Abstract: The system thinker application receives a first issue, a first resolution to the first issue, and a first plurality of skills. The system thinker application searches a system environment electronic profile for a second issue, a second resolution to the second issue, and a second plurality of skills, wherein the system environment electronic profile contains a plurality of component profiles, and wherein the plurality of component profiles contain a second issue, a second resolution to the second issue, and a second plurality of skills. The system thinker application determines if the first issue, the first resolution to the first issue, and any one of the first plurality of skills are similar to any one of the second issue, the second resolution to the second issue, and any one of the second plurality of skills. The system thinker application adds skills to the system environment electronic profile and the component profile.

Abstract: A method and system for enterprise memory management of memory modules of a computer system. The method includes scanning memory chips of a memory module for errors, analyzing a scrub error map corresponding to a scrubbing operation of the memory module, generating a scrub map summary based upon the scrub error map analyzed, creating an error history map by adding the scrub map summary generated, analyzing the error history map created and tracking a chip location for each memory chip of the memory module including errors, and determining a scrubbing algorithm of the memory module based on the analyzed error history map. The enterprise memory management system includes a plurality of computers each including memory modules, and an enterprise memory manager which collects and analyzes error history maps corresponding to each computer and determines a scrubbing algorithm of the memory modules of each computer.

Abstract: Methods, systems and computer program products for suspend profiles and hinted suspending. Exemplary embodiments include a suspend mode management method, including determining a task to perform in the computer system during a suspend period of the computer system, detecting a suspend event in the computer system, the suspend event initiating the suspend period and performing the task during the suspend period.

Abstract: A method, apparatus and program product for encryption/decryption of data on a volume of data storage media including dividing the volume into a plurality of locations, assigning a unique key to each location for encryption/decryption of data in the respective location of the volume, mapping the locations and keys in the key manager, and encrypting/decrypting data on the volume based on the data's physical location on the volume. The owning entity owning each location on the volume may also be mapped, and the keys for each location owned by the same owning entity may be the same.

Abstract: Using an authentication server to discover one or more additional authentication servers and to dynamically establish a trust relationship with the one or more additional authentication servers. The authentication server searches for the one or more additional authentication servers to discover one or more sources of authentication tokens, and inspects an incoming authentication request from the one or more additional authentication servers to determine if the request is carrying one or more authentication tokens from a newly discovered realm. Once the authentication server determines a newly discovered realm to be trustworthy, the authentication server receives a directory schema from the newly discovered realm and compares the received directory schema with a known directory schema retrieved by the authentication server to identify an intersection of the received directory schema and the known directory schema.

Abstract: Embodiments of the invention include methods for providing policy-driven, adaptive, multi-factor authentication procedures. A pool of potential authentication challenges is defined. Each of the potential authentication challenges is assigned a category and a weighted difficulty level. One or more authentication challenges are selected from the pool of potential authentication challenges using one or more security policies that are based upon the assigned category and the assigned weighted difficulty level, wherein a quantity of authentication challenges is determined using the one or more security policies. One or more historical access patterns are utilized in conjunction with the selected one or more authentication challenges to authenticate a user, wherein the historical access patterns include at least one of an access time or an access location. One or more dummy challenges are used to authenticate the user.

Abstract: A method, apparatus, and computer program product for protecting pre-staged provisioned data in a storage system are provided. The method includes identifying a storage area in the storage system for access control. The method also includes assigning a switching criterion to modify allowable access to the identified storage area, where the identified storage area supports pre-staging of provisioned data. The method further includes blocking a select access attempt to the identified storage area as a function of the switching criterion.

Abstract: A method, data processing system and program product for protecting against stale page overlays which includes executing a process in memory of the data processing system. A storage controller pages data from the memory to a disk in pages when the memory is constrained by other processes being executed by the data processing system. Data is then paged from the disk into memory in a one or more paged-in pages. The paged-in page is updated with updated data by the process, and the version on the disk is marked as stale. The storage controller commands the disk to make the stale disk version of the updated paged-in page as write-only, thereby providing that the disk version may be overwritten with new data while providing that the disk version cannot be read.

Abstract: A method and system for enterprise memory management of memory modules of a computer system. The method includes scanning memory chips of a memory module for errors, analyzing a scrub error map corresponding to a scrubbing operation of the memory module, generating a scrub map summary based upon the scrub error map analyzed, creating an error history map by adding the scrub map summary generated, analyzing the error history map created and tracking a chip location for each memory chip of the memory module including errors, and determining a scrubbing algorithm of the memory module based on the analyzed error history map. The enterprise memory management system includes a plurality of computers each including memory modules, and an enterprise memory manager which collects and analyzes error history maps corresponding to each computer and determines a scrubbing algorithm of the memory modules of each computer.

Abstract: A method for scrubbing storage in a computer memory which includes a plurality of memory modules each having plurality of memory chips. The method includes selecting a pattern that correlates with physical structures for scanning the memory chips of the memory modules for errors, scanning a memory chip of a memory module for errors based upon the selected pattern. The method further includes successively scanning remaining memory chips of the respective memory module for errors when an error is found in the scanned memory chip, and scanning a memory chip of another memory module when an error is not found in the scanned memory chip of the respective memory module.

