Predictive monitoring and problem identification in an information technology (IT) infrastructure

A machine-readable medium having stored thereon data representing instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

• receiving a plurality of component metrics, each component metric corresponding to a component of a plurality of components of an information technology (IT) infrastructure of an enterprise, and each component of the plurality of components being associated with one or more gross-level rules;
• generating an indicator set representative of a current state of the IT infrastructure by comparing each received component metric to relevant historical values of the component metric;
• using the indicator set to diagnose an existing condition or predict a future condition within the IT infrastructure;
• determining that a gross-level rule is out of compliance;
• comparing the indicator set to one or more historical indicator sets to determine whether the indicator set resembles any of the one or more historical indicator sets;
• performing an appropriate action based on the result of the comparison;
• and
• wherein, if the indicator set resembles at least one of historical indicator set, performing the appropriate action comprises inferring a problem associated with the at least one historical indicator set.

An information technology (IT) infrastructure monitoring apparatus comprising:

• a storage medium having stored thereon one or more routines configured to receive a plurality of component metrics each corresponding to a component of a plurality of components of an information technology (IT) infrastructure of an enterprise, generate an indicator set representative of a current state of the IT infrastructure, and use the indicator set to diagnose an existing condition or predict a future condition within the IT infrastructure;
• and
• a processor coupled to the storage medium to execute one or more routines, where:
• each component of the plurality of components are associated with one or more gross-level rules;
• the indicator set is generated by comparing each received component metric to relevant historical values of the component metric;
• determine that a gross-level rule is out of compliance;
• compare the indicator set to one or more historical indicator sets to determine whether the indicator set resembles any of the one or more historical indicator sets;
• perform an appropriate action based on the result of the comparison;
• and
• wherein, if the indicator set resembles at least one of historical indicator set, performing the appropriate action comprises inferring a problem associated with the at least one historical indicator set.

A method comprising:

• maintaining a database of a plurality of historical fingerprints, each of the plurality of historical fingerprints corresponding to an out-of-compliance condition of a gross-level rule of a plurality of gross-level rules, each of the plurality of gross-level rules representing an expected or desired functioning of an information technology (IT) infrastructure of an enterprise, each of the plurality of historical fingerprints associated with one or more of:
• an indication of one or more problems that existed in the IT infrastructure when the historical fingerprint was generated and that were believed to have been responsible for or contributed to the corresponding out-of-compliance condition of the gross-level rule, and
• an indication of one or more fixes or solutions that were performed during the corresponding out-of-compliance condition of the gross-level rule and that were believed to have been responsible for or contributed to bringing the gross-level rule back into compliance;
• determining that a gross-level rule of the plurality of gross-level rules is out of compliance;
• responsive to said determining that a gross-level rule of a plurality of gross-level rules is out of compliance, generating a current fingerprint for the out-of-compliance gross-level rule by gathering data from a plurality of component monitors regarding a plurality of components of the IT infrastructure, each of the plurality of components being associated with the out-of-compliance gross-level rule;
• and
• inferring a problem, a fix or a solution associated with the out-of-compliance gross-level rule by comparing the current fingerprint to the plurality of historical fingerprints and identifying a historical fingerprint of the plurality of historical fingerprints that sufficiently resembles the current fingerprint by performing a weighted comparison of a plurality of component indicators of the current fingerprint and a plurality of component indicators of one or more of the plurality of historical fingerprints.