Patent ID: 7500142

Claim:
A method for facilitating cause-based analysis relating to events in a networked computer system, the method comprising: obtaining, from the networked computer system, a plurality of event messages, wherein each of the plurality of event messages relate to an event within the networked computer system, and the plurality of event messages comprising a first event message associated with a first event; prior to performing cause-based analysis relating to the first event, performing preliminary cause-based classification of the first event to determine a preliminary cause-based classification of the first event from among a plurality of possible cause-based classifications, wherein the preliminary cause-based classification is performed based on the first event message; facilitating cause-based analysis relating to the first event utilizing the determined preliminary cause-based classification of the first event; and wherein performing preliminary cause-based classification comprises determining a preliminary classification for the first event, and wherein preliminary classifications comprising root cause classification, symptom classification, and information classification.