System and method for information management in a distributed network

1. A method of data management for a distributed network of data sources, the method comprising:

providing a distributed network, the distributed network comprising a plurality of data sources comprised of a plurality of linked and independent, unlinked nodes;

identifying and fixing performance and capacity management related issues, generating and identifying trends of resource utilization over time within the distributed network, by performing the steps of:

monitoring the plurality of linked and independent, unlinked nodes, wherein each node comprises a portion of a hierarchy of nodes, wherein at least one set of nodes is arranged in multiple hierarchies;

obtaining data from the at least one set of nodes arranged in multiple hierarchies;

storing the data from the at least one set of nodes in at least one data structure in accordance with a predetermined data structure configuration;

receiving at least one parameter associated with selected data from the data structure and associated with the at least one set of multiple linked and unlinked nodes arranged in multiple hierarchies;

correlating the selected data from the at least one set of multiple linked and unlinked nodes;

predicting an impact on each node and the multiple hierarchies associated with the at least one set of nodes, the impact created by a change to another node, the prediction based on the selected data and the correlation; and

processing the selected data to generate an output, wherein the output is based at least in part on the selected data, the associated multiple nodes, and the predicted impact, wherein the output is separable to indicate a predicted impact and associated output for each of the multiple hierarchies.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the data may be obtained from at least one of a remote system, network, application or storage domain.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the predetermined data structure configuration is based on an organizational hierarchy.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one data structure comprises a relational database.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one data structure is configured for SQL applications.

6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one parameter includes at least one user-defined attribute.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one parameter is received by the controller of the system of data management in XML format.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one pre-defined parameter is based on information available from the plurality of remote data sources and associated with a predetermined data selection for a particular user.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the at least one parameter is associated with at least one future predictive analysis operation related to trends of resource utilization and estimation of the future utilization of any data source, the predictive analysis operation carried out by the use of historical information and statistical and logical operations.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the selected data spans a plurality of data structures.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the selected data includes coding the data in XML format.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein the selected data is coded in a compressed XML format when the amount of selected data exceeds a predetermined threshold.

13. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the selected data includes correlating the selected data with the at least one parameter.

14. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the selected data includes performing at least one mathematical or logical operation.

15. The method of claim 1 , wherein processing the selected data includes correlating the selected data with at least one time period parameter.

16. The method of claim 1 , wherein the output is generated for presentation via a user interface.

17. The method of claim 1 , wherein the output includes at least one of an email or SNMP alert.

18. The method of claim 1 , wherein the output is generated for additional processing.

19. A system of data management for a distributed network of data sources, the system comprising:

a plurality of data sources comprised of a plurality of linked and independent nodes, wherein each node comprises a portion of a hierarchy of nodes, wherein at least one set of nodes is arranged in multiple hierarchies;

a collector for monitoring and obtaining data from the at least one set of nodes arranged in multiple hierarchies;

a data mine for storing the data from the at least one set of nodes;

a listener for processing the data from the at least one set of nodes in accordance with a predetermined data structure configuration, the listener for further inserting the processed data into the data mine;

a controller for receiving at least one parameter associated with selected data from the data structure and associated with the at least one set of multiple linked and unlinked nodes arranged in multiple hierarchies from the data mine, wherein the controller contains a data structure for storing control and configuration information associated with accessing the data mine;

a reporter for correlating the selected data from the at least one set of multiple linked and unlinked nodes

a predictive analysis engine in communication with the data mine, wherein the predictive analysis engine generates and identifies trends of resource utilization over time and predicts an impact on each node and the multiple hierarchies associated with the at least one set of nodes, the impact created by a change to another node, the prediction based on the selected data and the correlation within a distributed network of data sources, and wherein the predictive analysis engine provides the analysis to the reporter; and

wherein the reporter further generates an output, wherein the output is based at least in part on the selected data, the associated multiple nodes, and the predicted impact, wherein the output is separable to indicate a predicted impact and associated output for each of the multiple hierarchies.

20. The system of claim 19 , wherein the collector includes a plurality of modules for obtaining data from each of a plurality of remote data sources.

