Self-Healing Computers Could Mean an End to Computer Crashes and Performance Problems

          Wouldn't it be nice if computers could fix themselves? What is you never had to worry about installing or updating software? What if your computer could continually fine-tune its operation to maintain peak performance? What if your computer could fight off viruses and malicious attacks from outsiders? For many people, this sounds too good to be true. Maintenance and security tasks like these can be time consuming and frustrating.

          Now imagine you run a business and unless these task are performed, you will lose valuable time and money. It is not a pleasant daydream and it quickly becomes a nightmare without properly trained systems administrators to keep servers running smoothly. Yet many experts predict that supercomputers and business systems are not far from becoming too complex for humans to oversee. Recent news from IBM makes the dream of self-repairing, self-updating, and self-protecting server seem ever closer.

          IBM has announced to concentrate research efforts on developing just such a server. The project, called the Autonomic Computing Initiative (ACI), hopes to free businesses from the time-consuming maintenance and the complexity of business infrastructure. IBM hopes the new system will be self-regulating and virtually invisible. They believe ACI has the potential to revolutionize the way businesses run.

          Autonomic computing is a system that allows machine to run with little human intervention. Such computers would not have self-awareness, but rather would be self-correcting. Autonomic processes in machines are modeled after autonomic processes in the human body. For example, you are not consciously breathing as you read this. Instead, your body monitors and maintains your respiration without your constant input. Scientists hope autonomic computing will behave in a similar manner and maintain self-regulating system without intervention.

          Autonomic machines would be able to sense security flaws and repair them. They would be able to sense slow computer operations and take corrective action. They would be able to sense new equipment, format it, and test it. These goals are impressive and the autonomic computer is still in development.

          As technology continues to develop, many computer systems have become too complex for human maintenance. This progress makes autonomic computing more valuable now than ever. However, it is important to note that autonomic computing is not artificial intelligence because autonomic machines do not have human cognitive abilities or intelligence. Instead, these machines have knowledge of their own systems and the capability to learn from experiences to correct errors in such systems.

          Given the potential for a self-maintaining server, the possibility of a similar system designed for a microcomputer seems less like a dream and more like a reality. What do you think-will microcomputers someday care for themselves?