Engine software - the key to true next-generation automated support

The engine is the heart of ReSOFT system. It runs locally on every supported device. The keys to getting beyond the legacy paradigm of monitoring and remote control, into the benefits of true automated support, are:

• Locality - Moving the support process to the place where issues happen gives the quickest and most accurate response possible. Let's face it, if you could afford it, wouldn't your end users want a support technician sitting next to them all day, watching for issues and fixing them? Well, now they can have just that.
• Independence - The engine has to be able to carry on by itself with only intermittent contact to a central facility. This is the only way to have quick, proactive response, and certainly the only way to support the explosive growth of mobile computing devices.
• Flexibility - The ability to easily update to handle new support issues is a requirement, not a desire. Fixed functionality is fine for the legacy monitoring paradigm, but next-generation support needs issue-driven incremental updates that are quick and unobtrusive.
• Low impact - End users will not tolerate bloatware that causes more support issues than it addresses. The support must be provided by software that is lightweight and non-invasive. It should limit its activity to running only when an issue needs to be addressed.
• Integration - The engine needs to be an integral part of the overall support process, not just an appendage that provides data input. This means that it needs to have essentially all of the capabilities of the other components of the system, including the centralized data collector (server). Without this, there is no delivery mechanism for true automated support.
• Power - In order to cover the entire spectrum of support issues, the engine needs to have deep hooks into the underlying operating system, both for detecting issues that arise on the system, and implementing resolutions for those issues. The rather superficial operating system interface that is typical of legacy systems for monitoring and remote control is simply not strong enough for true support automation.

The engine in the ReSOLV framework satisfies and exceeds all of these requirements, in numerous ways. Here are some of the highlights:

• Lightweight - The software is designed and maintained by programmers with extensive experience in embedded and real-time systems. Particular attention is paid to efficient operation with a small footprint.
• Modular - Careful attention to internal interfaces and consistent design guidelines limits unexpected interactions between components of the system.
• Primitives - Interfaces to the DARTs and the operating system are done through narrow, well-defined interfaces that are easily maintained and tested. This imposes a regularity on DARTs that keeps them simple and efficient, using the "toolbox" of primitives supplied by the engine.
• Operating system - The architecture of DART management is modeled after well understood operating system design principles, and therefore provides a stable basis for issue management and resolution.
• Event driven - Like any modern operating system, DART management is based on an underlying event system. This provides regularity and consistency while also giving a path for essentially unlimited expansion as new requirements arise. Most importantly, this minimizes the impact on the system and utilizes resources only when they are actually required.
• Many sources - The data that feeds into the event system comes from a large variety of sources. The software has hooks into essentially all parts of the working system, not just a few superficial interfaces as is typical of a legacy monitoring system.
• Database oriented - Using a database consistently brings regularity and uniformity to design and implementation of data management. It also unifies the design of the server and the engine. The engine uses an extremely popular and lightweight local SQL database that is integrated into the code and requires no external infrastructure. A robust data synchronization mechanism provides advanced device-to-device and device-to-server configuration and control operations that also includes future unspecified features.
• Sophisticated communication layer - The communication layer of the engine provides reliable, redundant, and symmetric communications with other local engines, multiple central servers, and arbitrary network resources as required by DARTs.

In summary, the powerful, flexible architecture of the engine provides a stable and extensible platform for next-generation support far beyond the legacy paradigm of monitoring and remote control.