This document discusses self-healing systems. It defines self-healing systems as systems that can understand when they are not operating correctly and restore themselves without human intervention. The document then discusses autonomic computing, which aims to create computer environments that can automatically detect and adjust to issues. Key elements of autonomic computing systems are described, including the autonomic control loop of collecting information, analyzing it, planning a response, and acting. The document also outlines characteristics of autonomic computing and categories related to self-healing systems like fault models, system responses, system completeness, and design context. Security implications of self-healing systems are also mentioned.

1. Self Healing Systems
Yıldırım Bayezid University
CENG 570 Advanced Computer Security
Sinan Kördemir

2. AGENDA
 What is Self Healing System ?
 Autonomic Computing
 Autonomic Control Loop
 Elements of Self Healing
 Autonomic Computing's charesteristics
 Self Healing and Security

3. What is Self Healing System ?
 In information technology, self-healing describes any
device or system that has the ability to understand that
it is not operating correctly and, without human
intervention, make the necessary adjustments to
restore itself to normal operation.
 Because users of a product may find the cost of
servicing it too expensive (in some cases, far more than
the cost of the product itself), some product developers
are trying to build products that fix themselves.
Scene from Terminator movie

4.  Self-healing systems form an area of research that is intuitively appealing and
garnering increased attention, but not very well defined in terms of scope
 A self-healing software system is one that has the ability to discover,
diagnose,and repair (or at least mitigate) disruptions to the services that it
delivers.

6. Autonomic Computing
For decades, the advancement of technology and science has mirrored the increase of
complexity in many computer environments. As complexity increases, computer
environments are being impacted with more failures and downtown.
 For systems: operational error, user error, third-party software error, internally
developed software problem, inadequate change control, lack of automated
processes
 For networks: performance overload, peak load problems, insufficient bandwidth
 For database: out of disk space, log file full, performance overload
 For applications: application error, inadequate change control, operational error, non
automated application exceptions

7.  Autonomic computing is a computer environment that can detect and adjust its system
automatically to heal itself without the assistance of any human interaction.
 The name autonomic insinuates that it is a metaphor based on biology. The biological term is
called the autonomic nervous system which is the body’s master controller that monitors
changes inside and outside the body integrates sensory inputs, and effects appropriate
response. It consists of sensory neurons and motor neurons and subdivided into two divisions,
parasympathetic (rest and digest) and sympathetic (fight and flight) nervous systems.

9. Sensory Neurons
Autonomic Sensorysomatic External
Internal Central
Nervous System Nervous System Nervous System Environment
Environment
Motor Neurons
Sensory neurons and motor neurons

10. Sympathetic Parasympathetic
Organ
Nervous System Nervous System
Eye (Iris) Pupils dilate Pupil constrict
Heart rate Heart rate
Heart
increase decrease
Decrease urine Increase urine
Kidney
secretion secretion
Bronchial Bronchial Muscle
Lung
muscle dilate contract

12. Autonomic Control Loop
Decide Act
Use uncertain reasoning Modify behavior,
Policies, rules, … Inform users,
Analyse Collect
Collate, combine, From system elements,
Find trends, correlations Users, environment, agents, …

13. Faults Fixes
• Source Code Bugs • Reboot Tier / Service and
• Java Exceptions Notification
• Deadlock Threads to Administrator
• Buffer Contention • Micro-boot EJB
• Read / Write Contention • Micro-boot EJB, Kill hung
on Table Block Query
• Repartition the memory
across various Buffers
• Repartition Table to
Balance Accesses
around Partitions

14. Autonomic Computing's charesteristics
 Autonomic Computing Consists of 8 key characteristics:
1. System must know itself
2. System must be able to reconfigure itseld within its operational environment
3. System must pre-emptively optimise itself
4. System must detect and respond to its own faults as they develop
5. System must detect and respond to intrusions and attacks
6. System must know its context of use
7. System must live in an open world
8. System must actively shrink the gap between user/business goals and IT
solutions

15. Elements of Self Healing
 At the 2002Workshop on Self-Healing Systems [WOSS02], it became clear that
researchers have differing views on what comprises research on self-healing
systems.
 Based on experiences and observations at the WOSS02 workshop, there are
four general categories of aspects to the self-healing system problem space:
fault model, system response, system completeness, and design context.

16. Fault Model
Fault Model, answers the question of what faults the system is to tolerate.
Without a fault model, there is no way to assess whether a system actually can
heal itself in situations of interest.
 Fault duration
 Fault manifestation
 Fault source
 Granularity
 Fault profile expectations

17. System Response
Each application domain has extra-functional aspects that are important, such as
reliability, safety, or security. These extra-functional concerns influence desired
system responses.
 Fault Detection
 Degradation
 Fault response
 Fault recovery
 Time constants
 Assurance

18. System Completeness
Real systems are seldom complete in every sense. Self-healing approaches must
be able to deal with the reality of limits to knowledge, incomplete
specifications, and incomplete designs.
 Architectural completeness
 Designer knowledge
 System self-knowledge
 System evolution

19. Design Context
There are several other factors that influence the scope of self-healing
capabilities that could be considered to form the design context of the system.
 Abstraction level
 Component homogeneity
 Behavioral predetermination
 User involvement in healing
 System linearity
 System scope

22. Self Healing Systems and Security
 The conventional methods can overcome only the effects of passive threats
and not the active threats for the authenticate users
 In time the software systems has became more complex and also the
cominicaiton protocol between systems too. So to avaoid from a threat on a
system became very critical issue.

23. References
 "Autonomic Computing: Towards a Self-Healing System" Sharee S. Laster, B.S.,
Ayodeji O. Olatunji, B.S
 "A Modeling Framework for Self-Healing Software Systems" Michael Jiang, Jing
Zhang, David Raymer, and John Strassner
 "Elements of the Self-Healing System Problem Space" Philip Koopman
 "Self-healing systems — survey and synthesis" Debanjan Ghosh , Raj Sharman ,
H. Raghav Rao , Shambhu Upadhyaya