1. Field of the Invention
In general, the present invention provides a system, method and program product for managing request traffic based on a management policy. Specifically, the present invention provides management of request traffic based on the performance of system resources in response to the request traffic.
2. Background Art
As computer technology continues to advance, the extent to which business and individuals rely on computer systems and networks in everyday life becomes more prevalent. For example, today a computer user can order goods/services or obtain information from the convenience of his/her computer. Internally, many businesses currently utilize computer networks to interconnect various departments and individuals. Tasks which were previously performed manually, or not at all, are now performed utilizing the computing resources of the business. For example, instead of manually searching books and files for information, a worker can conduct a search for needed information from his/her desktop computer. However, this increased use of computing resources often leads to a “pressure buildup” within the system. Specifically, as request traffic increases, the strain of processing the requests can cause a drain on server-side resources. Such a drain often leads to system failure such as the dropping of data packets, refusal of network connections, etc.
Heretofore, many attempts have been made to alleviate such system resource overload. One approach was to prioritize request traffic based on classes/types of requests. For example, requests were grouped into classes such as “gold” and “silver.” The “gold” requests were then given priority over the “silver” requests. However, this approach only increased the strain on the system when the “gold” requests were causing the overload conditions to begin with. For example, if the “gold” requests were for accessing storage resources, and the storage resources were approaching overload conditions, giving increased priority to the “gold” requests would only further push the storage resources to overload.
Another previous attempt to avoid system resource overload involved slowing all request traffic down, regardless of request class. This was generally accomplished by queuing all incoming requests. Unfortunately, this approach is extremely inefficient and could unnecessarily slow the entire system. For example, if “silver” requests were not adversely affecting the system to begin with, slowing the “silver” requests would only unnecessarily slow the system and frustrate the users. Accordingly, not only do previous attempts fail to manage request traffic based on performance of the system resources, but the previous attempts also fail to adjust their approach when a certain corrective action is ineffective.
In view of the foregoing, there exists a need for a resource-aware system, method and program product for managing request traffic based on a management policy. Specifically, a need exists for a system that manages request traffic based on specific resources that are approaching overload conditions. A further need exists for a performance of system resources to be monitored in response to request traffic, and based on a management policy, corrective actions to be taken when a system resource is approaching overload conditions. An additional need exists for the management policy to be changed based on a performance history of implemented corrective actions.