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`EXHIBIT C
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`EXHIBIT C
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`

`

`US007958215B2
`
`(12) United States Patent
`Herbeck et al.
`
`(10) Patent No.:
`(45) Date of Patent:
`
`US 7,958,215 B2
`Jun. 7, 2011
`
`(54) SYSTEM MANAGEMENT USING REAL TIME
`COLLABORATION
`
`(75) Inventors: David Gerard Herbeck, Rochester, MN
`(US); Susette Marie Townsend,
`Rochester, MN (US)
`
`(73) Assignee: International Business Machines
`Corporation. Armonk NY (US)
`p
`s
`s
`Subject to any disclaimer, the term of this
`patent is extended or adjusted under 35
`U.S.C. 154(b) by 2104 days.
`
`(*) Notice:
`
`(21) Appl. No.: 10/365.298
`(22) Filed:
`Feb. 12, 2003
`
`(65)
`
`Prior Publication Data
`US 2004/0158629 A1
`Aug. 12, 2004
`
`(51) Int. Cl.
`(2006.01)
`G06F 5/73
`(52) U.S. Cl. ........ 709/223; 709/224; 709/226; 709/227;
`379/265.01: 379/265.02
`(58) Field of Classification Search .................. 709/222,
`709)224, 206, 219, 223: 379/265.01, 265.02
`See application file for complete search history.
`References Cited
`U.S. PATENT DOCUMENTS
`5,563,805 A * 10/1996 Arbuckle et al. ............. TO9.204
`5,815,554 A * 9/1998 Burgess et al. ............ 379,9001
`6,064,304. A *
`5/2000 Arrowsmith et al. ......... TO9,224
`6,128,646 A * 10/2000 Miloslavsky ........
`706206
`6,223,165 B1
`4/2001 Lauffer ............................. 70.5/1
`6,327,677 B1 * 12/2001 Garget al. .................... TO9,224
`
`(56)
`
`8/2002 Kay et al. ...................... TO9,206
`6,430,602 B1
`9/2002 Goldfinger et al.
`379/88.17
`6,449,344 B1
`6.513,013 B1* 1/2003 Stephanou ........................ 705/1
`6,535,492 B2* 3/2003 Shtivelman ...
`370,270
`6,631,412 B1 * 10/2003 Glasser et al. .
`TO9,224
`6,640,153 B2 * 10/2003 Kwak ............
`... 700,138
`6,829,585 B1* 12/2004 Grewal et al. ..
`TO9,223
`6,832,341 B1* 12/2004 Vijayan .......
`TO9,224
`6,868,074 B. 3, 2005 Hanson
`TO9,219
`7,024.548 B1
`4, 2006 O Toole, Jr. .......
`709,222
`7,072,966 B1* 7/2006 Benjamin et al...
`TO9,228
`7,120,647 B2 * 10/2006 Venkatesh et al. ......... TO7 104.1
`7,139,390 B2 * 1 1/2006 Brown et al. ............ 379,265.02
`2002/000619 A1
`1/2002 Weiss ....................... 379,265.01
`2003/0031309 A1* 2/2003 Rupe et al. ............... 379,265.02
`2004/0005048 A1* 1/2004 Agusta ..................... 379,265.12
`* cited by examiner
`Primary Examiner — Ramy M Osman
`(74) Attorney, Agent, or Firm — Grant A. Johnson
`
`ABSTRACT
`(57)
`The present invention provides a method of improving the
`response time to IT problems and ensuring that some will
`respond to a problem. In one embodiment, a management
`system uses a monitoring system to detect problem condi
`tions with a managed device. When Such an event occurs, the
`managed device sends a message containing a description of
`the alert to an intelligent agent. In response, the intelligent
`agent selects an administrator who is both qualified and avail
`able to respond to the alert, and then sends an instant message
`containing the description of the alert to the selected admin
`istrator. The administrator may accept responsibility for the
`alert by sending an instant message acknowledgement back to
`the intelligent agent. If the intelligent agent does not receive
`in
`an acknowledgement, it automatically finds another admin
`istrator to respond to the alert.
