CA uses neural patterns to predict network crashes

New technology from Computer Associates (CA) which operates along the same lines as the human brain could eliminate system crashes, according to a leading IT analyst.

CA's Neugents technology - which is available from this week with its Unicenter TNG business management package - uses "neural agents" modelled on pattern recognition in the human brain to monitor changes on a network and record abnormal behaviour.

Unicenter product marketing manager for the UK, Martin Saunders, says neural agents are different from traditional agent technology because they learn from their mistakes. "The neural agents look at a given process on the server. They can deduce that if, say, seven out of the last nine times this happened, the application fell over, it's likely to fall over again and warn users."

Robin Bloor, chief executive of Bloor Research, said he believed Neugents was "really compelling technology". "This will be significant for smaller companies who want mission critical systems - such as a small business wanting to set up an ecommerce server. If you're using Windows NT in a mission critical environment it will damn well fail. Having this technology means people will be able to use it with greater confidence."

Neugents uses a technology from a company called AIWare, a company specialising in artificial intelligence, which CA bought last year. Neural network technology has been around for about ten years, but has only recently been considered stable enough for use in an enterprise situation.