Abstract: A data processing system having a host computer including a key manager, a control unit connected to the host computer, a data storage unit (such as a tape drive) controlled by the control unit, and data storage medium for storing data thereon to be written to or read from by the data storage unit. The key manager stores a data structure having at least one record having a volume serial number, as start location, a length entry, and a key for encrypting and decrypting data on the data storage medium. A data storage medium (such as data tape) is mounted on the data storage unit, and a volume recorded on the tape is retrieved. The control unit retrieves the data structure from the key manager and matches the volume serial number recorded in the retrieved data structure with the volume serial number retrieved from the data storage medium.

Abstract: Method and system for repairing memory failure in a computer system in one aspect determines one or more test patterns and time duration for testing the new memory unit that replaced a failed memory unit. The test pattern is written to the new memory unit and read from the new memory unit. The read pattern is compared to the test pattern that was used to write. If the read test pattern and the written test pattern doe not match, a further repair action is taken. If they match, writing and reading of the test pattern repeats until the time duration for testing expires. The new memory unit may be configured as available for use when the write and read test completes successfully for the testing time duration.

Abstract: Disclosed are a method, electronic device, and computer readable medium for determining an end-of-life stage of the flash memory. The method includes detecting at least one life cycle event associated with a flash memory residing on an electronic device. A counter that is associated with the life cycle event is then incremented. Based on the counter, a total number of occurrences for the one life cycle event is determined. The total number of occurrences for the at least one given threshold is also determined. A current life cycle stage of the flash memory is identified based at least in part on determining if the total number of occurrences exceeds at least one given threshold. The life cycle stage is associated with the at least one given threshold. A user is then notified of the life cycle state of the flash memory.

Abstract: Disclosed are a method, electronic device, and computer readable medium for determining an end-of-life stage of the flash memory. The method includes detecting at least one life cycle event associated with a flash memory residing on an electronic device. A counter that is associated with the life cycle event is then incremented. Based on the counter, a total number of occurrences for the one life cycle event is determined. The total number of occurrences for the at least one given threshold is also determined. A current life cycle stage of the flash memory is identified based at least in part on determining if the total number of occurrences exceeds at least one given threshold. The life cycle stage is associated with the at least one given threshold. A user is then notified of the life cycle state of the flash memory.

Abstract: Disclosed are an information processing system and computer readable medium for performing a system test on a program. A test plan associated with a system test is created. The system test is for testing a program within an environment. At least one test trigger to be monitored for during the system test is defined within the test plan. Execution of the system test on a system under test for the at least one test trigger is monitored. An occurrence of the at least one test trigger is determined. The test plan is modified to take into account the occurrence of the at least one test trigger in response to determining the occurrence. Execution of the system test is continued based on the modified test plan.

Abstract: Disclosed are a method, information processing system, and computer readable medium for resource recovery. The method comprises associating at least one bit with at least one block of memory. The bit denotes a borrow status for the block of memory. The bit is set for resource recovery. A resource recovery event is detected and in response to the bit being enabled for resource recovery, the block of memory is borrowed for a given duration of time. The bit is borrowed to temporarily store information associated with the resource recovery there into until the information is written to persistent storage.

Abstract: Disclosed are a method, system and computer program for purging data in a data storage system comprising a plurality of hosts one or more data storage devices and a controller, the controller including a cache. In accordance with the present invention, a communication interface is implemented between operating systems (OS) and the storage controller, of a multi-host data storage system, to signal the storage controller when the host is being shutdown. When the storage controller gets the signal, the controller purges the controller cache of any pages belonging to that host and puts those pages back into the free pool.

Abstract: A memory management method is disclosed. In response to a process running in a first memory and the first memory becoming constrained by demands from another process, information in the first memory is paged out to a second memory. In response to a request to further run the process, the information from the second memory is paged into a read cache and then into the first memory, while a copy of the information is left the read cache. In response to the information in the first memory then being updated and the copy of the information in the read cache now becoming stale, the now stale copy of the information in the read cache is checked for and purged, and indication is provided that the read cache has been purged.

Abstract: Disclosed are a method, information processing system and computer readable medium for performing a system test on a program. The method comprises creating a test plan associated with a system test. The system test is for testing a program within an environment. At least one test trigger to be monitored for during the system test is defined within the test plan. Execution of the system test on a system under test for the at least one test trigger is monitored. An occurrence of the at least one test trigger is determined. The test plan is modified to take into account the occurrence of the at least one test trigger in response to determining the occurrence. Execution of the system test is continued based on the modified test plan.

Abstract: Disclosed are a method, electronic device, and computer readable medium for determining an end-of-life stage of the flash memory. The method comprises detecting at least one life cycle event associated with a flash memory residing on an electronic device A counter that is associated with the life cycle event is then incremented. Based on the counter, a total number of occurrences for the one life cycle event is determined. The total number of occurrences for the at least one given threshold are also determined. A current life cycle stage of the flash memory is identified based at least in part on the determining if the total number of occurrences exceeds at least one given threshold. The life cycle stage is associated with the at least one given threshold. A user is then notified of the life cycle state of the flash memory.