`17 Claims, 5 Drawing Sheets
`
`Case 1:20-cv-01673-UNA Document 1-3 Filed 12/09/20 Page 2 of 12 PageID #: 72
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`310
`Initialize event processing
`seye
`
`so
`
`as .
`
`335
`
`Yes
`
`
`
`generate list of qualified
`Tprofessionals
`
`3.0
`Get next IT professional
`inst for this type of event
`
`
`
`I S
`IT professional
`available
`
`
`
`5
`Send message to IT professional
`
`370
`
`Yes
`
`log event as handled by
`Sig it professional
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 7, 2011
`
`Sheet 1 of 5
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`US 7,958,215 B2
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`5
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`Case 1:20-cv-01673-UNA Document 1-3 Filed 12/09/20 Page 3 of 12 PageID #: 73
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 7, 2011
`
`Sheet 2 of 5
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`US 7,958,215 B2
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`Case 1:20-cv-01673-UNA Document 1-3 Filed 12/09/20 Page 4 of 12 PageID #: 74
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`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 7, 2011
`
`Sheet 3 of 5
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`US 7,958,215 B2
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`20
`
`
`
`230
`
`Determine event COce
`
`240
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`TranSit eVent COde
`tO management SerVer
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`Case 1:20-cv-01673-UNA Document 1-3 Filed 12/09/20 Page 5 of 12 PageID #: 75
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`FIG. 2
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 7, 2011
`
`Sheet 4 of 5
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`US 7,958,215 B2
`
`310
`Initialize event proCeSSing
`SerWer
`
`330
`
`is
`
`eVent yessage
`
`335
`
`
`
`Generate list Of Qualified
`IT professional S
`
`30
`
`Get next IT professional
`in list for this type Of event
`
`
`
`
`
`350
`IS
`IT professional
`available
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`355
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`Send meSSage to IT professional
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`
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`Case 1:20-cv-01673-UNA Document 1-3 Filed 12/09/20 Page 6 of 12 PageID #: 76
`
`370
`
`Log event as handled by
`responding IT professional
`
`FIG 3
`
`

`

`U.S. Patent
`
`Jun. 7, 2011
`
`Sheet 5 of 5
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`US 7,958,215 B2
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`lOO
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`
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`Case 1:20-cv-01673-UNA Document 1-3 Filed 12/09/20 Page 7 of 12 PageID #: 77
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`

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`US 7,958,215 B2
`
`1.
`SYSTEM MANAGEMENT USING REAL TIME
`COLLABORATION
`
`TECHNICAL FIELD
`
`The present invention relates to a method, system, and
`article of manufacture for managing information technology
`(“IT) devices, and in particular, to management methods and
`systems using real-time collaboration and instant messaging
`technology.
`
`5
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`10
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`BACKGROUND
`
`2
`respond to a problem. Accordingly, one aspect of the present
`invention is a method of responding to a problem condition.
`One embodiment of this method comprises detecting a first
`available candidate to respond to a problem condition, and
`assigning responsibility for the problem condition to the first
`available candidate. In some embodiments, assigning respon
`sibility for the problem condition comprises sending a real
`time message to the first available candidate. This method
`may further comprise waiting for a response from the first
`available candidate, and if the response is not received within
`a selected period of time, assigning responsibility for the
`problem condition to a second available candidate.
`Another aspect of the present invention is a method of
`managing an information technology device, one embodi
`ment of which comprises receiving an alert from a managed
`information technology device, selecting a candidate quali
`fied to respond to the event, and determining if the candidate
`is available to respond to the event. These embodiments may
`further comprise sending an instant message to the candidate
`containing information about the alert and receiving an
`instant message from the candidate indicating acceptance of
`responsibility for the alert.
