Patent ID: 8166138

Claim:
A method implemented in a non-transitory machine readable medium and for executing on a machine, comprising: identifying grid services that are distributed over a network for processing on a plurality of devices, the plurality of devices combine to form a grid computing environment and selective collections of the devices combine to form a particular grid of the grid computing environment, and each grid represents a particular local area network (LAN) of the grid computing environment as a whole, each grid service monitors data packets that emanate for that grid service's LAN by listening for the data packets on network interface cards of the LAN; obtaining traffic pattern specifications for the following: a particular one of the grid services, selective groupings of the grid services, the particular grid, selective groupings of the grids, and the grid computing environment as a whole; and configuring and distributing a watch grid service with each grid of the grid computing environment, and when initiated on a particular device of the particular grid, a particular watch grid service listens for and reports on traffic in response to enforcement of particular ones of the traffic pattern specifications, the particular watch grid service monitors all traffic on the particular grid to which it is configured to monitor, and when the particular watch grid service is loaded and cannot capture all the traffic another watch grid service cooperates to capture packets associated with the traffic that was missed, and each traffic pattern specification identifies a particular grid member and that grid member's subnet permitting traffic emanating from that grid member to be monitored independent of resources producing that traffic.