Common Event Format for Heterogeneous IT System Status Data
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Solution Overview
Problem
The increasing complexity of IT systems with distributed and heterogeneous components complicates problem determination and resolution due to varying component status formats, making it difficult for management functions to analyze and correlate status information across different components and versions, and requiring IT specialists to write cumbersome conversion rules.
Innovation Solution
The method involves generating events in a common format by populating a common base event with source-specific situation information, modifying it to conform to a predefined event format, and storing it in an event server for centralized analysis, using an event factory and content handler to standardize the data structure and format.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of manufacture
If components generate status data in their own formats, then component developers have ease of implementation, but management functions experience increased complexity in processing and correlating data across different components
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a common event format as an intermediary layer between component status data and management functions. This mediator translates diverse component-specific formats into a unified structure, allowing management functions to process data from multiple components without needing to understand each component's native format. The common event format acts as the intermediary that resolves the complexity mismatch.
Solution Approach 2:
The common event format provides a universal structure that can accommodate status data from various different components and systems. By defining a standardized template with common fields (timestamp, component name, status message, etc.), the system enables single management function to handle multiple component types, eliminating the need for separate processing logic for each component format.
2Productivity
If IT specialists write conversion rules to handle different status formats, then data can be processed, but time consumption increases due to the complexity of writing and validating rules
Solution Approach 1:
The common event format is defined and established in advance as a standardized template before data collection begins. This preliminary structure is pre-configured with all necessary fields and formats, eliminating the need for IT specialists to create conversion rules on-the-fly. The format is prepared beforehand to handle data from multiple components, saving significant time during data processing.
3Measurement precision
If components provide detailed status information, then problem analysis is more accurate, but the variety of formats makes correlation and analysis more difficult
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the status information into standardized fields within the common event format structure. By dividing the data into consistent segments (timestamp, component identifier, status message, severity level), the system maintains the detailed information needed for accurate problem analysis while presenting it in a uniform structure that enables easy correlation across components. This segmentation approach preserves precision while reducing format variety.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods, systems and computer program products are provided for generating events having common formats by obtaining a populated common base event including source specific situation information for an event source. It is determined if a format of the populated common base event conforms to a predefined event format and a common event format representation of the populated common base event is generated based on the predefined event format if the format of the populated common base event does not conform to the predefined event format.