Abstract: A remote monitoring diagnostic system and method utilize two different storage techniques. A time-coherent storage technique and change-detect storage technique are utilized to ensure that sensor signals are stored accurately and efficiently. A central diagnostic system can poll or pull the sensor values remotely. Additionally, an on-site monitor can perform anomaly detection to generate malfunction data.

Abstract: A software architecture for the hot add and swap of adapters. The software architecture allows users to replace failed components, upgrade outdated components, and add new functionality, such as new network interfaces, disk interface adapters and storage, without impacting existing users. The software architecture supports the hot add and swap of off-the-shelf adapters, including those adapters that are programmable.

Abstract: An emergency backup system, method and computer program product for backing up data on one or more computers located in an identified danger zone. When an emergency occurs, computers in the danger zone are connected to a network. The computers may be distributed at various remote locations. The protected locations each include a sensor for sensing an emergency situation and signaling the local computer of an impending emergency. The sensor also signals remote computers of the occurrence of the emergency. The computers may have been connected together over a network or, upon receiving an emergency signal, may connect together into a backup network. Local computers in the danger zone are connected across the network to remote computers with sufficient available storage to backup data from a connected local computer. The backup may be a full backup, a partial backup or a selective backup. The computers may include PCs, PDAs and servers. The network may be a LAN, a wireless network, a phone network or a WAN.

Abstract: Recovery of a filesystem directory structure is performed to restore it to any point in time and also to synchronize a database restore and a filesystem restore to bring the two restores to a database consistent state. A database management system (DBMS) manages external files and hierarchical directory structures to enable recovery and reconciliation of the files and filesystems, under DBMS control, after filesystem crashes. First, a database table, which recorded previous directory creations and deletions, is used to rebuild a filesystem's directory structure to any previous database state and then external file link information is used to restore files to that same state.

Abstract: A multiprocessor system includes a number of sub-processor systems, each substantially identically constructed, and each comprising a central processing unit (CPU), and at least one I/O device, interconnected by routing apparatus that also interconnects the sub-processor systems. A CPU of any one of the sub-processor systems may communicate, through the routing elements, with any I/O device of the system, or with any CPU of the system. Communications between I/O devices and CPUs is by packetized messages. Interrupts from I/O devices are communicated from the I/O devices to the CPUs (or from one CPU to another CPU) as message packets. CPUs and I/O devices may write to, or read from, memory of a CPU of the system. Memory protection is provided by an access validation method maintained by each CPU in which CPUs and/or I/O devices are provided with a validation to read/write memory of that CPU, without which memory access is denied.

Abstract: An apparatus and method for efficient defect management in a magneto-optical data storage system store a map of current and predicted defective physical addresses of a recording disk, and then skips defective data wedges to more completely utilize the non-defective recording surface area available for a given track. The invention also stores groups of physical addresses that share defects to decrease the number of entries in the map of defective physical addresses, and also to increase the effective defect management capacity of existing hardware and software.

Abstract: A system and method for performing regression testing on software programs that produce printed output. An original version of a software program resident on a computer is issued known commands to generate a reference display list known to produce a known correct or reference printed page. A bitmap of the reference page is not generated. The reference display list includes image, graphic and text objects described by various attributes. A second modified version of the software program is loaded on the computer and issued the same set of known commands. The second software program generates a second is display list. A display list regression testing software module compares the second display list to the reference display list and identifies any differences by object type and attribute. Hence, incorrect results may be isolated to specific objects and more easily debugged in the source code of the software program. Visual comparison of actual printed output is substantially reduced.

Abstract: A microcomputer is not stopped to be monitored even in a state in which a wrong standby signal is detected. A watchdog circuit 34 outputs a starting signal to a microcomputer 30. An output signal Q of a determination circuit 36 is reset by this starting signal. If the determination circuit does not detect a standby signal st when a clock signal CK is input from the started microcomputer, the output signal Q is set. However, if the determination circuit detects the standby signal st, the output signal is held in a reset state. Even if the standby signal st is input, because an AND circuit 38 does not output a standby signal ST due to the reset of the output signal Q, the watchdog circuit is prevented from entering a standby mode by the standby signal st.

Abstract: Dynamic reconfiguration of a quorum group of processors and recovery procedure therefore are provided for a shared nothing distributed computing system. Dynamic reconfiguration proceeds notwithstanding unavailability of at least one processor of the quorum group of processors assuming that a quorum of the remaining processors exists. Recovery processing is implementing by the group of processors so that the at least one processor which was unavailable during the dynamic reconfiguration of the group is able to obtain current state information once becoming active. Each processor of the group of processors includes an incarnation number and a list of member processors which participated in a commit process resulting in its incarnation number. The recovery processing includes exchanging the processors' incarnation numbers and lists of processors for propagation of the current state of the quorum group of processors to the at least one processor now becoming available.

Abstract: A disk drive with the ability to detect errors caused by thermal asperities and assign alternate sectors is described. One of a plurality of error recovery procedures is executed after turning off a signal filter which normally removes a set of low frequencies from the output signal from the head. The unfiltered signal is used to judge whether a thermal asperity caused the error. If it is determined that a thermal asperity caused the error, the sector is marked as defective and an alternate sector is assigned even if other error recovery procedures are able to read the sector. The reliability of the drive is enhanced by removal of sectors from use which have temporarily recoverable errors caused by thermal asperities.

