Patent US6691244B1 successfully refreshed from Google Patents.
US6691244B1
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System and method for comprehensive availability management in a high-availability computer system
Assignee: Oracle America Inc
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Filing: 2000-03-14
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Granted: 2004-02-10
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Expires: 2020-03-14
Abstract
Abstract A system and method for availability management coordinates operational states of components to implement a desired redundancy model within a high-availability computing system. Within the availability management system, an availability manager monitors various reports on the status of components and nodes within the system. The availability manager uses these reports to direct components to change states if necessary, in order to maintain the desired system redundancy model. The availability management system includes a health monitor for performing component status audits upon individual components and reporting component status changes. The system also includes a watch-dog timer, which monitors the health monitor and reboots the entire node containing the health monitor if it becomes non-responsive. Each node within the system also includes a cluster membership monitor, which monitors nodes becoming non-responsive and reports node non-responsive errors.
Inventors
- 👤 Mark A. Kampe
- 👤 Andrew Hisgen
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-08 12:57
CPC Classifications
G; G06; G06F; G06F11/00
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 43
Claim 1
Independent Claim
143 words
In a high availability computer system including one or more nodes, each node including a plurality of components, wherein each component has an operational state, an availability management system for managing the operational states of the components, comprising: a health monitor for performing a component status audit upon a component and reporting component status changes; a timer for monitoring the health monitor and rebooting the node including the health monitor if the health monitor becomes non-responsive; a multi-component error correlator for receiving the component status changes and applying pre-specified rules to determine whether a sequence of component status changes matches a known pattern, wherein the multi-component error correlator reports component status change pattern matches as component error reports; and an availability manager to receive the component error reports and assign operational states to the components in accordance with the received component error reports.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
143 words
In a high availability computer system including one or more nodes, each node including a plurality of components, wherein each component has an operational state, an availability management system for managing the operational states of the components, comprising: a health monitor for performing a component status audit upon a component and reporting component status changes; a timer for monitoring the health monitor and rebooting the node including the health monitor if the health monitor becomes non-responsive; a multi-component error correlator for receiving the component status changes and applying pre-specified rules to determine whether a sequence of component status changes matches a known pattern, wherein the multi-component error correlator reports component status change pattern matches as component error reports; and an availability manager to receive the component error reports and assign operational states to the components in accordance with the received component error reports.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
56 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , further including: a cluster membership monitor for monitoring node non-responsive errors and reporting node non-responsive errors, wherein the availability manager receives the component error reports and node non-responsive errors, and assigns operational states to the components in accordance with the received component error reports and node non-responsive errors.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
20 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , further including: an in-line error detector signal for reporting component status changes.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
25 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , wherein the availability manager publishes component operational states to other nodes within the highly available computer system.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
17 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , wherein an operational state of a component is active.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
17 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , wherein an operational state of a component is standby.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
17 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , wherein an operational state of a component is spare.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
17 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , wherein an operational state of a component is off-line.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
17 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , wherein a component status change is a component failure.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
19 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , wherein a component status change is a component loss of capacity.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
18 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , wherein a component status change is a new component available.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
21 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , wherein a component status change is a request to take a component off-line.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
61 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , wherein the step of performing a component status audit further includes: initiating an audit upon a component; reporting a component error to the multi-component error correlator if the audit fails to complete within a specified time; and initiating a component error to the multi-component error correlator if the audit detects a component failure.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
37 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , further including: a first node including the availability manager; and a second node including a proxy availability manager, wherein the proxy availability manager relays messages to the availability manager.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
43 words
The availability management system of claim 1 , further including: a first node including the availability manager; and a second node including a back-up availability manager, wherein the back-up availability manager assumes the functions of the availability manager if the availability manager fails.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
156 words
In a high availability computer system including one or more nodes, each node including a plurality of components, wherein each component has an operational state, a method for managing the operational states of the components, comprising: receiving a plurality of event reports; receiving a plurality of component status reports for at least one of the components from a health monitor residing on one of the nodes of the computer system; monitoring the health monitor; when the monitoring indicates the health monitor is non-responsive, rebooting the node including the health monitor; applying pre-specified rules to the plurality of event reports and plurality of component status reports, wherein the event reports and component status reports are compared to known event patterns, and wherein an event pattern match generates a component error report; receiving a plurality of component error reports; and dynamically readjusting the operational states of at least one of the components based upon the component error reports.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
156 words
In a high availability computer system including one or more nodes, each node including a plurality of components, wherein each component has an operational state, a method for managing the operational states of the components, comprising: receiving a plurality of event reports; receiving a plurality of component status reports for at least one of the components from a health monitor residing on one of the nodes of the computer system; monitoring the health monitor; when the monitoring indicates the health monitor is non-responsive, rebooting the node including the health monitor; applying pre-specified rules to the plurality of event reports and plurality of component status reports, wherein the event reports and component status reports are compared to known event patterns, and wherein an event pattern match generates a component error report; receiving a plurality of component error reports; and dynamically readjusting the operational states of at least one of the components based upon the component error reports.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
35 words
The method of claim 16 , further including: receiving a plurality of node non-responsive reports; and dynamically readjusting the operational states of the components based upon the component error reports and the node non-responsive reports.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
18 words
The method of claim 16 , wherein an event report is received through a publish/subscribe event notification system.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
20 words
The method of claim 16 , wherein a component status report is generated by a component performing an internal self-audit.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
112 words
In a high availability computer system including a plurality of components, wherein each component has an operational state, a method for managing the operational states of the components, comprising: registering the plurality of components with an availability manager; registering each of the plurality of component's associated states with an availability manager; accepting a plurality of reports regarding the status of components; and dynamically adjusting component state assignments based upon the reports, wherein the state assignments are selected from the group consisting of standby, spare, and off-line and wherein the reports indicate that a sequence of changes in the status of components matches a known pattern based on a set of pre-specified rules.
