Agent Version Compatibility in Storage Area Networks
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional storage area network management applications lack an efficient mechanism to maintain agent versions and their corresponding operations, leading to obsolete agents and time-consuming code revisions when new features are introduced, resulting in errors and increased development time.
Innovation Solution
An agent compatibility verifying process that determines and assigns compatible operations to agents based on their version values, using a server process that receives notifications from agents and consults a database to identify available operations, applying licensing restrictions to ensure backward compatibility and efficient data collection.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If new operations are developed with new features, then functionality is improved, but agent versions become obsolete and code must be re-written
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements dynamic versioning where agents can be updated to new versions without requiring complete code re-writes. The system maintains a database of agent versions and their corresponding operations, allowing the management application to dynamically assign operations based on the agent's version. This enables new features to be added while maintaining compatibility with older agent versions through configurable mappings rather than hard-coded relationships.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the relationship between operations and agents by introducing intermediate versioning layers. Instead of direct hard-coded mappings between operations and agent versions, the system creates a structured database that separates operations from specific agent versions, allowing independent evolution of both components while maintaining their relationships through versioned configurations.
2Ease of manufacture
If hard-coded agent version mappings are used, then implementation is simple, but updates require time-consuming code revisions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent uses a database to store agent version mappings as data copies rather than hard-coded logic. This allows the system to maintain the simplicity of versioned agents while enabling flexible updates through data configuration. The database stores mappings between agent versions and operations, allowing administrators to update mappings without modifying source code, thus reducing development time while maintaining implementation simplicity.
3Reliability
If all agent versions are supported, then backward compatibility is improved, but new features cannot be fully utilized
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by providing different operation sets to different agent versions based on their capabilities. The system maintains a database that maps specific operations to specific agent versions, allowing newer operations to be available to newer agents while preserving compatibility with older agents. This enables the system to simultaneously support both backward compatibility and new features by locally adapting the operation set based on the agent's version.
4Adaptability or versatility
If dynamic operation assignment is implemented, then adaptability is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a database as an intermediary between operations and agents. This intermediary component stores the mappings between agent versions and operations, allowing the management application to dynamically assign operations based on agent versions without implementing complex runtime decision logic. The database serves as a simple, maintainable intermediary that provides the flexibility needed for dynamic assignment while keeping the overall system architecture relatively simple.
Data Source
AI summary
A system receives notification from an agent of that agent's availability for data collection from resources within a network. The system identifies, from the notification, a version value associated with the agent. The system determines, from the version value, a set of operations to be assigned to the agent that will be compatible with that agent, and assigns a subset of the set of operations to the agent to enable that agent to collect data from resources in the network.