An Autonomic Reference Architecture

Software applications and architectures continue to grow in size and complexity to address ever increasing user demands. Autonomic Computing is the result of new thinking on how to address the complexity of new applications and systems with minimal human intervention while maintaining service level agreements. This paper provides a brief introduction to autonomic computing, and defines a first step autonomic reference architecture along with its components. Ideas from proactive computing and software rejuvenation are also incorporated into the interactions of the reference architecture since they provide benefits that are complementary to autonomic capabilities. The autonomic reference architecture is intended to serve as the blueprint for creating integrated autonomic solutions for various industries in the future.