Distributed computing system that monitors client device request time and server servicing time in order to detect performance problems and automatically issue alerts

A method of detecting performance problems in a distributed computing system, the method comprising:

• timing by a client device a request time duration substantially including a period of time that the client device is waiting for results to be received via the network from a server in response to a request sent by the client device;
• receiving at the client device a value of a service time duration from the server, the service time duration substantially corresponding to a period of time that the server spent servicing the request in order to provide the results;
• subtracting by the client device the service time duration from the request time duration to thereby calculate a difference time duration;
• automatically issuing by the client device one or more alert messages to a network operation center (NOC) when the difference time duration is greater than a difference time threshold;
• and
• dynamically calculating by the client device the difference time threshold according to historic request time durations and historic service time durations respectively timed and received by the client device for a plurality of previous requests sent by the client device.

An apparatus comprising:

• means for timing a request time duration substantially including a period of time that the apparatus is waiting for results to be received via a network from a server in response to a request sent to the server by the apparatus;
• means for receiving a value of a service time duration the server, the service time duration substantially corresponding to a period of time that the server spent servicing the request in order to provide the results;
• means for subtracting the service time duration from the request time duration to thereby calculate a difference time duration;
• means for automatically issuing one or more alert messages to a network operation center (NOC) when the difference time duration is greater than a difference time threshold;
• and
• means for dynamically calculating the difference time threshold according to historic request time durations and historic service time durations respectively timed and received for a plurality of previous requests sent by the apparatus.