WO2000013086A1 - Diagnostic system and method for monitoring plural software applications using plural diagnostic tools - Google Patents

Diagnostic system and method for monitoring plural software applications using plural diagnostic tools Download PDF

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Publication number
WO2000013086A1
WO2000013086A1 PCT/US1998/017622 US9817622W WO0013086A1 WO 2000013086 A1 WO2000013086 A1 WO 2000013086A1 US 9817622 W US9817622 W US 9817622W WO 0013086 A1 WO0013086 A1 WO 0013086A1
Authority
WO
WIPO (PCT)
Prior art keywords
data
routing
diagnostic
protocol
plural
Prior art date
Application number
PCT/US1998/017622
Other languages
French (fr)
Inventor
Jason Bailis
Max Samsonov
Original Assignee
Harris Corporation
Priority date (The priority date is an assumption and is not a legal conclusion. Google has not performed a legal analysis and makes no representation as to the accuracy of the date listed.)
Filing date
Publication date
Application filed by Harris Corporation filed Critical Harris Corporation
Priority to PCT/US1998/017622 priority Critical patent/WO2000013086A1/en
Priority to AU90339/98A priority patent/AU9033998A/en
Publication of WO2000013086A1 publication Critical patent/WO2000013086A1/en

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Classifications

    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04LTRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L41/00Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
    • H04L41/22Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04LTRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L41/00Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
    • H04L41/02Standardisation; Integration
    • H04L41/0213Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
    • HELECTRICITY
    • H04ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
    • H04LTRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
    • H04L41/00Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
    • H04L41/06Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
    • H04L41/0631Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications using root cause analysis; using analysis of correlation between notifications, alarms or events based on decision criteria, e.g. hierarchy, tree or time analysis

Definitions

  • SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol
  • diagnostic tools e.g., graphical tables and histograms, visible alarms, statistics correlation logs, etc. It is often desirable to perform more that one diagnostic on an application, and it is often desirable to change the diagnostic (s) being performed on an application.
  • Figure 1 is a functional block diagram of a prior art diagnostic system for N software applications and N diagnostic tools .
  • Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of the diagnostic system of the present invention for N software applications and
  • Exemplary applications in the environment of an enhanced services telephone system include call processing, data base management, and infrastructure management.
  • Exemplary diagnostic tools include the NT Performance Monitor, the NT Even Logger, the NT Task Manager and an extendible SNMP Agen .
  • the present invention converts the application specific output signals from each application to a common protocol such as the Component Object Model ("COM") protocol.
  • COM Component Object Model
  • the routing matrix 10 may need only interface for each different protocol in which the various applications provide data, each application with a common protocol may provide it to the routing matrix through the same interface.
  • the present invention also converts the common protocol of the routing matrix to the tool specific protocol for application to the various tools.
  • the switch matrix may require only one output interface for each different type of protocol required by the diagnostic tools.
  • the selective connection of the data from each application to one or more diagnostic tools may be accomplished in the suitable conventional routing matrix 10 under the control of a suitable conventional control server 12.
  • the present invention provides great flexibility in the assignment of diagnostic tools to an application in real time. This may be accomplished remotely using Web technology.
  • the most significant advantage of the present invention may be the connection of the routing matrix to a local area network, wide area network, or to the Internet, so that the diagnostic tools may be physically located at sites widely spaced from any or all applications, and all may be different from the site of the control server.
  • the routing data may be selectively filtered to prevent the transmission of data not needed by a specific tool and particular configurations developed to diagnose or monitor a particular scenario may be stored for later recall.

Abstract

A diagnostic system and method for a plurality of computer applications in which events from plural common configurable routing matrix (10) for routing to one or more of a plurality of diagnostic monitors, recorders or logs. The routing matrix is configurable in real time by a server (12). All applications, without regard to server or topology, communicate via the standardized computer network protocol (and Internet), effectively abstracting all applications from the server on which they are running.

