System and method for managing event tracking

• US 9,565,243 B2
• Filed: 07/18/2013
• Issued: 02/07/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 07/18/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Original Assignee: NetApp, Inc.
• Inventors: Natarajan, Srikumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Patel, Hitesh
• Application Number:
  US13/945,836
• Publication Number:
  US 20150026238A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,300 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/0706 the processing taking place on a specific hardware platform or in a specific software environment
• 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 11/3476 Data logging G06F11/14, G06F11/2205 take precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 Event-based monitoring
• 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

Abstract

A system and method of managing event tracking includes a tracking registry. The tracking registry includes a memory for storing tracking entries, a tracking entry hierarchy, and a registry interface configured to receive requests from a plurality of modules. The tracking registry opens a tracking entry based on a registry request received from a first module of the plurality of modules, and being associated with a first operation being handled by the first module and including a parent identifier of a parent tracking entry of the tracking entry, updates the tracking entry hierarchy based on the parent identifier, stores the first tracking entry in the memory, and closes the tracking entry based on an entry closing request received from a second module of the plurality of modules and being associated with completion of a second operation being handled by the second module. The second operation performs processing associated with completion of the first operation.

Claims

1. A system comprising:

a registry server, the registry server comprising;

a memory containing a machine readable medium storing a tracking registry and machine-executable code for performing a method;

a registry server, the registry server comprising;

a processor communicatively coupled to the memory, the processor configured to execute the machine-executable code to cause the processor to;

receive, from a first processing module of a distributed computing system that includes the registry server, a tracking request associated with a first operation that is performed by the first processing module and that is included in processing performed by the distributed computing system in response to a stimulus,

identify, from the tracking request, first information associated with an event that is handled by the first operation,

open a tracking entry based on the identified first information,

add the tracking entry to the tracking registry,

receive, from a second processing module of the distributed computing system that is separate from the first processing module, a close request associated with a second operation that is included in the processing performed by the distributed computing system and that is associated with completion of the first operation,

identify, from the close request, second information associated with a terminal event for the processing that is handled by the second operation, and

close the tracking entry based on the identified second information,

wherein the tracking request includes a parent identifier associated with a parent tracking entry of the tracking entry,

modify a child identifier field of the parent tracking entry to include an identifier of the tracking entry.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

associate the tracking entry with an identifier; and

store the tracking entry in the memory based on information associated with the identifier.

3. The system of claim 2 wherein the processor is further configured to return the identifier to the first processing module.

4. The system of claim 2 wherein the identifier comprises a hash value locating the tracking entry in a hash table.

5. The system of claim 2 wherein the identifier comprises a key identifying a key-value pair storing the tracking entry.

6. The system of claim 2 wherein the identifier comprises an index identifying a data base record storing the tracking entry.

7. The system of claim 2 wherein the processor is further configured to identify the tracking entry from the close request based on the identifier being included in the close request.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to close the tracking entry by setting a close time field of the tracking entry based on a time stamp.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to delete the tracking entry from the memory after the tracking entry is closed.

10. The system of claim 1, wherein the processor is further configured to:

identify, from a tracking entry hierarchy of the tracking registry, child tracking entries that are children of the tracking entry;

determine that the child tracking entries should be deleted; and

based on a determination that that child tracking entries should be deleted;

delete the child tracking entries based on information associated with the tracking entry hierarchy, and

update the tracking entry hierarchy based on information associated with the deleted child tracking entries.

11. The system of claim 1,

wherein the processor is further configured to:

receive a query associated with the processing;

identify the tracking entry from the query; and

transmit, responsive to the query, a list of tracking entries satisfying the query, the list of tracking entries including the tracking entry associated with the first operation.

12. The system of claim 1, wherein the tracking entry includes fields for recording a time when the tracking entry is opened, a type of the tracking entry, and information associated with the first processing module.

13. The system of claim 1, wherein each of the first and second modules are selected from a group consisting of a software module and a hardware module.

