U.S. patent application number 11/627398 was filed with the patent office on 2008-07-31 for method for providing assistance in making change decisions in a configurable managed environment.
Invention is credited to Puthukode G. Ramachandran.
Application Number | 20080183690 11/627398 |
Document ID | / |
Family ID | 39669098 |
Filed Date | 2008-07-31 |
United States Patent
Application |
20080183690 |
Kind Code |
A1 |
Ramachandran; Puthukode G. |
July 31, 2008 |
METHOD FOR PROVIDING ASSISTANCE IN MAKING CHANGE DECISIONS IN A
CONFIGURABLE MANAGED ENVIRONMENT
Abstract
A method is provided for assigning weights to CIs in a
configurable managed system, wherein respective weights are derived
from information contained in an associated CMDB. The information
could include without limitation the relationships that a CI has
with other CIs and the number of reads and writes that are made
between the CI and other CIs. A Change Manager in the configurable
system makes changes affecting CIs, wherein different types of
changes require different levels of confidence in the integrity of
data in the CMDB. Accordingly, the weights of respective CIs are
used to provide a confidence level regarding the accuracy of CMDB
data, pertinent to a proposed change. The confidence level is then
used by the Change Manager in deciding whether or not to make the
change. One embodiment comprises acquiring information from the
CMDB pertaining to CIs that would be affected by a particular
change, and processing the acquired information to compute a
confidence level indicating the probability that the acquired
information is correct. The particular change is then allowed only
if the confidence level is no less than a pre-specified minimum
value.
Inventors: |
Ramachandran; Puthukode G.;
(Austin, TX) |
Correspondence
Address: |
IBM CORP (YA);C/O YEE & ASSOCIATES PC
P.O. BOX 802333
DALLAS
TX
75380
US
|
Family ID: |
39669098 |
Appl. No.: |
11/627398 |
Filed: |
January 26, 2007 |
Current U.S.
Class: |
1/1 ;
707/999.005; 707/E17.001 |
Current CPC
Class: |
G06F 16/275 20190101;
G06F 8/71 20130101 |
Class at
Publication: |
707/5 ;
707/E17.001 |
International
Class: |
G06F 17/30 20060101
G06F017/30 |
Claims
1. In association with a CMDB containing information that relates
to configuration items (CIs) in a configurable managed system,
wherein a change station is provided to make respective changes, a
method for determining whether to allow a particular change that
would affect at least one of the CIs, said method comprising the
steps of: acquiring information from said CMDB pertaining to CIs
that would be affected by said particular change; processing said
acquired information to compute a confidence level indicating the
probability that said acquired information is correct; and allowing
said particular change to be made in said configurable system only
if said confidence level is no less than a pre-specified minimum
value.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein: said acquiring step includes
identifying CIs that would be affected by said particular
change.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein: said method includes assigning
weights to respective identified CIs, wherein the weight assigned
to a given CI represents the probable accuracy of information
acquired from said CMDB that pertains to said given CI.
4. The method of claim 3, wherein: said assigned CI weights are
respectively processed to compute said confidence level.
5. The method of claim 3, wherein: the weight of said given CI is
derived at least in part from the number of relationships said
given CI has with other CIs in said system.
6. The method of claim 3, wherein: the weight of said given CI is
derived at least in part from the number of reads made from said
given CI by other CIs, from the number of writes made to said given
CI from other CIs, or from the time of the most recent
synchronization of said given CI with said CMDB, selectively.
7. The method of claim 3, wherein: said confidence level is
determined by averaging said weights.
8. The method of claim 3, wherein: said confidence level is
determined by selecting data associated with the CI having the
highest assigned weight.
9. The method of claim 1, wherein: said method includes generating
a table that lists a number of specified changes that could be made
to said system, and that further lists the minimum confidence level
values that are needed to allow respective specified changes to be
made.
