Configuration Inheritance for Network Redundancy Reduction
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional system configuration approaches lead to redundancy and inefficiency due to static values tailored to specific systems, making it difficult to apply configurations across similar systems in a network, resulting in redundant configuration information and effort.
Innovation Solution
A configuration machine that derives settings from a target configuration, allowing for parameterized and computed settings, and inheritance relationships between configuration objects, enabling dynamic adaptation and reduction of redundancy by linking values and calculating settings based on system parameters.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If traditional system-specific static configuration values are used, then each system can be configured individually, but there is great redundancy in configuration information and effort across network systems
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal parent configuration object that can serve multiple child systems across the network. This parent configuration contains common settings that can be inherited by multiple child configuration objects, allowing one configuration to fulfill multiple system-specific needs. The inheritance mechanism enables a single configuration definition to be reused across different systems, eliminating the need to duplicate configuration information for each system while maintaining system-specific adaptability through selective overrides.
2Ease of operation
If system-specific static configuration values are used, then configuration can be tailored to each system, but changing configuration requires modifying every system's configuration individually
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the configuration management of multiple systems into a single parent configuration object. By combining common configuration elements into one centralized definition, changes can be made in one location and automatically propagate to all child systems through the inheritance relationship. This merging eliminates the need to manually update each system's configuration separately, dramatically reducing the time and effort required for configuration changes while maintaining the ability to handle system-specific variations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If configuration is tailored to specific systems with static values, then each system has its own configuration, but there is redundant effort to change configuration information across the network
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments configuration into hierarchical levels: parent configuration containing common settings and child configurations containing system-specific settings. This segmentation allows configuration management to be divided into inheritable common elements and overrideable specific elements. By segmenting the configuration structure, the system maintains productivity through efficient inheritance while preserving adaptability through localized overrides, eliminating redundant management effort.
Data Source
AI summary
Methods and apparatuses provide configuration inheritance. One configuration can be derived from another (target) configuration, and properties and all content of the target configuration are inherited by the derived configuration. The derived properties and all content may exist virtually at the derived configuration, and local settings can exist locally at the configuration. The configuration architecture may allow for overwriting the derived configuration with local content to allow for modifications of the derived content to adapt to the circumstance/environment of the derived configuration.