Patent ID: 8132185

Claim:
A method of classifying a workload of a software service, the method comprising: sampling a plurality of values of at least one parameter of the software service by performing out-of-band monitoring of said parameter, wherein changes in said parameter values indicate a change in the workload of the software service in real-time; determining a workload signature for the software service based on statistical analysis of said sampling of plurality of values, wherein said workload signature provides a representation of the workload of the software service for a first period associated with said sampling; comparing the workload signature with a plurality of predefined workload signatures stored in a workload signature database, wherein each of the plurality of predefined workload signatures are respectively associated with a corresponding workload classification from among a plurality of predefined workload classifications; and matching the workload of said software service for the first period with a first workload classification from among the plurality of predefined workload classifications; wherein the workload of the software service for a second period of real-time sampling is reclassified to a second workload classification, based on a workload signature calculated for the second period of time matching the second workload classification.