WO1998042157A2 - Process management infrastructure - Google Patents
Process management infrastructure Download PDFInfo
- Publication number
- WO1998042157A2 WO1998042157A2 PCT/CA1998/000231 CA9800231W WO9842157A2 WO 1998042157 A2 WO1998042157 A2 WO 1998042157A2 CA 9800231 W CA9800231 W CA 9800231W WO 9842157 A2 WO9842157 A2 WO 9842157A2
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- WO
- WIPO (PCT)
- Prior art keywords
- processes
- messages
- database
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- information
- Prior art date
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Classifications
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F9/00—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units
- G06F9/06—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units using stored programs, i.e. using an internal store of processing equipment to receive or retain programs
- G06F9/46—Multiprogramming arrangements
- G06F9/48—Program initiating; Program switching, e.g. by interrupt
- G06F9/4806—Task transfer initiation or dispatching
- G06F9/4843—Task transfer initiation or dispatching by program, e.g. task dispatcher, supervisor, operating system
-
- G—PHYSICS
- G06—COMPUTING; CALCULATING OR COUNTING
- G06F—ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING
- G06F9/00—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units
- G06F9/06—Arrangements for program control, e.g. control units using stored programs, i.e. using an internal store of processing equipment to receive or retain programs
- G06F9/46—Multiprogramming arrangements
- G06F9/54—Interprogram communication
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- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L41/00—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
- H04L41/02—Standardisation; Integration
- H04L41/0233—Object-oriented techniques, for representation of network management data, e.g. common object request broker architecture [CORBA]
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L41/00—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
- H04L41/50—Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
- H04L41/5003—Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
-
- H—ELECTRICITY
- H04—ELECTRIC COMMUNICATION TECHNIQUE
- H04L—TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION
- H04L41/00—Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
- H04L41/50—Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements
- H04L41/5061—Network service management, e.g. ensuring proper service fulfilment according to agreements characterised by the interaction between service providers and their network customers, e.g. customer relationship management
- H04L41/5067—Customer-centric QoS measurements
Definitions
- This invention relates to a process management infrastructure system for use in an object-oriented programming environment, and in particular for use in a system for monitoring the compliance with service level agreements in a telecommunications network.
- SLAs service level agreements
- Part of the management process that relates to SLAs is the comparison of the service providers' performance vis-a-vis specific guarantees that it may provide to its customer.
- packet switched networks unlike circuit switched networks, customers are not given a dedicated circuit; their data is statistically multiplexed with data from other sources. Each customer pays for a particular level of service, and it is therefore important to ensure that the customer is receiving the level of service he has paid for.
- Our co-pending application of even date describes a system for monitoring network performance relative to customer service agreements.
- the availability requirements for the system is very high. Downtime must be minimized at all costs.
- the system collects time based information from various network management systems and operation support systems. While the system is down, critical information can be lost.
- Various strategies are used within the system to minimize the possibility of losing information. One such strategy is to minimize down time.
- the system indicates to various parts of the service provider's organization the level of service they are providing to their customers. Individuals in customer support, sales, network operations and senior executives rely on this information to make decisions.
- the system is also expected to evolve to a point where the service provider's customers will have access to the system.
- System downtime can negatively impact the customer's perception of the quality of the service provider's operation.
- Object oriented database programming techniques are employed to handle such large volumes of data.
- the data is received from the network management system in real time through objects known as event collectors, which run processes under the control of a director.
- event collectors which run processes under the control of a director.
- a director In a typical system, a director must know store details about each instance of a process it is to run, such as executable file name, configuration and the like. This can lead to considerable downtime when a process fails or it is desired to change the system.
- An object of the invention is to provide a process management infrastructure which is conducive to providing high availability of such a system with improved flexibility.
- a process management for use in an object-oriented programming environment comprising means for running a plurality of processes, a director for monitoring the operation of said processes, and a database for storing a plurality of process tags, each process tag uniquely identifying each instance of a process, said means for running said processes obtaining information required to run said processes by looking up the respective process tags therefor in said database.
- a ptag or process tag which uniquely identifies an instance of a program.
- Each back end process such as an event collector, which gathers information from a network management system, such as a Newbridge Networks 46020 network management system (NM S) and database monitor generally will have its own ptag recording relevant information about the process, such as the executable name, start up indicator and arguments required to run the process.
- NM S network management system
- the invention may run, for example, on a Unix-based Sun Sparc Ultra 2 workstation. Normally dual processors should be used with a minimum of 256 Megabytes of RAM.
