Patent ID: 7865764
Filing Date: 2011-01-04
Classification: G06F,H04L

Abstract:
1. A system for monitoring computer component performance at a plurality of computing stations remote from a monitoring station, independent of the operating systems of the monitored computing stations, wherein each computing station includes a primary processor and a chassis housing the primary processor; said system including: a plurality of detector arrays, each of the arrays located at a different one of a plurality of computing stations, each detector array including at least one detector adapted to continuously sense a computer component performance at the associated computing station and generate a detector signal indicating the then currently sensed performance; a plurality of controllers, each of the controllers located at an associated one of the computing stations and operatively coupled to the associated detector array to receive the detector signal from each detector of the associated array and generate a computer component performance signal corresponding to each received detector signal; a plurality of performance information generators, each performance information generator located at an associated one of the computing stations, coupled to receive each associated performance signal, and adapted to generate performance information including a performance information entry based on each received performance signal; a computing station memory at each computing station adapted to receive the associated current performance information, including a first memory sector for storing address information identifying the associated computing station, and a second memory sector for continuously storing the associated current performance information; wherein each performance information generator further is adapted to present an immediately retrievable current performance record including the address information and the current performance information for retrieval by a monitoring station, in response to receipt of a cue from the monitoring station; a monitoring station remote from the computing stations and communicatively coupled to the computing stations, including a monitoring station processor, a selection component for individually selecting different ones of the computing stations, a monitoring component for generating cues and sending the cues to the selected computing stations, and an image generator adapted to generate visible images of the current performance records presented in response to the cues and retrieved by the monitoring station; wherein the monitoring component comprises computer software in the form of a monitoring program resident in the monitoring station processor, adapted to generate and send cues in accordance with selection input from the selection component; wherein the monitoring station further includes a memory segment for storing computing station address information comprising a list of addresses identifying the computing stations, and said selection component comprises computer software in the form of a selection program operatively associated with the monitoring program and the first memory segment to select the computing stations from the list of addresses; the selection program and the monitoring program operate in the background, transparent to a user of the monitoring station processor; and the monitoring station processor is adapted to generate a warning in response to receipt of a performance record including a fault indication.