`Another aspect of the present invention is a method for
`assigning responsibility for responding to a fault condition in
`an information technology device. One embodiment of this
`method comprises receiving an alert from a monitored infor
`mation technology device, the alert describing an event in the
`monitored information technology device; detecting an avail
`able administrator qualified to respond to the event; sending a
`first instant message to the available administrator, the instant
`message referencing the alert and requesting an acknowl
`edgement; receiving a second instant message from the avail
`able administrator, the second instant message containing the
`acknowledgement from the administrator, and assigning
`responsibility for the event to the available administrator.
`Other aspects of the present invention include a manage
`ment system and a computer program product. One embodi
`ment of the management system comprises an agent that
`detects a condition in a managed device and communicates
`the condition to a event processing server; a event processing
`server that selects an available administrator to respond to the
`condition and communicates the condition to a client device
`associated with the available administrator, and a client
`device that communicates the condition to the available
`administrator. One embodiment of the computer program
`product comprises a program which, when executed by a
`processor, performs a method of responding to a problem
`condition and a signal bearing media bearing the program.
`The method performed by the program comprises detecting a
`first available candidate to respond to a problem condition
`and assigning responsibility for the problem condition to the
`first available candidate.
`The present invention offers numerous advantages over
`conventional management methods and systems. For
`example, embodiments of the present invention can selec
`tively send problem alerts those administrators who are at or
`near their client device, which ensures that the administrators
`will receive the alert immediately. Embodiments of the
`present invention can also selectively send the alerts to those
`administrators who are qualified to respond to the problem.
`These and other features, aspects, and advantages will
`become better understood with reference to the following
`description, appended claims, and accompanying drawings.
`
`15
`
`The latter half of the twentieth century has been witness to
`a phenomenon known as the information revolution. While
`the information revolution is a historical development
`broader in Scope than any one event or machine, the decreas
`ing cost of information technology has undoubtedly been
`revolutionary. These decreases, in turn, have driven produc
`tivity increases in a Snowballing effect as product designs,
`manufacturing processes, resource scheduling, administra
`tive chores, and many other factors, are made more efficient.
`As a result of these benefits, information technology now
`plays a critical role in virtually every organization.
`Many organizations have discovered that the total cost of
`processing information is not limited to the cost of the hard
`25
`ware and Software used to perform the tasks. It also includes
`the cost of human resources devoted to install and maintain
`the IT systems and, perhaps more significantly, the lost pro
`ductivity costs incurred when IT systems fail. As IT systems
`and their applications have become mission-critical, many
`organizations now employ teams of skilled IT administrators
`to manage their IT resources. One problem that these organi
`Zations encounter, however, is that it is prohibitively expen
`sive to assign an administrator to monitor every piece of
`critical equipment 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
`One partial solution to this problem is to have the IT sys
`tems send out an email to an administrator should a problem
`arise. The administrator who receives the email can then
`diagnose and resolve the problem. One problem with this
`Solution, however, is that that there can be significant delay
`between the time the administrator receives the email and the
`time they actually read it, particularly when the triggering
`condition occurs at night or during holidays. Moreover, even
`after the administrator reads the email, they may still need to
`travel to the problem site before they can fix the problem. For
`45
`many mission-critical applications, even a few minutes of
`downtime can cause millions of dollars worth of losses.
`Another problem with conventional notification systems is
`that they do not ensure that the proper administrator received
`the alert and is going to take action to solve the problem.
`Another problem with conventional systems is that they fre
`quently send the emergency emails to an administrator who is
`at home or on another service call, even though there are
`other, available administrators who can respond to the prob
`lem as effectively. Yet another problem with email solutions is
`that they only provide asynchronous communications.
`Accordingly, there is no real-time feedback possible to the
`system from the administrator indicating the administrators
`ability to do anything about the problem.
`Without a means to improve the response to IT problems,
`the promise of the information technology revolution may
`never be fully achieved.
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`SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
`
`BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
`
`The present invention provides a method of improving the
`response time to IT problems and ensuring that some will
`
`65
`
`So the manner in which the above recited features of the
`present invention are attained and can be understood in detail,
`
`

`

`US 7,958,215 B2
`
`3
`a more particular description of the invention may be had by
`reference to the embodiments thereof that are illustrated in
`the appended drawings.