Description

DIAGNOSTIC SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR MONITORING PLURAL SOFTWARE APPLICATIONS USING PLURAL DIAGNOSTIC TOOLS
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
It is common to perform diagnostics on the data produced as a result of the running of a computer software application. - Examples of such software applications include enhanced telephone services such as prepaid telephone long distance calling services. Each of these applications may have a different protocol in which the data therefrom is available.
Common diagnostics include Simple Network Management Protocol ("SNMP") translations, the creation of event logs, performance monitors, and displays. Each of these diagnostic tools may require that the data it receives be in a specified format .
Several diagnostic tools are available, e.g., graphical tables and histograms, visible alarms, statistics correlation logs, etc. It is often desirable to perform more that one diagnostic on an application, and it is often desirable to change the diagnostic (s) being performed on an application.
It has been the practice to connect known diagnostic tools directly to the servers on which a particular application is run and to provide the specific interface necessary to convert the data provided by the application to the format required by the diagnostic tool. Where two or more diagnostics are applied to the data from a single application, it has generally been necessary to utilize additional interface circuits. When a change in the diagnostic is desired, it has generally been necessary to reconnect the components through a appropriate interfaces on an application-by-application basis, resulting in considerable delay. In addition, correlation of data from more than one application or server has required considerable interface complexity and often can not be accomplished at all with common diagnostic tools.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel diagnostic system and method which obviates many of the deficiencies of known systems.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a novel diagnostic system and method in which both sources of data and the diagnostic tools are abstracted.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel diagnostic system and method in which the physical location of both data sources and diagnostic tools is transparent to both sources and tools, i.e., network topology is abstracted from both data sources and diagnostic tools.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel diagnostic system and method in which the assignment of diagnostic tools to a software application is selective in real time.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a novel diagnostic system and method of providing a unified application programming interface wrapper around specific tools provided by Windows NT .
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a novel diagnostic system and method which implements a clearinghouse concept in software.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a novel diagnostic system and method in which a single tool may simultaneously monitor plural applications or servers in order to correlate diagnostic data with respect to time or common events.
These and many other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to one skilled in the art to which the invention pertains from a perusal of the claims, the" appended drawings, and the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments.
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS Figure 1 is a functional block diagram of a prior art diagnostic system for N software applications and N diagnostic tools .
Figure 2 is a functional block diagram of the diagnostic system of the present invention for N software applications and
M tools.
DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS As shown in Figure 1, the prior art diagnostics for various software applications was generally on a one-to-one basis, i.e. each application such as App . N was directly connected to a specific diagnostic tool such as Tool M, although two applications such as App.l and App .2 may be connected to a single diagnostic tool Tooll, and a single application App .3 may be connected to two tools Tool2 and Tool3.
Exemplary applications in the environment of an enhanced services telephone system, particularly a prepaid long distance calling system, include call processing, data base management, and infrastructure management. Exemplary diagnostic tools include the NT Performance Monitor, the NT Even Logger, the NT Task Manager and an extendible SNMP Agen .
In contrast with this one-to-one relationship between applications and the diagnostic tools, the present invention as shown in Figure 2 converts the application specific output signals from each application to a common protocol such as the Component Object Model ("COM") protocol. As a practical matter, the routing matrix 10 may need only interface for each different protocol in which the various applications provide data, each application with a common protocol may provide it to the routing matrix through the same interface.
The present invention also converts the common protocol of the routing matrix to the tool specific protocol for application to the various tools. As a practical matter, the switch matrix may require only one output interface for each different type of protocol required by the diagnostic tools.
The selective connection of the data from each application to one or more diagnostic tools may be accomplished in the suitable conventional routing matrix 10 under the control of a suitable conventional control server 12.
In addition to the potential saving in the number of interfaces required for a given number of applications and diagnostic tools, the present invention provides great flexibility in the assignment of diagnostic tools to an application in real time. This may be accomplished remotely using Web technology.
However, the most significant advantage of the present invention may be the connection of the routing matrix to a local area network, wide area network, or to the Internet, so that the diagnostic tools may be physically located at sites widely spaced from any or all applications, and all may be different from the site of the control server. To each
application and to each diagnostic tool, each of the others appears to be a virtual component.
In the present system, the routing data may be selectively filtered to prevent the transmission of data not needed by a specific tool and particular configurations developed to diagnose or monitor a particular scenario may be stored for later recall.
The dynamic addition and deletion of sources and destinations provides great flexibility and new destination may be added via published API.
While preferred embodiments of the present invention have been described, it is to be understood that the embodiments described are illustrative only and the scope of the invention is to be defined solely by the appended claims when accorded a full range of equivalence, many variations and modifications naturally occurring to those of skill in the art from a perusal hereof .

Claims

WHAT IS CLAIMED IS:
1. A diagnostic system comprising: input means adapted to receive data relating to events from plural software applications; input conversion means for converting the data received into a common computer protocol; output conversion means adapted to convert data from the common computer protocol into a computer protocol selected as a function of a specific diagnostic tool; output means for transmitting the converted data to a selected specific diagnostic tool; routing means for selectively routing received data from said input means to one or more of said output means; and control means for selectively configuring said routing means in real time.
2. The system of Claim 1 wherein said control means includes means for remotely configuring said routing means.
3. The system of Claim 1 including said control means includes means for selectively filtering the received data routed by said routing means.
4. The system of Claim 1 wherein said control means includes means for selectively storing a particular configuration of said routing means for use in the subsequent configuration of said routing means.
5. A diagnostic system comprising: input means adapted to receive data relating to events from plural software applications in a common computer protocol; output conversion means adapted to convert data from the common computer protocol into a computer protocol selected as a function of a specific diagnostic tool; output means for transmitting the converted data to a selected diagnostic tool; routing means for selectively routing received data from said input means to one or more of said output means for transmission to a diagnostic tool; and control means for selectively configuring said routing means from a location remote from said routing means.
6. In a diagnostic system for plural computer applications each providing data in one of a plurality of data protocols, said system having plural diagnostic tools each responsive to data in one of a plurality of different computer protocols, the method of routing data from a selected application to a selected tool comprising the steps of:
(a) converting all input data into a common protocol;
(b) selecting the diagnostic tool for the data from one of the plural computer applications; and
(c) converting the data in the common computer protocol from the selected computer application into a protocol determined by the identity of a selected diagnostic tool.
7. The method of Claim 6 wherein the conversion of data from all computer applications into a common computer protocol is accomplished in a single server.
8. The method of Claim 6 wherein the conversion of data from the common computer protocol into the tool specific protocol is accomplished in a single server.
9. The method of Claim 6 wherein the control of the application of data is in real time.
10. The method of Claim 6 wherein none of the plural applications are commonly located.
11. The method of Claim 6 wherein none of the diagnostic" tools are commonly located.
12. The method of Claim 6 including the step of selectively filtering the converted data routed to the selected diagnostic tool .
13. The method of Claim 6 including the step of selectively storing a selected routing configuration for subsequent use.
PCT/US1998/017622 1998-08-26 1998-08-26 Diagnostic system and method for monitoring plural software applications using plural diagnostic tools WO2000013086A1 (en)

