Provenance in cloud computing systems

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016019076-A1
Application number	US-201414331455-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	Jul 15, 2014
Priority date	Jul 15, 2014
Publication date	Jan 21, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

A method comprises pairing a virtual machine instance with a virtual agent that is registered with registry in an execution environment. In this regard, upon instantiating the virtual machine and the corresponding virtual agent, the virtual agent monitors for transaction(s), e.g., a specific invoked method, on that execution environment. The virtual agent is also configured for generating an event in response to detecting the transaction. The virtual agent provides a unique signature associated with the event, which identifies the origin of the virtual machine instance. Still further, the virtual agent is configured for forwarding the event to the registry for collating with other events so as to produce composite end-to-end logs of processes in a manner that enables provenance.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A method comprising:
pairing a virtual machine instance in a cloud computing environment with a virtual agent, wherein the virtual agent is registered with a registry; detecting a transaction involving the virtual machine that is associated with a business process; generating an event in response to detecting the transaction, where the generated event includes provenance information associated with the virtual machine instance by:
encoding into the event, a signature that uniquely identifies an origin of the virtual machine instance; and
forwarding the event to the registry, wherein the forwarded event is collected with other events so as to produce a composite end-to-end log of the business process in a manner that enables provenance of the virtual machines that participate in the business process.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
pairing a virtual machine instance in a cloud computing environment with a virtual agent comprises:
configuring a virtual machine such that upon instantiation of the virtual machine, the virtual agent is automatically instantiated; and
registering the virtual agent with the registry.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
encoding into the event, a signature that uniquely identifies the origin of the virtual machine instance comprises:
computing the signature based upon a 1-way hash.

4 . The method of claim 3 , wherein:
computing the signature based upon a 1-way hash comprises computing a 1-way hash of a unique identification assigned to the virtual agent, and a timestamp.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
detecting a transaction involving the virtual machine that is associated with a business process, comprises:
detecting at least one of a call, and a return call.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
detecting a transaction involving the virtual machine that is associated with a business process, comprises:
detecting a transaction derived at an applications programming interface (API) layer.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein:
detecting a transaction involving the virtual machine that is associated with a business process, comprises:
detecting a transaction as an atomic event.

8 . The method of claim 1 further comprising:
generating a dashboard view by identifying select events collected into the registry that are associated with the business process; and
arranging the select events as connected icons that illustrate the end-to-end flow of the business process throughout a distributed infrastructure in the context of a composite business process.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein:
encoding into the event, a signature that uniquely identifies the origin of the virtual machine instance comprises:
computing the signature based upon a 1-way hash of a unique identification assigned to the virtual agent, and a timestamp;

further comprising:
identifying a particular event in the dashboard view;
identifying the signature associated with the particular event; and
retrospectively verifying that the signature was generated by the unique identification at the time associated with the timestamp.

10 . The method of claim 8 , wherein:
generating a dashboard view by identifying select events collected into the registry that are associated with the business process comprise:
representing each displayed event as an atomic transaction that occurred to fulfill the business process; and
identifying on which virtual machine each atomic transaction occurred.

11 . Computer-readable hardware that stores machine-executable program code for providing provenance of business processes in a cloud environment, wherein the program code instructs a processor to:
pair a virtual machine instance in a cloud computing environment with a virtual agent, wherein the virtual agent is registered with a registry; detect a transaction involving the virtual machine that is associated with a business process; generate an event in response to detecting the transaction, where the generated event includes provenance information associated with the virtual machine instance by:
encoding into the event, a signature that uniquely identifies an origin of the virtual machine instance; and
forward the event to the registry, wherein the forwarded event is collected with other events so as to produce a composite end-to-end log of the business process in a manner that enables provenance of the virtual machines that participate in the business process.

12 . The computer-readable hardware of claim 11 , wherein the program code to:
pair a virtual machine instance in a cloud computing environment with a virtual agent comprises program code to:
configure a virtual machine such that upon instantiation of the virtual machine, the virtual agent is automatically instantiated; and
register the virtual agent with the registry.

13 . The computer-readable hardware of claim 11 , wherein the program code to:
encode into the event, a signature that uniquely identifies the origin of the virtual machine instance comprises program code to:
compute the signature based upon a 1-way hash.

14 . The computer-readable hardware of claim 13 , wherein the program code to:
compute the signature based upon a 1-way hash comprises program code to:
computing a 1-way hash of a unique identification assigned to the virtual agent, and a timestamp.

15 . The computer-readable hardware of claim 11 , wherein the program code to:
detect a transaction involving the virtual machine that is associated with a business process, comprises program code to:
detect at least one of a call, and a return call.

16 . The computer-readable hardware of claim 11 , wherein the program code to:
detect a transaction involving the virtual machine that is associated with a business process, comprises program code to:
detect a transaction derived at an applications programming interface (API) layer.

17 . The computer-readable hardware of claim 11 , wherein the program code to:
detect a transaction involving the virtual machine that is associated with a business process, comprises program code to:
detect a transaction as an atomic event.

18 . The computer-readable hardware of claim 11 further comprising program code to:
generate a dashboard view that identifies select events collected into the registry that are associated with the business process; and
arranges the select events as connected icons that illustrate the end-to-end flow of the business process throughout a distributed infrastructure in the context of a composite business process.

19 . The computer-readable hardware of claim 18 , wherein the program code to:
encode into the event, a signature that uniquely identifies the origin of the virtual machine instance comprises program code to:
compute the signature based upon a 1-way hash of a unique identification assigned to the virtual agent, and a timestamp;

further comprising program code to:
identify a particular event in the dashboard view;
identify the signature associated with the particular event; and
verify retrospectively, that the signature was generated by the unique identification at the time associated with the timestamp.

20 . The computer-readable hardware of claim 18 , wherein the program code to:
generate a dashboard view that identifies select events collected into the registry that are associated with the business process comprises program code to:
represent each displayed event as an

Assignees

• Ca Inc

Inventors

• Lawler Eamonn

Classifications

• G06F2009/45595

  Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances · CPC title

• G06F9/45558 Primary

  Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects · CPC title

• G06F2201/86

  Event-based monitoring · CPC title

• G06F2201/87

  Monitoring of transactions · CPC title

• G06F2009/45575

  Starting, stopping, suspending or resuming virtual machine instances · CPC title