Cognitive analysis for healing an IT system

• US 9,690,644 B2
• Filed: 11/06/2014
• Issued: 06/27/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 11/06/2014
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Kyndryl Incorporated (Kyndryl Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Anderson, Eric M., Davis, Robert A., Dawson, Christopher J., Foley, Patricia
• Primary Examiner(s): Riad, Amine
• Application Number:
  US14/534,772
• Publication Number:
  US 20160132372A1
• Time in Patent Office: 964 Days
• Field of Search: 714 26
• 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 11/0751 Error or fault detection not based on redundancy power supply failures G06F1/30; network fault management H04L41/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0778 Dumping, i.e. gathering error/state information after a fault for later diagnosis
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/079 Root cause analysis, i.e. error or fault diagnosis in a hardware test environment G06F11/22; in a software test environment G06F11/36
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0793 Remedial or corrective actions recovery from an exception in an instruction pipeline G06F9/3861; by retry G06F11/1402; for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity H04L69/40
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/951 Indexing; Web crawling techniques
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2216/03 Data mining
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 5/02 Knowledge representation; Symbolic representation

Abstract

A cognitive computing hardware system receives an error log from an IT system. The error log comprises a record of errors currently being detected by sensors in the IT system. The cognitive computing hardware system receives an error history log, which describes a history of past errors that have occurred in the IT system. The cognitive computing hardware system receives a listing of alternative IT systems that have been predetermined to have a same functionality as the IT system that is currently experiencing the errors. The cognitive computing hardware system receives a record of real-time events that are external to the IT system, and generates a prioritized set of solutions to heal the IT system, based on the error history log, the listing of alternative IT systems, and the record of real-time events. The cognitive computing hardware system transmits a highest prioritized solution to the IT system.

Claims

1. A method for healing an information technology (IT) system, the method comprising:

receiving, by a cognitive computing hardware system, an error log from an IT system, wherein the error log comprises a record of one or more errors currently being detected by at least one sensor in the IT system;

receiving, by the cognitive computing hardware system, an error history log, wherein the error history log describes a history of past errors that have occurred in the IT system;

receiving, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a listing of alternative IT systems, wherein the alternative IT systems have been predetermined to have a same functionality as the IT system that is currently experiencing the one or more errors;

receiving, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a list of incidents and changes that have occurred on the IT system;

receiving, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a record of real-time events from at least one external event server, wherein the real-time events are external to the IT system, and wherein the real-time events impact a performance of the alternative IT systems;

generating, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a prioritized set of solutions to heal the IT system, wherein solutions from the prioritized set of solutions are prioritized based on the error history log, the listing of alternative IT systems, and the record of real-time events;

transmitting, from the cognitive computing hardware system to the IT system via an implementer system, a highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions, wherein the highest prioritized solution has a greater probability of healing the one or more errors, that are in the error history log and that are detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system, than any other solution, from the prioritized set of solutions, based on the error history log, the listing of alternative IT systems, and the record of real-time events; and

implementing, by the implementer system, the highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions in order to heal the one or more errors currently being detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

further prioritizing the solutions based on a cost of implementing each of the solutions wherein the cost is based on a combination of a monetary cost of implementing a particular solution to resolve the one or more errors currently being detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system, time utilized to implement the particular solution, a decrease in a reputation of the IT system caused by implementing the particular solution, an amount of manpower required to implement the particular solution, a wait time required until a particular person is available to implement the particular solution, and a degradation of functionality of other IT systems used to back up the IT system in response to implementing the particular solution.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

determining, by the cognitive computing hardware system, that the highest prioritized solution failed to heal the one or more errors currently being detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system; and

in response to determining that the highest prioritized solution failed to heal the one or more errors currently being detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system, implementing, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a next highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions in the IT system.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the cognitive computing hardware system, the listing of alternative IT systems from a configuration management database (CMDB) server.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a clearing code from the IT system, wherein the clearing code indicates that the highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions healed said one or more errors currently being detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system; and

in response to receiving the clearing code, adding, by the cognitive computing hardware system, the highest prioritized solution to a log of successful solutions for healing errors in the IT system.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a failure code from the IT system, wherein the failure code indicates that the highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions failed to heal said one or more errors currently being detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system; and

in response to receiving the failure code, transmitting, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a next highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions to the IT system.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

data mining, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a social media database to identify the record of real-time events.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

data mining, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a weather reporting database to identify the record of real-time events.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

data mining, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a political news reporting website to identify the record of real-time events.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

data mining, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a power grid database to identify the record of real-time events.