Claim 23
Dependent Claim
112 words
In a high availability computer system including a plurality of components, wherein each component has an operational state, a method for managing the operational states of the components, comprising: registering the plurality of components with an availability manager; registering each of the plurality of component's associated states with an availability manager; accepting a plurality of reports regarding the status of components; and dynamically adjusting component state assignments based upon the reports, wherein the state assignments are selected from the group consisting of standby, spare, and off-line and wherein the reports indicate that a sequence of changes in the status of components matches a known pattern based on a set of pre-specified rules.
Claim 24
Dependent Claim
154 words
A computer program product for managing the operational states of the components in a high availability computer system including one or more nodes, each node including a plurality of components, wherein each component has an operational state, the computer program product comprising: program code configured to receive a plurality of event reports; program code configured to receive a plurality of component status reports; program code configured to apply pre-specified rules to the plurality of event reports and plurality of component status reports, wherein the event reports and component status reports are compared to known event patterns, and wherein an event pattern match generates a component error report; program code configured to receive a plurality of component error reports; and program code configured to dynamically readjust the operational states of the components based upon the component error reports, wherein the operational states are selected from the group of states consisting of standby, spare, and off-line.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
154 words
A computer program product for managing the operational states of the components in a high availability computer system including one or more nodes, each node including a plurality of components, wherein each component has an operational state, the computer program product comprising: program code configured to receive a plurality of event reports; program code configured to receive a plurality of component status reports; program code configured to apply pre-specified rules to the plurality of event reports and plurality of component status reports, wherein the event reports and component status reports are compared to known event patterns, and wherein an event pattern match generates a component error report; program code configured to receive a plurality of component error reports; and program code configured to dynamically readjust the operational states of the components based upon the component error reports, wherein the operational states are selected from the group of states consisting of standby, spare, and off-line.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
45 words
The computer program product of claim 21 , further including: program code configured to receive a plurality of node non-responsive reports; and program code configured to dynamically readjust the operational states of the components based upon the component error reports and the node non-responsive reports.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
140 words
In a high availability computer system including one or more nodes, each node including a plurality of components, wherein each component has an operational state, an availability management system for managing the operational states of the components, comprising: a health monitor for performing a component status audit upon a component and reporting component status changes; a multi-component error correlator for receiving the component status changes and applying pre-specified rules to determine whether a sequence of component status changes matches a known pattern, wherein the multi-component error correlator reports component status change pattern matches as component error reports; and an availability manager to receive the component error reports and assign operational states to the components in accordance with the received component error reports, wherein the operational states of a component are selected from the group consisting of standby, spare, and off-line.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
140 words
In a high availability computer system including one or more nodes, each node including a plurality of components, wherein each component has an operational state, an availability management system for managing the operational states of the components, comprising: a health monitor for performing a component status audit upon a component and reporting component status changes; a multi-component error correlator for receiving the component status changes and applying pre-specified rules to determine whether a sequence of component status changes matches a known pattern, wherein the multi-component error correlator reports component status change pattern matches as component error reports; and an availability manager to receive the component error reports and assign operational states to the components in accordance with the received component error reports, wherein the operational states of a component are selected from the group consisting of standby, spare, and off-line.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
56 words
The availability management system of claim 23 , further including: a cluster membership monitor for monitoring node non-responsive errors and reporting node non-responsive errors, wherein the availability manager receives the component error reports and node non-responsive errors, and assigns operational states to the components in accordance with the received component error reports and node non-responsive errors.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
20 words
The availability management system of claim 23 , further including: an in-line error detector signal for reporting component status changes.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
25 words
The availability management system of claim 23 , wherein the availability manager publishes component operational states to other nodes within the highly available computer system.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
40 words
The availability management system of claim 23 , wherein the component status changes are selected from the group consisting of a component failure, a component loss of capacity, a new component available, and a request to take a component off-line.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
61 words
