Presenting application performance monitoring data in distributed computer systems

• US 9,847,926 B2
• Filed: 04/15/2015
• Issued: 12/19/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA Board of Governors)
• Original Assignee: Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association (TIAA Board of Governors)
• Inventors: Couture, Gary Robert, Pickering, Mathew Wade, Michaud, Ethan Luke, Whitehead, Latrisha Devon, Kettering, Andrew Eugene, Blandford, Scott Matthew, Olaso, Rafael Pedro, Flanagan, LeeAnn Marie, MacDonald, Elizabeth Anne, Arneth, III, William V., Wiesman, Ryan Matthew, Danesi, Scott James, Joyce, Thomas Steven, Jeffress, Jennifer D'awn, Finch, Jr., Eddie Gordon, Bechard, Matthew M., Bates, Nathaniel J., Prout, Edmund Martin, Patel, Devesh, Murty, Jakkinpali, Krug, Kristopher C., Healy, Jr., Daniel Joseph, Saxton, Omar C., McGill, Kevin M.
• Primary Examiner(s): LAZARO, DAVID R
• Application Number:
  US14/687,352
• Publication Number:
  US 20160308745A1
• Time in Patent Office: 979 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

Systems and methods for presenting application performance monitoring data in distributed computer systems. An example method may comprise: receiving, by a processing device, one or more application performance monitoring (APM) rules, each APM rule determining an application operational status based on one or more APM parameters; receiving APM data comprising a plurality of APM data items representing values of the APM parameters of a software application; determining an operational status of the software application by applying the APM rules to the APM data; and causing the operational status to be visually represented via a graphical user interface (GUI).

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a processing device, one or more application performance monitoring (APM) rules, each APM rule determining an operational status of a software application based on one or more APM parameters;

identifying a plurality of functional points of the software application, wherein a first operational status of a first functional point of the plurality of functional points is independent of a second operational status of a second functional point of the plurality of functional points;

receiving APM data comprising a plurality of APM data items representing values of the APM parameters of the software application;

determining a plurality of operational statuses of the plurality of functional points of the software application by applying the APM rules to the APM data; and

causing the plurality of operational statuses to be visually represented via a graphical user interface (GUI).

2. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one APM data item is received from an APM agent configured to perform active application testing.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one APM data item is received from a device configured to intercept network traffic.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein at least one APM data item comprises an application response message associated with a client request message originated by a client computer system.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises characterizing the operational status as “

normal”

responsive to determining that an average application response time does not exceed a first threshold value.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises characterizing the operational status as “

slow performing”

responsive to determining that an average application response time exceeds a second threshold value.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises characterizing the operational status as “

application error”

responsive to detecting a certain byte pattern within at least one APM data item.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises characterizing the operational status as “

critical error”

responsive to detecting at least a certain number of errors associated with a certain application functional point within a certain period of time.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises characterizing the operational status as “

no data available”

responsive to determining that no APM data items have been received for the application within a certain period of time.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises characterizing the operational status as “

service not available”

responsive to determining that one or more APM data items indicate at least a certain number of failed attempts to perform a certain application function.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising causing a plurality of operational status values corresponding to a plurality of periods of time to be visually represented in a visual relationship to a timeline.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises applying a filtering logic to prevent false positive error identification with respect to transactions associated with a user account employed by an automated testing process.

13. A system comprising:

a memory; and

a processing device, coupled to the memory, wherein the processing device is configured to;

receive one or more application performance monitoring (APM) rules, each APM rule determining an operational status of a software application based on one or more APM parameters;

identify a plurality of functional points of the software application, wherein a first operational status of a first functional point of the plurality of functional points is independent of a second operational status of a second functional point of the plurality of functional points;

receive APM data comprising a plurality of APM data items representing values of the APM parameters of the software application;

determine a plurality of operational statuses of the plurality of functional points of the software application by applying the APM rules to the APM data; and

cause the plurality of operational statuses to be visually represented via a graphical user interface (GUI).

14. The system of claim 13, wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises characterizing the operational status as “

normal”

responsive to determining that an average application response time does not exceed a first threshold value.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises characterizing the operational status as “

slow performing”

responsive to determining that an average application response time exceeds a second threshold value.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises characterizing the operational status as “

application error”

responsive to detecting a certain byte pattern within at least one APM data item.

17. The system of claim 13, wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises characterizing the operational status as “

critical error”

responsive to detecting at least a certain number of errors associated with a certain application functional point within a certain period of time.

18. The system of claim 13, wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises characterizing the operational status as “

no data available”

responsive to determining that no APM data items have been received for the application within a certain period of time.

19. The system of claim 13, wherein determining an operational status of the plurality of operational statuses comprises characterizing the operational status as “

service not available”

responsive to determining that one or more APM data items indicate at least a certain number of failed attempts to perform a certain application function.

20. A computer-readable non-transitory storage medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a first computer system, cause the computer system to perform operations comprising:

receiving one or more application performance monitoring (APM) rules, each APM rule determining an operational status of a software application based on one or more APM parameters;

identifying a plurality of functional points of the software application, wherein a first operational status of a first functional point of the plurality of functional points is independent of a second operational status of a second functional point of the plurality of functional points;

receiving APM data comprising a plurality of APM data items representing values of the APM parameters of the software application;

determining a plurality of operational statuses of the plurality of functional points of the software application by applying the APM rules to the APM data; and

causing the plurality of operational statuses to be visually represented via a graphical user interface (GUI).