Patent ID: 7600007

Claim:
A computer-implemented system for providing service level management comprising: a network having a plurality of network hardware components that support a service provided over the network, wherein performance of the service depends upon performances of the plurality of network hardware components that support the service, and wherein the service has a state that represents the performance of the service; a plurality of monitoring agents configured to monitor respective individual domains of the network that include respective subsets of the plurality of network hardware components that support the service, wherein the plurality of monitoring agents include: a first monitoring agent configured to monitor one or more component parameters for a first subset of the plurality of network hardware components in a first domain of the network, detect one or more intra-domain events in the first domain as a function of the component parameters monitored in the first domain, and generate one or more intra-domain alarms in the first domain as a function of the intra-domain events detected in the first domain; and a second monitoring agent configured to monitor one or more component parameters for a second subset of the plurality of network hardware components in a second domain of the network, detect one or more intra-domain events in the second domain as a function of the component parameters monitored in the second domain, and generate one or more intra-domain alarms in the second domain as a function of the intra-domain events detected in the second domain; and an alarm correlation agent configured to: correlate the intra-domain alarms generated in the first domain and the second domain to generate one or more inter-domain alarms across the first domain and the second domain; map the inter-domain alarms generated across the first domain and the second domain to a service parameter that represents a current state of the service, wherein the current state of the service is undesirable when the service parameter has a value that does not meet or exceed a service level identified in a service level agreement; and issue one or more instructions to autonomously establish a desirable state of the service in response to the current state of the service being undesirable, wherein the desirable state of the service is established when the instructions cause the value of the service parameter to meet or exceed the service level identified in the service level agreement.