Evaluating Configuration Changes Based on Aggregate Activity Level

Abstract

Disclosed are various embodiments for computing and using an aggregate activity level for a computing system. Activity level metrics are obtained from a corresponding plurality of components in a data center. A current aggregate activity level request is received. An aggregate activity level is computed from the activity level metrics. The aggregate activity level is compared to a baseline aggregate activity level. In response to the request, an indication is provided as to whether the aggregate activity level falls within a predefined range of the baseline aggregate activity level.

Therefore, at least the following is claimed: 
     
         1 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium embodying computer-readable instructions stored thereon that, when executed by a computing device, direct the computing device to at least:
 compute a baseline activity level for a data center from a first activity level metric of a component in the data center;   receive a request for a configuration change to the data center;   compute a recent activity level for the data center from a second activity level metric of the component in the data center; and   determine whether to grant the request for a configuration change based upon a comparison of the recent activity level and the baseline activity level for the data center.   
     
     
         2 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 1 , wherein the computer-readable instructions further direct the computing device to:
 compute the baseline activity level for the data center from a plurality of first activity level metrics of a plurality of components in the data center; and   compute the recent activity level for the data center from a plurality of second activity level metrics of the plurality of components in the data center.   
     
     
         3 . The non-transitory computer-readable medium of  claim 2 , wherein:
 the plurality of components includes a network device, a server device, or a software service executing on the server device; and   the first activity level metric is associated with a number of service requests received or a number of service requests completed by the component in the data center.   
     
     
         4 . A method, comprising:
 computing, by a computing device, a baseline activity level for a data center based on a type of a first activity level metric of a component in the data center;   receiving, by the computing device, a request for a configuration change to the data center;   computing, by the computing device, a recent activity level for the data center based on a type of a second activity level metric of the component in the data center; and   in response to the request for the configuration change, providing, by the computing device, a recommendation of whether to grant or deny the request for the configuration change based upon a comparison of the recent activity level and the baseline activity level for the data center.   
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the component includes a web service that executes on a server device residing in the data center. 
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 5 , wherein the second activity level metric comprises a number of service requests received by the web service, a number of service requests completed by the web service, or a number of pages served by the web service. 
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the component includes a network device residing in the data center. 
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the second activity level metric comprises a number of packets transmitted by the network device, a number of packets received by the network device, or a number of simple network management protocol (SNMP) traps reported by the network device. 
     
     
         9 . The method of  claim 4 , wherein the component includes a server device residing in the data center. 
     
     
         10 . The method of  claim 9 , wherein the second activity level metric comprises a processor load, a memory usage, or a page file usage reported by the server device. 
     
     
         11 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising:
 computing, by the computing device, the baseline activity level for the data center from a plurality of first activity level metrics of a plurality of components in the data center; and   computing, by the computing device, the recent activity level for the data center from a plurality of second activity level metrics of the plurality of components in the data center.   
     
     
         12 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein computing the recent activity level comprises:
 determining a type of one of the plurality of second activity level metrics; and   incrementing the recent activity level based upon the type of the one of the plurality of second activity level metrics.   
     
     
         13 . The method of  claim 11 , wherein computing the recent activity level comprises:
 determining a type of one of the plurality of second activity level metrics;   incrementing the recent activity level metric by a count number in response to the one of the plurality of second activity level metrics being a count type metric; and   incrementing the recent activity level using a weighting factor in response to the one of the plurality of second activity level metrics being an error type metric.   
     
     
         14 . The method of  claim 4 , further comprising performing a statistical analysis on the recent activity level or the baseline activity level for the data center. 
     
     
         15 . A system, comprising:
 a memory embodying computer-readable instructions; and   a computing device coupled to the memory and directed through execution of the computer-readable instructions to at least:
 compute a first activity level for a data center from a plurality of first activity level metrics of a plurality of components in the data center; 
 receive a request for a configuration change to the data center; 
 compute a second activity level for the data center from a plurality of second activity level metrics of the plurality of components in the data center; and 
 in response to the request for the configuration change, provide a recommendation of whether to grant or deny the request for the configuration change based upon a comparison of the first activity level and the second activity level for the data center. 
   
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the plurality of components in the data center include a network device, a server device residing in the data center, or a web service that executes on the server device. 
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the computing device is further directed to:
 determine a type of one of the plurality of second activity level metrics; and   increment the first activity level based upon the type of the one of the plurality of second activity level metrics.   
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the computing device is further directed to:
 determine a type of one of the plurality of second activity level metrics;   increment the first activity level by a count number in response to the one of the plurality of second activity level metrics being a count type metric; and   increment the first activity level using a weighting factor in response to the one of the plurality of second activity level metrics being an error type metric.   
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the computing device is further directed to perform a statistical analysis on the first activity level or the second activity level for the data center. 
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 15 , wherein the computing device is further directed to update the first activity level using the second activity level.