Intuitive user interface (UI) for device or vendor independent network switch management via embedded management controller

• US 10,664,551 B2
• Filed: 07/25/2016
• Issued: 05/26/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2016
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: American Megatrends International, LLC
• Original Assignee: American Megatrends International, LLC
• Inventors: Bhatia, Anurag, Ballapalli, Kiran Kumar, Chiu, Yi-Wei, Hsin, George, Gupta, Ajay Kumar
• Primary Examiner(s): Salad, Abdullahi E
• Application Number:
  US15/218,573
• Publication Number:
  US 20180026854A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,401 Days
• Field of Search: 709203
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/13 File access structures, e.g. distributed indices arrangements of input from, or output to, record carriers G06F3/06
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/986 Document structures and storage, e.g. HTML extensions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0233 Object-oriented techniques, for representation of network management data, e.g. common object request broker architecture [CORBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

Certain aspects direct to systems and methods for providing an intuitive user interface (UI) for device or vendor independent network switch management via a management controller. The management controller is communicatively connected to a network switch through a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) interface. The management controller provides a web UI. When a remote computing device request the web UI, the management controller sends the web UI to the remote computing device. Thus, a user at the remote computing device may upload the parsed information of the MIB file to the management controller through the UI. The management controller then processes the parsed information of the MIB file, and displays the processed parsed information in a hierarchical organization through the UI. Then the management controller establishes a communication between the management controller and the network switch through the SNMP interface based on the parsed information of the MIB file.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a network switch having a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) interface; and

a management controller communicatively connected to the network switch through the SNMP interface, the management controller comprising a processor and a storage device storing computer executable code, wherein the computer executable code, when executed at the processor, is configured to;

provide a user interface (UI) in a web page format, wherein the UI is configured to receive and store parsed information of a management information base (MIB) file corresponding to the network switch, and display the parsed information of the MIB file in a hierarchical organization;

in response to receiving a web page request for the UI from a remote computing device through an out-of-band (OOB) network, send the UI to the remote computing device, such that the UI is displayable at the remote computing device;

receive, through the UI, the parsed information of the MIB file from the remote computing device;

process the parsed information of the MIB file received from the remote computing device, and display, through the UI, the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the hierarchical organization; and

establish a communication between the management controller and the network switch through the SNMP interface based on the parsed information of the MIB file, wherein the management controller functions as a client of the communication and the network switch functions as a server of the communication,

wherein the remote computing device comprises a parser application configured to parse the MIB file and generate the parsed information of the MIB file.

2. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the management controller is a chassis management controller, a baseboard management controller (BMC), or a rack management controller.

3. The system as claimed in claim 1, wherein the parsed information of the MIB file comprises a plurality of JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) objects.

4. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the parser application of the remote computing device is configured to generate the parsed information of the MIB file by:

parsing the MIB file to retrieve a plurality of Object Identifiers (OIDs) from the MIB file; and

generating the parsed information of the MIB file by converting the OIDs to the JSON objects.

5. The system as claimed in claim 3, wherein the computer executable code, when executed at the processor, is further configured to:

receive, through the UI, an input for managing and configuring the network switch from the remote computing device through the OOB network; and

manage and configure the network switch via the communication through the SNMP interface based on the input and the parsed information of the MIB file.

6. The system as claimed in claim 5, wherein the computer executable code comprises:

a data store configured to store configuration data of the network switch, wherein the configuration data of the network switch comprises the processed parsed information of the MIB file;

a user interface (UI) module, configured to;

generate the UI;

in response to receiving the parsed information of the MIB file, process the parsed information of the MIB file, and store the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the data store; and

display the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the hierarchical organization;

a web server module configured to;

generate a web page for the UI;

in response to receiving the web page request, send the web page to the remote computing device through the OOB network, such that the UI is displayable at the remote computing device;

receive, by the UI, the parsed information of the MIB file from the remote computing device; and

receive, by the UI, the input from the remote computing device; and

a network switch control module, configured to;

establish the communication between the management controller and the network switch through the SNMP interface based on the parsed information of the MIB file; and

in response to the input,

generate a command for managing the network switch based on the input, and send the command to the network switch via the communication through the SNMP interface; and

update the configuration data of the network switch stored in the data store based on the input.

7. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the web page is in a HTML5 compatible format.

8. The system as claimed in claim 6, wherein the UI module is configured to process the parsed information of the MIB file and store the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the data store by:

converting the JSON objects to a plurality of UI display options by arranging the JSON objects in a hierarchical format; and

storing the converted UI display options as the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the data store, such that the converted UI display options are displayable in the hierarchical organization.

