Abstract: Disclosed is a data processing system, a data processing system implemented method and an article of manufacture for controlling, based on a policy, a service request containing an action to be executed on a product to be serviced. The data processing system includes a service module for receiving the service request, a policy manager for applying the policy to determine whether the service request is one of accepted and rejected, and a product interface for executing, on the product, the action contained in the accepted service request.

Abstract: Disclosed is a data processing system-implemented method, a data processing system and an article of manufacture for facilitating problem resolution. The data processing system-implemented method includes configuring a symptom pathway that leads to a solution, and associating a usage indicator with the symptom pathway, the usage indicator indicating a frequency in which the symptom pathway was previously implemented for successfully resolving previously experienced problems.

Abstract: A method and system in accordance with the present invention comprises a thread stack/thread heap combination, wherein the thread heap is for thread local memory usage and wherein the thread stack and thread heap grow in opposite directions. In the present invention the thread specific heap is allocated next to the thread's stack and grows in the opposite direction from that of the stack. This improvement allows the current space management of thread stacks, which spread out the memory placement of multiple stacks to avoid collision, to also be used for the heaps without additional overhead or complexity. It also allows the existing growth scheme of adding memory pages to the process for the stack to be used again because the growth is simply in the opposite direction. Thread specific heaps eliminate the need for expensive synchronization when allocating from a shared heap in a multiprocessor environment.

Abstract: A method and apparatus for directing a client to establish a secure connection with a server across a public network. The server and the client exchange a Server Authentication Public Key, a Client Authentication Public Key, and a Remote Service Unique Identifier (RSUID) during a registration process. In one embodiment, the method includes the client transmitting to the server a client information package having the RSUID and a client challenge information package encrypted with the Server Authentication Public Key, the client receiving from the server a server information package having the RSUID and a server challenge information package and a portion of the received client challenge information encrypted with the Client Authentication Public Key, the client decrypting and verifying the server challenge information package with the Client Authentication Private Key, and, the client transmitting to the server an encrypted portion of the received client challenge information.