10. In association with a CMDB containing information that relates
to configuration items (CIs) in a configurable managed system,
wherein a change station is provided to make respective changes, a
computer program product in a computer readable medium for
determining whether to allow a particular change that would affect
at least one of the CIs, said computer program product comprising:
first instructions for acquiring information from said CMDB
pertaining to CIs that would be affected by said particular change;
second instructions for processing said acquired information to
compute a confidence level indicating the probability that said
acquired information is correct; and third instructions for
allowing said particular change to be made in said configurable
system only if said confidential level is no less than a
pre-specified minimum value.
11. The computer program product of claim 10, wherein: fourth
instructions are provided for identifying CIs that would be
affected by said particular change.
12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein: fifth
instructions are provided for assigning weights to respective
identified CIs, wherein the weight assigned to a given CI
represents the probable accuracy of information acquired from said
CMDB that pertains to said given CI.
13. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein: the product
is transmitted over a communications link.
14. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein: the weight
of said given CI is derived at least in part from the number of
relationships said given CI has with other CIs in said configurable
system, from the number of writes made to said given CI from other
CIs, and from the number of reads made from said given CI by other
CIs, selectively.
15. The computer program product of claim 12, wherein: the weight
of said given CI is derived at least in part from the time of the
most recent synchronization of said given CI with said CMDB.
16. In a configurable managed system, provided with configuration
items (CI) and with a change station adapted to make respective
changes, apparatus for determining whether to allow a particular
change that would affect at least one of the CIs, said apparatus
comprising: a CMDB containing information that relates to
configuration items (CIs); a device for acquiring information from
said CMDB pertaining to CIs that would be affected by said
particular change; a device for processing said acquired
information to compute a confidence level indicating the
probability that said acquired information is correct; and a
comparator device for allowing said particular change to be made in
said configurable system only if said confidential level is no less
than a pre-specified minimum value.
17. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein: said acquiring device is
adapted to identify CIs that would be affected by said particular
change.
18. The apparatus of claim 17, wherein: said processing device
assigns weights to respective identified CIs, wherein the weight
assigned to a given CI represents the probable accuracy of
information acquired from said CMDB that pertains to said given
CI.
19. The apparatus of claim 18, wherein: said processing device
processes respective assigned weights to compute said confidence
level.
20. The apparatus of claim 16, wherein: said apparatus includes
means for generating a table that lists a number of specified
changes that could be made to said system, and that further lists
the minimum confidence level values that are needed to allow
respective specified changes to be made.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
[0001] 1. Field of the Invention
[0002] The invention disclosed and claimed herein generally
pertains to a method for providing assistance in decision making in
a configurable managed environment or system, that includes a
configuration management database (CMDB) and configuration items
(CI). More particularly, the invention pertains to a method of the
above type for providing assistance in determining whether or not
to make a change in the system that would affect one or more of the
CIs. Even more particularly, the invention pertains to a method of
the above type for computing a confidence level representing the
probability that information provided by the CMDB is accurate. The
Change Manager also gets the information on the impact of the
proposed change.
[0003] 2. Description of the Related Art
[0004] Configuration management is a critical process responsible
for identifying, controlling and tracking all versions of hardware,
software, documentation, and other inanimate components of a
configurable managed environment, such as an Information Technology
organization. The goal of configuration management is to ensure
that only authorized components, referred to as configuration items
(CIs), are used in the configurable managed environment, and that
all changes to CIs are recorded and tracked throughout the life
cycle of the component. The configuration management process
includes performing tasks such as identifying CIs and their
relationships, and adding them to the CMDB. The CMDB is a database
that contains all relevant details for each CI, such as
relationships between CIs, state or status, and historical
information. Some examples of CIs are Computer System, Application
Server etc. The data and relationships in the CMDB are used by a
system manager, referred to as a Change Manager, for making changes
in the configurable managed environment or system, wherein the
changes generally will affect one or more of the configuration
items. A definition of the Change Manager, provided by the
Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), is set forth
hereinafter.
