Program control for resource management architecture and corresponding programs therefor

#The present invention relates generally to resource management systems by which networked computers cooperate in performing at least one task too complex for a single computer to perform. More specifically, the present invention relates to a resource management system which dynamically and remotely controls networked computers to thereby permit them to cooperate in performing tasks that are too complex for any single computer to perform. Advantageously, software programs for converting a general purpose computer network into a resource managed network are also disclosed.

#The instant application claims priority from Provisional Patent Application Serial No. 60/207,891, which was filed on May 25, 2000. The Provisional Patent Application is incorporated herein in its entirety by reference.

#Resource Management consists of a set of cooperating computer programs that provides an ability to dynamically allocate computing tasks to a collection of networked computing resources (computer processors interconnected on a network) based on the following measures:

#These and various other features and aspects of the present invention will be readily understood with reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like or similar numbers are used throughout, and in which:

#FIG. 1 is a high-level block diagram of hardware and software components implemented in the Resource Management System according to the present invention;

#FIG. 2 is a functional block diagram of the Resource Management Architecture according to the present invention;

#The Resource Management Architecture, which was and is being developed by the Naval Surface Warfare Center—Dahlgren Division (NSWCDD), provides capabilities for monitoring hosts, networks, and applications within a distributed computing environment. Moreover, the Resource Management Architecture provides the capability of dynamically allocating, and reallocating, applications to hosts as needed in order to maintain user-specified system performance goals. Advantageously, the Resource Management architecture provides functionality for determining both how each component within the distributed environment is performing and what options are available for attempting to correct deficient performance, determining the proper actions that should be taken, and enacting the determined course of action. In addition to these capabilities, the architecture also allows for operator control over creating and loading pre-defined static, dynamic, or combined static and dynamic system and/or host configurations. One particularly desirable feature of the Resource Management Architecture is that it provides capabilities for monitoring system performance along with the ability to dynamically allocate and reallocate system resources as required.

#Before addressing the various features and aspects of the present invention, it would be useful to establish both terminology and the conventions that the instant application will follow throughout. In terms of terminology, a glossary section is presented below. In terms of conventions, this application includes information such as source code listing in an Appendix section. Since the source code itself is hundreds of pages, the appendix section is divided into attached pages, e.g., Attached Appendix A, and an optical disk section, e.g., CD-Appendix N. Thus, while the appendices are listed in order, the reader must look to the signaling language to determine whether any particular appendix is actually provided in printed form. 1 API API (application programming interface) A set of subroutines or functions that a program, or application, can call to invoke sone functionality contained in another software or hardware component. The Windows API consists of more than 1,000 functions that programs written in C, C++, Pascal, and other languages can call to create windows, open files, and perform other essential tasks. An application that wants to display an on-screen message can call Windows' MessageBox API function, for example. BNF Acronym for {grave over ( )}Backus Normal Form′ ( often incorrectly expanded as {grave over ( )}Backus -Naur Form′), a metasyntactic notation used to specify the syntax of programming languages, command sets, and the like. Widely used for language descriptions but seldom documented anywhere, so that it must usually be learned by osmosis from other hackers. DAEMON A background process on a host or Web server ( normally in a UNIX environment), waiting to perform tasks. Well-known examples of daemons are sendmail and HTTP daemon. FUNCTION A capability available on a host due to the presence of software (e.g., a program), a software module (e.g., an API), etc. GLOBUS Wide area network (WAN) enterprise management and control capability developed under DARPA sponsorship by USC/ISI. HOST A device including a central processor controlled by an operating system. ICMP Internet Control Message Protocol - ICMP is an extension to the Internet Protocol. It allows for the generation of error messages, test packets and informational messages related to IP. It is defined in STD 5, RFC 792. JEWEL An open-source instrumentation package produced by the German National Research Center for Computer Science NFS Network File System - A protocol developed by Sun Microsystems, and defined in RFC 1094, which allows a computer system to access files over a network as if they were on its local disks. This protocol has been incorporated in products by more than two hundred companies, and is now a de facto Internet standard. QoS Quality of Service REMOS Remos (REsource MOnitoring System) is a network bandwidth and topology monitoring system developed under DARPA sponsorship by CMU. Remos allows network-aware applications to obtain relevant information about their execution environment. The major challenges in defining a uniform interface are network heterogeneity, diversity in traffic requirements, variability of the information, and resource sharing in the network. Remos provides an API that addresses these issue by striking a compromise between accuracy (the information provided is best-effort, but includes statistical information if available) and efficiency (providing a query-based interface, so applications incur overhead only when they acquire information). Remos supports two classes of queries. “Flow queries” provide a portable way to describe a communication step to the Remos implementation, which uses its platform-dependent knowledge to return to the user the capacity of the network to meet this request. “Topology queries” reverse the process, with the Remos implementation providing a portable description of the network's behavior to the application. SNMP Simple Network Management Protocol Internet standard protocol defined in STD 15, RFC 1157; developed to manage nodes, e.g., hubs and switches, on an IP network.

#An exemplary system for implementing the Resource Management Architecture according to the present invention is illustrate in FIG. 1, which includes a plurality of Host computers A, B, . . . , N operatively connected to one another and Resource Management hardware RM via a Network 1. It will be appreciated that the network 100 advantageously can be any known network, e.g., a local area network (LAN) or a wide area network (WAN). It will also be appreciated that the hardware RM need not be a discrete piece of equipment; the hardware RM advantageously can be distributed across multiple platforms, as discussed in detail below. In addressing the functional elements and applications in the distributed environment, it will be appreciated that hosts A-N each can instantiate applications 1-M. Thus, when all applications are being addressed, these applications will be denoted as Al-NM.