Entity Management Engine Campaign Scheduling
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Managing groups of computing entities, such as servers or medical equipment, is typically done manually and is time-consuming, as administrators must individually perform operations like software updates, disregarding dependencies between entities, which complicates the process and reduces efficiency.
Innovation Solution
An entity management engine constructs a management scenario that defines tasks and dependencies between entities, converting them into a management plan that includes scheduling and validation to ensure no conflicts, allowing for coordinated and efficient management of multiple entities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If administrators manually manage each computing entity individually, then they can apply their expertise to each entity, but the process becomes time-consuming and complex
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual management operations into a single automated campaign that can be applied to multiple computing entities simultaneously. The campaign manager consolidates task definitions, scheduling, and execution monitoring into one unified process, eliminating the need for administrators to manually manage each entity separately while preserving operational quality through centralized control and validation.
Solution Approach 2:
The system enables self-service automation where the campaign manager automatically schedules, validates, and executes management operations across multiple entities without requiring administrator intervention for each individual task. The system self-manages the complexity of coordinating dependencies and timing while administrators only need to define the high-level campaign parameters.
2Ease of operation
If administrators manually schedule and launch management operations, then they can control the order of operations, but the process becomes complex and error-prone
Solution Approach 1:
The campaign manager acts as an intermediary between the administrator and the multiple computing entities. It accepts simple high-level instructions from administrators and automatically handles the complex scheduling, validation, and coordination of operations across entities. This intermediary layer shields administrators from complexity while ensuring proper ordering and timing of operations.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary validation and scheduling of operations before execution. The campaign manager validates task definitions, checks for conflicts, and establishes the execution order in advance, ensuring that operations are ready to be executed in the correct sequence without requiring administrators to manually manage the complexity during execution.
3Productivity
If management operations are applied to multiple entities simultaneously, then efficiency improves, but conflicts and errors may occur due to ignored dependencies
Solution Approach 1:
The campaign manager implements feedback mechanisms that monitor the state of computing entities during campaign execution. It validates prerequisites before each operation, checks for conflicts in real-time, and adjusts execution based on the outcomes of previous operations. This feedback loop ensures that dependencies are respected and errors are detected and handled appropriately while maintaining high-speed automated execution.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts the execution plan based on real-time conditions. Rather than following a rigid predetermined sequence, the campaign manager can adapt the ordering and timing of operations based on entity states, operation outcomes, and emerging conflicts. This dynamic approach maintains productivity while ensuring reliability by responding to actual system conditions.
Data Source
AI summary
Managing groups of entities is described. In an embodiment an administrator manages operations on a plurality of entities by constructing a management scenario which defines tasks to be applied on a group of entities. In an example the management scenario includes information on dependencies between entities and information on entity attributes, for example operating system version or CPU usage. In an embodiment an entity management engine converts the tasks and dependencies in the scenario to a management plan. In an example the management plan is a list of operations and conditions to be respected in applying an operation to an entity. In an embodiment the plan can be validated to ensure there are no conflicts. In an embodiment the entity management engine also comprises a scheduler which runs tasks contained in the plan and monitors their outcome.