[0005] The CMDB nominally contains the latest information of the
above type for all CIs, such as the states and relationships
thereof. Information about respective CIs is referred to herein as
configuration item data (CID). In a configurable managed
environment, as events occur that change the states or
relationships of respective CIs, the CMDB must be synchronized
accordingly. That is, the CMDB must be updated, so that the data
contained therein will represent the new CID, that is, new
realities of the CIs. However, in a configurable managed
environment of the above type, multiple point products are commonly
present that create and change relationships among the CIs. Such
point products are described hereinafter in further detail, and
may, for example, comprise devices such as the Tivoli Configuration
Manager (TCM), a product of International Business Machines
Corporation. The multiple point products are also commonly used to
report changed conditions of the CIs to the CMDB.
[0006] Because the CMDB receives CI change data from different
point products, it can happen that data received from the different
point products, in regard to the same CIs, will be in conflict.
Moreover, delays of varying lengths may occur between actual
changes of CI conditions, and the reporting of such changed
conditions to the CMDB. As a result, a typical CMDB that is being
populated with data from multiple point product sources cannot be
kept in synchronization with the actual real world condition of all
CIs, since it is virtually impossible to keep CID synchronization
up to date.
[0007] In a configurable managed environment or system, Change
Managers make systems management decisions based on the state and
relationships of the CIs, as shown by information in the CMDB. Some
changes to the environment are trivial, while other changes can
have serious consequences. For example, a change such as disabling
a monitoring service on a hardware CI will usually be of low
impact, while deleting a software component from a server for a
change management operation can have serious consequences. However,
as discussed above, CMDB information available to the Change
Manager is likely to contain inaccuracies, even though such
information is to be used as the basis for making changes.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide the Change Manager
with a tool that could serve as an aid in determining whether or
not to make certain changes that affect CIs. The tool would take
into account both the possibility of inaccurate CMDB information,
and the comparative impact of the proposed change and provide
information on the probability of a given change being successful
or a failure.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
[0008] In association with a CMDB containing information that
relates to configuration items (CIs) in a configurable managed
system, wherein a change station is provided to make respective
changes, a method is provided for determining whether to allow a
particular change that would affect at least one of the CIs. The
method comprises the steps of acquiring information from the CMDB
pertaining to CIs that would be affected by the particular change,
and processing the acquired information to compute a confidence
level indicating the probability that the acquired information is
correct. A particular change is then allowed to be made in the
configurable system only if the confidence level is no less than a
pre-specified minimum value.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
[0009] The novel features believed characteristic of the invention
are set forth in the appended claims. The invention itself,
however, as well as a preferred mode of use, further objectives and
advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference to the
following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment when
read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:
[0010] FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing a configurable managed
system in which an embodiment of the invention may be carried
out.
[0011] FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a computer or data
processing system for implementing a change station that may be
used in the system of FIG. 1.
[0012] FIG. 3 is a flow chart showing respective steps for an
embodiment of the invention.
DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
[0013] Referring to FIG. 1, there is shown a configurable managed
system or environment 100 that includes a number of interrelated
configuration items (CIs). Well known types of CIs include desktop
computers, servers and computer clients, which are exemplified in
FIG. 1 by servers 102 and 104, and by client 106. While not shown,
the hardware CIs of system 100 may contain operating systems,
application programs and other software components that are also
CIs. Respective CIs of configurable system 100 can be selectively
connected to one another by means of a network 108, which may, for
example, comprise the Internet or a LAN.
[0014] Referring further to FIG. 1, there is shown system 100
provided with a CMDB 112 and point products 114 and 116. The point
products are components that monitor or provide management services
for the CIs of system 100, and furnish data concerning respective
CIs to CMDB 108. Thus, CID information pertaining to CIs, wherein
the CIs include hardware, software, and monitoring applications, is
stored in CMDB 108 by multiple point product sources, exemplified
in FIG. 1 by point products 114 and 116. The CID information
includes relationships between the CIs. Each of the point products
may comprise, for example, a Tivoli Configuration Manager (TCM) as
described above, or a Tivoli Provisioning Manager or IBM Tivoli
Monitor. These are each well known products and systems made
available by the International Business Machines Corporation.
Alternatively, such products could include a BMC protocol or a
Microsoft SMS.
