System and method for an enterprise-to-enterprise compare within a utility data center (UDC)

• US 20030212775A1
• Filed: 05/09/2002
• Published: 11/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 05/09/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Hogan, Katherine, Schloss, Rheid, Steele, Doug
• Granted Patent: US 7,373,399 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment

Abstract

A system and method for an enterprise-to-enterprise compare within a data center. Image backups are typically used to identify the configuration of each system within a data center. The configuration data for one or more enterprises may be combined with feedback and/or performance data to determine an known good model configuration for a given enterprise type. Enterprises within the data center stray from the original configuration and are compared with an enterprise model to yield recommendations for upgrades or maintenance or component substitution.

Claims

1. A method for comparing configurations of two or more enterprises in a data center, said method comprising steps of:

retrieving configuration data for respective pluralities of components in two or more like enterprises, an enterprise being a virtual local area network controlled by a control plane cluster in a data center;

comparing configuration data for the two or more like enterprises in the data center; and

determining an optimal configuration model for the enterprise based on said configuration data.

2. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the configuration data is retrieved from a backup image, thereby producing no additional load on the enterprise components during the retrieving step.

3. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the configuration data is retrieved directly from the enterprise components by a network operation center (NOC) through one or more firewalls.

4. The method as recited in claim 1, wherein the comparing configuration data for the two or more like enterprises utilizes data from at least one of a configuration database, a user feedback database, and a performance database.

5. The method as recited in claim 1, further comprising a step of configuring similarly like enterprises to the identified optimal configuration model.

6. The method as recited in claim 5, wherein the configuring is performed automatically.

7. A method for comparing configurations of two or more enterprises in a data center, said method comprising steps of:

retrieving configuration data for a plurality of components in a target enterprise, an enterprise being a virtual local area network controlled by a control plane cluster in a data center;

comparing configuration data for the target enterprise with a known good model (KGM) enterprise configuration; and

identifying differences between the target enterprise configuration and the KGM configuration, based on the configuration data.

8. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the configuration data is retrieved from a backup image of the target enterprise, thereby producing no additional load on the enterprise components during the retrieving step.

9. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the configuration data is retrieved directly from the enterprise components by a network operation center (NOC) through one or more firewalls.

10. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the comparing configuration data for the target enterprise with a known good model (KGM) configuration utilizes data from a configuration database.

11. The method as recited in claim 7, further comprising the step of making a recommendation for changes in the target enterprise based on the identified differences.

12. The method as recited in claim 11, further comprising the step of automatically performing one or more of the recommended changes based on a customer selected preference for the target enterprise.

13. The method as recited in claim 7, wherein the KGM is an optimal model derived from data from a comparison of like enterprises, wherein the data is retrieved from at least one of a configuration database, a user feedback database, and a performance database.

14. The method as recited in claim 13, further comprising the step of recommending modifications to the target enterprise based on the identified differences.

15. The method as recited in claim 14, wherein the recommended modifications correspond to one or more of hardware upgrades, software upgrades, and swapping of hardware components for alternative better performing hardware components.

16. A system for comparing like enterprises in a data center, comprising:

at least one target enterprise system executing on a virtual local area network (VLAN), the VLAN comprising a plurality of network components;

at least one control plane management system in a control plane that controls one or more VLANs utilizing a protocol for uniquely identifying each component of the one or more VLANs controlled by the control plane management system, wherein network communication within the control plane is routed to an appropriate VLAN component based on the unique identifier, and wherein the control plane management system allocates each component to a specified VLAN based on requirements of each enterprise system;

a network operation center (NOC) which oversees the at least one control plane management system in the data center, the NOC communicating with each control plane management system through one or more firewalls and communicating with the VLAN components through its corresponding control plane management system and via at least one predefined port corresponding to the protocol for uniquely identifying each component, wherein the NOC utilizes a standard port and deploys local agents using translators for existing support actions, wherein support services are deployed to the at least one control plane management system and the at least one enterprise through the firewalls, wherein support agents are deployed to each of the at least one control plane management system and each of the at least one enterprise to handle requests and event objects sent through the firewalls;

means for retrieving configuration data corresponding to the plurality of network components in an enterprise, the configuration data being stored in a configuration database; and

an enterprise configuration comparator accessing the configuration data in the configuration database corresponding to a target enterprise for comparison with configuration data corresponding to a known good model (KGM) for a like enterprise, the comparison resulting in a recommendation for modifications to the target enterprise based on differences identified between the configuration of the target enterprise and the configuration of the KGM.

17. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the recommended modifications are automatically implemented based on a customer selected preference for the target enterprise.

18. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the means for retrieving configuration data stores the configuration data in a configuration database external to the target enterprise, thereby allowing remote analysis and comparison.

19. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the means for retrieving configuration data performs the retrieval via one or more firewalls by an external support node for comparison using a simple object access protocol (SOAP) request mechanism, and wherein simple network management protocol events generated from enterprises within a firewall are packaged in XML and transported via HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) listeners.

20. The system as recited in claim 16, wherein the KGM is an optimal model derived from configuration, performance and feedback data from a plurality of like enterprises.

21. An enterprise configuration comparator, comprising:

means for retrieving configuration data corresponding to a plurality of network components in an enterprise, an enterprise executing on a virtual local area network (VLAN), the VLAN comprising a plurality of network components and being controlled by a control plane management system in a control plane that controls one or more VLANs utilizing a protocol for uniquely identifying each component of the one or more VLANs controlled by the control plane management system, wherein network communication within the control plane is routed to an appropriate VLAN component based on the unique identifier, and wherein the control plane management system allocates each component to a specified VLAN based on requirements of each enterprise, wherein a network operation center (NOC) oversees the control plane management system in the data center and communicates with the control plane management system through one or more firewalls and communicates with the VLAN components through a corresponding control plane management system and via at least one predefined port corresponding to the protocol for uniquely identifying each component, wherein the NOC utilizes a standard port and deploys local agents using translators for existing support actions, wherein support services are deployed to the control plane management system and the enterprise through the firewalls, wherein support agents are deployed to the control plane management system and the enterprise to handle requests and event objects sent through the firewalls; and

means for comparing the configuration data corresponding to the enterprise to configuration data corresponding to a known good model (KGM) for a like enterprise, the comparison resulting in a recommendation for modifications to the enterprise based on differences identified between the configuration of the enterprise and the configuration of the KGM.

22. The enterprise configuration comparator as recited in claim 21, wherein the KGM is an optimal model derived from configuration, performance and feedback data from a plurality of like enterprises.

23. The enterprise configuration comparator as recited in claim 21, wherein the means for retrieving configuration data stores the configuration data in a configuration database external to the enterprise, thereby allowing remote analysis and comparison.

24. The enterprise configuration comparator as recited in claim 21, wherein the means for retrieving configuration data performs the retrieval via one or more firewalls by an external support node for comparison using a simple object access protocol (SOAP) request mechanism, and wherein simple network management protocol events generated from enterprises within a firewall are packaged in XML and transported via HTTP (hypertext transfer protocol) listeners.