System and method for determining a topology of at least one application in a computerized organization

• US 9,420,064 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2015
• Issued: 08/16/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 08/09/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Original Assignee: ServiceNow Incorporated
• Inventors: Mohaban, Shai, Rosh, Haviv, Benado, Yarin, Cohen, Yuval
• Primary Examiner(s): JEAN GILLES, JUDE
• Application Number:
  US14/967,614
• Publication Number:
  US 20160100032A1
• Time in Patent Office: 246 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 709/253, 709/226, 709/238, 709/221, 709/318
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/148 File search processing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/17 Details of further file system functions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/20 of structured data, e.g. relational data
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 8/20 Software design
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/4806 Task transfer initiation or dispatching
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 10/10 Office automation; Time management
• 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 67/63 Routing a service request depending on the request content or context

Abstract

Systems and methods for skeleton-based discovery of an application in a computer network are provided. An implementation of the system includes a processor configured to generate a template for an application topology of the application based on a structure determined by an initial discovery, modify the template during a traversing of the template, and generate a display of the template indicating states of the application according to the impact rules. The application topology is multi-tiered and includes nodes associated with elements of the application and dependencies between the nodes. The states include at least one of an actual state or a scenario state.

Claims

1. A system for skeleton-based discovery of an application in a computer network, the system comprising:

a processor configured to;

generate a template for an application topology of the application based on a structure determined by an initial discovery and retrieved from storage, wherein the application topology is multi-tiered and comprises;

nodes associated with elements of the application, and dependencies between the nodes;

modify the template during a traversing of the template, including;

on a condition that two or more nodes of a tier have a common feature, aggregating the two or more nodes associated with the tier into a cluster; and

defining impact rules for representing a state of the application in response to events affecting the nodes; and

generate a display of the template indicating states of the application according to the impact rules, wherein the states include at least one of an actual state or a scenario state, wherein the scenario state is displayed in response to a simulated change to the application.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the common feature includes at least one of a same node type, a same incoming connection, or a same outgoing connection.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the common feature includes a connection category.

4. The system of claim 3, wherein the connection category includes an application flow category representing a connection between two nodes.

5. The system of claim 3, wherein the connection category includes a cluster connection category representing a connection between a node and a cluster.

6. The system of claim 3, wherein the connection category includes an inclusion connection category representing a node containing other nodes.

7. The system of claim 1, wherein the impact rules include representing the application according to a color coding mapped to multiple scenario states.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the simulated change includes removing an element of the application.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the simulated change includes servicing an element of the application at a particular time.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the impact rules include defining a state of a parent node having non-clustered children to be a same state as of the non-clustered children.

11. The system of claim 1, wherein the impact rules include defining a state of a parent node having clustered children to be a same state as of a child having a most severe state for the cluster.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:

replacing a discovered cluster of nodes with a generic cluster placeholder to accommodate changes within a cluster without affecting the template.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:

for each node and tier;

including a discovery pattern and an identification section used to discover the node.

14. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:

defining a re-discovery frequency category for each tier; and

including the re-discovery frequency category in the template.

15. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:

including information identifying credentials used for each identified node in the cluster.

16. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:

deleting host information associated with each node.

17. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to generate the display of the template by:

implementing at least one skeleton-based policy that comprises at least one of;

an affinity policy or a network policy.

18. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to generate the display of the template by:

indicating a non-compliance with a skeleton-based policy including at least one of;

exceeding a policy limit on maximum number of nodes in a tier or exceeding a policy limit on a key performance indicator for a tier.

19. A method for skeleton-based discovery of an application in a computer network, the method comprising:

generating a template for an application topology of the application based on a structure determined by an initial discovery and retrieved from storage, wherein the application topology is multi-tiered and comprises;

nodes associated with elements of the application, and dependencies between the nodes;

modifying the template during a traversing of the template, including;

on a condition that two or more nodes of a tier have a common feature, aggregating the two or more nodes associated with the tier into a cluster; and

defining impact rules for representing a state of the application in response to various types of events affecting the nodes; and

generating a display of the template indicating states of the application according to the impact rules, wherein the states include at least one of an actual state or a scenario state, wherein the scenario state is displayed in response to a simulated change to the application.

20. A computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed by a processor to implement the steps of:

generating a template for an application topology of an application in a computer network based on a structure determined by an initial discovery and retrieved from storage, wherein the application topology is multi-tiered and comprises;

nodes associated with elements of the application topology, and dependencies between the nodes;

modifying the template during a traversing of the template, including;

on a condition that two or more nodes of a tier have a common feature, aggregating the two or more nodes associated with the tier into a cluster; and

defining impact rules for representing a state of the application in response to various types of events affecting the nodes; and

generating a display of the template indicating states of the application according to the impact rules, wherein the states include at least one of an actual state or a scenario state, wherein the scenario state is displayed in response to a simulated change to the application.