[0015] Since information is supplied to CMDB 112 from multiple
product point sources, it frequently happens that two or more
sources send information to the CMDB that all pertains to the same
CI. Also, if the CI includes a number of different configurable
elements, information sent to the CMDB for the CI may include data
representing the value or state of each element. For example, if
the CI comprises a computer component having a hard drive, data
stored in the CMDB for the CI could include a value indicating the
hard drive storage capacity.
[0016] FIG. 1 further shows a computer work station, comprising a
change station 110, for use by a Change Manager, or another
administrator or user associated with configurable managed system
100. In a system of this type, for example a new healthcare system,
it is typically necessary to make sure that there are sufficient
hardware and software resources, sufficient power and training, and
sufficient other types of resources. System changes to some of the
resources can impact other resources as well. Accordingly, a Change
Advisory Board (CAB) may be established to oversee changes, and a
Change Manager, or another administrator or user, is tasked with
executing changes.
[0017] Change station 110 is operable by the Change Manager or
other user to establish and change relationships between respective
CIs. Accordingly, change station 110 is provided with a user
interface as further indicated at FIG. 2. For example, change
station 110 could be operated by the Change Manager or other user
to install an application into one of the servers 102 or 104, or to
disconnect a point product monitor from another CI. Change station
110 may also be operated to carry out an embodiment of the
invention, as described herein.
[0018] Referring to FIG. 2, there is shown a block diagram of a
generalized data processing system 200 which may be used to
implement change station 110. Data processing system 200
exemplifies a computer, in which code or instructions for
implementing the processes of the present invention may be located.
Data processing system 200 usefully employs a peripheral component
interconnect (PCI) local bus architecture, although other bus
architectures may alternatively be used. FIG. 2 shows a processor
202 and main memory 204 connected to a PCI local bus 206 through a
Host/PCI bridge 208. PCI bridge 208 also may include an integrated
memory controller and cache memory for processor 202.
[0019] Referring further to FIG. 2, there is shown a local area
network (LAN) adapter 212, a small computer system interface (SCSI)
host bus adapter 210, and an expansion bus interface 214
respectively connected to PCI local bus 206 by direct component
connection. SCSI host bus adapter 210 provides a connection for
hard disk drive 218, and also for CD-ROM drive 220. Expansion bus
interface 214 provides a connection for user interface elements
such as a keyboard and mouse adapter 222, modem 224, and additional
memory 226.
[0020] An operating system runs on processor 202 and is used to
coordinate and provide control of various components within data
processing system 200 shown in FIG. 2. The operating system may be
a commercially available operating system such as Windows XP, which
is available from Microsoft Corporation. Instructions for the
operating system and for applications or programs are located on
storage devices, such as hard disk drive 220, and may be loaded
into main memory 204 for execution by processor 202.
[0021] The CI data reported from multiple products is in a standard
form, and the CI information from all the products is consolidated
into a single CI data item. As discussed above, it is likely that
at any given time, at least some of the data stored in the CMDB for
a particular CI will not be accurate. This is due in part to delay
between an actual change in the condition or state of a CI, and the
reporting of the change to the CMDB. Inaccuracies can also result
from conflicts in information pertaining to a CI that is reported
to the CMDB by different point products. Thus, when the Change
Manager is tasked with making a proposed change to the configurable
managed system 100, wherein the change will affect one or more CIs,
change station 110 can be used to implement a procedure in
accordance with the embodiment of the invention, as illustrated by
FIG. 3. This procedure will reduce the possibility of adverse
consequences that are caused by making a change based on inaccurate
CI information in the CMDB.
[0022] Referring to FIG. 3, there is shown an initial step 302 of
identifying each of the CIs that are affected by a proposed change.
Such identification is performed by the CMDB, which is a repository
for information pertaining to all CIs of a system, including the
states and relationships thereof. When the CMDB receives data
indicating a proposed change, it will be able to determine, from
the relationships existing therein, whether a particular CI will be
affected by the changes. If so, the CMDB identifies the particular
CI.