24. The system of claim 1, further comprising:

a first computing node of the distributed computing system, wherein the first computing node is communicatively coupled to the registry server via a data network and is configured to;

execute the first processing module and thereby perform the first operation,

transmit the tracking request to the registry server, and

delegate, as part of the processing, the second operation to the second processing module; and

a second computing node of the distributed computing system, wherein the second computing node is communicatively coupled to the registry server via the data network and is configured to;

execute the second processing module and thereby perform the second operation, and

transmit the close request to the registry server.

25. The system of claim 1, wherein the first computing node is configured to delegate the second operation by performing at least one of:

making a function call to the second processing module, invoking a remote procedure call to the second processing module, or initiating an input/output operation involving the second processing module.

14. A method of managing events in a distributed computing system, the method comprising:

receiving a registry request from a first module operating on a first node of the distributed computing system via a registry interface, the registry request being associated with a first operation being handled by the first module;

opening a tracking entry based on information associated with the registry request;

storing the tracking entry in a tracking registry;

receiving an entry closing request from a second module operating on a second node of the distributed computing system via the registry interface, the entry closing request being associated with completion of a second operation being handled by the second module;

identify, from the entry close request, second information associated with a terminal event for the processing that is handled by the second operation;

closing the tracking entry based on the identified second information associated with the entry closing request,

wherein the registry request includes a parent identifier associated with a parent tracking entry of the tracking entry, and

modifying a child identifier field of the parent tracking entry to include an identifier of the tracking entry.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

receiving a query via a management interface; and

generating a list of tracking entries satisfying the query that are stored in the tracking registry.

16. The method of claim 14, further comprising:

querying the tracking registry to determine one or more open tracking entries;

determining why a second tracking entry selected from the one or more open tracking entries remains open; and

determining a remedial action for correcting a problem associated with a third operation associated with the second tracking entry.

17. The method of claim 16 wherein querying the tracking registry to determine one or more open tracking entries comprises selecting each of the one or more open tracking entries based on an elapsed time since each of the one or more open tracking entries was opened.

18. The method of claim 16 wherein determining why a second tracking entry selected from the one or more open tracking entries remains open comprises examining both open and closed tracking entries.

19. The method of claim 16, further comprising, initiating the remedial action.

20. The method of claim 16 wherein the remedial action is selected from a group consisting of reissuing a processing request, rebooting a module, and restarting a module.

21. The method of claim 14, further comprising clearing one or more third tracking entries in the tracking registry based on a query.

22. The method of claim 14, further comprising extracting one or more second tracking entries from the tracking registry based on a query.

23. A non-transitory machine-readable medium having stored thereon machine-executable code that, when executed by one or more machines comprising a registry server, causes machines to:

receive, from a first processing module of a distributed computing system that includes the registry server, a tracking request associated with a first operation that is performed by the first processing module and that is included in processing performed by the distributed computing system in response to a stimulus;

identify, from the tracking request, first information associated with an event that is handled by the first operation;

open a tracking entry based on the identified first information;

add the tracking entry to the tracking registry;

receive, from a second processing module of the distributed computing system, that is separate from the first processing module, a close request associated with a second operation that is included in the processing performed by the distributed computing system that is associated with completion of the first operation;

identify, from the close request, second information associated with a terminal event for the processing that is handled by the second operation; and

close the tracking entry based on the identified second information,

wherein the tracking request includes a parent identifier associated with a parent tracking entry of the tracking entry;

modify a child identifier field of the parent tracking entry to include an identifier of the tracking entry.

26. The non-transitory machine-readable medium of claim 23, further comprising additional machine-executable code that, when executed by the registry server, causes the registry server to:

identify, from a tracking entry hierarchy of the tracking registry, child tracking entries that are children of the tracking entry;

determine that the child tracking entries should be deleted; and

based on a determination that that child tracking entries should be deleted;

delete the child tracking entries based on information associated with the tracking entry hierarchy, and

update the tracking entry hierarchy based on information associated with the deleted child tracking entries.