Configuration Tracking with Parallel Manifests
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Solution Overview
Problem
Managing complex configuration settings in computing systems, especially when multiple parties independently make changes, is challenging due to the complexity of tracking and maintaining configuration integrity within a support perimeter.
Innovation Solution
A configuration management service generates a hierarchy of configuration items with associated metadata, creating a signature that represents the configuration state, allowing for detection of changes and classification of their impact. This service tracks changes based on a tracking policy, ensuring the configuration remains within defined support perimeters by initiating corrective actions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If a single manifest is used to track configuration changes, then the tracking mechanism is simple, but it cannot ensure continuity during policy updates and may lose track of changes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the configuration tracking system into multiple manifests (first manifest and second manifest) that operate in parallel during policy transitions. Each manifest tracks configuration changes according to its own version of the tracking policy, ensuring that no changes are lost during policy updates. This segmentation resolves the contradiction by sacrificing some structural simplicity to gain reliability and continuity in tracking.
2Reliability
If multiple manifests are used to track configuration changes, then continuity during policy updates is ensured, but the complexity of the tracking mechanism increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a configuration management service as an intermediary that coordinates between multiple manifests. This service determines when to switch from the first manifest to the second manifest based on policy version comparisons, managing the complexity of multiple manifests while ensuring smooth transitions. The intermediary absorbs the complexity management burden, allowing the manifests themselves to remain relatively simple tracking structures.
3Measurement precision
If configuration changes are tracked with granular detail, then detection precision is improved, but the complexity of managing and comparing configuration states increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates simplified copies or representations of configuration states within manifests, using structured formats that capture essential configuration information. These manifest representations allow for efficient comparison and detection of changes without requiring direct manipulation of the full complex configuration state. The copying principle enables granular tracking precision while managing complexity through abstracted representations.
Data Source
AI summary
A configuration management service tracks the configuration of a managed computing environment in accordance with a first version of a tracking policy. When an updated version of the tracking policy is received, the configuration management service initiates tracking of the configuration in accordance with the second version of the tracking policy, while continuing to track the configuration in accordance with the first version. A change to the configuration is detected based on the first version of the tracking policy. The change is verified based on the second version of the tracking policy, and a notification of the change is provided.