[0023] At step 304, information stored in the CMDB for one of the
identified CIs is selected or acquired from the CMDB, wherein the
acquired information is relevant to the proposed change. For
example, the proposed change could require loading an application
into the hard drive of a particular CI, so that it would be
necessary to know the available capacity of the hard drive. While
the CMDB might contain reports listing information for a number of
elements of the particular CI, only the value of hard drive
capacity would be pertinent to the proposed change. Step 304 would
be carried out for all of the CIs identified at step 302.
[0024] It will be appreciated that in some situations a particular
source of information will have such authority, relative to
competing sources, that the conflicting data from the other
competing sources will not be considered. For example, Service
Advertising Protocol (SAP) is a service for managing server assets
in a system. When a server is first brought into the system, SAP
makes a record of the server model and serial number, and of the
operating system placed therein. A year later, a point product
conducts a scan and indicates that a different operating system is
in the server. The SAP is an authoritative system, but its
information can be out of date, if the operating system was changed
but the SAP was not informed of the change. On the other hand, the
point product can perform a scan to correctly identify the
operating system, at the time such information is requested.
Accordingly, the point product data will simply be accepted over
the data from SAP.
[0025] As a further example for illustrating the embodiment of FIG.
3, the hard drive capacity of the particular CI is stated to be 200
GB in three reports sent to the CMDB, but is stated to be 100 GB in
one other report. In view of this discrepancy, it becomes necessary
to assign a confidence level, or weight, to the information
pertaining to this element of the particular CI, as shown by step
306 of FIG. 3. With three reports indicating the 200 GB hard drive
value against only one report for the 100 GB value, a comparatively
high confidence level would be assigned to the 200 GB value.
However, if all the reports indicated very different values from
one another, the confidence level for this configurable element
would be relatively low. CMDB reports typically are stored in a log
file or in a data warehouse. Decisions about respective reports are
revisited when new information becomes available.
[0026] More generally, where there are discrepancies or
disagreements between multiple reports in the CMDB for a CI or CI
element, weights are assigned to the CI based on one or more
criteria. These criteria can include the number of times a CI has
been read by other CIs, the number of times a CI has been written
to or updated by other CIs, the number of relationships that a CI
has with other CIs, as shown by information in the CMDB, and how
recently a CI was last accessed or updated.
[0027] Moreover, if one report for a CI element is several years
old and another report is very recent, the more recent report will
be given significantly higher weight. Generally, a weight can be
determined on the basis of a known update or synchronization by a
point product source, or can be based on a reported revision level,
patch level or update level, giving greater weight to the most
recent of such events. A weight can also be based on the date of a
report or most recent report update, or on the frequency of access
to the report.
[0028] After weighting the accuracy of the information for each of
the CIs, such as by using one or more of the weighting approaches
described above, one of the sources may appear to be so much more
reliable than all others that the data from such source will be
selected as the correct data. Otherwise, it is necessary to compute
an over-all confidence level, as shown by step 308 of FIG. 3. The
confidence level may be determined from following the
expression:
Confidence Level=(X*No. of writes to the CI)/(Y*No. of CI
Relationships)
where X and Y are constants. Thus, confidence level is increased by
increasing the number of writes to the CR, and decreased by
decreasing the number of relationships.
[0029] As a further example, it is proposed that the configurable
managed system 100 be changed by loading a specified software
application into the hard drive of a server, wherein both the
application software and the server are CIs of system 100. To
perform this task, the server hard drive must have enough available
capacity to accommodate the size of the application. From steps 304
and 306 discussed above, change station 110 has determined that the
application requires X MB of storage, with an 80% weighting that
this information is correct. Similarly, change station 110 has
determined that the hard drive of the server has available storage
capacity of X MB, with a 70% weighting that this information is
accurate. Accordingly, change station 110 carries out step 308 of
FIG. 3 by averaging the weights for the two CIs affected by the
proposed task, to compute a confidence level of 75%.