The availability management system of claim 23 , wherein the step of performing a component status audit further includes: initiating an audit upon a component; reporting a component error to the multi-component error correlator if the audit fails to complete within a specified time; and initiating a component error to the multi-component error correlator if the audit detects a component failure.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
37 words
The availability management system of claim 23 , further including: a first node including the availability manager; and a second node including a proxy availability manager, wherein the proxy availability manager relays messages to the availability manager.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
141 words
An availability management system for managing the operational states of the components in a high availability computer system including one or more nodes, each node including a plurality of components, the components each having an operational state, comprising: a health monitor for performing a component status audit upon a component and reporting component status changes; a multi-component error correlator for receiving the component status changes and applying pre-specified rules to determine whether a sequence of component status changes matches a known pattern, wherein the multi-component error correlator reports component status change pattern matches as component error reports and wherein the component status changes comprise a new component available or a request to take a component off-line; and an availability manager to receive the component error reports and assign operational states to the components in accordance with the received component error reports.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
141 words
An availability management system for managing the operational states of the components in a high availability computer system including one or more nodes, each node including a plurality of components, the components each having an operational state, comprising: a health monitor for performing a component status audit upon a component and reporting component status changes; a multi-component error correlator for receiving the component status changes and applying pre-specified rules to determine whether a sequence of component status changes matches a known pattern, wherein the multi-component error correlator reports component status change pattern matches as component error reports and wherein the component status changes comprise a new component available or a request to take a component off-line; and an availability manager to receive the component error reports and assign operational states to the components in accordance with the received component error reports.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
56 words
The availability management system of claim 30 , further including: a cluster membership monitor for monitoring node non-responsive errors and reporting node non-responsive errors, wherein the availability manager receives the component error reports and node non-responsive errors, and assigns operational states to the components in accordance with the received component error reports and node non-responsive errors.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
20 words
The availability management system of claim 30 , further including: an in-line error detector signal for reporting component status changes.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
25 words
The availability management system of claim 30 , wherein the availability manager publishes component operational states to other nodes within the highly available computer system.
Claim 40
Dependent Claim
61 words
The availability management system of claim 30 , wherein the step of performing a component status audit further includes: initiating an audit upon a component; reporting a component error to the multi-component error correlator if the audit fails to complete within a specified time; and initiating a component error to the multi-component error correlator if the audit detects a component failure.
Claim 41
Dependent Claim
37 words
The availability management system of claim 30 , further including: a first node including the availability manager; and a second node including a proxy availability manager, wherein the proxy availability manager relays messages to the availability manager.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
153 words
An availability management system for managing the operational states of the components in a high availability computer system including one or more nodes, each node including a plurality of components, wherein each component has an operational state, comprising: a health monitor for performing a component status audit upon a component and reporting component status changes; a multi-component error correlator for receiving the component status changes and applying pre-specified rules to determine whether a sequence of component status changes matches a known pattern, wherein the multi-component error correlator reports component status change pattern matches as component error reports; an availability manager to receive the component error reports and assign operational states to the components in accordance with the received component error reports; a first node including the availability manager; and a second node including a back-up availability manager, wherein the back-up availability assumes the functions of the availability manager if the availability manager fails.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
153 words
An availability management system for managing the operational states of the components in a high availability computer system including one or more nodes, each node including a plurality of components, wherein each component has an operational state, comprising: a health monitor for performing a component status audit upon a component and reporting component status changes; a multi-component error correlator for receiving the component status changes and applying pre-specified rules to determine whether a sequence of component status changes matches a known pattern, wherein the multi-component error correlator reports component status change pattern matches as component error reports; an availability manager to receive the component error reports and assign operational states to the components in accordance with the received component error reports; a first node including the availability manager; and a second node including a back-up availability manager, wherein the back-up availability assumes the functions of the availability manager if the availability manager fails.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
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| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2011-02-09 | 2011-08-11 | 2012-02-10 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2015-02-09 | 2015-08-11 | 2016-02-10 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |