Interface layer for diagnostic support of network-accessible devices

• US 10,693,757 B2
• Filed: 01/24/2017
• Issued: 06/23/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 01/24/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Salesforce.com, Inc.
• Inventors: Kumar, Amit, Jadhav, Tushar G., Rengan, Suchindra
• Primary Examiner(s): Wu, Jianye
• Application Number:
  US15/414,612
• Publication Number:
  US 20180212852A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,246 Days
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/101 Access control lists [ACL]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/06 Authentication
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/068 using credential vaults, e.g. password manager applications or one time password [OTP] applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/069 using certificates or pre-shared keys
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 12/08 Access security

Abstract

Techniques are disclosed relating to diagnosing a network-accessible device. A first computer may store authorization information associated with a plurality of network-accessible computing devices associated with a user. The first computer system may receive, from a second computer system, a request from the user to perform a diagnostic operation that involves communication between a third computer system and a particular one of the plurality of network-accessible computing devices. The first computer system may request, based on a permission indicated by the stored authorization information, that the third computer system retrieve diagnostic information from the particular network-accessible computing device and perform the diagnostic operation. The first computer system may receive, from the third computer system, result information relating to the diagnostic operation.

Claims

1. A non-transitory, computer readable medium having program instructions stored thereon that are executable to cause an interface layer computer system to perform operations comprising:

storing, at a database of the interface layer computer system, authorization information that identifies a plurality of network-accessible computing devices associated with a user, wherein the authorization information grants the interface layer computer system permission to request diagnostic operations for the plurality of network-accessible computing devices that are associated with the user;

implementing an interface layer to facilitate communication between separate computer systems that include;

the plurality of network-accessible computing devices associated with a user;

a multi-tenant diagnostic computer system that hosts a plurality of tenants operable to provide diagnostic support for the plurality of network-accessible computing devices; and

a diagnostic-requesting computer system that is remote from the interface layer computer system and is operable to receive user input to initiate diagnostic operations for the plurality of network-accessible computing devices,

wherein the implementing of the interface layer by the interface layer computer system includes;

receiving, from the diagnostic-requesting computer system, a request to perform a diagnostic operation that involves communication between the multi-tenant diagnostic computer system and a particular one of the plurality of network-accessible computing devices, wherein the request includes a device identifier for the particular network-accessible computing device;

accessing, based on the device identifier, a portion of the authorization information that is associated with the particular network-accessible computing device;

selecting, based on the portion of the authorization information, a tenant from the plurality of tenants that corresponds to the particular network-accessible computing device;

requesting, based on the portion of the authorization information, that the tenant retrieve diagnostic information from the particular network-accessible computing device and perform the diagnostic operation;

receiving, from the tenant via the multi-tenant diagnostic computer system, result information relating to the diagnostic operation;

providing the result information to the user via a user device that is associated with the user; and

wherein the interface layer computer system permits the user to request the diagnostic operation without the diagnostic-requesting computer system communicating with the multi-tenant diagnostic computer system.

2. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the result information includes a solution to a problem associated with the particular network-accessible computing device.

3. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the result information includes a solution to a problem associated with the particular network-accessible computing device, and wherein the operations further comprise:

performing an analysis on the result information to determine elements for identifying the problem and the solution;

storing information associated with the analysis; and

using the stored information associated with the analysis to resolve a subsequent diagnostic request associated with a different network-accessible computing device.

4. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from a different tenant hosted by the multi-tenant diagnostic computer system, authorization to request that the different tenant retrieve diagnostic information from an additional network-accessible computing device; and

updating the authorization information to indicate the authorization for the additional network-accessible computing device.

5. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

sending, to the multi-tenant diagnostic computer system, an authentication request to establish a communication link between the interface layer computer system and the multi-tenant diagnostic computer system; and

in response to approval of the authentication request by multi-tenant diagnostic computer system, establishing the communication link to permit subsequent diagnostic reporting between the interface layer computer system and multi-tenant diagnostic computer system.

6. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

retrieving, from a third-party system, environmental information pertaining to the particular network-accessible computing device; and

providing the environmental information to the multi-tenant diagnostic computer system.

7. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the operations further comprise:

prior to receiving the result information, the interface layer computer system polling the multi-tenant diagnostic computer system to determine a state of the diagnostic operation.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 1, wherein the multi-tenant diagnostic computer system is remote from the interface layer computer system.

