Linking transactions

• US 8,584,123 B2
• Filed: 10/08/2009
• Issued: 11/12/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/08/2009
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Clementi, Ashley Neil, Heler, Jean-Jacques, Klein, Paul Fredric
• Primary Examiner(s): Anya, Charles E
• Application Number:
  US12/576,180
• Publication Number:
  US 20110088045A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,496 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 718/101
• 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 11/3089 Monitoring arrangements determined by the means or processing involved in sensing the monitored data, e.g. interfaces, connectors, sensors, probes, agents software debugging using additional hardware using a specific debug interface G06F11/3656; performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring G06F11/3466

Abstract

A first unique identifier is received from a first monitoring agent. The first unique identifier may be based on first natural data associated with a transaction. A second unique identifier is received from a second monitoring agent. The second unique identifier may be based on second natural data associated with the transaction. The first unique identifier may be correlated with the second unique identifier to monitor the transaction through a plurality of application environments.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring a transaction through a plurality of application environments, wherein the transaction comprises a first local transaction and a second local transaction, the method comprising:

receiving a first unique identifier from a first monitoring agent monitoring the first local transaction that executes in a first application environment, wherein first natural data is associated with the transaction, and wherein the first unique identifier is based on the first natural data;

receiving a second unique identifier from a second monitoring agent monitoring the second local transaction that executes in a second application environment distinct from the first application environment, wherein second natural data is associated with the transaction, and wherein the second unique identifier is based on the second natural data; and

dynamically correlating the first unique identifier with the second unique identifier to monitor the transaction through the plurality of application environments;

wherein the monitoring of the transaction through the plurality of application environments does not add information to the transaction;

wherein the first monitoring agent uses a first monitoring technique to monitor in the first application environment and the second monitoring agent uses a second monitoring technique to monitor in the second application environment, the first monitoring technique being different from the second monitoring technique;

wherein the first monitoring technique and the second monitoring technique are selected from a group consisting of;

token-based tracking monitoring, dynamic correlation-based monitoring, Application Response Measurement (ARM) instrumentation monitoring, Global Publishing Server based instrumentation monitoring, direct API invocation based monitoring, indirect API invocation through wrapper/middleware based monitoring, and user instrumented agent monitoring.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

displaying a composite of data received from the first monitoring agent and the second monitoring agent;

wherein the first natural data and the second natural data are each based on an inherent part of the transaction;

wherein the first natural data and the second natural data are not created by the first or second monitoring agents;

wherein the first natural data and the second natural data are created by one or more of a middleware layer, a network layer, or other layer associated with the transaction; and

wherein the monitoring of the transaction through the plurality of application environments does not add a token to the transaction.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving a timestamp from the first monitoring agent, wherein the timestamp is a standardized timestamp associated with a measurement point of the transaction.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the receiving the first unique identifier includes receiving the first unique identifier via an application programming interface (API);

and

wherein the dynamic correlation of the first unique identifier with the second unique identifier is performed by the API.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the first natural data is derived by a network layer;

and

wherein the transaction is an asynchronous transaction.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first unique identifier is a string derived by concatenating a plurality of strings.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the dynamically correlating includes correlating the first local transaction and the second local transaction across application environments.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first monitoring agent does not have visibility to monitor in the second application environment, and the second monitoring agent does not have visibility to monitor in the first application environment.

9. A computer program product stored in a non-transitory computer readable medium and configured to monitor a transaction through a plurality of application environments, the transaction comprising a first local transaction and a second local transaction, wherein the computer program product comprises functional descriptive material that, in response to being executed by an information handling system, causes the information handling system to perform actions comprising:

receiving a first unique identifier from a first monitoring agent monitoring the first local transaction that executes in a first application environment, wherein first natural data is associated with the transaction, and wherein the first unique identifier is based on the first natural data;

receiving a second unique identifier from a second monitoring agent monitoring the second local transaction that executes in a second application environment distinct from the first application environment, wherein second natural data is associated with the transaction, and wherein the second unique identifier is based on the second natural data; and

dynamically correlating the first unique identifier with the second unique identifier to monitor the transaction through the plurality of application environments;

wherein the monitoring of the transaction through the plurality of application environments does not add information to the transaction;

wherein the first monitoring agent uses a first monitoring technique to monitor in the first application environment and the second monitoring agent uses a second monitoring technique to monitor in the second application environment, the first monitoring technique being different from the second monitoring technique;

wherein the first monitoring technique and the second monitoring technique are selected from a group consisting of;

token-based tracking monitoring, dynamic correlation-based monitoring, Application Response Measurement (ARM) instrumentation monitoring, Global Publishing Server based instrumentation monitoring, direct API invocation based monitoring, indirect API invocation through wrapper/middleware based monitoring, and user instrumented agent monitoring.

10. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the actions further comprise:

displaying a composite of data received from the first monitoring agent and the second monitoring agent;

wherein the first natural data and the second natural data are each based on an inherent part of the transaction;

wherein the first natural data and the second natural data are not created by the first or second monitoring agents;

wherein the first natural data and the second natural data are created by one or more of a middleware layer, a network layer, or other layer associated with the transaction; and

wherein the monitoring of the transaction through the plurality of application environments does not add a token to the transaction.

11. The computer program product of claim 9 wherein the actions further comprise:

receiving a timestamp from the first monitoring agent, wherein the timestamp is a standardized timestamp associated with a measurement point of the transaction.

12. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the receiving the first unique identifier includes receiving the first unique identifier via an application programming interface (API);

and

wherein the dynamic correlation of the first unique identifier with the second unique identifier is performed by the API.

13. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the first natural data is derived by a network layer;

and

wherein the transaction is an asynchronous transaction.

14. The computer program product of claim 9, wherein the first monitoring agent does not have visibility to monitor in the second application environment, and the second monitoring agent does not have visibility to monitor in the first application environment.

15. An information handling system configured to monitor a transaction through a plurality of application environments, wherein the transaction comprises a first local transaction and a second local transaction, the information handling system comprising:

one or more processors;

a memory accessible by at least one of the processors;

a nonvolatile storage medium accessible by at least one of the processors;

a set of instructions stored in the memory and executed by at least one of the processors in order to perform actions of;

receiving a first unique identifier from a first monitoring agent monitoring the first local transaction that executes in a first application environment, wherein first natural data is associated with the transaction and is not created by the first monitoring agent, and wherein the first unique identifier is based on the first natural data;

receiving a second unique identifier from a second monitoring agent monitoring the second local transaction that executes in a second application environment distinct from the first application environment, wherein second natural data is associated with the transaction and is not created by the second monitoring agent, and wherein the second unique identifier is based on the second natural data; and

dynamically correlating the first unique identifier with the second unique identifier to monitor the transaction through the plurality of application environments;

wherein the monitoring of the transaction through the plurality of application environments does not add information to the transaction;

wherein the first monitoring agent uses a first monitoring technique to monitor in the first application environment and the second monitoring agent uses a second monitoring technique to monitor in the second application environment, the first monitoring technique being different from the second monitoring technique; and

wherein the first monitoring technique and the second monitoring technique are selected from a group consisting of;

token-based tracking monitoring, dynamic correlation-based monitoring, Application Response Measurement (ARM) instrumentation monitoring, Global Publishing Server based instrumentation monitoring, direct API invocation based monitoring, indirect API invocation through wrapper/middleware based monitoring, and user instrumented agent monitoring.

16. The information handling system of claim 15, wherein the actions further comprise:

displaying a composite of data received from the first monitoring agent and the second monitoring agent;

wherein the first natural data and the second natural data are each based on an inherent part of the transaction;

wherein the first natural data and the second natural data are not created by the first or second monitoring agents;

wherein the first natural data and the second natural data are created by one or more of a middleware layer, a network layer, or other layer associated with the transaction; and

wherein the monitoring of the transaction through the plurality of application environments does not add a token to the transaction.

17. The information handling system of claim 15, wherein the actions further comprise:

receiving a timestamp from the first monitoring agent, wherein the timestamp is a standardized timestamp associated with a measurement point of the transaction.

18. The information handling system of claim 17, wherein the first natural data is derived by a network layer.

19. The information handling system of claim 15, wherein the receiving the first unique identifier includes receiving the first unique identifier via an application programming interface (API);

and

wherein the dynamic correlation of the first unique identifier with the second unique identifier is performed by the API.

20. The information handling system of claim 15, wherein the first monitoring agent does not have visibility to monitor in the second application environment, and the second monitoring agent does not have visibility to monitor in the first application environment.