Method and apparatus for event correlation related to service impact analysis in a virtualized environment

1. A monitor device that determines a status of a service, comprising:

a processor that

provides a dependency tree representing (i) relationships among all the infrastructure elements in a computer system that are related to delivery of a service by a computer system, and (ii) how the infrastructure elements interact with each other in a delivery of said service, wherein a state of an infrastructure element is impacted only by states among its immediately dependent infrastructure elements of the dependency tree; and

determines the state of the service by checking current states of infrastructure elements in the dependency tree that immediately depend from the service,

wherein the infrastructure elements include:

the service;

a physical element that generates an event caused by a pre-defined physical change in the physical element;

a logical element that generates an event when it has a pre-defined characteristic as measured through a synthetic transaction;

a virtual element that generates an event when a predefined condition occurs; and

a reference element that is a pre-defined collection of other different elements among the same dependency tree, for which a single policy is defined for handling an event that occurs within the reference element.

2. The monitor device of claim 1 , wherein the processor

receives an infrastructure event in relation to one of the infrastructure elements in a computer system;

determines whether the infrastructure event is propagated through the dependency tree to have an impact on said service;

cancels a change to the state of the service, when the infrastructure event does not have an impact on current states of the infrastructure elements in the dependency tree that immediately depend from the service; and

updates the state of the service, when the infrastructure event is propagated up to have an impact on said service.

3. The monitor device of claim 2 , wherein

the processor provides a notification of the status of the service together with the infrastructure event indicated as a root cause of the status of the service, to a registered user that previously registered for notification regarding the service.

4. The monitor device of claim 2 , wherein

the infrastructure event is a physical event and the infrastructure element is the physical element at a leaf node of the dependency tree.

5. The monitor device of claim 1 , wherein

an implied state of one of the infrastructure elements in the dependency tree is defined by a current state of one or more elements directly related to it;

an absolute state of one of the infrastructure elements is rolled up to direct parent elements of the one of the elements, based on policies which determine the element state from absolute calculations, when a physical event occurs which changed the absolute state of the one of the elements.

6. The monitor device of claim 1 , wherein

states indicated for the infrastructure element include: up, down and degraded,

“up” indicates a normally functional state, “down” indicates a non-functional state, and “degraded” indicates a state which is available and not fully functional.

7. The monitor device of claim 1 , wherein

states indicated for the infrastructure element include both:

(i) availability states of up, down, degraded;

“up” indicates a normally functional state, “down” indicates a non-functional state, and “degraded” indicates a state which is available and not fully functional; and

(ii) compliance states of at least in compliance, and out of compliance

with respect to results from a synthetic test performed on the infrastructure element.

8. The monitor device of claim 1 , wherein

a molecule is a pre-defined as an array of infrastructure elements among the same dependency tree, and

the processor sends a single notification of the status with respect to plural state changes within the molecule resulting from a same root cause event.

9. The monitor device of claim 1 , wherein

the processor determines the state of the infrastructure element according to an absolute calculation specified in a policy assigned to the infrastructure element, the calculation references the current state of the infrastructure element's immediately dependent infrastructure element.

10. A computer-implemented method for determining a status of a service, comprising:

providing, in a computer processor device, a dependency tree representing (i) relationships among all the infrastructure elements in a computer system that are related to delivery of a service by a computer system, and (ii) how the infrastructure elements interact with each other in a delivery of said service, wherein a state of an infrastructure element is impacted only by states among its immediately dependent infrastructure elements of the dependency tree; and

determining, in the computer processor device, the state of the service by checking current states of infrastructure elements in the dependency tree that immediately depend from the service,

wherein the infrastructure elements include:

the service;

a physical element ha generates an event caused by a pre-defined physical change in the physical element;

a logical element that generates an event when it as a pre-defined characteristic as measured through a synthetic transaction;

a virtual element that generates an event when a predefined condition occurs; and

a reference element that is a pre-defined collection of other different elements among the same dependency tree, for which a single policy is defined for handling an event that occurs within the reference element.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising

receiving, in the computer processor device, an infrastructure event in relation to one of the infrastructure elements in a computer system;

determining, in the computer processor device, whether the infrastructure event is propagated through the dependency tree to have an impact on said service;

canceling, in the computer processor device, a change to the state of the service, when the infrastructure event does not have an impact on current states of the infrastructure elements in the dependency tree that immediately depend from the service; and

updating, in the computer processor device, the state of the service, when the infrastructure event is propagated up to have an impact on said service.

