Adaptive resource management method and system

• US 20040103173A1
• Filed: 08/13/2003
• Published: 05/27/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 08/13/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Donatelli, Alessandro, Marinelli, Claudio, Balsamo, Arcangelo Di, DʼAloʼ, Salvatore
• Granted Patent: US 7,469,409 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/221
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/60 Software deployment
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 707/99943 Generating database or data structure, e.g. via user interface

Abstract

A resource management method (400c) and a corresponding system implementing an adaptive model are proposed. The method allows an authority to define a desired target state of several kinds of resources, which are directly controlled by different subjects. The authority publishes (460) a series of rules in a shared repository; each rule indicates the target state of a resource for a corresponding category of the subjects. Each subject retrieves (444-456;462-468) the rules corresponding to its category from the shared repository. The rules are then applied (458;469) by the subject directly. In this way, the subjects self-adapt to the rules, without requiring any direct interaction with the authority.

Claims

1. In a data processing structure with a distributed architecture (100) including a plurality of subject entities (110a) and at last one authority entity (105), a resource management method (300,400a) for self-configuring the subject entities, each subject entity belonging to at least one of a plurality of categories and controlling an instance of at least one resource, the at least one authority entity defining a target state of the resources, wherein the method includes the steps of:

publishing (305-335), under the control of the at least one authority entity, a plurality of rules each one including an indication of the target state of a resource for a category of the subject entities,

each subject entity retrieving (403-418) the rules corresponding to the at least one category of the subject entity, and

applying (420-432) each retrieved rule to configure the subject entity according to the target state indicated in the rule.

2. The method (300,400a)according to claim 1, wherein the step of publishing (305-335) the rules includes inserting (320) the rules into a shared memory space accessible by the subject entities.

3. The method (300,400a) according to claim 2, wherein the step of retrieving (403-418) the rules corresponding to the at least one category of the subject entity includes:

periodically requesting (412) the rules corresponding to the at least one category of the subject entity to an engine controlling the shared memory space, and

returning (416) the rules available in the shared memory space for the at least one category of the subject entity.

4. The method (300,400c) according to claim 2 or 3, wherein the step of retrieving (442-456) the rules corresponding to the at least one category of the subject entity includes:

submitting (448) a request for the rules corresponding to the at least one category of the subject entity to an engine controlling the shared memory space,

storing (450) the request by the engine,

inserting (460-462) a new rule into the shared memory space, and

returning (466-468) the new rule to the subject entity if matching (464) the stored request.

5. The method (300,400a-400d) according to any claim from 1 to 4, further including the steps of:

storing (418;

456,468) an indication of the rules applied on the subject entity, and

periodically re-applying (472-480) the applied rules.

6. The method (300,400a-400d) according to any claim from 1 to 5, wherein the step of applying (420-432) each retrieved rule includes:

detecting (426) a current state of the instance of the resource indicated in the retrieved rule,

determining (430) at least one management action required to bring the instance of the resource from the current state to the target state indicated in the retrieved rule, and

executing (432) the at least one management action.

7. The method (300,400a-400d) according to claim 6, wherein the step of applying (420-432) each retrieved rule further includes:

verifying (422) whether the instance of the resource features an inconsistency, and

setting (424) the current state of the instance of the resource to a value indicative of the inconsistency if the result of the verification is positive.

8. A computer program application (203,209,215;

227a-236a,251a) directly loadable into a working memory of a data processing structure (100) with a distributed architecture for performing the resource management method (300,400a) of any claim from 1 to 7 when the program is run on the structure.

9. A program product (180) comprising a computer readable medium on which the program application (203,209,215;

227a-236a,251a) of claim 8 is stored.

10. In a data processing structure with a distributed architecture (100) including a plurality of subject entities (110a) and at least one authority entity (105), a computer program (203,209,215) directly loadable into a working memory of a computer of an authority entity for performing a resource management method (300,400a) for self-configuring the subject entities when the program is run on the computer, each subject entity belonging to at least one of a plurality of categories and controlling an instance of at least one resource, the at least one authority entity defining a target state of the resources, wherein the method includes the steps of:

publishing (305-335) a plurality of rules each one including an indication of the target state of a resource for a category of the subject entities, for causing each subject entity to retrieve (403-418) the rules corresponding to the at least one category of the subject entity and to apply (420-432) each retrieved rule to configure the subject entity according to the target state indicated in the rule.

11. In a data processing structure with a distributed architecture (100) including a plurality of subject entities and at last one authority entity (105), a computer program (227a-236a,251a) directly loadable into a working memory of a computer of a subject entity (110a) for performing a resource management method (300,400a) for self-configuring the subject entity when the program is run on the computer, each subject entity belonging to at least one of a plurality of categories and controlling an instance of at least one resource, the at least one authority entity defining a target state of the resources by publishing (305-335) a plurality of rules each one including an indication of the target state of a resource for a category of the subject entities, wherein the method includes the steps of:

retrieving (403-418) the rules corresponding to the at least one category of the subject entity, and

applying (420-432) each retrieved rule to configure the subject entity according to the target state indicated in the rule.

12. In a data processing structure with a distributed architecture including a plurality of subject entities (110a) and at last one authority entity (105), a resource management system (100) for self-configuring the subject entities, each subject entity belonging to at least one of a plurality of categories and controlling an instance of at least one resource, the at least one authority entity including means (203,209,215) for defining a target state of the resources by publishing a plurality of rules each one including an indication of the target state of a resource for a category of the subject entities, and each subject entity including means (227a-236a,251) for retrieving the rules corresponding to the at least one category of the subject entity and means (251a) for applying each retrieved rule to configure the subject entity according to the target state indicated in the rule.

13. In a data processing structure (100) with a distributed architecture including a plurality of subject entities (110a) and at least one authority entity (105), a computer (105) of an authority entity suitable to be used in a resource management method for self-configuring the subject entities, each subject entity belonging to at least one of a plurality of categories and controlling an instance of at least one resource, the at least one authority entity defining a target state of the resources, wherein the computer includes means (203,209,215) for publishing a plurality of rules each one including an indication of the target state of a resource for a category of the subject entities, for causing each subject entity to retrieve the rules corresponding to the at least one category of the subject entity and to apply each retrieved rule to configure the subject entity according to the target state indicated in the rule.

14. In a data processing structure (100) with a distributed architecture including a plurality of subject entities and at last one authority entity (105), a computer (110a) of a subject entity suitable to be used in a resource management method for self-configuring the subject entities, each subject entity belonging to at least one of a plurality of categories and controlling an instance of at least one resource, the at least one authority entity defining a target state of the resources by publishing a plurality of rules each one including an indication of the target state of a resource for a category of the subject entities, wherein the computer includes means (227a-236a,251a) for retrieving the rules corresponding to the at least one category of the subject entity, and means (251a) for applying each retrieved rule to configure the subject entity according to the target state indicated in the rule.