;

wherein the number of attribute pairs is the number of unique incidents in the plurality of incidents.

8. The computer program product of claim 7 further comprising computer program instructions that when executed by the computer cause the computer to carry out the steps of creating the sequence of the attribute combination entries;

wherein creating the sequence of the attribute combination entries includes sorting the attribute combination entries based on one of a number of incident types within each set of unique incident types and a number of location identifications.

9. The computer program product of claim 7 wherein determining whether the set of unique incident types corresponding to the location identification within the attribute combination entry includes an incident type not selected for pairing with another location identification in an attribute pair further comprises:

maintaining a list of selected incident types that have already been selected for pairing with a location identification in an attribute pair; and

comparing the set of unique incident types to the list of selected incident types.

10. The computer program product of claim 7 further comprising computer program instructions that when executed by the computer processor cause the apparatus to carry out the steps of:

identifying attribute combination entries having identical sets of incident types; and

merging the identified attribute combination entries.

11. The computer program product of claim 7 further comprising computer program instructions that when executed by the computer cause the computer to carry out the steps of:

determining that the number of unique incidents is greater than or equal to a predetermined number; and

executing an action in response to determining that the number of unique incidents is greater than or equal to the predetermined number.

12. The computer program product of claim 7 wherein executing an action includes at least one of creating an alert and suppressing an incident.