1. A method for analyzing an information technology system of interest, the method comprising:
for each of a plurality of information technology systems, automatically collecting configuration data and performance data related to components of the information technology system;
selecting a subset of the collected data based on at least one user-entered criterion;
calculating a statistical value from the selected subset;
comparing the calculated statistical value to a value associated with a component of the information technology system of interest; and
displaying a result of the comparison.
2. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein selecting the subset of the collected data comprises selecting a subset of the plurality of information technology systems, based on at least one user-entered criterion.
3. A method as defined in claim 2, wherein:
the at least one user-entered criterion, upon which the selection of the subset of the plurality of information technology systems is based, comprises a reference to performance data or configuration data related to the information technology system of interest; and
selecting the subset of the plurality of information technology systems comprises selecting information technology systems from which was collected performance data or configuration data that is similar, within a predetermined limit, to the performance data or configuration data related to the information technology system of interest.
4. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:
accepting the value associated with the component of interest as a user input.
5. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:
automatically collecting the value associated with the component of interest from the information technology system of interest.
6. A method as defined in claim 5, wherein automatically collecting the value comprises collecting the value from the information technology system of interest in response to a user request.
7. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein collecting the performance data comprises repeatedly collecting the performance data at spaced-apart points in time.
8. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:
sending the collected data from a plurality of information technology systems, via a wide-area network, to a central system; and
storing the collected data in a database associated with the central system.
9. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:
sending the collected data from a plurality of information technology systems, via a wide-area network, to a distributed system; and
storing the collected data in a database associated with the distributed system.
10. A method as defined in claim 1, wherein displaying the result comprises generating an indication if the value associated with the at least one component of interest differs from the calculated statistical value by more than a predetermined amount.
11. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising:
accepting user-submitted rules for evaluating data items in the collected data; and
wherein comparing the calculated statistical value comprises comparing the calculated statistical value to the value associated with the component of the information technology system of interest according to a criterion specified by at least one of the user-submitted rules.
12. A method as defined in claim 11, further comprising assigning a score to each user-submitted rule.
13. A method as defined in claim 12, further comprising vetting the user-submitted rules according to the assigned scores.
14. A method as defined in claim 13, wherein assigning the score comprises accepting votes.
15. A method as defined in claim 11, further comprising vetting the user-submitted rules, including collecting opinions regarding ones of the user-submitted rules from a community of users.
16. A method as defined in claim 15, wherein vetting the user-submitted rules comprises accepting votes reflecting opinions regarding ones of the user-submitted rules.
17. A method as defined in claim 16, wherein vetting the user-submitted rules further comprises ranking the user-submitted rules based on the collected votes.
18. A method as defined in claim 11, wherein each user-submitted rule comprises:
a data identifier that identifies the values to be compared;
a condition that defines the comparison to be performed; and
a consequence that defines at least a portion of the result to be displayed.
19. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising modifying identification information in at least some of the collected data prior to calculating the statistical value.
20. A method as defined in claim 19, wherein modifying the identification information comprises removing at least part of the identification information.
21. A method as defined in claim 19, wherein modifying the identification information comprises replacing at least part of the identification information.
22. A method as defined in claim 21, wherein:
replacing at least part of the identification information comprises replacing the at least part of the identification information with a pseudonym; and further comprising
storing a copy of the pseudonym in association with the replaced at least part of the identification information.
23. A method as defined in claim 19, wherein modifying the identification information comprises modifying Internet protocol (IP) addresses from the collected data.
24. A method as defined in claim 19, wherein modifying the identification information comprises modifying server names from the collected data.
25. A method as defined in claim 19, wherein modifying the identification information comprises modifying customer names from the collected data.
26. A method as defined in claim 19, wherein modifying the identification information comprises allowing a user to specify identification information to be modified in the collected data.
27. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising aggregating the collected data in a database.
28. A method as defined in claim 27, further comprising removing identification information from the collected data prior to aggregating the data in the database.
