Data processor performance advisor

A method of operating a data processor system to evaluate the data processor system's performance, the data processor system including a plurality of inter connected elements and having a plurality of work load characteristics indicative of the data processor system's performance and also having a plurality of system parameters defining allowable operating ranges for the data processor system, the system parameters being capable of adjustment to affect the data processor system's performance and the evaluation being performed relative to a set of rules specifying acceptable states of the work load characteristics, the method comprising the steps of:

• measuring, at least once during each of a plurality of predetermined time periods constituting major intervals, a value of each of a plurality of metrics corresponding to said set of rules, each of said metrics representing a measurable quantity in said data processor system, and said major interval being initiated periodically by said data processor system;
• storing, in a memory of said data processor system, the value measured for each of said metrics and the major interval during which that measurement was made;
• comparing the value stored for each of said measured metrics with a corresponding threshold for that metric stored is said data processory system memory, said comparisons taking place for selected ones of said major intervals;
• evaluating the results of each of said comparisons between said stored values and corresponding thresholds to determine whether a plurality of predefined specific relationships for each of the metrics represented by said stored values and the corresponding thresholds for those metrics have been met, each of said specified relationships relating to one or more of said set of rules;
• triggering the ones of said rules for which all of the related specified relationships have been met;
• recording in said data processor memory data representing each of the rules which have been triggered and the once of the majors intervals during which each of those rules was triggered;
• counting the number of said major intervals during which each of said rules has triggered, to obtain a total number of triggering major intervals for each said set of rules;
• and
• recommendating, from the rules which have triggered changes in a specified configuration of said plurality of interconnected elements to improve the performance of said data processor system, said recommendating step including the substeps of
• examining a list of suggestion actions stored in said memory to find the ones of said suggested actions for which the corresponding rules are rules which have triggered, said list of suggestion actions including an identification cf the ones of said rules corresponding to each of said suggested actions;
• ensuring that the total number of said triggering major intervals for each of said rules exceeds a corresponding predetermined threshold number prior to displaying the suggested actions found in said examining step;
• and