- the invention can run, for example, over a TCP/IP network.
- the invention is particularly applicable to a system for monitoring the compliance with service level agreements in a telecommunications network, but has also application in other environments. It allows added flexibility and permits fine control over different elements of the system. For example, a new network manager can be added to the system on the fly simply by starting up another instance of a process without the need to copy and rename executable files.
- the invention represents an important technical advance in the management of communications networks.
- the invention also provides a method of managing processes in an object-oriented programming environment, wherein process tags are used to uniquely identify each instance of a process in the system.
- Figure 1 is an overview of a system to which the management infrastructure may be applied.
- FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a process management infrastructure in accordance with the invention.
- the service level management system comprises a command interface 1 and a Director 2 forming part of a system controller 20.
- the system controller 20 communicates with a Newbridge Networks 46020 network manager 14 and a data management framework 15 through back end processes 13, for example, event collectors and database monitors.
- the network manager 14 manages a packet switched network, or a fast packet switched network, such as an ATM or frame relay network.
- the system controller 20 as well as other processes write to log files 18.
- the log files are used by system utilities 19.
- the process management infrastructure is suitable for managing service level agreements in packet switched networks to ensure, for example, that customers are receiving the quality of service for which they have contracted.
- bandwidth is statistically shared among a number of users, and it is important to ensure that customers are receiving the quality of service that they have paid for, for example, as determined by average throughput, peak rate and the like.
- the infrastructure which is implemented in object-oriented software, for example using C++, is designed to extract event information, for example, relating to the setting up of virtual connections, from a network manager, comprises a command interface ( rci ) 1 , a deamon process, which provides the Director, a simple inter process communication component 3 to permit the exchange of messages between processes; a process configuration component 4; and a software logging component 5.
- the system command interface 1 is the main user command interface to the process management infrastructure. From this interface, a system operator can issue commands to: start the system. These commands could be:
- the status command with the all option will pass an IPC (Inter Process Communication) message to the Director requesting the status.
- the Director will return this status message in a form of an IPC message.
- the message will be formatted such that rci will directly print the message out to the standard output.
- the status command with a specified PTag will pass an IPC message directly to the PTag, that process will then return an IPC message containing specific information related to that process.
- the message will
- the main purpose of the director daemon 2 is to startup the system, restart processes that get terminated and shutdown the system.
- director 2 reads in a master process table 6, which contains the names of the processes that are to be started and monitored by director.
- the Director starts, stops and monitors back-end processes, such as event collectors and database monitors.
- the master process table has the format:
- the inter process communication component 3 is a simple mechanism used to send messages to various processes in order to control the operation of the system. This component is implemented using the UNIX FIFO mechanism. The address of a specific process is determined by the ptag associated with that process. Two components are provided, one to read messages and one to write them.
- a message has the following components:
- the process configuration component is a set of object oriented classes which are imbedded into each process for the purpose of managing configuration parameters associated with that process.
- the process configuration component uses the ptag associated with the process to determine which configuration file in the configuration table 7 should be read.
- the software logging component 5 is a set of object oriented classes which are embedded into each process for the purpose of providing a status and error logging facility.
- the software logging component 5 uses the ptag associated with the process to determine which file in the log database 8 the log data should be written to.
- process B2 is running and suddenly dies. The following events occur to restart process B2. • the director is notified of the process death via Unix signals.
- the startup message is sent by the rci command to the director.
- the director reads the master process table to obtain the process information associated with the ptag Al .
- the director starts the process Al and issues a log message to this effect using the software logging component.
- process B2 In the third scenario, the configuration of process B2 must be modified.
- process B2 has a configuration parameter that specifies a specific data store. The space remaining in this data store exceeds a maximum threshold and new information must be placed in a new data store. The following steps are undertaken.
- the parameter in the configuration file associated with process B2 is modified to reflect the new data store where the new data items must be stored.
- a reread config command is issued to process B2. Specifically, the following command is issued : "rci rereadConfig B2"
- the message is sent along to process B2.
- the process configuration component Upon receiving this message, the process configuration component rereads the config file and issues a log message to this effect using the software logging component.
- rci Using rci, a shutdown command for that ptag is issued. Specifically , the command is "rci shutdown B2" • The shutdown message is sent by the rci command to process B2
- the director finds the ptag associated with the dead process. • the director rereads the process information associated with this ptag from the master process file and notices that the restart flag is set to no.