9. A method for providing an intuitive user interface (UI) for device or vendor independent network switch management via a management controller, the method comprising:

providing, at the management controller, a UI in a web page format, wherein the UI is configured to receive and store parsed information of a management information base (MIB) file corresponding to a network switch having a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) interface, and display the parsed information of the MIB file in a hierarchical organization;

in response to receiving a web page request for the UI from a remote computing device through an out-of-band (OOB) network, sending, by the management controller, the UI to the remote computing device, such that the UI is displayable at the remote computing device;

receiving, at the management controller, the parsed information of the MIB file corresponding to the network switch from the remote computing device;

processing, by the management controller, the parsed information of the MIB file received from the remote computing device, and display, through the UI, the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the hierarchical organization; and

establishing, by the management controller, a communication between the management controller and the network switch through the SNMP interface based on the parsed information of the MIB file, wherein the management controller functions as a client of the communication and the network switch functions as a server of the communication,

wherein the remote computing device comprises a parser application configured to parse the MIB file and generate the parsed information of the MIB file.

10. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the management controller is a chassis management controller, a baseboard management controller (BMC), or a rack management controller.

11. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the parsed information of the MIB file comprises a plurality of JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) objects, and the parser application of the remote computing device is configured to generate the parsed information of the MIB file by:

parsing the MIB file to retrieve a plurality of Object Identifiers (OIDs) from the MIB file; and

generating the parsed information of the MIB file by converting the OIDs to the JSON objects.

12. The method as claimed in claim 11, further comprising:

storing, by the management controller, the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the data store;

receiving, by the management controller through the UI, an input for managing and configuring the network switch from the remote computing device through the 00B network; and

managing and configuring, by the management controller, the network switch via the communication through the SNMP interface based on the input and the parsed information of the MIB file.

13. The method as claimed in claim 12, wherein the management controller is configured to process the parsed information of the MIB file and store the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the data store by:

converting the JSON objects to a plurality of UI display options by arranging the JSON objects in a hierarchical format; and

storing the converted UI display options as the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the data store, such that the converted UI display options are displayable in the hierarchical organization.

14. The method as claimed in claim 9, wherein the web page format is a HTML5 compatible format.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium storing computer executable code, wherein the computer executable code, when executed at a processor of a management controller, is configured to:

provide a user interface (UI) in a web page format, wherein the UI is configured to receive and store parsed information of a management information base (MIB) file corresponding to a network switch having a Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) interface, and display the parsed information of the MIB file in a hierarchical organization, wherein the management controller is communicatively connected to the network switch through the SNMP interface;

in response to receiving a web page request for the UI from a remote computing device through an out-of-band (OOB) network, send the UI to the remote computing device, such that the UI is displayable at the remote computing device;

receive, through the UI, the parsed information of the MIB file corresponding to the network switch from the remote computing device;

process the parsed information of the MIB file received from the remote computing device, and display, through the UI, the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the hierarchical organization; and

establish a communication between the management controller and the network switch through the SNMP interface based on the parsed information of the MIB file, wherein the management controller functions as a client of the communication and the network switch functions as a server of the communication,

wherein the remote computing device comprises a parser application configured to parse the MIB file and generate the parsed information of the MIB file.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein the management controller is a chassis management controller, a baseboard management controller (BMC), or a rack management controller.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 15, wherein the parsed information of the MIB file comprises a plurality of JavaScript Object Notation (JSON) objects, and the parser application of the remote computing device is configured to generate the parsed information of the MIB file by:

parsing the MIB file to retrieve a plurality of Object Identifiers (OIDs) from the MIB file; and

generating the parsed information of the MIB file by converting the OIDs to the JSON objects.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 17, wherein the computer executable code, when executed at the processor, is further configured to:

receive, through the UI, an input for managing and configuring the network switch from the remote computing device through the OOB network; and

manage and configure the network switch via the communication through the SNMP interface based on the input and the parsed information of the MIB file.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 18, wherein the computer executable code comprises:

a data store configured to store configuration data of the network switch, wherein the configuration data of the network switch comprises the parsed information of the MIB file;

a user interface (UI) module, configured to;

generate the UI;

in response to receiving the parsed information of the MIB file, process the parsed information of the MIB file, and store the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the data store; and

display the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the hierarchical organization;

a web server module configured to;

generate a web page for the UI;

in response to receiving the web page request, send the web page to the remote computing device through the OOB network, such that the UI is displayable at the remote computing device;

receive, by the UI, the parsed information of the MIB file from the remote computing device; and

receive, by the UI, the input from the remote computing device; and

a network switch control module, configured to;

establish the communication between the management controller and the network switch through the SNMP interface based on the parsed information of the MIB file; and

in response to the input,

generate a command for managing the network switch based on the input, and send the command to the network switch via the communication through the SNMP interface; and

update the configuration data of the network switch stored in the data store based on the input.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium as claimed in claim 19, wherein the UI module is configured to process the parsed information of the MIB file and store the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the data store by:

converting the JSON objects to a plurality of UI display options by arranging the JSON objects in a hierarchical format; and

storing the converted UI display options as the processed parsed information of the MIB file in the data store, such that the converted UI display options are displayable in the hierarchical organization.