21. The system of claim 19 , wherein the collector may obtain data from at least one of a remote system, network, application or storage domain.

22. The system of claim 19 , wherein the configuration of the data mine is based on an organizational hierarchy.

23. The system of claim 19 , wherein the data mine comprises at least one relational database.

24. The system of claim 19 , wherein the data mine is configured for SQL applications.

25. The system of claim 19 , wherein the at least one parameter includes at least one user-defined attribute.

26. The system of claim 19 , wherein the at least one parameter is received in XML format by the controller of the system of data management.

27. The system of claim 19 , wherein the at least one parameter is associated with a predetermined data selection for a particular user and wherein the at least one parameter is pre-defined based on information available from the plurality of remote data sources.

28. The system of claim 19 , wherein the at least one parameter is associated with at least one future predictive analysis operation related to estimation of the future utilization of any node, wherein the predictive analysis operation is carried out using historical information and statistical and logical operations gathered from the plurality of remote data sources.

29. The system of claim 19 , wherein the selected data spans a plurality of data structures within the data mine.

30. The system of claim 19 , wherein the reporter processes the selected data by coding the selected data in XML format.

31. The system of claim 30 , wherein the reporter codes the selected data in a compressed XML format when the amount of selected data exceeds a predetermined threshold.

32. The system of claim 19 , wherein the reporter correlates the selected data with the at least one parameter.

33. The system of claim 19 , wherein the reporter processes the selected data by performing at least one mathematical or logical operation.

34. The system of claim 19 , wherein the reporter processes the selected data by correlating the selected data with at least one time parameter.

35. The system of claim 19 , further comprising a publisher for generating a report based at least in part on the output for presentation to a user.

36. The system of claim 19 , wherein the output includes at least one of an email or SNMP alert.

37. The system of claim 19 , wherein the reporter generates the output for additional processing.

38. The system of claim 19 , wherein the predictive analysis component generates an alert associated with the correlation of the output with the previously selected data.

39. The system of claim 38 , wherein the alert is one of an email or SNMP alert.

40. An information management system for a distributed network of data sources, the system comprising:

a plurality of data sources comprised of a plurality of linked and unlinked nodes in a distributed network, wherein each node comprises a portion of a hierarchy of nodes, wherein at least one set of nodes is arranged in multiple hierarchies;

at least one monitoring and gathering process for monitoring and obtaining information from the at least one set of nodes arranged in multiple hierarchies;

at least one storage process for storing said information obtained from the at least one set of nodes in a data structure in accordance with previously stored configuration parameters;

at least one controlling process adapted to communicate, user-selected information to be gathered, the at least one controlling process adapted for receiving at least one configuration parameter associated with selected data from the data structure and associated with a the at least one set of multiple linked and unlinked nodes arranged in multiple hierarchies from the at least one storage process;

at least one extraction process for (i) correlating the selected data from the at least one set of multiple linked and unlinked nodes, (ii) predicting and impact on each node and the multiple hierarchies associated with the at least one set of nodes, the impact created by a change to another node, the prediction based on the selected data and the correlation, and (iii) generating an output, wherein the output is based at least in pact on the selected data, the associated multiple nodes, and the predicted impact, wherein the output is separable to indicate a predicted impact and associated output for each of the multiple hierarchies.

41. The system of claim 19 , wherein the data mine, listener and controller run on top of a database abstraction layer.

42. The system of claim 19 , further comprising a predictive analysis engine in communication with the reporter, wherein the predictive analysis engine continuously scans data from the data mine and searches for performance variations based on user-selected attributes.

43. The system of claim 19 , wherein the controller stores and provides information on a hierarchy of nodes that make up an enterprise, wherein these nodal hierarchies control data gathering and reporting operations, wherein the controller contains data regarding the type and structure of information available within the data mine.

44. The system of claim 19 , wherein the controller stores information regarding the type and structure of data that is available at a given time in the data mine.

45. The system of claim 40 , wherein the node represents one of a physical device, a logical device or a logical group.

46. The system of claim 40 , wherein the nodes comprise a plurality of independent views.

47. The system of claim 46 , wherein the system predicts the impact on a view created by a change to another, independent view.