Alert Management Root Cause Identification
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Solution Overview
Problem
In data centers, multiple alerts triggered by interconnected components can lead to information overload and redundant responses, as a single incident can cause a cascade of faults across different components, wasting resources and requiring inefficient investigation of secondary alerts.
Innovation Solution
A computer-implemented method and system that identifies the root cause of alerts by determining correlations between alerts using predetermined rules or a time-aware Bayesian system, allowing for the suppression or prediction of downstream alerts and focusing resources on the primary fault.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If multiple alerts are generated for each fault in interconnected components, then comprehensive monitoring coverage is improved, but information overload and redundant responses increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple related alerts into a single consolidated alert by identifying causal relationships between faults in interconnected components. The system combines alerts that stem from the same root cause into one unified notification, reducing information overload while maintaining comprehensive monitoring coverage through the correlation analysis module.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the root cause alert from among multiple related alerts and separates it as the primary notification. By identifying and extracting the causal alert that originates the cascade of faults, the system allows operators to focus on the root cause rather than responding to all downstream effects individually.
2Measurement precision
If individual alerts are investigated separately, then complete fault analysis is achieved, but response time and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent performs preliminary correlation analysis between alerts before they reach the operator. The system pre-establishes causal relationships and groupings of related alerts, so that when alerts arrive, the root cause has already been identified in advance, enabling faster response without sacrificing analysis completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements feedback mechanisms where the correlation analysis continuously learns from historical data to improve its ability to identify causal relationships. The system refines its alert grouping based on observed patterns, enabling more accurate root cause identification over time while reducing the manual investigation required for each alert.
3Reliability
If all alerts are addressed individually, then thorough response is ensured, but redundant actions and resource wastage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple alerts that result from the same root cause into a single response action. By combining alerts into consolidated notifications based on causal relationships, the system ensures thorough response to all faults while eliminating redundant actions that would occur if each alert were addressed separately.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent converts the harmful effect of cascade faults (which cause multiple redundant alerts) into a beneficial grouping mechanism. The causal relationships that initially create alert redundancy are used as the basis for intelligent alert consolidation, turning what was a problem into the foundation for efficient resource allocation and targeted response.
Data Source
AI summary
A first alert and a second alert are received. The first alert indicates a first fault related to a first component of the multiple components and the second alert that indicates a second fault related to a second component of the multiple components. The first component affects the second component such that the first fault caused the second fault. A correlation between the first alert and the second alert is determined and, based on the determined correlation, a determination is made that the first fault is a root cause of the first alert and the second alert. An indication that the first fault is the root cause of the first alert and second alert is provided.