Diagnostic heartbeat throttling

1. A method for diagnostic heartbeat throttling, the method comprising:

a component, executing using a processor and a memory in a data processing system, sending diagnostic heartbeat packets over a communication link at a first rate, wherein a diagnostic heartbeat packet is a packet comprising a header, a set of heartbeat parameters, and a set of diagnostic attributes;

the component detecting a change in data traffic over the communication link;

the component changing a rate of sending diagnostic heartbeat packets from the first rate to a second rate responsive to the change in the data traffic over the communication link;

the component combining, responsive to the changing of the rate of sending diagnostic heartbeat packets, a plurality of diagnostic heartbeat packets into a combined diagnostic heartbeat packet, wherein the combined diagnostic heartbeat packet includes the set of diagnostic attributes of each of the plurality of diagnostic heartbeat packets; and

the component sending the combined diagnostic heartbeat packet at the second rate.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

the component receiving from an application a request to use the communication link;

wherein the detecting the change comprises detecting an increase in the data traffic responsive to the request; and

wherein the changing the rate comprises reducing the rate of sending the diagnostic heartbeat packets from the first rate to the second rate.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the reducing comprises:

the component combining a first set of diagnostic attributes corresponding to a first diagnostic heartbeat packet with a second set of diagnostic attributes corresponding to a second diagnostic heartbeat packet into a third set of diagnostic attributes corresponding to a third diagnostic heartbeat packet;

the component adjusting a size of the third diagnostic heartbeat packet such that the third diagnostic heartbeat packet is usable for detecting a soft network error that occurs during transmission of a packet of one of (i) a size of the first diagnostic heartbeat packet and (ii) a size of the second diagnostic heartbeat packet, wherein a soft network error is a network error condition that adversely affects transmission of packets having certain properties in a data communication network; and

the component sending the third diagnostic heartbeat packet instead of the first and the second diagnostic packets over the communication link.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting the change comprises:

the component receiving, from a historical repository of diagnostic information, diagnostic information indicating a trend of the change in the data traffic over the communication link; and

the component predicting the change in the data traffic over the communication link at a future time.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the detecting the change, comprises:

the component determining that a member of a distributed domain that is being tracked in the component is experiencing lower than threshold data traffic;

wherein the changing the rate comprises the component increasing the rate of sending the diagnostic heartbeat packets from the first rate to the second rate to improve diagnostics of a communication link including the member.

6. A computer program product for diagnostic heartbeat throttling, the computer program product comprising:

one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to send diagnostic heartbeat packets over a communication link at a first rate, wherein a diagnostic heartbeat packet is a packet comprising a header, a set of heartbeat parameters, and a set of diagnostic attributes;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to detect a change in data traffic over the communication link;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to change a rate of sending diagnostic heartbeat packets from the first rate to a second rate responsive to the change in the data traffic over the communication link;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to combine, responsive to the changing of the rate of sending diagnostic heartbeat packets, a plurality of diagnostic heartbeat packets into a combined diagnostic heartbeat packet, wherein the combined diagnostic heartbeat packet includes the set of diagnostic attributes of each of the plurality of diagnostic heartbeat packets; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to send the combined diagnostic heartbeat packet at the second rate.

7. The computer program product of claim 6 , further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to receive from an application a request to use the communication link;

wherein the program instructions to detect the change comprise program instructions to detect an increase in the data traffic responsive to the request; and

wherein the program instructions to change the rate comprise program instructions to reduce the rate of sending the diagnostic heartbeat packets from the first rate to the second rate.

8. The computer program product of claim 7 , wherein the program instructions to reduce comprise:

program instructions to combine a first set of diagnostic attributes corresponding to a first diagnostic heartbeat packet with a second set of diagnostic attributes corresponding to a second diagnostic heartbeat packet into a third set of diagnostic attributes corresponding to a third diagnostic heartbeat packet;

program instructions to adjust a size of the third diagnostic heartbeat packet such that the third diagnostic heartbeat packet is usable for detecting a soft network error that occurs during transmission of a packet of one of (i) a size of the first diagnostic heartbeat packet and (ii) a size of the second diagnostic heartbeat packet, wherein a soft network error is a network error condition that adversely affects transmission of packets having certain properties in a data communication network; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices, to send the third diagnostic heartbeat packet instead of the first and the second diagnostic packets over the communication link.

9. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein the program instructions to detect the change comprise:

program instructions to receive, from a historical repository of diagnostic information, diagnostic information indicating a trend of the change in the data traffic over the communication link; and

program instructions to predict the change in the data traffic over the communication link at a future time.

10. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein the program instructions to detect the change comprise program instructions to determine that a member of a distributed domain that is being tracked in the component is experiencing lower than threshold data traffic, wherein the program instructions to change the rate comprise program instructions to increase the rate of sending the diagnostic heartbeat packets from the first rate to the second rate to improve diagnostics of a communication link including the member.

11. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein the program instructions are stored in at least one of the one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices in a data processing system, and wherein the program instructions are transferred over a network from a remote data processing system.

12. The computer program product of claim 6 , wherein the program instructions are stored in at least one of the one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices in a server data processing system, and wherein the program instructions are downloaded over a network to a remote data processing system for use in a computer-readable tangible storage device associated with the remote data processing system.

13. A computer system for diagnostic heartbeat throttling, the computer system comprising:

one or more processors, one or more computer-readable memories and one or more computer-readable tangible storage devices;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to send diagnostic heartbeat packets over a communication link at a first rate, wherein a diagnostic heartbeat packet is a packet comprising a header, a set of heartbeat parameters, and a set of diagnostic attributes;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to detect a change in data traffic over the communication link;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to change a rate of sending diagnostic heartbeat packets from the first rate to a second rate responsive to the change in the data traffic over the communication link;

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to combine, responsive to the changing of the rate of sending diagnostic heartbeat packets, a plurality of diagnostic heartbeat packets into a combined diagnostic heartbeat packet, wherein the combined diagnostic heartbeat packet includes the set of diagnostic attributes of each of the plurality of diagnostic heartbeat packets; and

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to send the combined diagnostic heartbeat packet at the second rate.

14. The computer system of claim 13 , further comprising:

program instructions, stored on at least one of the one or more storage devices for execution by at least one of the one or more processors via at least one of the one or more memories, to receive from an application a request to use the communication link;

wherein the program instructions to detect the change comprise program instructions to detect an increase in the data traffic responsive to the request; and

wherein the program instructions to change the rate comprise program instructions to reduce the rate of sending the diagnostic heartbeat packets from the first rate to the second rate.

15. The computer system of claim 14 , wherein the program instructions to reduce comprise:

program instructions to combine a first set of diagnostic attributes corresponding to a first diagnostic heartbeat packet with a second set of diagnostic attributes corresponding to a second diagnostic heartbeat packet into a third set of diagnostic attributes corresponding to a third diagnostic heartbeat packet;

program instructions to adjust a size of the third diagnostic heartbeat packet such that the third diagnostic heartbeat packet is usable for detecting a soft network error that occurs during transmission of a packet of one of (i) a size of the first diagnostic heartbeat packet and (ii) a size of the second diagnostic heartbeat packet, wherein a soft network error is a network error condition that adversely affects transmission of packets having certain properties in a data communication network; and

program instructions to send the third diagnostic heartbeat packet instead of the first and the second diagnostic packets over the communication link.

16. The computer system of claim 13 , wherein the program instruction to detect the change comprise:

program instructions to receive, from a historical repository of diagnostic information, diagnostic information indicating a trend of the change in the data traffic over the communication link; and

program instructions to predict the change in the data traffic over the communication link at a future time.

17. The computer system of claim 13 , wherein the program instructions to detect the change comprise program instructions to determine that a member of a distributed domain that is being tracked in the first component is experiencing lower than threshold data traffic, and wherein the program instructions to change the rate comprise program instructions to increase the rate of sending the diagnostic heartbeat packets from the first rate to the second rate to improve diagnostics of a communication link including the member.