BACKGROUND

In computer security, the deployment of network-connected frontends, backends, middleware, databases, applications, interfaces, web services, and the like is based on server hosts supported by underlying infrastructure such as cloud computing systems, data centers, and other such networked computing systems. Administrators of deployed network services and security analysts have responsibility for maintaining availability of server hosts, and taking appropriate responsive actions in the event of incidents such as power failures, hardware failures, network failures, malicious attacks, and the like.

As administrators and analysts must take actions in a timely fashion in response to incidents in real time, performance of their duties may be facilitated by monitoring tools running on computing systems configured for human interaction. Monitoring tools may allow administrators and analysts to monitor information and statuses of server hosts over a network, and exercise human judgment to identify symptoms indicating the occurrence of incidents that require response. This may be a difficult task, as incidents on hosts may progress in a time-critical manner, challenging human operators to quickly review and summarize large amounts of information which may require extensive interaction to navigate, and reach conclusions in an expeditious manner.

Furthermore, human operators may be challenged to operate monitoring tools running on computing systems to remotely impose control upon monitored hosts and enact responsive actions that may resolve, curtail, mitigate, quarantine, or otherwise address incidents occurring at one or more hosts. Effective monitoring and control by network administrators and security analysts generally depend on experience with navigating and operating of particular monitoring tools, and costs of acquiring, training, and retaining such experience tend to be high.

Thus, there is a need to lower human capital costs of acquiring experience in remote monitoring and control of server hosts.