Abstract: The present invention provides a system, apparatus, and method for managing a data storage system in n-way active controller configuration, such that a controller can detect the failure of and reset more than just a single other controller. To accomplish this, a controller sends a ping message to at least a subset of the other controllers, and waits for any of the other controllers to respond to the ping message within a first predetermined amount of time. If any of the other controllers do not respond to the ping message within the first predetermined amount of time, it is determined that the non-responding controller has failed. The controller will reset any failed controller.

Abstract: Dynamic reconfiguration of a quorum group of processors and recovery procedure therefore are provided for a shared nothing distributed computing system. Dynamic reconfiguration proceeds notwithstanding unavailability of at least one processor of the quorum group of processors assuming that a quorum of the remaining processors exists. Recovery processing is implementing by the group of processors so that the at least one processor which was unavailable during the dynamic reconfiguration of the group is able to obtain current state information once becoming active. Each processor of the group of processors includes an incarnation number and a list of member processors which resulted from a commit process resulting in its incarnation number. The recovery processing includes exchanging the processors' incarnation numbers and lists of processors for propagation of the current state of the quorum group of processors to the at least one processor now becoming available.

Abstract: A method of validating a procedure allows several processes to be involved in the validation of a single event. The method involves defining relationships between FSMs which describe the entities, selecting the processes which fulfill certain criteria, and processing the event in all of the selected processes.

Abstract: A processor in accordance with the present invention includes memory that stores test data and control data. The processor also includes a test application that transmits the test data and the control data from the processor's memory to a test access port of the processor. The test access port then utilizes the test data and the control data to capture state data that defines at least one state of the processor while the processor is executing. This test data may be analyzed via conventional techniques to detect and isolate errors in the execution of the processor.

Abstract: A redundant memory system includes an address bus, a random access memory, a content addressable memory, a replacement memory, and a data bus. The random access memory includes a number of addressable memory locations each accessed by a different one of a number of addresses provided by the address bus. The content addressable memory stores a number of defective location addresses each corresponding to a defective addressable memory location of the random access memory and responds to a match between an address provided by the address bus and one of the defective location addresses to activate one of a number of match lines. The replacement memory is coupled to the content addressable memory by the match lines and includes a number of replacement memory locations each accessed by activating a different one of the lines.

Abstract: For each of a plurality of media that are to be simultaneously subjected to a data striping process, a management region is provided where data can be saved separately from an existing substitute sector. When some defect or trouble is found in any one of the media and there is no available substitute sector in that trouble-plagued medium, the data striping process can be carried on, without suspension, by using the management region for data writing purposes. Such arrangements can supplement the capacity of data areas of the substitute sector, which thus allows the data striping process to be appropriately carried on even when the capacity of the substitute sector has been used up. Further, by setting the management region for each of media within a same volume and storing common management information redundantly in the individual management regions, it is possible to avoid unstableness of the media management that would be encountered due to use of non-fixed, transportable media.

Abstract: A data processing system and method are described for permitting a server computer system to perform remote diagnostics on a malfunctioning client computer system coupled to the server computer system utilizing a network. The server computer system transmits a diagnostic command to the malfunctioning client computer system utilizing the network. A network adapter operating as a bus controller for an internal bus within the malfunctioning client computer system executes the diagnostic command. The network adapter transmits a result of the execution of the diagnostic command to the server computer system. In this manner, the diagnostic command is executed within a malfunctioning client computer system by a remote, server computer system.

Abstract: A data model for a supply chain is provided whereby individual working steps in a production process are defined as activities, and organized groups of such activities are defined as orders. Activities are allocated to no more than one resource and contain information concerning the start and finish time for the activity, any resource on which the activity is currently scheduled, and a list of alternative resources, if any. Activities are linked to each other via auxiliary objects, which contain information concerning the minimum and maximum time between activities. Orders may contain input and/or output interface nodes, representing the materials consumed and produced by the order. Each output interface node representing a quantity of material created from one order is linked via an auxiliary object to respective input interface node or nodes from other orders that are scheduled to receive that material.

Abstract: A system and method of automatically injecting faults and errors into a JAVA application or program to test the reliable and proper handling of various faults and exceptions under various conditions. An automatic fault injector is coupled to the Java Virtual Machine (JVM). The JAVA program is initiated to inject the faults by determining locations within the JAVA program to where respective faults are to be injected. All the faults are found from the JAVA objects by traversing the class for each of the JAVA objects and searching for all exceptions from the classes, their methods, and their respective attributes. Determination is made of whether and when one of the respective faults should be injected. An exception is automatically and timely triggered to inject a respective fault by the automatic fault injector at a corresponding locations when the corresponding location has been reached and when it has determined that the respective fault should be injected at an appropriate time.

Abstract: A disc array connecting system in which a malfunctioning device can be identified easily to render it possible to shorten the time involved in identification processing. A switch circuit 12 in an FC-AL concentrator 1 interconnects an initiator host 2 and plural target disc arrays 3-1 to 3-3. A malfunction detection circuit 11 detects a malfunction occurring in a network to which are interconnected the initiator host 2 and the plural target disc arrays 3-1 to 3-3. A switch control circuit 10 control the switch circuit 12 and, as it disconnects only a malfunctioning device from the system, sequentially and individuality interconnects the target disc arrays 3-1 to 3-3 to the initiator host 2. It is possible to identify or detect a malfunctioning device from the state of connection in the switch circuit 12.