1994-06-06
1997-11-25
Hafiz, Tariq R.
395 54, 395 75, G06F 1700
Patent
active
056921063
DESCRIPTION:
BRIEF SUMMARY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to a system management method and apparatus for carrying out at least one management task in relation to at least one service intended to be provided by a computer system. In particular, but not exclusively, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for facilitating the carrying out of a number of management tasks (such as installation, monitoring, and fault diagnosis) in relation to a number of different services (such as log-on, electronic mail, and print spooling) provided on a network of computers.
BACKGROUND ART
Over recent years the complexity of computer systems (and in particular, computer networks) has increased considerably, such systems being characterised by the interaction of multiple system entities in providing a variety of different services. One result of this is to have placed a considerable strain on system management resources tasked to keep such systems up and running. Whilst low-level fault-diagnosis equipment such as protocol analyzers have evolved generally in line with the increasing sophistication of the technologies used for inter-linking system entities, such equipment has often tended only to serve as an aid to a maintenance engineer, telling him/her what is wrong at the particular point under test. Similarly, higher-level network management systems that seek to provide an overview of overall system performance by collecting data from all parts of a network, have largely been of limited use leaving much of the problem of understanding what is going on to the network supervisor.
More recently, a number of proposals have been made to introduce expert system technology to network fault diagnosis and management. One network management system using such technology is the ANM (Automated Network Management) system described in the article "ANM: Automated Network Management System" by Feridun, M Leib, M Nodine and J Ong, IEEE Network, March 1988--Vol 2, No 2. In the ANM system, network entities such as gateways, provide data to a backbone of Distributed Management Modules (DMMs) which service `Clients` that provide the network management services. Clients request and receive raw data collected from network entities by the DMM backbone; Clients can also request the DMM backbone to execute specific actions. A specialised Client called an Intelligent Network Manager is provided and comprises a collection of expert systems (Experts) organised as a top-level Expert which forwards triggering data received from the network entities to other Experts that each understand a specific kind of network problem. These Experts, in turn, may suggest possible hypotheses that might explain the triggering data. If necessary, each Expert may request additional data from network entities. When Experts suggest, confirm or reject hypotheses, the network operator is informed. To add expertise about a new type of network problem, to the Intelligent Network Manager of ANM, a new Expert must be added to the system, and to change the way the system reasons about problems, all Experts conducting such reasoning must be changed.
Another example of the use of expert system technology in the field is the network monitoring and analysis apparatus described in European Patent Application 0 473 255 A2 (Hewlett-Packard). This apparatus is also provided with a number of different expert systems (Consultants); however, unlike the ANM system in which the Experts are concerned with respective types of network problem, in the Hewlett-Pochard apparatus each Consultant is concerned with a respective one of the types of operations normally involved in the analysis of any given network problem.
In both these latter arrangements, expert knowledge is encoded in expert systems with the object of identifying network faults given a set of symptoms and suggesting possible solutions. Any knowledge about what should be happening on the system is closely bound to the problem to be solved. As a result, the expert knowledge is not available for use in other types of manage
REFERENCES:
"ANM: Automated Network Management System", by M. Feridun, et al, IEEE Network, vol. 2, No. 2, Mar. 1988, pp. 13-19.
"Ein Modulares, Verteiltes Diagnose-Expertensystem Fur Die Fehlerdiagnose in Lokalen Netzen", by Jurgen M. Schroder, Automatisierungstechnische Praxis--ATP, vol. 32, No. 11, Nov. 1990, pp. 557-565.
"Starkeeper Network Troubleshouter: An Expert System Product", by Todd E. Marques, AT & T Technical Journal, Nov. 1988, pp. 137-154.
Chen, Jiann-Liang and Ronlon Tsai, "The Manager's Consultant: An Intelligent Framework for Network Management." Developing and Managing Expert System Programs 1991.
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Goyal, S.K. et al., "Expert Systems in Network Maintenance and Management," IEEE International Conference on Communications 86, Jun. 22, 1986, Toronto, Ontario, Canada, pp. 1225-1229.
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Mellor Paul V.
Towers Simon J.
Hafiz Tariq R.
Hewlett--Packard Company
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