Interactive topological views of combined hardware and software systems
A method and system for visualizing a system. The method includes obtaining a context managed entity from a client system, wherein the context managed entity corresponds to software executing on a computer system, querying a managed entity repository to obtain a plurality of managed entities linked to the context managed entity, wherein the plurality of managed entities comprises a software managed entity and a hardware managed entity, and generating a node in a topology model object for each of the plurality of managed entities. The method further includes generating a link object in the topology model object for each link between managed entities in the plurality of managed entities and rendering a topology graph comprising each node and each link object in the topology model object.
1. A system comprising:
a memory;
a computer processor;
a model engine executing on the computer processor and configured to:
obtain a context managed entity from a client system;
query a managed entity repository to obtain a plurality of managed entities linked to the context managed entity, wherein the plurality of managed entities comprises a software managed entity, a first hardware managed entity, and a second hardware managed entity;
generate a node in a topology model object for each of the plurality of managed entities; and
generate a plurality of link objects in the topology model object for a plurality of relationships between the plurality of managed entities, wherein the plurality of link objects comprises a containment link object; and
a graphing engine executing on the computer processor and configured to:
obtain the topology model object from the model engine;
render a topology graph comprising each node and each link object in the topology model object by arranging each node into tiers; and
expand the containment link object in the topology graph to show a containment link between the first hardware managed entity nesting as a hardware component within the second hardware managed entity.
2. The system of claim 1 ,
wherein the tiers comprise a web tier, a middleware tier, and a database tier.
3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the model engine is further configured to:
exclude at least one managed entity from the plurality of managed entities based on a view type received from the client system.
4. The system of claim 1 , wherein the managed entity repository comprises a managed entity table, an associations table, and a dynamic state table.
5. The system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the plurality of managed entities is linked to the context managed entity via one selected from a group consisting of a routing link and a containment link.
6. The system of claim 1 , wherein the hardware managed entity is a host.
7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the software managed entity is one selected from a group consisting of middleware, a database, and an application.
8. A method for visualizing a system comprising:
obtaining a context managed entity from a client system, wherein the context managed entity corresponds to software executing on a computer system;
querying a managed entity repository to obtain a plurality of managed entities linked to the context managed entity, wherein the plurality of managed entities comprises a software managed entity, a first hardware managed entity, and a second hardware managed entity;
generating a node in a topology model object for the plurality of managed entities;
generating a plurality of link objects in the topology model object for a plurality of relationships between the plurality of managed entities, wherein the plurality of link objects comprises a containment link object; and
rendering a topology graph comprising each node and each link object in the topology model object by arranging the nodes into tiers; and
expanding the containment link object in the topology graph to show a containment link between the first hardware managed entity nesting as a hardware component within the second hardware managed entity.
9. The method of claim 8 ,
wherein the tiers comprise a web tier, a middleware tier, and a database tier.
10. The method of claim 8 , wherein the model engine is further configured to:
exclude at least one managed entity from the plurality of managed entities based on a view type received from the client system.
11. The method of claim 8 , wherein the managed entity repository comprises a managed entity table, an associations table, and a dynamic state table.
12. The method of claim 8 , wherein at least one of the plurality of managed entities is linked to the context managed entity via one selected from a group consisting of a routing link and a containment link.
13. The method of claim 8 , wherein the hardware managed entity is a host.
14. The method of claim 8 , wherein the software managed entity is one selected from a group consisting of middleware, a database, and an application.
15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform a method, the method comprising:
obtaining a context managed entity from a client system, wherein the context managed entity corresponds to software executing on a computer system;
querying a managed entity repository to obtain a plurality of managed entities linked to the context managed entity, wherein the plurality of managed entities comprises a software managed entity, a first hardware managed entity, and a second hardware managed entity;
generating a node in a topology model object for each of the plurality of managed entities;
generating a plurality of link objects in the topology model object for a plurality of relationships between the plurality of managed entities, wherein the plurality of link objects comprises a containment link object;
rendering a topology graph comprising each node and each link object in the topology model object by arranging the nodes into tiers; and
expanding the containment link object in the topology graph to show a containment link between the first hardware managed entity nesting as a hardware component within the second hardware managed entity.
16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the tiers comprise a web tier, a middleware tier, and a database tier.
17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the model engine is further configured to:
exclude at least one managed entity from the plurality of managed entities based on a view type received from the client system.
18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the managed entity repository comprises a managed entity table, an associations table, and a dynamic state table.
19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein at least one of the plurality of managed entities is linked to the context managed entity via one selected from a group consisting of a routing link and a containment link.
20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 , wherein the hardware managed entity is a host.