`FIG. 1A depicts an IT management system embodiment in
`accordance with the present invention.
`FIG. 1B depicts a data structure for an administrator
`record.
`FIG. 1C depicts a data structure for a device record.
`FIG. 1D depicts a data structure for an alert record.
`FIG.2 depicts the operation of an intelligent agent embodi
`ment.
`FIG.3 depicts the operation of an event processing server
`embodiment.
`FIG. 4 depicts a computer system suitable for use with the
`embodiments in FIGS. 1-3.
`It is to be noted that these drawings illustrate only typical
`embodiments of this invention and are therefore not to be
`considered limiting of its scope, for the invention may admit
`to other equally effective embodiments.
`
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`In operation, the management system 100 uses the moni
`toring system 112 to detect problem conditions with the IT
`device 102. Such as low system availability, high response
`time, high CPU and/or DASD utilization, unusual system
`events, system error messages and the like. When Such an
`event occurs, the IT device 102 sends a communication, Such
`as an instant message, containing a description of the alert to
`the intelligent agent 116. In response, the intelligent agent
`116 selects an administrator who is both qualified and avail
`able to respond to the alert, and then sends an instant message
`containing the description of the alert to the selected admin
`istrator. The administrator may accept responsibility for the
`alert by sending an instant message acknowledgement back to
`the intelligent agent 116. If the intelligent agent 116 does not
`receive the acknowledgement within a few minutes, it auto
`matically finds another administrator to respond to the alert.
`FIG. 2 depicts the operation of the monitoring system 112
`in more detail. At block 210, each monitoring system 112
`and/or device 102 is assigned a unique device identifier 160
`and loaded with a list of alert identifier codes 162 for the types
`of problems for which it is designed to monitor. For example,
`if the IT device 102 is a server computer, alert code A001 may
`indicate that the CPU load is greater than a particular value,
`alert code A002 may indicate that one of the computers
`cooling fans has failed, etc. . . . At block 220, the monitoring
`system(s) 112 monitors the IT device(s) 102 until one detects
`an event. When a particular monitoring system 112 detects an
`event, it determines (at block 230) the appropriate alert code
`162 from the list of codes 162. Next, at block 240, the moni
`toring system 112 transmits the device identifier 160 and the
`alert code 162 to the intelligent agent 116 using the instant
`messaging client 110a, or other suitable communication pro
`tocol, and then continues to monitor the IT device 102.
`FIG.3 depicts the operation of the intelligent agent 116 in
`more detail. At block 310, the administrator records 120 are
`initialized with the names, electronic addresses, and locations
`of each of the organization's IT administrators, together with
`the alert identifier codes 162 for which the administrator is
`qualified to respond. In some embodiments, the “administra
`tors' may include mix of human IT professionals and intel
`ligent agents (not shown) capable of responding to various
`alert codes 162. Such as a load-balancing agent that automati
`cally directs traffic away from an overwhelmed device 102 in
`response to an alert indicating high CPU use. Also at block
`310, the device records 130 are initialized with the names,
`electronic addresses, and locations of each monitored IT
`device 102. The intelligent agent 116 then waits until it
`receives an alert from one of the monitored devices 102.
`When the intelligent agent 116 receives an alert from a
`monitored device 102, it searches for an administrator who is
`both qualified and available to resolve the event that triggered
`the alert. More specifically, the intelligent agent 116 gener
`ates a list of qualified administrators at block 335 by first
`extracting the alert code 162 from the alert message, then
`searching the administrator records 120 for an administrator
`having the same code 162 in their knowledgeable subject
`matterfield 128. Next, at blocks 340-350, the intelligent agent
`116 selects the first administrator in the list and determines if
`that administrator is near their client device 104 so that they
`will receive the alert message. One suitable way is to use
`online awareness techniques, such as those used by Lotus
`Sametime client and the Lotus Sametime Server application,
`available from International Business Machines of Armonk,
`N.Y., or those described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,449,344, which is
`herein incorporated by reference in its entirety.
`If the administrator is flagged as available (at block 350),
`the intelligent agent 116 sends (at block 355) the device
`
`DETAILED DESCRIPTION
`
`25
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`
`FIG. 1A shows a one embodiment of an IT management
`system 100. This system 100 comprises a plurality of moni
`tored IT devices 102 (for clarity, only one shown) connected
`to a plurality of client devices 104b-104n (for clarity, only one
`shown in detail) and a server computer 106 by an appropriate
`communications medium 108. Each monitored IT device 102
`contains an instant messaging client application 110 ("instant
`messaging client’) and at least one monitoring agent and/or
`sensor 112 (“monitoring system’’) that monitors the IT device
`102 for events and triggers indicating a problem or fault
`condition. Each client device 104 is assigned to one of the
`organization's IT administrators and contains an instant mes
`35
`saging client 110b-110m with online awareness capabilities.
`The server computer 106 contains an intelligent message
`server application 116 (“intelligent agent') capable of pro
`cessing alerts, instant messages, and availability awareness
`information from the monitored devices 102 and the instant
`messaging clients 110; and a database application 118 that
`manages a database containing a plurality of administrator
`records 120, a plurality of device records 130, and a plurality
`of alert records 140.
`As best shown in FIG. 1B, each administrator record 120
`contains an administrator identifier field 122 containing an
`electronic identifier, Such as an email address, of one of the
`organization's IT administrators; a nickname field 124 con
`taining the administrator's first and/or last name; a physical
`location field 126 containing the IT professional's physical
`location (e.g., a site name or global positioning system coor
`dinates), and a knowledgeable subject matter field 128 con
`taining codes indicating the types of problems to which the
`administrator is qualified to respond. As best shown in FIG.
`1C, each device record 130 contains a unique device identifier
`field 132 containing the electronic identity of a monitored
`device 102, and a physical location field 134 containing the
`physical location of the monitored device 102. As best shown
`in FIG. 1D, each alert record 140 includes an alert identifier
`142, a device identifier 144 containing the device identifier
`132 belonging to the device 102 that issued the alert, a
`responding administrator field 146 containing the electronic
`identifier 122 associated with the administrator who
`responded to the alert, a subject matter code 148 for storing a
`code indicating the type of problem that generated the alert,
`and an alert description field 149 for storing any comments
`from the administrator who responded to the alert.
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`identifier 160, a description of the alert generated from the
`alert code 162', and a request to accept responsibility for the
`alert to the selected administrator. If the administrator
`acknowledges receipt of the message and acceptance of
`responsibility for the alert (at block 360), the intelligent agent
`116 logs (at block 370) the professional's electronic address
`into the responding administrator field 146, the identifier 160
`for the device 102 into the device identifier field 144, and the
`code 162 for the alert into the alert identifier field 149. If the
`administrator is not available or does not accept the task, the
`event processing server repeats blocks 340-370 with the next
`administrator in the list, and process repeats until an admin
`istrator accepts responsibility for the alert.
`Some embodiments may sort the list generated at block
`335 to optimize the order in which they send requests to the
`qualified administrators. These embodiments may be desir
`able because they can assign responsibility to the particular
`administrator who is best able to respond to the alert. For
`example, the intelligent agent 116 may use the administra
`tor's physical location 126 and the device's physical location
`134 to select the administrator who is located closest to the
`device 102 or who will be closest to the device 102 after
`completing their current task. These embodiments may be
`particularly desirable when used with pervasive and/or
`mobile clients 104 in capable of detecting its location in near
`real-time. Such as a cellular telephone equipped with a global
`positioning system (“GPS) receiver 199, because the man
`agement system 100 can track the location of the administra
`tor as they move through the organization’s facilities. Other
`embodiments further optimize assignments by using the alert
`records 140 to assign the alert to the administrator who
`recently solved a similar problem or who last worked on the
`device 102 that sent the alert.
