Abstract: An aspect of this invention is a method that includes evaluating a computing environment by performing auditing of a fault tolerance ability of the computing environment to tolerate each of a plurality of failure scenarios; constructing a failover plan for each of the plurality of scenarios; identifying one or more physical resource limitations which constrain the fault tolerance ability; and identifying one or more physical resources to be added to the computing environment to tolerate each of the plurality of failure scenarios.

Abstract: An aspect of this invention is a method that includes evaluating a computing environment by performing auditing of a fault tolerance ability of the computing environment to tolerate each of a plurality of failure scenarios; constructing a failover plan for each of the plurality of scenarios; identifying one or more physical resource limitations which constrain the fault tolerance ability; and identifying one or more physical resources to be added to the computing environment to tolerate each of the plurality of failure scenarios.

Abstract: A three-dimensional data structure for storing data is defined and maintained. The three-dimensional data structure includes at least one column of data having a depth greater than zero indicating that multiple data values are provided for multiple domains represented by the structure. The data structure also includes zero or more columns of data having a depth of zero indicating that the data value of a zero depth column is invariable for a plurality of domains represented by the structure. The structure is maintained by employing various operations including, create, write and read operations.

Abstract: Independently updated data of a distributed communications environment is reconciled to provide consistent data to a plurality of members of the environment, such as a plurality of members of a cluster of a clustered environment. The data is reconciled using locally monotonically increasing values. One type of locally monotonically increasing value used in reconciling inconsistent data is a local timestamp.

Abstract: An autonomic computing system and method determine policy definitions (404) and a set of available actions (410); monitor resources distributed within the system; determine if the system is at a desired end state; and modify resource states by sending instructions for the resources to perform available actions. The policy definitions (404) specify: start order between resources, prioritization between resources, conditional activation of policies, desired end state of resources, and location limitation of resources. The system and method receive status information from available resources, and monitor and modify the system until it reaches the desired end state. The policy definitions (404) can be determined by specifying a user-defined system end state and resource relationships. The policy definitions (404) can further harvest implicit relationships between resources, via self-discovery, and underlying relationships among resources.

Abstract: An autonomic computing system and method store a set of resource equivalencies in memory, select at least one resource equivalency from the set of resource equivalencies, and use the selected at least one resource equivalency for operating the selected resource as required by an autonomic computing system. The set of equivalent resources can contain a plurality of physically distinct resources that are logically equivalent. Resources are added or removed from the set automatically. Equivalent sets can be nested within an equivalent set.

Abstract: An autonomic computing system and method determine that a desired end state cannot be reached, determine that an acceptable sub-state can be reached using at least one of priority ratings, conditional relationship specifications, and alternative relationship specifications, and place the computing system in an acceptable sub-state. The priority ratings can contain an attribute assigned to a policy definition that determines a sequence for applying the policy definition. The attribute can be “mandatory”, a numerical value, or “not required”. The conditional relationship specifications have policy definitions that are applied when the state of a specified resource meets a predetermined requirement. An alternative relationship specification has policy definitions and/or conditional relationship specifications that are applied when the state of a specified resource does not meet a predetermined requirement.