Command Suggestion Interface for Datacenter Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Server and network system administrators face inefficiencies due to the need for multiple and repeated manual entry of commands across various user interfaces and tools, leading to increased navigation delays and unnecessary server loads from extraneous status queries, which slow down routine tasks like server migrations and system status checks.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of Efficient Command Processing (ECP) systems that receive action requests within a datacenter management interface and provide command suggestions, including object categories or specific objects, allowing users to quickly search and perform actions without losing context, by suggesting compatible objects and parameters based on user input and properties such as CPU utilization, disk space, and geographic location.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If administrators navigate through multiple user interfaces and tools to perform routine tasks, then they can access system details and perform actions, but navigation time and context switching increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the navigation process by allowing administrators to directly input or select specific infrastructure objects (virtual machines, hosts, data centers) without traversing through hierarchical menus. This breaks the traditional sequential navigation path into direct object selection, eliminating unnecessary intermediate steps and context switches between tools.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a command interface as an intermediary layer between the administrator and the infrastructure management system. This intermediary accepts direct object specifications and translates them into appropriate management actions, eliminating the need for administrators to manually navigate through multiple user interfaces and tools to reach target objects.
2Loss of information
If the system requests detailed status information for each object along the navigation path, then navigation context is maintained, but server load increases and processing speed decreases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential object identification information needed to perform the requested action, eliminating the extraction and processing of extraneous status details for intermediate objects. The command interface parses user input to identify only the relevant target object and action parameters, discarding unnecessary navigation context that would otherwise require server processing.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary parsing and validation of the command input to identify the target object and action before initiating any status queries. By pre-processing the command to extract only necessary object identifiers and parameters, the system avoids unnecessary status requests for objects along the navigation path, reducing server load before the actual action is executed.
3Reliability
If the system performs status queries for all objects in the infrastructure tree, then complete system state is maintained, but unnecessary overhead is created for routine tasks
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by performing status queries and state verification only for the specific target object and its immediate relevant parameters, rather than maintaining complete system state for all objects. The command interface determines the minimum necessary state information required to execute the requested action on the target object, eliminating redundant queries for unrelated objects in the infrastructure tree.
4Ease of operation
If administrators manually enter commands across multiple tools, then precise control is achieved, but repetition and errors increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal command interface that can handle multiple infrastructure management actions (migration, power operations, configuration changes) through a single unified input mechanism. This multi-functional interface accepts standardized object specifications and action parameters regardless of the specific operation type, eliminating the need for administrators to learn and switch between multiple tool-specific command syntaxes while maintaining precise control over infrastructure operations.
Data Source
AI summary
Exemplary methods, apparatuses, and systems receive input command requests and present suggestions for command actions or command objects. An action request is received within a datacenter management user interface and a first command suggestion is provided. The first command suggestion includes one or more placeholder object categories. A first suggested object is identified according to a received object property and the action request. The object property can be CPU utilization, disk space, memory, uptime, version, software type, geographic location, keyword, or name. In response to receiving the action request, the first suggested object is determined to be compatible with the action request. In response to identifying the first suggested object is compatible with the received object property and the action request, a second command suggestion is provided. The second command suggestion includes the first suggested object.