`Another optimization used by Some embodiments is to
`select the administrators based on the extent to which they are
`available. In these embodiments, the instant messaging client
`110b will allow the administrator to enter an availability
`score between 1 and 5, where 1 indicates that they can
`respond to any problem; 3 indicates that they are responding
`to another problem, but can be interrupted ifa mission-critical
`device 102 fails; and 5’ indicates that they are already
`responding to a mission-critical failure. This instant messag
`ing client 110b will then transmit this availability score to the
`intelligent agent 116 as an on-line awareness state. The intel
`ligent agent 116 will use this availability score, the alert code
`from the monitoring system 112, and the device identifier 132
`to prioritize assignments so that critical alerts are resolved
`quickly. Those skilled in the art will art will appreciate that
`other optimizations, and various combinations of these opti
`mizations, are also within the scope of the present invention.
`Referring again to FIG.1, the instant messaging clients 110
`can be any type of communication device or application
`capable of facilitating instant messaging among multiple
`computer users attached to the communications medium 108.
`The intelligent agent 116, similarly, can be any system
`capable of working with the database application 118 to send
`instant messages to the appropriate administrators. Instant
`messaging may be implemented in various ways, but in gen
`eral, it supports the sending and receiving of instant messages
`to and from other users. Instant messages, in turn, are mes
`sages which appear on the computer display of the recipient
`more or less instantly after being sent, Subject only to trans
`mission delays, processing delays, and the like, as opposed to
`more traditional e-mail and pager messages, which typically
`are logged until the recipient wishes to view them or the
`device is powered on and connected to the network. Online
`awareness is the ability of the instant messaging system to
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`know your status, such as being available, away from desk,
`and the like. Suitable instant messaging clients 110, messag
`ing servers, and database applications 118 are the Lotus
`Sametime Connect client, the Lotus Sametime Server appli
`cation, and the IBM DB2 database, all of which are available
`from International Business Machines of Armonk, N.Y.
`In addition, although the embodiment in FIGS. 1A-1B has
`been described with reference to querying the database appli
`cation 118, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the
`intelligent agent 116 may use real-time communication to
`acquire all or part of this information. For example, the intel
`ligent agent 116 in Some embodiments may poll a particular
`client device 104n to determine its location, rather query the
`database application 118. These embodiments may be desir
`able because they may require less storage for the database
`application 118 and may reduce the network traffic associated
`with maintaining current database records.
`The communication medium 108 can be any device or
`system that allows the IT device 102, the client devices 104,
`and the intelligent agent 116 to communicate with each other.
`Suitable communication mediums include, but are not limited
`to, the Internet, intranets, cellular transmission networks, net
`works using the IEEE 802.11 specification, and various com
`binations thereof. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that
`many different network protocols can be used to implement
`the communication medium 108. The Transmission Control
`Protocol/Internet Protocol (“TCP/IP) is an example of a
`Suitable network protocol for Internet communication.
`The embodiment described with reference to FIGS 1-3
`uses a client-server network architecture. These embodi
`ments are desirable because the instant messaging clients 110
`can utilize the service of the intelligent agent 116 without the
`devices 102, 104, 106 requiring knowledge of the working
`details about the other. However, those skilled in the art will
`appreciate that other network architectures are within the
`scope of the present invention. Examples of other network
`architectures include, without limitation, peer-to-peer archi
`tectures and three-tier architectures.
`The identifier fields 122, 132 may contain any information
`capable of identifying resources on the communication
`medium 108. The alert identifier 142, similarly, may contain
`any information capable of identifying individual alerts. For
`embodiments using the Internet, the identifier fields 122,132
`may contain an electronic mail address associated with the
`administrator and the device, respectively. These mail
`addresses
`a
`typically
`in
`the
`form
`user name(amail server name, where mail server name
`specifies the name of a mail server for the user, and user name
`is the name of the user or device known to the intelligent agent
`server 116. For embodiments utilizing pervasive and/or
`mobile client devices 104m and cellular telephony networks,
`the identifier fields 122, 132 may contain the telephone num
`ber associated with the pervasive and/or mobile client device
`104n. Suitable information for the alert identifier 142
`includes alphanumeric serial number or sender/timestamp
`information.