[0030] At step 310, it is necessary to select the minimum
acceptable value of confidence level (CL.sub.min) for the proposed
change. This value could be predetermined for a possible or
prospective change to a CI, and would correspond to the comparative
amount of harm that would result if the change was carried out
based on information found to be incorrect. In one embodiment, a
table would be preconfigured to list a number of specified changes
that could be made to system 100. The table would further list the
minimum confidence level values needed to allow respective listed
changes to be made. The table (not shown) could reside in the CMBD,
or elsewhere in system 100. The determination of confidence level
would generally be based on heuristics, or knowledge based on
experience. It could also be based on collected historical data,
that was continually updated.
[0031] For the above example, an inability to load the software
application into the server would be a comparatively adverse
consequence for system 100. Accordingly, the minimum confidence
level to allow this proposed task to proceed is usefully
predetermined to be 70%. Such value would therefore be selected
from the table by change station 110, in accordance with step 310
of FIG. 3. At step 312, the computed confidence level of 75% is
compared with the 70% minimum acceptable level value. Since the
computed value is greater, the change is allowed to be made, as
shown by step 314. Step 316 emphasizes that changes are disallowed,
whenever the computed confidence level is less than the minimum
acceptable value.
[0032] The following are examples of changes that a Change Manager
could execute, after finding that the confidence level was at or
above the minimum acceptable value:
[0033] Install a Patch on a set of servers that hosts a business
application.
[0034] Hot Swap Storage in an environment.
[0035] Upgrade a business software application to the next
version/release.
[0036] Upgrade a router that is connected to several servers.
[0037] As a further feature, an embodiment of the invention can be
configured to provide notice to a user, when a confidence level is
found to be below the acceptable minimum. Also, a Change Manager
may be authorized in certain situations to execute a change, even
when the confidence level is less than the acceptable minimum
value. For example, notwithstanding a low confidence level, the
Change Manager may be willing to risk possible inaccuracies, where
action is necessary to avoid hacking or the loss of important
data.
[0038] The invention can take the form of an entirely hardware
embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment
containing both hardware and software elements. In a preferred
embodiment, the invention is implemented in software, which
includes but is not limited to firmware, resident software,
microcode, etc.
[0039] Furthermore, the invention can take the form of a computer
program product accessible from a computer-usable or
computer-readable medium providing program code for use by or in
connection with a computer or any instruction execution system. For
the purposes of this description, a computer-usable or computer
readable medium can be any tangible apparatus that can contain,
store, communicate, propagate, or transport the program for use by
or in connection with the instruction execution system, apparatus,
or device.
[0040] The medium can be an electronic, magnetic, optical,
electromagnetic, infrared, or semiconductor system (or apparatus or
device) or a propagation medium. Examples of a computer-readable
medium include a semiconductor or solid state memory, magnetic
tape, a removable computer diskette, a random access memory (RAM),
a read-only memory (ROM), a rigid magnetic disk and an optical
disk. Current examples of optical disks include compact disk--read
only memory (CD-ROM), compact disk--read/write (CD-R/W) and
DVD.
[0041] A data processing system suitable for storing and/or
executing program code will include at least one processor coupled
directly or indirectly to memory elements through a system bus. The
memory elements can include local memory employed during actual
execution of the program code, bulk storage, and cache memories
which provide temporary storage of at least some program code in
order to reduce the number of times code must be retrieved from
bulk storage during execution.
[0042] Input/output or I/O devices (including but not limited to
keyboards, displays, pointing devices, etc.) can be coupled to the
system either directly or through intervening I/O controllers.
[0043] Network adapters may also be coupled to the system to enable
the data processing system to become coupled to other data
processing systems or remote printers or storage devices through
intervening private or public networks. Modems, cable modem and
Ethernet cards are just a few of the currently available types of
network adapters.
[0044] The description of the present invention has been presented
for purposes of illustration and description, and is not intended
to be exhaustive or limited to the invention in the form disclosed.
Many modifications and variations will be apparent to those of
ordinary skill in the art. The embodiment was chosen and described
in order to best explain the principles of the invention, the
practical application, and to enable others of ordinary skill in
the art to understand the invention for various embodiments with
various modifications as are suited to the particular use
contemplated.
* * * * *