9. A method, comprising:

an interface layer computer system storing, at a database of the interface layer computer system, authorization information that identifies a plurality of network-accessible computing devices associated with a user, wherein the authorization information grants the interface layer computer system permission to request diagnostic operations for the plurality of network-accessible computing devices that are associated with the user;

the interface layer computer system implementing an interface layer to facilitate communication between separate computer systems that include;

a plurality of network-accessible computing devices associated with a user;

a multi-tenant diagnostic database system that hosts a plurality of tenants that provide diagnostic support for the plurality of network-accessible computing devices; and

a diagnostic-requesting computer system that is remote from the interface layer computer system and is operable to receive user input to initiate diagnostic operations for the plurality of network-accessible computing devices,

wherein the implementing of the interface layer by the interface layer computer system includes;

receiving, from the user via the diagnostic-requesting computing system, a request for diagnostic assistance with a particular one of the plurality of network-accessible computing devices, wherein the request includes a device identifier for the particular network-accessible computing device;

accessing, based on the device identifier, a portion of the authorization information that is associated with the particular network-accessible computing device;

selecting, based on the portion of the authorization information, a tenant from the plurality of tenants that provides diagnostic support for the particular network-accessible computing device;

based the portion of the authorization information, retrieving particular system information from the particular network-accessible computing device;

sending, to the tenant via the multi-tenant diagnostic database system, a diagnostic request that requests that the tenant diagnose the particular network-accessible computing device, wherein the diagnostic request includes the particular system information;

receiving, from the tenant via the multi-tenant diagnostic database system, result information responsive to the diagnostic request; and

providing the result information to the user via a user device that is associated with the user.

10. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

the interface layer computer system sending, to the multi-tenant diagnostic database system, a communication request to permit the interface layer computer system to establish a communication channel to exchange data with the tenant;

the interface layer computer system receiving a response from the multi-tenant diagnostic database system that includes an authentication token; and

the interface layer computer system using the authentication token to establish the communication channel.

11. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

the interface layer computer system establishing a communication channel between the tenant and a user computing device of the user, wherein the communication channel permits the tenant to send the result information to the user computing device.

12. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

the interface layer computer system storing the system information and the result information in a particular record, wherein the particular record is useable to resolve subsequent requests associated with a different network-accessible device.

13. The method of claim 9, wherein the system information defines a current state of operation of the particular network-accessible computing device.

14. The method of claim 9, further comprising:

the interface layer computer system retrieving, from a third-party system, additional information relating to the particular network-accessible computing device; and

the interface layer computer system providing the additional information to the tenant hosted by the multi-tenant diagnostic database system.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium having program instructions stored thereon that are executable to cause a multi-tenant diagnostic computer system to perform operations comprising:

hosting a plurality of tenants, wherein a given one of the plurality of tenants is operable to provide diagnostic support for a respective network-accessible computing device;

receiving, from an interface layer computer system, a request to diagnose a particular network-accessible computing device, wherein the request includes authorization information indicating that the interface layer computer system is authorized to provide the request, and wherein the interface layer computer system, the multi-tenant diagnostic computer system, and the particular network-accessible computing device are separate computer systems;

determining, from the plurality of tenants based on the request, a particular tenant that is operable to diagnose the particular network-accessible computing device;

retrieving, from the particular network-accessible computing device on behalf of the particular tenant, system information that indicates an operational state of the particular network-accessible computing device;

providing the request and the system information to the particular tenant for performing a diagnostic operation on the particular network-accessible computing device; and

sending, to the interface layer computer system on behalf of the particular tenant, result information indicating a result of the diagnostic operation.

16. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from a user device of a user associated with the particular network-accessible computing device, an authorization request to authorize the interface layer computer system to request that the particular tenant perform diagnostics on behalf of the user; and

in response to receiving the authorization request, sending authorization information to interface layer computer system indicating an authorization to request that the particular tenant perform diagnostics for the particular network-accessible computing device.

17. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, from the interface layer computer system, a request to establish a communication channel between the interface layer computer system and the multi-tenant diagnostic computer system; and

in response to receiving the request, sending an authentication token to the interface layer computer system.

18. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

establishing a communication channel with a user device of a user associated with the particular network-accessible computing device; and

sending, to the user via the established communication channel, result information based on the diagnostic operation.

19. The computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein the operations further comprise:

in response to the particular tenant performing the diagnostic operation, sending, to the particular network-accessible computing device, a request to update system configurations of the particular network-accessible computing device in order to resolve a problem.