Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for identifying occurrences of transactions, especially in computer networks. A unique identifier, denoted “request identifier”, is associated with each service request. Accordingly, for a sequence of service requests detected, a corresponding sequence of request identifiers is generated. The request identifier sequence is compared to regular expressions that correspond to different transactions. If the request identifier sequence matches a regular expression, this sequence is deemed to represent an occurrence of that transaction.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to a method and apparatus for identifying occurrences of transactions, especially in computer networks. A unique identifier, denoted “request identifier”, is associated with each service request. Accordingly, for a sequence of service requests detected, a corresponding sequence of request identifiers is generated. The request identifier sequence is compared to regular expressions that correspond to different transactions. If the request identifier sequence matches a regular expression, this sequence is deemed to represent an occurrence of that transaction.

Abstract: Methods and apparatuses for low-overhead service availability and performance monitoring are provided. A contact attempt is sent to a machine running a service being monitored and associated with a port in the machine. A status of the service is updated as being unavailable, if no response is received within a predetermined period of time, and is updated based on the response, if the response is received within a predetermined period of time. If the response is an acknowledgment from the machine to proceed with a contact attempt for connecting to the port, the contact attempt is disconnected.