Skeletal Refresh for Inventory Management Platforms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Inventory management in management platforms for computing environments is resource-intensive and time-consuming, especially as the number of managed objects increases, limiting scalability.
Innovation Solution
Implementing a skeletal refresh process that separates inventory management into two domains: relationships between managed objects and detailed information, using a main inventory process for minimal updates and auxiliary processes for detailed updates, executed in parallel across multiple computing resources.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of information
If a traditional inventory management process is used to collect detailed information for all managed objects, then complete inventory data is obtained, but the process becomes resource-intensive and time-consuming, limiting scalability
Solution Approach 1:
The inventory management process is segmented into two distinct phases: a main inventory process that collects minimal identifying information and relationship data, and auxiliary detail collection processes that gather comprehensive object attributes. This segmentation allows the system to maintain data completeness while significantly improving refresh efficiency by avoiding the collection of all detailed information in a single resource-intensive pass.
Solution Approach 2:
The main inventory process performs partial action by collecting only the minimal necessary information (identifying attributes and relationship data) rather than all detailed attributes. The auxiliary detail collection processes then fill in the remaining information only when needed. This partial action approach reduces the immediate resource burden while ensuring complete data is eventually obtained.
2Measurement precision
If detailed information collection is performed for all managed objects during inventory refresh, then complete object attributes are updated, but resource consumption and time requirements increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The detail collection workload is segmented and distributed across multiple auxiliary processes that operate independently. Each auxiliary process handles specific object types or attribute categories, allowing parallel execution that reduces total resource consumption while maintaining measurement precision through comprehensive attribute collection.
Solution Approach 2:
The main inventory process performs preliminary action by establishing the foundational inventory structure with identifying attributes and relationship data before detailed attribute collection begins. This preliminary framework enables subsequent detail collection processes to operate more efficiently by leveraging the pre-established structure.
3Quantity of substance
If inventory management handles a large number of managed objects, then comprehensive monitoring is achieved, but scalability is limited due to increased process complexity and resource requirements
Solution Approach 1:
The inventory management system is segmented into a main process that handles high-level inventory structure and relationship data, and multiple auxiliary processes that handle detailed attribute collection. This segmentation allows the system to scale by adding auxiliary processes for different object types without increasing the complexity of the main inventory management logic.
Solution Approach 2:
The auxiliary detail collection processes are designed with universal functionality to handle multiple object types through a common framework. This multi-functionality reduces overall system complexity by reusing the same process patterns across different managed object types, enabling scalability without proportional increases in process complexity.
Data Source
AI summary
A method of implementations includes determining, by a processing device in a management platform, an occurrence of an inventory event in a computing environment managed by the management platform, wherein the computing environment comprises a plurality of managed objects, and invoking a relationship handler to obtain identifying attributes for a target managed object corresponding to the inventory event. The relationship handler is further to update the identifying attributes and relationship attributes corresponding to the target managed object in an inventory tree maintained by the management platform, the relationship attributes comprising an identification of affiliations between two or more managed objects and for each managed object affiliated to the target managed object, and schedule a job in a message queue to update each of the attributes for the managed object, the detailed attributes comprising attributes of the managed object that are not identifying attributes or relationship attributes.