IP Library Granted Patent US 9,215,142
Granted Patent B1
US 9,215,142 · App. 13/451,274 · Granted Dec 15, 2015

Community analysis of computing performance

Inventors: Scott Matthew Herold (Elgin, IL); Geoffrey Alan James Vona (Toronto, CA); Michael Hugh Condy (Dunoon, GB)
Assignee: Dell Software Inc.
H04L41/084H04L12/2431
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 9,215,142
App. No.
13/451,274
Granted
Dec 15, 2015
Kind
B1
Abstract

Embodiments of systems and methods are described for performing community analysis of computing performance. These systems and methods can collect and analyze community performance data from a plurality of physical or virtual infrastructure installations. The systems and methods can leverage this community performance data to identify and recommend areas where individual physical or virtual infrastructures can improve performance.

Claims (28)

1. A method of providing community analytics related to a plurality of tenant systems, the method comprising:

collecting data from a plurality of tenant systems, at least some of the tenant systems being operated by different entities, the plurality of tenant systems constituting a community of tenant systems associated for the purpose of sharing comparative analytics about the tenant systems;

computing analytics from the data collected from the tenant systems, the analytics comprising statistics that reflect shared aspects of the tenant systems;

receiving a request for analytics from a user of a first one of the tenant systems;

in response to receiving the request, outputting for presentation to the user both a portion of the collected data regarding the first tenant system together with at least a portion of the computed analytics for comparison, thereby enabling the user to compare aspects of the first tenant system with the analytics associated with the community;

wherein at least said computing the analytics is implemented by a computer system comprising computer hardware;

identifying top performers of the tenant systems, other than the first tenant system, on one of the computed analytics;

comparing differences between characteristics of the top performers and the first tenant system;

identifying one or more characteristics for which a statistically-significant number of the top performers have a similar configuration; and

outputting, to the user of the first tenant system, a representation of the one or more characteristics as recommendations for potential configuration change to the first tenant system.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the shared aspects of the tenant systems comprise one or more of the following: virtual machine information, host information, workload, central processing unit (CPU) usage, and memory usage.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the analytics comprise one or more of the following: an average number of virtual machines in at least some of the tenant systems, an average number of virtual machines per host, average CPU usage per virtual machine, average memory usage per virtual machine, used CPU amount for a top CPU consumer, consumed memory of a top memory consumer, and storage capacity.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein said collecting, said receiving, and said outputting are implemented by the computer system.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the computer system comprises a plurality of physical computing devices.

6. A system for providing community analytics related to a plurality of tenant systems, the system comprising:

a data collection module configured to collect data from a plurality of tenant systems;

a community analytics module implemented by one or more processors, the community analytics module configured to compute analytics from the data collected from the tenant systems with one or more processors, the analytics comprising statistics that reflect shared aspects of the tenant systems; and

a user interface module configured to output for presentation to the user both a portion of the collected data regarding the first tenant system together with at least a portion of the computed analytics for comparison, thereby enabling the user to compare aspects of the first tenant system with the analytics associated with the community;

a comparative analysis engine configured to generate performance recommendations that recommend configuration changes to the tenant system related to the computed analytics; and

wherein the comparative analysis engine is further configured to generate the performance recommendations by comparing differences between configurations of second ones of the tenant systems that perform better than the first tenant system on a first of the computed analytics.

7. The system of claim 6 , wherein the comparative analysis engine is further configured to generate the performance recommendations by ranking the configurations of the second tenant systems based at least in part on a degree of confidence that the configurations cause better performance on the first computed analytic.

8. The system of claim 6 , wherein the comparative analysis engine is further configured to generate the performance recommendations by ranking the configurations of the second tenant systems based at least in part on categories of the configurations and a category of the first computed analytic.

9. Non-transitory physical computer storage comprising instructions stored thereon that, when executed in one or more processors, implement operations for providing community analytics related to a plurality of tenant systems, the operations comprising:

collecting data from a plurality of tenant systems, the tenant systems being operated by different entities, the plurality of tenant systems constituting a community of tenant systems associated for the purpose of sharing comparative analytics about the tenant systems;

computing analytics from the data collected from the tenant systems with one or more processors, the analytics comprising metrics that reflect shared aspects of the tenant systems; and

outputting for presentation to a user of a first one of the tenant systems both a portion of the collected data regarding the first tenant system together with at least a portion of the computed analytics for comparison, thereby enabling the user to compare aspects of the first tenant system with the analytics associated with the community; and

generating the performance recommendations that recommend configuration changes to the tenant system related to the computed analytics;

wherein the performance recommendations are generated by comparing differences between configurations of second ones of the tenant systems, other than the first tenant system, that perform better than the first tenant system on a first of the computed analytics.

Assignments (21)
RELEASE OF FIRST LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 059105/0479 →
RELEASE OF SECOND LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Feb 2, 2022
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 059096/0683 →
SECOND LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 7, 2018
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 046327/0486 →
FIRST LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Jun 7, 2018
From: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 046327/0347 →
RELEASE OF FIRST LIEN SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS RECORDED AT R/F 040581/0850 Recorded May 22, 2018
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC. (F/K/A DELL SOFTWARE INC.); AVENTAIL LLC
Reel/Frame 046211/0735 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Dec 6, 2017
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 044800/0848 →
CORRECTIVE ASSIGNMENT TO CORRECT THE ASSIGNEE PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL: 040587 FRAME: 0624. ASSIGNOR(S) HEREBY CONFIRMS THE ASSIGNMENT. Recorded Nov 28, 2017
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: QUEST SOFTWARE INC. (F/K/A DELL SOFTWARE INC.); AVENTAIL LLC
Reel/Frame 044811/0598 →
SECOND LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 10, 2016
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040587/0624 →
FIRST LIEN PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Nov 9, 2016
From: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040581/0850 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Oct 31, 2016
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS, L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 040521/0467 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN CERTAIN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (040039/0642) Recorded Oct 31, 2016
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
To: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 040521/0016 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS, L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040030/0187 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040040/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040065/0618 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Sep 14, 2016
From: AVENTAIL LLC; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 040039/0642 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST Recorded Sep 13, 2016
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; COMPELLANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INC.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 040065/0216 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (TERM LOAN) Recorded Jan 2, 2014
From: DELL INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; BOOMI, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL USA L.P.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; GALE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 031899/0261 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (ABL) Recorded Jan 2, 2014
From: DELL INC.; APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; BOOMI, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL USA L.P.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; GALE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 031898/0001 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT (NOTES) Recorded Jan 2, 2014
From: APPASSURE SOFTWARE, INC.; ASAP SOFTWARE EXPRESS, INC.; BOOMI, INC.; COMPELLENT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INC.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL SOFTWARE INC.; DELL USA L.P.; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; GALE TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; PEROT SYSTEMS CORPORATION; SECUREWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS FIRST LIEN COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 031897/0348 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Aug 19, 2013
From: QUEST SOFTWARE, INC.
To: DELL SOFTWARE INC.
Reel/Frame 031035/0914 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Nov 2, 2012
From: HEROLD, SCOTT MATTHEW; VONA, GEOFFREY ALAN JAMES; CONDY, MICHAEL HUGH
To: QUEST SOFTWARE, INC.
Reel/Frame 029237/0518 →
Continuity (1)
Provisional Application 61477468 · Apr 20, 2011