Software Deployment Pilot Group Verification
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Solution Overview
Problem
System administrators face challenges in verifying software compatibility across diverse hardware and software configurations within an enterprise, as existing methods like test labs often fail to adequately simulate the variety of systems found in the enterprise, leading to potential deployment issues.
Innovation Solution
A method involving the identification of a pilot group with unique attribute combinations, deployment of target software to this group for monitoring, detection of compatibility issues, and notification of problems, followed by deployment to the remaining nodes once conditions are met, allowing for corrective actions and staggered deployment across different target groups.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If test labs are used to verify software compatibility, then software testing can be performed in a controlled environment, but the test labs fail to adequately simulate the variety of systems found in the enterprise, leading to potential deployment issues
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates virtual copies of diverse enterprise systems (managed nodes with different hardware, software, and configurations) within the test lab environment. These virtual representations replicate the actual variety of systems in the enterprise, allowing comprehensive compatibility testing while maintaining controlled laboratory conditions. The virtual copies include diverse operating systems, hardware configurations, and software versions that mirror real enterprise environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The test lab system is designed to handle multiple types of system configurations simultaneously through a unified platform. It can simulate various hardware architectures, operating systems, and software versions within the same laboratory environment, making the lab universally applicable to testing software compatibility across diverse enterprise scenarios without requiring separate specialized labs for each configuration type.
2Reliability
If comprehensive testing across all managed nodes is performed, then compatibility can be thoroughly verified, but the process becomes time-consuming and reduces system administrator productivity
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the enterprise managed nodes into representative groups within the test lab, where each group captures the essential diversity of the enterprise environment. Instead of testing every individual node, the system creates segmented virtual representations that collectively represent all possible configurations, enabling thorough compatibility verification through a manageable subset of test cases.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs compatibility testing in advance within the virtualized test lab environment before actual software deployment to enterprise nodes. By conducting these preliminary tests on virtual representations of all possible configurations, the system identifies compatibility issues beforehand, allowing administrators to proceed with deployment confidence without needing to manually test each node individually.
3Ease of operation
If existing test lab methods are used, then software can be tested in a controlled environment, but they do not account for the wide variety of hardware/software configurations within the same enterprise
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates virtual copies that precisely replicate the diverse hardware and software configurations found in enterprise managed nodes. These virtual representations include specific CPU types, memory configurations, operating system versions, and installed software, allowing the controlled test lab environment to accurately simulate and accommodate the full range of enterprise configuration variety.
Solution Approach 2:
The system dynamically adjusts and changes multiple parameters simultaneously within the virtualized environment to represent different hardware and software configurations. By varying parameters such as processor architecture, memory size, operating system version, and software installations across virtual test nodes, the system maintains controlled laboratory conditions while accommodating diverse enterprise configurations.
Data Source
AI summary
In an exemplary embodiment, a deployment program on an administrative system receives user input to deploy target software to the managed nodes in a recipient group. In response, the deployment program identifies a pilot group to test the target software. The pilot group comprises a subset of the recipient group. Each managed node in the pilot group has a unique combination of N attributes. The deployment program deploys the target software to the pilot group prior to deploying the target software to other managed nodes in the recipient group that are not part of the pilot group.