12. The method of claim 11 , further comprising

providing, in the computer processor device, a notification of the status of the service together with the infrastructure event indicated as a root cause of the status of the service, to a registered user that previously registered for notification regarding the service.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein

the infrastructure event is a physical event and the infrastructure element is the physical element at a leaf node of the dependency tree.

14. The method of claim 10 , further comprising

defining, in the computer processor device, an implied state of one of the infrastructure elements in the dependency tree by a current state of one or more elements directly related to it;

rolling up, in the computer processor device, an absolute state of one of the infrastructure elements to direct parent elements of the one of the elements, based on policies which determine the element state from absolute calculations, when a physical event occurs which changed the absolute state of the one of the elements.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein

states indicated for the infrastructure element include: up, down and degraded,

“up” indicates a normally functional state, “down” indicates a non-functional state, and “degraded” indicates a state which is available and not fully functional.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein

states indicated for the infrastructure element include both:

(i) availability states of up, down, degraded;

“up” indicates a normally functional state, “down” indicates a non-functional state, and “degraded” indicates a state which is available and not fully functional; and

(ii) compliance states of at least in compliance, and out of compliance with respect to results from a synthetic test performed on the infrastructure element.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein a molecule is a pre-defined as an array of infrastructure elements among the same dependency tree, further comprising

sending, in the computer processor device, a single notification of the status with respect to plural state changes within the molecule resulting from a same root cause event.

18. The method of claim 10 ,

the computer processor device determines the state of the infrastructure element according to an absolute calculation specified in a policy assigned to the infrastructure element, the calculation references the current state of the infrastructure element's immediately dependent infrastructure element.

19. A non-transitory computer-readable medium comprising instructions being execute by a computer, the instructions including a computer-implemented method for determining a status of a service, the instructions implement:

providing, in a computer processor device, a dependency tree representing (i) relationships among all the infrastructure elements in a computer system that are related to delivery of a service by a computer system, and (ii) how the infrastructure elements interact with each other in a delivery of said service, wherein a state of an infrastructure element is impacted only by states among its immediately dependent infrastructure elements of the dependency tree; and

determining, in the computer processor device, the state of the service by checking current states of infrastructure elements in the dependency tree that immediately depend from the service,

wherein the infrastructure elements include:

the service;

a physical element that generates an event caused by a pre-defined physical change in the physical element;

a logical element that generates an event when it has a pre-defined characteristic as measured through synthetic transaction;

a virtual element that generates an event when a predefined condition occurs; and

a reference element that is a pre-defined collection of other different elements among the same dependency tree, for which a single policy is defined for handling an event that occurs within the reference element.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , further comprising

receiving, in the computer processor device, an infrastructure event in relation to one of the infrastructure elements in a computer system;

determining, in the computer processor device, whether the infrastructure event is propagated through the dependency tree to have an impact on said service;

canceling, in the computer processor device, a change to the state of the service, when the infrastructure event does not have an impact on current states of the infrastructure elements in the dependency tree that immediately depend from the service; and

updating, in the computer processor device, the state of the service, when the infrastructure event is propagated up to have an impact on said service.

21. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 , further comprising

providing, in the computer processor device, a notification of the status of the service together with the infrastructure event indicated as a root cause of the status of the service, to a registered user that previously registered for notification regarding the service.

22. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 20 , wherein

the infrastructure event is a physical event and the infrastructure element is the physical element at a leaf node of the dependency tree.

23. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , further comprising

defining, in the computer processor device, an implied state of one of the infrastructure elements in the dependency tree by a current state of one or more elements directly related to it;

rolling up, in the computer processor device, an absolute state of one of the infrastructure elements to direct parent elements of the one of the elements, based on policies which determine the element state from absolute calculations, when a physical event occurs which changed the absolute state of the one of the elements.

24. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein

states indicated for the infrastructure element include: up, down and degraded,

“up” indicates a normally functional state, “down” indicates a non-functional state, and “degraded” indicates a state which is available and not fully functional.

25. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein

states indicated for the infrastructure element include both:

(i) availability states of up, down, degraded;

“up” indicates a normally functional state, “down” indicates a non-functional state, and “degraded” indicates a state which is available and not fully functional; and

(ii) compliance states of at least in compliance, and out of compliance

with respect to results from a synthetic test performed on the infrastructure element.

26. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , wherein a molecule is a pre-defined as an array of infrastructure elements among the same dependency tree, further comprising

sending, in the computer processor device, a single notification of the status with respect to plural state changes within the molecule resulting from a same root cause event.

27. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 19 , further comprising

determining the state of the infrastructure element according to an absolute calculation specified in a policy assigned to the infrastructure element, the calculation references the current state of the infrastructure element's immediately dependent infrastructure element.