- the described system minimizes the downtime and enhances the flexibility of the system.
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- Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- Software Systems (AREA)
- Theoretical Computer Science (AREA)
- Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- General Engineering & Computer Science (AREA)
- General Physics & Mathematics (AREA)
- Computer Networks & Wireless Communication (AREA)
- Signal Processing (AREA)
- Data Exchanges In Wide-Area Networks (AREA)
- Testing And Monitoring For Control Systems (AREA)
- Selective Calling Equipment (AREA)
Abstract
Description
Claims
Priority Applications (3)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
CA002284573A CA2284573A1 (en) | 1997-03-14 | 1998-03-16 | Process management infrastructure |
EP98910543A EP1018255A2 (en) | 1997-03-14 | 1998-03-16 | Process management infrastructure |
AU64912/98A AU6491298A (en) | 1997-03-14 | 1998-03-16 | Process management infrastructure |
Applications Claiming Priority (2)
Application Number | Priority Date | Filing Date | Title |
---|---|---|---|
CA 2200010 CA2200010A1 (en) | 1997-03-14 | 1997-03-14 | Process management infrastructure |
CA2,200,010 | 1997-03-14 |
Publications (2)
Publication Number | Publication Date |
---|---|
WO1998042157A2 true WO1998042157A2 (en) | 1998-09-24 |
WO1998042157A3 WO1998042157A3 (en) | 1999-01-14 |
Family
ID=4160174
Family Applications (1)
Application Number | Title | Priority Date | Filing Date |
---|---|---|---|
PCT/CA1998/000231 WO1998042157A2 (en) | 1997-03-14 | 1998-03-16 | Process management infrastructure |
Country Status (4)
Country | Link |
---|---|
EP (1) | EP1018255A2 (en) |
AU (1) | AU6491298A (en) |
CA (1) | CA2200010A1 (en) |
WO (1) | WO1998042157A2 (en) |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2000022527A1 (en) * | 1998-10-09 | 2000-04-20 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Process monitoring in a computer system |
WO2000074434A1 (en) * | 1999-05-28 | 2000-12-07 | Duet Technologies, Inc. | Atm metwork emulator |
Citations (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4914583A (en) * | 1988-04-13 | 1990-04-03 | Motorola, Inc. | Method of indicating processes resident within a cell of a data processing system |
-
1997
- 1997-03-14 CA CA 2200010 patent/CA2200010A1/en not_active Abandoned
-
1998
- 1998-03-16 AU AU64912/98A patent/AU6491298A/en not_active Abandoned
- 1998-03-16 EP EP98910543A patent/EP1018255A2/en not_active Withdrawn
- 1998-03-16 WO PCT/CA1998/000231 patent/WO1998042157A2/en not_active Application Discontinuation
Patent Citations (1)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
US4914583A (en) * | 1988-04-13 | 1990-04-03 | Motorola, Inc. | Method of indicating processes resident within a cell of a data processing system |
Non-Patent Citations (3)
Title |
---|
"CORBA: INTEGRATING DIVERSE APPLICATIONS WITHIN DISTRIBUTED HETEROGENEOUS ENVIRONMENTS" IEEE COMMUNICATIONS MAGAZINE, vol. 35, no. 2, February 1997, pages 46-55, XP000683401 * |
H.M.DEITEL ET AL: "THE DESIGN OF OS/2" 1992 , ADDISON-WESLEY, CO. , READING, US XP002082835 see paragraph 5.5.3 * |
N.THEURETZBACHER: "ENHANCED CHILL TASKING CONCEPT AND LANGUAGE FOR A BUSINESS COMMUNICATION SYSTEM" ELECTRICAL COMMUNICATION., vol. 58, no. 2, 1983, pages 213-217, XP002082834 BRUSSELS BE * |
Cited By (2)
Publication number | Priority date | Publication date | Assignee | Title |
---|---|---|---|---|
WO2000022527A1 (en) * | 1998-10-09 | 2000-04-20 | Sun Microsystems, Inc. | Process monitoring in a computer system |
WO2000074434A1 (en) * | 1999-05-28 | 2000-12-07 | Duet Technologies, Inc. | Atm metwork emulator |
Also Published As
Publication number | Publication date |
---|---|
CA2200010A1 (en) | 1998-09-14 |
WO1998042157A3 (en) | 1999-01-14 |
EP1018255A2 (en) | 2000-07-12 |
AU6491298A (en) | 1998-10-12 |
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