Priority Applications (2)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/US1998/017622 WO2000013086A1 (en) 1998-08-26 1998-08-26 Diagnostic system and method for monitoring plural software applications using plural diagnostic tools
AU90339/98A AU9033998A (en) 1998-08-26 1998-08-26 Diagnostic system and method for monitoring plural software applications using plural diagnostic tools

Applications Claiming Priority (1)

Application Number Priority Date Filing Date Title
PCT/US1998/017622 WO2000013086A1 (en) 1998-08-26 1998-08-26 Diagnostic system and method for monitoring plural software applications using plural diagnostic tools

Publications (1)

Publication Number Publication Date
WO2000013086A1 true WO2000013086A1 (en) 2000-03-09

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WO (1) WO2000013086A1 (en)

Cited By (3)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2002023405A1 (en) * 2000-09-15 2002-03-21 Wonderware Corporation A method and system for performing remote diagnostics on a process data access server
CN102662395A (en) * 2012-05-09 2012-09-12 株洲南车时代电气股份有限公司 System and method for testing locomotive transmission control unit with resource routing function
GB2557013A (en) * 2016-10-24 2018-06-13 Centre For Dev Of Telematics C Dot System and method for optimizing a managed network

Citations (4)

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Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5239662A (en) * 1986-09-15 1993-08-24 Norand Corporation System including multiple device communications controller which coverts data received from two different customer transaction devices each using different communications protocols into a single communications protocol
EP0599606A2 (en) * 1992-11-24 1994-06-01 Xerox Corporation Interactive diagnostic data transfer system for remote diagnostics
US5490252A (en) * 1992-09-30 1996-02-06 Bay Networks Group, Inc. System having central processor for transmitting generic packets to another processor to be altered and transmitting altered packets back to central processor for routing
US5491791A (en) * 1995-01-13 1996-02-13 International Business Machines Corporation System and method for remote workstation monitoring within a distributed computing environment

Patent Citations (4)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
US5239662A (en) * 1986-09-15 1993-08-24 Norand Corporation System including multiple device communications controller which coverts data received from two different customer transaction devices each using different communications protocols into a single communications protocol
US5490252A (en) * 1992-09-30 1996-02-06 Bay Networks Group, Inc. System having central processor for transmitting generic packets to another processor to be altered and transmitting altered packets back to central processor for routing
EP0599606A2 (en) * 1992-11-24 1994-06-01 Xerox Corporation Interactive diagnostic data transfer system for remote diagnostics
US5491791A (en) * 1995-01-13 1996-02-13 International Business Machines Corporation System and method for remote workstation monitoring within a distributed computing environment

Cited By (7)

* Cited by examiner, † Cited by third party
Publication number Priority date Publication date Assignee Title
WO2002023405A1 (en) * 2000-09-15 2002-03-21 Wonderware Corporation A method and system for performing remote diagnostics on a process data access server
US7644120B2 (en) 2000-09-15 2010-01-05 Invensys Systems, Inc. Industrial process control data access server supporting multiple client data exchange protocols
US7779089B2 (en) 2000-09-15 2010-08-17 Invensys Systems, Inc. Method and system for remote configuration of process data access servers
US8095632B2 (en) 2000-09-15 2012-01-10 Invensys Systems, Inc Method and system for performing remote diagnostics on a process data access
CN102662395A (en) * 2012-05-09 2012-09-12 株洲南车时代电气股份有限公司 System and method for testing locomotive transmission control unit with resource routing function
GB2557013A (en) * 2016-10-24 2018-06-13 Centre For Dev Of Telematics C Dot System and method for optimizing a managed network
GB2557013B (en) * 2016-10-24 2020-05-13 Centre For Dev Of Telematics C Dot System and method for optimizing a managed network

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Publication number Publication date
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