A REMEDIATION SYSTEM TO PREVENT INCOMPATIBLE PROGRAM MODULE INSTALLATION IN AN INFORMATION PROCESSING SYSTEM

摘要

A test server system provides a test server (5) situated behind an enterprise network firewall (4). The test server is arranged to capture an up to date image of all the information processing devices (1.1-3.3) integrated with the enterprise network. When a new (or updated) program module (NPM) is to be installed on the whole or any part of the enterprise network, the NPM installation is first run against an emulation of the enterprise network devices and any existing core program modules (CPM) (1.1'-3.3') in the test server. A predetermined test protocol is tailored to the specific enterprise network and designed to ensure that installation of the NPM does not result in serious adverse effects on the effective operation of the emulated enterprise network for instance due to conflicts with other CPMs. In particular the tests applied to the emulated enterprise network can be applied to programs or configurations which are proprietary to the enterprise and often mission critical. The test server is arranged to be controlled from a data centre server (1) outside the enterprise network firewall. Where adverse effects are detected in emulation the test server prevents installation of the NPM to the real enterprise network. The test serve can identify indices relevant to the fault and use such indices in a database correlating known fixes with the fault. Selected fixes can be applied to the emulated enterprise network for testing with the NPM. Where this results in no-fault condition the selected effective fix and NPM is applied to the real system.