Method and apparatus for transforming systems management native event formats to enable correlation

1. A method for translating system events for system management, the method comprising:

receiving at a gateway in a network data processing system an event in a native event management form;

translating the event into a new format to form a translated event;

correlating the translated event in the new format to determine whether a system management action should be performed; and

translating the translated event by the gateway into a plurality of different event management system formats to form a plurality of second translated events, and the plurality of second translated events are correlated at remote system management data processing systems to determine whether system management events should be performed.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the new format is a neutral event format, and wherein the correlating is rules-based using a rule base in the gateway that comprises event class definitions and rule sets.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the translated event that is translated by the gateway into the plurality of different event management system formats is in the neutral event format.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the translated event is translated to the plurality of event management system formats using a configuration file located at the gateway that specifies the plurality of event management system formats, wherein the gateway services a plurality of event-generating endpoints, and wherein the gateway comprises a plurality of plug-in modules that each provide a particular type of event format translation, and wherein a particular one of the plurality of plug-in modules is selected as specified by the configuration file.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the event is received from an endpoint, and wherein the plurality of different event management system formats are selected based on results of the correlating of the translated event, as specified by the configuration file.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the endpoint is at least one of a server data processing system, a router, a printer, switch, or another gateway, and wherein the configuration file specifies that the event that is received is to be correlated by the gateway.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the event that is translated into a vendor specific form is in the vendor neutral form prior to such vendor specific form translation.

8. A method for translating system events for system management, the method comprising:

receiving at a gateway in a network data processing system an event in a native event management form;

translating the event into a new format to form a translated event; and

correlating the translated event in the new format by the gateway to determine whether a system management action should be performed, wherein the translated event is to be sent to a remote event management system and wherein the translating step comprises:

translating the event from the native event management form to a vendor neutral form to form the translated event;

translating the translated event from the vendor neutral form into a vendor specific form, which is different from the vendor neutral form, for use by the remote event management system; and

forwarding the vendor specific form of the event to the remote event management system.

9. A data processing system for translating system events for system management, the data processing system comprising:

a bus system;

a communications unit connected to the bus system;

a memory connected to the bus system, in which the memory includes a set of instructions; and

a processing unit connected to the bus system, in which the processing unit executes the set of instructions to receive at a gateway in a network data processing system an event in a native event management form, translate the event into a new format to form a translated event, correlate the translated event in the new format to determine whether a system management action should be performed, and translate the translated event by the gateway into a plurality of different event management system formats to form a plurality of second translated events that are correlated at remote system management data processing systems to determine whether system management events should be performed.

10. A data processing system for translating system events for system management, the data processing system comprising:

receiving means for receiving at a gateway in a network data processing system an event in a native event management form;

translating means for translating the event into a new format to form a translated event;

correlating means for correlating the translated event in the new format to determine whether a system management action should be performed;

second translating means for translating the translated event by the gateway into a plurality of different event management system formats to form a plurality of second translated events; and

sending means for sending the plurality of second translated events to a remote system management data processing systems to determine whether system management events should be performed.

11. The data processing system of claim 10 , wherein the new format is a neutral event format, and wherein the means for correlating is rules-based using a rule base in the gateway that comprises event class definitions and rule sets.

12. The data processing system of claim 11 , wherein the translated event that is translated by the gateway into the plurality of different event management system formats is in the neutral event format.

13. The data processing system of claim 10 , wherein the translated event is translated to the plurality of event management system formats using a configuration file located at the gateway that specifies the plurality of event management system formats, wherein the gateway services a plurality of event-generating endpoints, and wherein the gateway comprises a plurality of plug-in modules that each provide a particular type of event format translation, and wherein a particular one of the plurality of plug-in modules is selected as specified by the configuration file.

14. The data processing system of claim 10 , wherein the event is received from an endpoint, and wherein the plurality of different event management system formats are selected based on results of the correlating means, as specified by the configuration file.

15. The data processing system of claim 14 , wherein the endpoint is at least one of a server data processing system, a router, a printer, switch, or a gateway.

16. The data processing system of claim 10 , wherein the event is to be sent to a remote event management system and wherein the translating means comprises:

first translating means for translating the event from the native event management form to a vendor neutral form; and

second translating means for translating the event into a vendor specific form, which is different from the vendor neutral form, for use by the remote event management system.

17. A tangible computer readable medium tangibly encoded with a computer program product and operable with a data processing system for translating system events for system management, the computer program product comprising:

first instructions for receiving at a gateway in a network data processing system an event in a native event management form;

second instructions for translating the event into a new format to form a translated event; and

third instructions for correlating the translated event in the new format by the gateway to determine whether a system management action should be performed, wherein the event is to be sent to a remote event management system and wherein the second instructions for translating comprises:

first sub-instructions for translating the event from the native event management form to a vendor neutral form to form the translated event;

second sub-instructions for translating the translated event from the vendor neutral form into a vendor specific form, which is different from the vendor neutral form, for use by the remote event management system; and

third sub-instructions for forwarding the vendor specific form of the event to the remote event management system.

18. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the new format is a neutral event format, and wherein the correlating is rules-based using a rule base in the gateway that comprises event class definitions and rule sets.

19. The computer program product of claim 18 , wherein the translated event is correlated by the gateway if so indicated by a configuration file in the gateway.

20. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the translated event is translated to a plurality of event management system formats using a configuration file located at the gateway that specifies the plurality of event management system formats, wherein the gateway services a plurality of event-generating endpoints, and wherein the gateway comprises a plurality of plug-in modules that each provide a particular type of event format translation, and wherein a particular one of the plurality of plug-in modules is selected as specified by the configuration file.

21. The computer program product of claim 17 , wherein the event is received from an endpoint, and wherein the plurality of different event management system formats are selected based on results of the correlating of the translated event, as specified by the configuration file.