IP Library Granted Patent US 9,420,064
Granted Patent B2
US 9,420,064 · App. 14/967,614 · Granted Aug 16, 2016

System and method for determining a topology of at least one application in a computerized organization

Inventors: Shai Mohaban (Kiryat Tivon, IL); Haviv Rosh (Modiin, IL); Yarin Benado (Ramat-Gan, IL); Yuval Cohen (Raanana, IL)
Assignee: ServiceNow, Inc.
H04L67/327H04L67/10
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,420,064
App. No.
14/967,614
Granted
Aug 16, 2016
Kind
B2
Abstract

Systems and methods for skeleton-based discovery of an application in a computer network are provided. An implementation of the system includes a processor configured to generate a template for an application topology of the application based on a structure determined by an initial discovery, modify the template during a traversing of the template, and generate a display of the template indicating states of the application according to the impact rules. The application topology is multi-tiered and includes nodes associated with elements of the application and dependencies between the nodes. The states include at least one of an actual state or a scenario state.

Claims (45)

1. A system for skeleton-based discovery of an application in a computer network, the system comprising:

a processor configured to:

generate a template for an application topology of the application based on a structure determined by an initial discovery and retrieved from storage, wherein the application topology is multi-tiered and comprises: nodes associated with elements of the application, and dependencies between the nodes;

modify the template during a traversing of the template, including:

on a condition that two or more nodes of a tier have a common feature, aggregating the two or more nodes associated with the tier into a cluster; and

defining impact rules for representing a state of the application in response to events affecting the nodes; and

generate a display of the template indicating states of the application according to the impact rules, wherein the states include at least one of an actual state or a scenario state, wherein the scenario state is displayed in response to a simulated change to the application.

2. The system of claim 1 , wherein the common feature includes at least one of a same node type, a same incoming connection, or a same outgoing connection.

3. The system of claim 1 , wherein the common feature includes a connection category.

4. The system of claim 3 , wherein the connection category includes an application flow category representing a connection between two nodes.

5. The system of claim 3 , wherein the connection category includes a cluster connection category representing a connection between a node and a cluster.

6. The system of claim 3 , wherein the connection category includes an inclusion connection category representing a node containing other nodes.

7. The system of claim 1 , wherein the impact rules include representing the application according to a color coding mapped to multiple scenario states.

8. The system of claim 1 , wherein the simulated change includes removing an element of the application.

9. The system of claim 1 , wherein the simulated change includes servicing an element of the application at a particular time.

10. The system of claim 1 , wherein the impact rules include defining a state of a parent node having non-clustered children to be a same state as of the non-clustered children.

11. The system of claim 1 , wherein the impact rules include defining a state of a parent node having clustered children to be a same state as of a child having a most severe state for the cluster.

12. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:

replacing a discovered cluster of nodes with a generic cluster placeholder to accommodate changes within a cluster without affecting the template.

13. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:

for each node and tier:

including a discovery pattern and an identification section used to discover the node.

14. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:

defining a re-discovery frequency category for each tier; and

including the re-discovery frequency category in the template.

15. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:

including information identifying credentials used for each identified node in the cluster.

16. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to modify the template by:

deleting host information associated with each node.

17. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate the display of the template by:

implementing at least one skeleton-based policy that comprises at least one of: an affinity policy or a network policy.

18. The system of claim 1 , wherein the processor is further configured to generate the display of the template by:

indicating a non-compliance with a skeleton-based policy including at least one of: exceeding a policy limit on maximum number of nodes in a tier or exceeding a policy limit on a key performance indicator for a tier.

19. A method for skeleton-based discovery of an application in a computer network, the method comprising:

generating a template for an application topology of the application based on a structure determined by an initial discovery and retrieved from storage, wherein the application topology is multi-tiered and comprises: nodes associated with elements of the application, and dependencies between the nodes;

modifying the template during a traversing of the template, including:

on a condition that two or more nodes of a tier have a common feature, aggregating the two or more nodes associated with the tier into a cluster; and

defining impact rules for representing a state of the application in response to various types of events affecting the nodes; and

generating a display of the template indicating states of the application according to the impact rules, wherein the states include at least one of an actual state or a scenario state, wherein the scenario state is displayed in response to a simulated change to the application.

20. A computer program product, comprising a computer usable medium having a computer readable program code embodied therein, said computer readable program code adapted to be executed by a processor to implement the steps of:

generating a template for an application topology of an application in a computer network based on a structure determined by an initial discovery and retrieved from storage, wherein the application topology is multi-tiered and comprises: nodes associated with elements of the application topology, and dependencies between the nodes;

modifying the template during a traversing of the template, including:

on a condition that two or more nodes of a tier have a common feature, aggregating the two or more nodes associated with the tier into a cluster; and

defining impact rules for representing a state of the application in response to various types of events affecting the nodes; and

generating a display of the template indicating states of the application according to the impact rules, wherein the states include at least one of an actual state or a scenario state, wherein the scenario state is displayed in response to a simulated change to the application.

Assignments (2)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 14, 2015
From: MOHABAN, SHAI; ROSH, HAVIV; BENADO, YARIN; COHEN, YUVAL
To: NEEBULA SYSTEMS LTD.
Reel/Frame 037281/0230 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 14, 2015
From: NEEBULA SYSTEMS LTD.
To: SERVICENOW, INC.
Reel/Frame 037281/0271 →
Continuity (3)
Continuation 13816142
Provisional Application 61371932 · Aug 9, 2010
Related Publication 20160100032A1 · Apr 7, 2016