Fecha de publicación: 27/12/2012 Fuente: WIPO "hive" In one embodiment, the present invention is a method and apparatus for layering agents in a distributed computing system. In one embodiment, a system for monitoring and controlling a distributed computer network including a plurality of components (e.g., devices) includes a plurality of cells, each of the cells being deployed to directly monitor and control one of the components of the network. The system also includes at least one federation, where the federation is made up of cells that cooperate to solve common problems, and at least one supercell, where the supercell provides supplemental decision making capabilities to the cells and federations. In this manner, problems detected by a cell that cannot be resolved by the cell may be forwarded to the cell's associated federations or supercells for resolution.