International Business Machines Corporation

Other

Andrew Hilliard Arrowood

Michael G Fitzpatrick

Gary Owen McAfee

Constantinos Kassimis

Linwood Hugh Overby, Jr

Leo Temoshenko

Sue L Huang

Charles A Carriker, Jr

Anne Siegman Magnuson

Sharon Marie McClernan

Andrea Lynn Fitzpatrick

Laura Marie Petri

Diane Phylis Pozefsky

James P Gray

John E Drake, Jr

Grant Mericle

John L Eisenbies

Karla J Norsworthy

Dinakaran B Joseph

Lap Thiet Huynh

David Anthony Herr

John G Dudley

Alan E Baratz

Owen H Choi

Kathryn E Clarke

Terence Dale Smetanka

Wesley McMillian Devine

Alan George Packett

Philip F Chimento, Jr

John Mark Pechacek

Jia-bing Robin Cheng

Kaiwah Chan

Diane A Schuster

A method, apparatus and computer program product that allows for maintaining correct states of all sub-components in a state machine, even as sub-components leave the state machine and later rejoin in some previous state. Preferably, this is achieved without requiring the system to remember the states of all sub-components or a log of every event that was fed into the state machine. Thus, the technique does not require any knowledge of the previous state of the sub-components nor the need to preserve a complete log of events that were fed into the state machine. The state machine may be used to enhance the operation of a technological process, such as a workload management environment.

Maintaining state information in a multi-component, event-driven state machine

A method, apparatus and computer program product for improved load balancing provides for the grouping under a same workload of both application instances in an application tier, and data sharing members in a data tier. This grouping enables a workload manager to make recommendations (to load balancer appliances) about how to distribute workload connections, e.g., based on metrics gathered from both the application and data tiers. In this approach, both applications and data sources are grouped into a workload grouping, and health, status and capacity information about both of these tiers (application and data) is then used to determine an overall distribution policy for the workload. These different tiers can reside on the same or different operating system environments.

Combining application and data tiers on different platforms to create workload distribution recommendations

A method that provides for the grouping under a same workload of both application instances in an application tier, and data sharing members in a data tier. This grouping enables a workload manager to make recommendations (to load balancer appliances) about how to distribute workload connections, e.g., based on metrics gathered from both the application and data tiers. In this approach, both applications and data sources are grouped into a workload grouping, and health, status and capacity information about both of these tiers (application and data) is then used to determine an overall distribution policy for the workload. These different tiers can reside on the same or different operating system environments.

Different protocol applications (e.g., TCP/IP server applications and SNA applications) are monitored and combined into a same workload, and load balancing decisions are made that affect both types of applications. In the approach, monitoring agents verify the health and availability of both the TCP/IP server applications and SNA applications, and such information is then used by a workload manager to create a distribution policy for the workload. The workload manager provides the distribution policy to a load balancing mechanism, which is operable to distribute workload connections to any of these applications. The TCP/IP connections and SNA sessions for a workload group are then routed to one site, or to an alternate site.

Combining disparate applications into a single workload group

An apparatus for managing requests. The requests are received by a workload manager system to perform operations on data. A set of server applications is identified by the workload manager system to perform the operations in the requests based on a set of common resources used by the set of server applications. The set of server applications is in a workload group and the workload group is comprised of a plurality of application groups.

Load balancing system for workload groups

A method for managing requests. The requests are received by a workload manager system to perform operations on data. A set of server applications is identified by the workload manager system to perform the operations in the requests based on a set of common resources used by the set of server applications. The set of server applications is in a workload group and the workload group is comprised of a plurality of application groups.

Load balancing workload groups

A solution for monitoring a problem condition in a communications system is provided. A communications protocol implementation monitors the communications system for the problem condition. The communications protocol implementation can initiate a response based on the problem condition being present. In this manner, the communications protocol implementation provides an effective monitor for detecting and/or recovering from a problem condition in the communications system.

Monitoring a problem condition in a communications system

Methods, systems and computer program products provide for distributing workload between data processing systems executing an application which communicates over a network, by receiving a request for a connection to the application over the network, obtaining workload information for the data processing systems, obtaining network quality of service (QoS) information associated with communications over the network for the data processing systems and utilizing the workload information and the corresponding network quality of service information for the data processing systems so as to provide workload metrics. The requested connection to the application is distributed based on the generated workload metrics.

Methods, systems and computer program products for workload distribution based on end-to-end quality of service

A packet communications network includes a route management system in which routes can be remotely changed by using a simple set command to set a data value in the originating or terminating node of the route. Storage tables in the originating and destination nodes record the route changes and administrative data concerning the route. This administrative data can be retrieved from the originating node by simple get or get-next commands. The administrative data can include the specific specification of the route in links, the time of creation of the route, the route replaced and the reason for initiating the change in route. Together these capabilities permit centralized management of route changes in the entire network from a single manager node, and using only simple set, get and get-next command structures.

Management of path routing in packet communications networks

A packet communications network includes a centrally controlled route testing system in which each node includes test results tables containing the results of all path tests originated at that node. A centralized route management facility initiates a path test originating at any node by remotely altering a trigger value in a trigger data object at that node. A general results table contains general test results for an entire path between the local node and a remote node while a detailed test results table contains detailed, hop-by-hop test results for each transmission leg of a multi-leg path. The general results table contains a name trigger field for identifying a point-to-point path to be tested, and a connection trigger field for identifying a link-by-link path to be tested.

Management of route testing in packet communications networks

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Raleigh, NC, United States of America

Andrew Hilliard Arrowood