Method and apparatus for processing quality of service measurement data to assess a degree of compliance of internet services with service level agreements

An apparatus for determining whether or not Service Level Agreements (SLAs) have been complied with, each SLA including one or more Service Level Objectives (SLOs), each of said SLOs being combined in a logical expression of the SLA, the apparatus comprising:

• first logic, the first logic being configured to retrieve measurement data from a data source, wherein each SLO has measurement data associated therewith, the first logic retrieving the measurement data associated with each SLO;
• second logic, the second logic being configured to evaluate the measurement data associated with each SLO to determine whether any of the SLOs have been violated, said second logic generating SLO compliance results based on the evaluation of the measurement data;
• and
• third logic, the third logic being configured to use the SLO compliance results to evaluate the logical expression of the SLA, the third logic determining whether or not the SLA has been complied with based on the evaluation of the logical expression,
• wherein each SLO comprises:
• a measurement identification identifying a particular measurement with which said at least one SLO is associated;
• a condition specification identifying a condition that the particular measurement must meet to prevent said at least one SLO from being violated;
• a time specification identifying a time period over which said at least one SLO is to be evaluated to determine whether or not said at least one SLO has been violated, wherein the time specification includes an exclusion time, the exclusion time designating a time period during which the corresponding SLO is not to be evaluated for compliance;
• and
• a grace period corresponding to an interval of time over which said condition may be violated without resulting in a violation of said at least one SLO.

A method for determining Service Level Agreement (SLA) compliance, each SLA including at least one Service Level Objective (SLO), said at least one SLO being combined in a logical expression of the SLA, the method comprising the steps of:

• retrieving measurement data from a database, the measurement data being associated with said at least one SLO;
• evaluating the measurement data associated with said at least one SLO to determine whether said at least one SLO has been violated;
• generating SLO compliance results based on the evaluation of the measurement data;
• utilizing the SLO compliance results to evaluate the logical expression of the SLA;
• and
• determining whether or not the SLA has been violated based on the evaluation of the logical expression of the SLA,
• wherein said at least one SLO comprises:
• a measurement identification identifying a particular measurement with which said at least one SLO is associated;
• a condition specification identifying a condition that the particular measurement must meet to prevent said at least one SLO from being violated;
• a time specification identifying a time period over which said at least one SLO is to be evaluated to determine whether or not said at least one SLO has been violated, wherein the time specification includes an exclusion time, the exclusion time designating a time period during which the corresponding SLO is not to be evaluated for compliance;
• and
• a grace period corresponding to an interval of time over which said condition may be violated without resulting in a violation of said at least one SLO.

A computer program for determining whether or not Service Level Agreements (SLAs) have been complied with, each SLA including at least one Service Level Objective (SLO), said at least one SLO being combined in a logical expression of the SLA, the computer program being embodied on a computer-readable medium, the program comprising:

• a first code segment, the first code segment retrieving measurement data from a database, the measurement data being associated with said at least one SLO;
• a second code segment, the second code segment evaluating the measurement data associated with said at least one SLO to determine whether said at least one SLO has been violated;
• a third code segment, the third code segment generating SLO compliance results based on the evaluation of the measurement data;
• a fourth code segment, the fourth code segment utilizing the SLO compliance results to evaluate the logical expression of the SLA;
• a fifth code segment, the fifth code segment determining whether or not the SLA has been violated based on the evaluation of the logical expression of the SLA;
• and
• a sixth code segment, the sixth code segment receiving a specified time period identifying a time period over which an SLO is to be evaluated to determine whether or not the SLO has been violated, wherein the SLO includes an exclusion time designating a time period during which the corresponding SLO is not to be evaluated for compliance, and wherein the SLO includes at least a grace period corresponding to an interval of time over which said condition may be violated without resulting in a violation of said at least one SLO.