Apparatus and method for managing networks having resources having reduced, nonzero functionality

1. A method, comprising the steps of:

employing, upon notification from a network operations center (NOC) to operate in a deferred maintenance mode when a redundant resource fails, one or more strategies to select and/or allocate one or more resources of a network element;

determining if the one or more resources of the network element is operating in a state of reduced, nonzero functionality; and

employing a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide at least a subset of functionality of the network element when the resource of the one or more resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of employing a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element when the resource of the one or more resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality further comprises the step of:

selecting a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element based on one or more usability ratings for one or more of the one or more resources of the network element.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of selecting a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element based on the one or more usability ratings for the one or more of the one or more resources of the network element further comprises the steps of:

performing one or more comparisons of the one or more usability ratings for the one or more of the one or more resources of the network element; and

selecting a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element based on one or more of the one or more comparisons of the one or more usability ratings for the one or more of the one or more resources of the network element.

4. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of selecting a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element based on the one or more usability ratings for the one or more of the one or more resources of the network element further comprises the steps of:

executing one or more performance tests on the one or more of the one or more resources of the network element;

making one or more determinations of one or more levels of functionality of the one or more of the one or more resources of the network element based on one or more results of the one or more performance tests; and

employing the one or more determinations of the one or more levels of functionality of the one or more of the one or more resources of the network element to develop the one or more usability ratings for the one or more of the one or more resources of the network element.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the step of employing the one or more determinations of the one or more levels of functionality of the one or more of the one or more resources of the network element to develop the one or more usability ratings for the one or more of the one or more resources of the network element further comprises the steps of:

performing one or more comparisons of the one or more results of the one or more performance tests to one or more metrics of normal results for the one or more performance tests; and

quantifying the one or more comparisons of the one or more results of the one or more performance tests to determine the one or more levels of functionality for the one or more of the one or more resources of the network element.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of employing a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element when a resource of the one or more resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality further comprises the steps of:

providing a reduction in a level of power to a resource of the one or more resources of the network element when a resource of the one or more resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the one or more resources of the network element comprise a plurality of resources of the network element, and wherein the plurality of resources of the network element comprise a set of critical resources and a set of non-critical resources, and wherein the step of providing the reduction in the level of power to a resource of the plurality of resources of the network element when a resource of the plurality of resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality further comprises the step of:

providing the reduction in the level of power to the set of non-critical resources of the plurality of resources of the network element; and

employing the reduction in the level of power to the set of non-critical resources to provide a level of power to the set of critical resources when a resource of the plurality of resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more resources of the network element comprise a plurality of resources of the network element, and wherein the step of employing a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element when a resource of the one or more resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality further comprises the steps of:

providing power to the plurality of resources of the network element;

determining a level of available power for the network element;

making one or more determinations to power down one or more resources of the plurality of resources of the network element based on the level of available power for the network element; and

powering down one or more of the plurality of resources of the network element.

9. The method of claim 8 , wherein the one or more resources of the plurality of resources of the network element comprise a first one or more resources of the plurality of resources of the network element, the method further comprising the steps of:

re-evaluating the level of available power for the network element; and

powering down a second one or more of the plurality of resources of the network element based on the re-evaluated level of available power for the network element.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of employing a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element when a resource of the one or more resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality further comprises the steps of:

performing one or more maintenance adjustments to one or more parameters of a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element; and

providing the at least the subset of functionality of the network element through employment of the one or more maintenance adjustments.

11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the step of performing the one or more maintenance adjustments to the one or more parameters of a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element further comprises the steps of:

making one or more evaluations of one or more previous maintenance adjustments for the one or more parameters of a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element;

developing one or more predictions for the one or more maintenance adjustments based on the one or more evaluations of the one or more previous maintenance adjustments; and

performing the one or more maintenance adjustments to the one or more parameters of a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element based on one or more of the one or more predictions for the one or more maintenance adjustments.

12. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more resources of the network element comprise a plurality of resources of the network element, and wherein a resource of the plurality of resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element comprises a first resource of the plurality of resources of the network element, and wherein the plurality of resources of the network element comprises a second resource of the plurality of resources of the network element, and wherein the step of employing a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element when a resource of the one or more resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality, the method further comprises the steps of:

determining a level of functionality of the first resource of the plurality of resources of the network element at a first time;

determining a level of functionality of the second resource of the plurality of resources of the network element at the first time;

selecting the first resource of the plurality of resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element based on the level of functionality of the first resource of the plurality of resources of the network element at the first time and the level of functionality of the second resource of the plurality of resources of the network element at the first time;

determining a level of functionality for the first resource of the plurality of resources of the network element at a second time;

determining a level of functionality of the second resource of the plurality of resources of the network element at the second time; and

selecting the second resource of the plurality of resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element based on the level of functionality of the first resource of the plurality of resources of the network element at the second time and the level of functionality of the second resource of the plurality of resources of the network element at the second time.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of employing a resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element when a resource of the one or more resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality further comprises the step of:

employing one resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element when the one resource of the one or more resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality.

14. The method of claim 13 , wherein the step of employing the one resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element when the one resource of the one or more resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality further comprises the steps of:

executing one or more performance tests on the one resource;

making a determination of a level of functionality for the one resource; and

employing the level of functionality of the one resource to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element.

15. An apparatus, comprising:

a maintenance component that runs on one or more computer processors, said maintenance component being operable to employ, upon notification from a network operations center (NOC) to operate in a deferred maintenance mode when a redundant resource fails, one or more strategies to select and/or allocate one or more resources of a network element, determines if the one or more resources of the network element is operating in a state of reduced, nonzero functionality, and allocates a resource of the one or more resources of a network element to provide at least a subset of functionality of the network element when the resource of the one or more resources of the network element operates in the state of reduced, nonzero functionality.

16. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the maintenance component determines one or more levels of functionality of the one or more resources of the network element.

17. The apparatus of claim 16 , wherein the maintenance component executes one or more performance tests on the one or more resources of the network element; and

wherein the maintenance component employs one or more results of the one or more performance tests to determine the one or more levels of functionality of the one or more resources of the network element.

18. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the maintenance component selects one resource of the one or more resources of the network component to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element based on the one or more levels of functionality of the one or more resources of the network element.

19. The apparatus of claim 17 , wherein the maintenance component develops one or more usability ratings of the one or more resources of the network element though a quantification the one or more results of the one or more performance tests; and

wherein the maintenance component employs the one or more usability ratings of the one or more resources of the network element to select a first resource of the one or more resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of the functionality of the network element.

20. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the one or more resources of the network element comprise a plurality of resources of the network element, and wherein the plurality of resources of the network element comprise a set of critical resources and a set of non-critical resources, further comprising:

a power supply component that provides a first portion of power available to the network element to the set of critical resources, wherein the power supply provides a second portion of the power available to the network element to the set of non-critical resources; and

wherein the maintenance component and the power supply component cooperate to provide to the set of non-critical resources, a reduction in the second portion of the power available to the network element; and

wherein the maintenance component and the power supply component cooperate to extend a duration of time to provide to the set of critical resources, the first portion of the power available to the network element.

21. The apparatus of claim 15 , wherein the one or more resources of the network element comprises a plurality of resources, and wherein a resource of the plurality of resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element comprises a first resource of the plurality of resources of the network element; and

wherein the maintenance component selects the first resource of the plurality of resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element at a first time; and

wherein the maintenance component selects a first resource of the plurality of resources of the network element to provide the at least the subset of functionality of the network element at a second time.

22. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network element is located in a telecommunications network.

23. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network element is located in a government/military electronic command center.

24. The method of claim 1 , wherein the network element is located in a cable television headend.

25. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one redundant element is a redundant I/O controller.

26. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more resources are digital signal processing (DSP) chips.

27. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more resources are a redundant array of independent disk (RAID) controllers.

28. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining step occurs after receipt of the notification from the network operations center.

29. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more strategies further comprise fault recovery, overload control and deferred maintenance strategies.

30. The method of claim 1 , wherein the determining step further comprises the step of communicating with the one or more resources of the network element to make the determination.