11. A computer program product for healing an Information Technology (IT) system, wherein said computer program product comprises a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program code stored thereon, and wherein said program code is read and executed by a processor to perform a method comprising:

receiving an error log from an IT system, wherein the error log comprises a record of one or more errors currently being detected by at least one sensor in the IT system;

receiving an error history log, wherein the error history log describes a history of past errors that have occurred in the IT system;

receiving a listing of alternative IT systems from a configuration management database (CMDB) server, wherein the alternative IT systems have been predetermined to have a same functionality as the IT system that is currently experiencing the one or more errors;

receiving, by the cognitive computing hardware system, a list of incidents and changes that have occurred on the IT system;

receiving a record of real-time events from at least one external event server, wherein the real-time events are external to the IT system, and wherein the real-time events impact a performance of the alternative IT systems;

generating a prioritized set of solutions to heal the IT system, wherein solutions from the prioritized set of solutions are prioritized based on the error history log, the listing of alternative IT systems, and the record of real-time events; and

transmitting, to the IT system via an implementer system, a highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions, wherein the highest prioritized solution has a greater probability of healing the one or more errors, that are in the error history log and that are detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system, than any other solution, from the prioritized set of solutions, based on the error history log, the listing of alternative IT systems, and the record of real-time events; and

implementing the highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions in order to heal the one or more errors currently being detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

further prioritizing the solutions based on a cost of implementing each of the solutions, wherein the cost is a combination of a monetary cost and a degradation of functionality of other IT systems.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a clearing code from the IT system, wherein the clearing code indicates that the highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions healed said one or more errors currently being detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system; and

in response to receiving the clearing code, adding the highest prioritized solution to a log of successful solutions for healing errors in the IT system.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

receiving a failure code from the IT system, wherein the failure code indicates that the highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions failed to heal said one or more errors currently being detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system; and

in response to the cognitive computing hardware system receiving the failure code, transmitting a next highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions to the IT system.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the method further comprises:

data mining a social media database, a weather reporting database, and a political news reporting website to identify the record of real-time events.

16. A system comprising:

a hardware processor, a computer readable memory, and a computer readable storage media;

first program instructions to receive an error log from an IT system, wherein the error log comprises a record of one or more errors currently being detected by at least one sensor in the IT system;

second program instructions to receive an error history log, wherein the error history log describes a history of past errors that have occurred in the IT system;

third program instructions to receive a listing of alternative IT systems from a configuration management database (CMDB) server, wherein the alternative IT systems have been predetermined to have a same functionality as the IT system that is currently experiencing the one or more errors;

fourth program instructions to receive a list of incidents and changes that have occurred on the IT system;

fifth program instructions to receive a record of real-time events from at least one external event server, wherein the real-time events are external to the IT system, and wherein the real-time events impact a performance of the alternative IT systems;

sixth program instructions to generate a prioritized set of solutions to heal the IT system, wherein solutions from the prioritized set of solutions are prioritized based on the error history log, the listing of alternative IT systems, and the record of real-time events; and

seventh program instructions to transmit, to the IT system via an implementer system, a highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions, wherein the highest prioritized solution has a greater probability of healing the one or more errors, that are in the error history log and that are detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system, than any other solution, from the prioritized set of solutions, based on the error history log, the listing of alternative IT systems, and the record of real-time events; and

eighth program instructions to implement, by the implementer system, the highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions in order to heal the one or more errors currently being detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system; and

wherein

the first, second, third, fourth, fifth, sixth, seventh, and eighth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by the hardware processor via the computer readable memory.

17. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

ninth program instructions to further prioritize the solutions based on a cost of implementing each of the solutions, wherein the cost is a combination of a monetary cost and a degradation of functionality of other IT systems; and

wherein

the ninth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by the hardware processor via the computer readable memory.

18. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

ninth program instructions to receive a clearing code from the IT system, wherein the clearing code indicates that the highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions healed said one or more errors currently being detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system; and

tenth program instructions to, in response to receiving the clearing code, add the highest prioritized solution to a log of successful solutions for healing errors in the IT system; and

wherein

the ninth and tenth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by the hardware processor via the computer readable memory.

19. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

ninth program instructions to receive a failure code from the IT system, wherein the failure code indicates that the highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions failed to heal said one or more errors currently being detected by said at least one sensor in the IT system; and

tenth program instructions to, in response to the cognitive computing hardware system receiving the failure code, transmit a next highest prioritized solution from the prioritized set of solutions to the IT system; and

wherein

the ninth and tenth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by the hardware processor via the computer readable memory.

20. The system of claim 16, further comprising:

ninth program instructions to data mine a social media database, a weather reporting database, and a political news reporting website to identify the record of real-time events; and

wherein

the ninth program instructions are stored on the computer readable storage media for execution by the hardware processor via the computer readable memory.