IBM breathes life into autonomic computing

By Alun Williams

Posted on 7 Mar 2003 at 17:52

IBM has unveiled details of software that can automatically manage spikes in processing end-user demand. The new initiative comes under the umbrella of 'autonomic computing', which is where a computer system manages its own operation - often referred to as self-healing software.

The three technologies, in sequence, are 'Adaptive Forecasting', 'On-line Capacity Planning' and 'Rapid Reconfiguration'. First of all, mathematical models are used to forecast surges in demand. Then the system estimates the resources required to meet the now-expected levels of demand. Finally, Rapid Reconfiguration, manages a 'hot swap' of system resources. In theory, end-users should not notice any interruption.

The new software is built to work with the latest versions of IBM's WebSphere application server and DB2 database. It is claimed, however, that it could be used with third-party applications and platforms.

The technology has emerged from collaboration between the IBM Research Division and Software Group. IBM will demonstrate it at the CeBit show in Hanover, Germany next week.

'In today's world, where billions of devices and applications interact daily, enterprise leaders will need to be free to focus on managing the intricacies of business rather than the complexities of technology,' said Alan Ganek, IBM's VP of Autonomic Computing.

It seems the industry agrees that self-healing capabilities represent the future for managing ever more complex software. Self-diagnosing features - for example, the detection and auto-restarting of stopped processes - will feature in Microsoft's next major server operating system, Windows Server 2003, which will be released next month.

Autonomic computing was a particular priority of former IBM CEO Lou Gerstner (along with biotechnology and grid-based computing, incidentally).

You can find more info on IBM's take of self-healing software at ibm.com/autonomic.