Patent ID: 8205122

Claim:
A method with regard to a computer operations center having a number of computing systems, each computing system issuing system messages regarding such computing system, each issued system message from each computing system being stored in a message logging database, the method comprising: monitoring the system messages stored in the message logging database for predetermined patterns in the system messages, wherein the system messages include error messages, maintenance messages, and status messages; detecting a particular pattern in the system messages, wherein each pattern is defined to include at least a first threshold, a second threshold, and a third threshold and wherein the error messages, maintenance messages, and status messages forming the particular pattern are analyzed to anticipate one or more bad system events; acting in response to the detected pattern by taking a predetermined action corresponding to the detected pattern, the detected pattern anticipating an occurrence of an unwanted system event, the predetermined action intended to prevent or at least minimize the unwanted system event, wherein the predetermined action corresponding to the detected pattern includes a first corresponding action to be taken if the first threshold is surpassed, a second corresponding action to be taken if the second threshold is surpassed, and a third corresponding action to be taken if the third threshold is surpassed, and wherein the first corresponding action and the second corresponding action are different from each other and the third corresponding action includes shutting down a corresponding one of the computing systems; monitoring the system messages stored in the message logging database for non-predetermined patterns in the system messages; receiving a determination to whether the non-predetermined pattern anticipates the occurrence of the unwanted system event; and defining, in response to the determination that the non-predetermined pattern anticipates the unwanted system event, the non-predetermined pattern, corresponding thresholds, and corresponding actions in a patter/action database.