29. A method as defined in claim 1, further comprising quantizing at least some of the collected data.
30. A system for analyzing an information technology system of interest, the system comprising:
a server configured to:
automatically receive, from each of a plurality of information technology systems, configuration data and performance data related to components of the information technology system;
select a subset of the received data, based on at least one user-entered criterion;
calculate a statistical value from the selected subset;
compare the calculated statistical value to a value associated with a component of the information technology system of interest; and
display a result of the comparison.
31. A method for comparing an information technology system of interest to other, similar, information technology systems, the method comprising:
for each of a plurality of information technology systems, automatically collecting configuration data and performance data related to components of the information technology system;
selecting, based on at least one user-entered similarity criterion, a subset of the information technology systems;
selecting, based on at least one user-entered data selection criterion, a subset of the data collected from the selected subset of information technology systems;
calculating a statistical value from the selected subset of the data;
comparing the calculated statistical value to a corresponding value associated with a component of the information technology system of interest; and
displaying a result of the comparison.
32. A method as defined in claim 31, wherein selecting the subset of the information technology systems comprises preventing selection of fewer than a predetermined number of information technology systems.
33. A method for analyzing an information technology system of interest, the method comprising:
for each of a plurality of information technology systems, automatically collecting configuration data and performance data related to components of the information technology system;
identifying a plurality of groups of information technology systems represented by the collected data, each identified group consisting of information technology systems having at least one common characteristic;
selecting one of the groups, such that at least one of the characteristics of the selected group matches a corresponding characteristic of the information technology system of interest;
calculating a statistical value from the selected group;
comparing the calculated statistical value to a value associated with a component of the information technology system of interest; and
displaying a result of the comparison.
34. A method as defined in claim 33, wherein identifying the plurality of groups of information technology systems comprises automatically identifying the plurality of groups.
35. A method as defined in claim 33, wherein identifying the plurality of groups of information technology systems comprises identifying the plurality of groups based on a user input.
36. A method as defined in claim 33, wherein selecting the one of the groups comprises selecting the group based on a user input.
37. A method as defined in claim 33, wherein selecting the one of the groups comprises:
automatically determining the characteristic of the information technology system of interest; and
automatically selecting the group based on the characteristic of the information technology system.
38. A method as defined in claim 37, wherein automatically determining the characteristic comprises automatically determining the characteristic in response to a user command.
39. A method for analyzing an information technology system of interest, the method comprising:
for each of a plurality of information technology systems, automatically collecting configuration data and performance data related to components of the information technology system;
automatically identifying a plurality of groups of information technology systems represented by the collected data, each identified group consisting of information technology systems having at least one common group characteristic;
selecting one of the plurality of groups, such that at least one of the characteristics of the selected group matches a corresponding characteristic of the information technology system of interest;
selecting a set of analysis rules based on the selected group;
analyzing a value associated with the component of interest according to at least one of the selected set of analysis rules; and
displaying a result of the analysis.
40. A method for analyzing a component of interest of an information technology system, the method comprising:
accepting user-submitted rules from a community of users, each rule comprising at least one value and an associated criterion;
comparing a value associated with the component of interest to the values of at least some of the user-submitted rules according to the criteria associated with the respective rules;
if, as a result of the comparison, the value associated with the component of interest meets the criterion of a rule, displaying a message.
41. A method for analyzing an information technology system, the method comprising:
collecting configuration data and performance data related to components of the information technology system;
selecting a subset of the collected data;
calculating a statistical value from the selected subset;
comparing the calculated statistical value to a selected value associated with a component of the information technology system; and
displaying a result of the comparison.
42. A method as defined in claim 41, wherein the subset of the collected data is selected based on at least one user-entered criterion.
43. A method as defined in claim 41, wherein selecting the subset of the collected data comprises selecting a subset that represents a first time period, the first time period being prior to a time period represented by the selected value associated with the component of the information technology system; whereby the selected value associated with the component of the information technology system is compared to historical data related to at least one component of the information technology system.
