System and method for management of distributed systems

1. An architecture analyzer for managing a distributed system, comprising:

persistent storage storing a profile repository comprising profiles that associate hardware characteristics and software characteristics of entities with corresponding device types; and

an entity identifier programmed to:

obtain entity characteristics associated with an entity of the distributed system;

identify a nearest neighbor set of the profiles based on the entity characteristics and the profile repository;

high-pass filter the nearest neighbor set of the profiles to obtain a filtered set of profiles;

perform a downgrade analysis of the filtered set of profiles to obtain a reduced filtered set of profiles;

perform an upgrade analysis of the filtered set of profiles to obtain a final reduced filtered set of profiles to obtain at least one candidate device type for the entity; and

remediate the entity based on the at least one candidate device type for the entity.

2. The architecture analyzer of claim 1 , wherein identifying the nearest neighbor set of the profiles based on the entity characteristics and the profile repository comprises:

calculating differences between the entity characteristics and each of the profiles.

3. The architecture analyzer of claim 1 , wherein high-pass filtering the nearest neighbor set of the profiles to obtain the filtered set of profiles comprises:

eliminating a portion of the profiles from the nearest neighbor set of the profiles that would require physical intervention to conform the entity to each profile of the portion of the profiles.

4. The architecture analyzer of claim 1 , wherein performing the downgrade analysis of the filtered set of profiles to obtain the reduced filtered set of profiles comprises:

calculating differences between a portion of the entity characteristics and each profile of the profiles that if downgraded improves a match with between the entity characteristics and the portion of the entity characteristics.

5. The architecture analyzer of claim 1 , wherein performing the upgrade analysis of the filtered set of profiles to obtain the final reduced filtered set of profiles to obtain the at least one candidate device type for the entity comprises:

calculating differences between a portion of the entity characteristics and each profile of the profiles that if upgraded improves a match with between the entity characteristics and the portion of the entity characteristics.

6. The architecture analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the hardware characteristics and software characteristics are standardized.

7. The architecture analyzer of claim 1 , wherein remediating the entity based on the at least one candidate device type for the entity places the entity into a predetermined state associated with the at least one candidate device type.

8. The architecture analyzer of claim 7 , wherein the entity is placed into the predetermined state associated with the at least one candidate device type by upgrading a version of an application executing on the entity.

9. The architecture analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the entity identifier is further programmed to:

add a hardware component, based on the at least one candidate device type, to the distributed system that includes the entity.

10. The architecture analyzer of claim 1 , wherein the entity identifier is further programmed to:

prior to obtaining the entity characteristics:

obtain characteristic sets associated with device types;

normalize the characteristics sets to obtain normalized characteristics sets; and

generate the profile repository using the normalized characteristics sets and the device types.

11. A method for managing a distributed system using a profile repository comprising profiles that associate hardware characteristics and software characteristics of entities with corresponding device types, comprising:

obtaining entity characteristics associated with an entity of the distributed system;

identifying a nearest neighbor set of the profiles based on the entity characteristics and the profile repository;

high-pass filtering the nearest neighbor set of the profiles to obtain a filtered set of profiles;

performing a downgrade analysis of the filtered set of profiles to obtain a reduced filtered set of profiles;

performing an upgrade analysis of the filtered set of profiles to obtain a final reduced filtered set of profiles to obtain at least one candidate device type for the entity; and

remediating the entity based on the at least one candidate device type for the entity.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein identifying the nearest neighbor set of the profiles based on the entity characteristics and the profile repository comprises:

calculating differences between the entity characteristics and each of the profiles.

13. The method of claim 11 , wherein high-pass filtering the nearest neighbor set of the profiles to obtain the filtered set of profiles comprises:

eliminating a portion of the profiles from the nearest neighbor set of the profiles that would require physical intervention to conform the entity to each profile of the portion of the profiles.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein performing the downgrade analysis of the filtered set of profiles to obtain the reduced filtered set of profiles comprises:

calculating differences between a portion of the entity characteristics and each profile of the profiles that if downgraded improves a match with between the entity characteristics and the portion of the entity characteristics.

15. The method of claim 11 , wherein performing the upgrade analysis of the filtered set of profiles to obtain the final reduced filtered set of profiles to obtain the at least one candidate device type for the entity comprises:

calculating differences between a portion of the entity characteristics and each profile of the profiles that if upgraded improves a match with between the entity characteristics and the portion of the entity characteristics.

16. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising computer readable program code, which when executed by a computer processor enables the computer processor to perform a method for managing a distributed system using a profile repository comprising profiles that associate hardware characteristics and software characteristics of entities with corresponding device types, the method comprising:

obtaining entity characteristics associated with an entity of the distributed system;

identifying a nearest neighbor set of the profiles based on the entity characteristics and the profile repository;

high-pass filtering the nearest neighbor set of the profiles to obtain a filtered set of profiles;

performing a downgrade analysis of the filtered set of profiles to obtain a reduced filtered set of profiles;

performing an upgrade analysis of the filtered set of profiles to obtain a final reduced filtered set of profiles to obtain at least one candidate device type for the entity; and

remediating the entity based on the at least one candidate device type for the entity.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein identifying the nearest neighbor set of the profiles based on the entity characteristics and the profile repository comprises:

calculating differences between the entity characteristics and each of the profiles.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein high-pass filtering the nearest neighbor set of the profiles to obtain the filtered set of profiles comprises:

eliminating a portion of the profiles from the nearest neighbor set of the profiles that would require physical intervention to conform the entity to each profile of the portion of the profiles.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein performing the downgrade analysis of the filtered set of profiles to obtain the reduced filtered set of profiles comprises:

calculating differences between a portion of the entity characteristics and each profile of the profiles that if downgraded improves a match with between the entity characteristics and the portion of the entity characteristics.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 16 , wherein performing the upgrade analysis of the filtered set of profiles to obtain the final reduced filtered set of profiles to obtain the at least one candidate device type for the entity comprises:

calculating differences between a portion of the entity characteristics and each profile of the profiles that if upgraded improves a match with between the entity characteristics and the portion of the entity characteristics.