`The monitoring systems 112 can be any device, System, or
`computer program capable of detecting problem conditions
`in the monitored device 102. Suitable monitors 112 include,
`without limitation, a simple sensor that generates an alert
`when a variable exceeds a set point, and a complex monitor
`ing program that uses artificial intelligence techniques to
`anticipate problems before they cause a catastrophic failure.
`Furthermore, although the monitoring system 112 has been
`generally described as communicating with the intelligent
`agent 116 via the instant message client 110a, those skilled in
`the art will appreciate that other communication protocols are
`
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`US 7,958,215 B2
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`within the scope of the present invention. Suitable protocols
`include, without limitation, the Simple Network Manage
`ment Protocol (“SNMP). These embodiments may be desir
`able because they would not need to include a message client
`110.
`FIG. 4 depicts a computer 400 embodiment suitable for use
`as one of the client devices 104 or as the server computer 106.
`This computer 400 embodiment comprises a processor 410
`connected to a main memory 420, a mass storage interface
`430, one or more I/O interfaces 440, and a network interface
`450 via a system bus 460. The mass storage interface 430
`connects one or more mass storage devices, such as a direct
`access storage device (“DASD) 457, to the system bus 460.
`The input/output (“I/O) interface 440 connects one or more
`input/output devices, such as a keyboard 467 or cathode ray
`tube display 469, to the system bus 460. The network inter
`face 450 connects the computer 400 to the other devices 102,
`104,106 (not shown) over the communication medium 108.
`The main memory 420 contains one or more application
`programs, such as an operating system 475, the instant mes
`saging client 110, and/or the intelligent agent 116.
`The processor 410 in this embodiment may be any device
`capable of executing the program instructions stored in the
`main memories 420; and may be constructed from one or
`more microprocessors and/or integrated circuits. Further
`more, although the computer system 400 is shown to contain
`only a single processor 410 and a single system bus 460, those
`skilled in the art will appreciate that the present invention may
`be practiced using a computer system that has multiple pro
`cessors 410 and/or multiple buses 460. In addition, the inter
`faces 430,440, 450 may each include their own separate, fully
`programmed microprocessors that are used to off-load com
`pute-intensive processing from the main processor. 410.
`When the computer 400 starts up, the processor 410 ini
`tially executes the program instructions that make up the
`operating system 475, which is a Sophisticated program that
`manages the resources of computer system 400, including:
`the processors 410; the main memory 420; the mass storage
`interface 430; the I/O interfaces 440; the network interface
`450; and the system buses 460. Administrators may enter
`commands for the operating system 475 using appropriate
`I/O devices, such as the keyboard 467 or mouse (not shown),
`connected to the I/O interfaces 440.
`The computer system 400 in this embodiment utilizes well
`known virtual addressing mechanisms that allow its programs
`to behave as if they have access to a large, single storage entity
`instead of access to multiple, Smaller storage entities such as
`main memories 420 and the DASD device 457. Therefore,
`while the operating system 475, the instant messaging client
`110b, the intelligent agent 116 and their associated data are
`shown to reside in main memory 420, those skilled in the art
`will recognize that these items are not necessarily all com
`pletely contained in main memory 420 at the same time, and
`may also reside in the virtual memory of other computer
`systems (not shown) coupled to the computer system 400.
`One suitable server computer 400 is an eServer iSeries(R)
`computer running the OS/400R multitasking operating sys
`tem, both of which are produced by International Business
`Machines Corporation of Armonk, N.Y. Another suitable cli
`ent computer 400 is an IBM ThinkpadR) computer running
`the LinuxTM operating system, both of which are also avail
`able from International Business Machines of Armonk, N.Y.
`However, those skilled in the art will appreciate that the
`mechanisms and apparatus of the present invention apply
`equally to any computer system 400 and operating system
`475, regardless of whether the computer system 400 is a
`complicated multi-user computing apparatus; a single-user
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`workstation; a pervasive device. Such as a cellular telephone
`or p