44. A method as defined in claim 41, wherein the calculated statistical value is compared to the value associated with the component of the information technology system according to a predetermined criterion.
45. A method as defined in claim 44, wherein the criterion specifies the first time period.
46. A method as defined in claim 44, further comprising:
accepting user-submitted rules from a community of users; and
wherein the criterion is defined by one of the user-submitted rules.
47. A method as defined in claim 46, wherein the criterion specifies the first time period.
48. A method for producing a report related to an information technology system, the method comprising:
collecting configuration data and performance data related to components of the information technology system;
accepting user-submitted report component templates, each report component template specifying at least one data item, selected from the configuration data and the performance data, that is to be included in a report component and a format in which the data item is to be included;
accepting user-submitted report templates, each report template specifying a set of report components that are to be included in a report and a layout of the report components;
selecting a subset of the collected data; and
generating a report of the selected subset of the collected data according to a selected report template.
49. A method as defined in claim 48, wherein the format in which the data item is to be included comprises a graph.
50. A method as defined in claim 48, wherein the format in which the data item is to be included comprises a chart.
51. A method as defined in claim 48, wherein the format in which the data item is to be included comprises a table.
52. A method as defined in claim 48, wherein the format in which the data item is to be included comprises text.
53. A method as defined in claim 48, wherein the format in which the data item is to be included comprises a block diagram.
54. A method as defined in claim 48, wherein accepting a user-submitted report component template comprises:
displaying a list of data items available for inclusion in the report component;
accepting a user input that identifies at least one of the data items; and
including an identification of the identified data item in the report template.
55. A method as defined in claim 48, wherein accepting a user-submitted report template comprises:
displaying a list of available report component templates;
accepting a user input that identifies at least one of the displayed list of available report component templates; and
including an identification of the identified report component template in the report template.
56. A computer program product for use on a computer system for analyzing an information technology system of interest, comprising:
a computer-readable medium on which are stored computer instructions such that, when the instructions are executed by a processor, the instructions cause the processor to:
receive, from each of a plurality of information technology systems, configuration data and performance data related to components of the information technology system;
select a subset of the received data, based on at least one user-entered criterion;
calculate a statistical value from the selected subset;
compare the calculated statistical value to a value associated with a component of the information technology system of interest; and
display a result of the comparison.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. An over-current protection apparatus for high voltage, comprising:
a body, including:
(a) at least one multilayer polymer current-sensing element exhibiting a positive temperature coefficient behavior;
(b) at least one ceramic current-sensing element exhibiting a positive temperature coefficient behavior; and
(c) at least one adhesive layer for connecting the at least one multilayer polymer current-sensing element and the at least one ceramic current-sensing element in series;
an upper electrode foil formed on a surface of the body; and a lower electrode foil formed on the other surface of the body opposite to the upper electrode foil,
wherein the difference of transition temperatures between neighboring polymer current-sensing elements of the multilayer polymer current-sensing element is more than 50\xb0 C.
2. The over-current protection apparatus of claim 1, wherein the upper electrode foil and lower electrode foil are made of a conductive metal material.
3. The over-current protection apparatus of claim 2, wherein the material is selected from the group consisting of copper, nickel, platinum, gold and their alloy thereof.
4. The over-current protection apparatus of claim 1, wherein the adhesive layer is made of a conductive metal material.
5. The over-current protection apparatus of claim 4, wherein the material is selected from the group consisting of copper, nickel, platinum, gold and their alloy thereof.
6. The over-current protection apparatus of claim 1, wherein the multilayer polymer current-sensing element is in exposure of Cobalt 60.
7. The over-current protection apparatus of claim 6, wherein the difference of exposure dosages between neighboring polymer sensing-elements of the multilayer polymer current-sensing element is between 0.1 to 10 Mrads.