System, method, and computer program product for transferring remote device support data to a monitor using e-mail

• US 20030055952A1
• Filed: 09/17/2001
• Published: 03/20/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 09/17/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Motoyama, Tetsuro, Fong, Avery
• Granted Patent: US 7,302,469 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 15/5075 Remote control machines, e.g. by a host
• CPC Class Codes: G03G 2215/00109 Remote control of apparatus, e.g. by a host
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3495 for systems
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/875 Monitoring of systems including the internet
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/026 using e-messaging for transporting management information, e.g. email, instant messaging or chat
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/044 comprising hierarchical management structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/065 related to network devices
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/00 User-to-user messaging in packet-switching networks, transmitted according to store-and-forward or real-time protocols, e.g. e-mail
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/08 Annexed information, e.g. attachments
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/216 Handling conversation history, e.g. grouping of messages in sessions or threads
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/56 Unified messaging, e.g. interactions between e-mail, instant messaging or converged IP messaging [CPM]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0428 wherein the data content is protected, e.g. by encrypting or encapsulating the payload
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00312 with a digital transmission apparatus, e.g. a switched network of teleprinters for the distribution of text-based information, SMS or ISDN device transmitting or receiving via a computer, e.g. using e-mail, a computer network or the internet H04N1/00214; transmission of digital information H04L
• CPC Class Codes: H04N 1/00344 with a management, maintenance, service or repair apparatus monitoring H04N1/00002

Abstract

In a monitoring system for networked devices, a system, method, and computer program product for transferring monitoring information from a remote monitor to a central monitor responsible for monitoring devices on multiple networks. A communications link is established between a remote monitor and a message transfer server. Monitoring information is formatted into a standard format, encrypted, encoded, and sent from the remote monitor to the central monitor as an attachment to an e-mail sent via the communication link to the message transfer server.

Claims

1. A method for transferring monitoring information from a remote monitor to a central monitor, comprising the steps of:

creating a communication link by the remote monitor between the remote monitor and a message transfer server;

formatting the monitoring information into a standard format;

sending the monitoring information in the standard format as an attachment to a message from the remote monitor to the message transfer server via the communication link using a transfer protocol;

sending the message from the message transfer server to the central monitor over a network using the transfer protocol; and

closing the communication link by the remote monitor, wherein

the monitoring information includes at least one of configuration information and status information corresponding to at least one networked device monitored by the remote monitor.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

storing a source address corresponding to the remote monitor in a first memory of the remote monitor;

storing a destination address corresponding to the central monitor in a second memory of the remote monitor; and

querying the first memory for the source address by the remote monitor;

querying the second memory for the destination address by the remote monitor;

creating a message header including the source address and the destination address by the remote monitor, wherein

the message includes the message header.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein at least one of the first memory and the second memory comprises a system registry of the remote monitor.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the standard format does not change with a type of monitoring information being formatted.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one networked device comprises at least one of a printer, a facsimile device, a copier, a scanner, an appliance, a video cassette recorder, a digital camera, a cellular phone, and a personal data assistant.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

gathering the monitoring information by the remote monitor from the at least one network device; and

storing the monitoring information gathered in the gathering step by the remote monitor in a digital repository coupled to the remote monitor.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the gathering step comprises gathering the monitoring information using a simple network management protocol.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the transfer protocol comprises a store-and-forward protocol.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transfer protocol comprises a simple mail transfer protocol.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the transfer protocol comprises a direct connection protocol.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the direct connection protocol comprises at least one of a file transfer protocol and a hyper text transfer protocol.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein:

the message comprises an Internet e-mail message, and

the attachment comprises a multipurpose Internet mail extensions attachment to the Internet e-mail message.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of an Internet protocol address and a media access control address of the at least one networked device.

14. The method of claim 1, wherein the status information comprises at least one of an alarm and an operational status of the at least one networked device.

15. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

encrypting the monitoring information by the remote monitor prior to the sending the monitoring information step.

16. The method of claim 15, further comprising the step of:

encoding the monitoring information by the remote monitor after the encrypting step and prior to the sending the monitoring information step.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the encoding step comprises encoding the monitoring information using a base 64 encoding.

18. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of:

encoding the monitoring information by the remote monitor prior to the sending the monitoring information step.

19. A computer-implemented system for transferring monitoring information from a remote monitor to a central monitor, comprising:

a processor; and

a computer readable medium encoded with processor readable instructions that when executed by the processor implement

a communication link mechanism configured to create a communication link between the remote monitor and a message transfer server and to close the communication link after monitoring information has been sent by the remote monitor to the message transfer server, the monitoring information including at least one of configuration information and status information corresponding to at least one network device monitored by the remote monitor,

a monitoring information formatting mechanism configured to format the monitoring information into a standard format, and

a sending mechanism configured to send the monitoring information to the message transfer server as an attachment to a message via the communication link using a transfer protocol.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer readable medium is further encoded with processor readable instructions that when executed by the processor further implement

an encrypting mechanism configured to encrypt the monitoring information prior to sending the monitoring information to the message transfer server.

21. The system of claim 20, wherein the computer readable medium is further encoded with processor readable instructions that when executed by the processor further implement

an encoding mechanism configured to encode the monitoring information after the encrypting mechanism encrypts the monitoring information and prior to sending the monitoring information to the message transfer server.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein the encoding mechanism is further configured to encode the monitoring information using a base 64 encoding.

23. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer readable medium is further encoded with processor readable instructions that when executed by the processor further implement

an encoding mechanism configured to encode the monitoring information prior to sending the monitoring information to the message transfer server.

24. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer readable medium is further encoded with processor readable instructions that when executed by the processor further implement

a message address mechanism configured to

store a source address corresponding to the remote monitor in a first memory of the remote monitor, and

store a destination address corresponding to the central monitor in a second memory of the remote monitor;

and

a message header manipulation mechanism configured to

query the first memory for the source address,

query the second memory for the destination address, and

create a header including the source address and the destination address, wherein

the message includes the header.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein at least one of the first memory and the second memory comprise a system registry of the remote monitor.

26. The system of claim 19, wherein the transfer protocol comprises a store-and-forward protocol.

27. The system of claim 19, wherein the transfer protocol comprises a simple mail transfer protocol.

28. The system of claim 19, wherein:

the message comprises an Internet e-mail message, and

the attachment comprises a multipurpose Internet mail extensions attachment to the Internet e-mail message.

29. The system of claim 19, wherein the standard format does not change with a type of monitoring information being formatted.

30. The system of claim 19, wherein the at least one network device comprises at least one of a printer, a facsimile device, a copier, a scanner, an appliance, a video cassette recorder, a digital camera, a cellular phone, and a personal data assistant.

31. The system of claim 19, wherein the computer readable medium is further encoded with processor readable instructions that when executed by the processor further implement

an database management mechanism configured to store the monitoring information in a digital repository coupled to the remote monitor and retrieve the monitoring information from the digital repository.

32. The system of claim 19, wherein the transfer protocol comprises a direct connection protocol.

33. The system of claim 19, wherein the transfer protocol comprises at least one of a file transfer protocol and a hyper text transfer protocol.

34. The system of claim 19, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of an Internet protocol address and a media access control address of the at least one network device.

35. The system of claim 19, wherein the status information comprises at least one of an alarm and an operational status of the at least one network device.

36. A computer program product, comprising:

a computer storage medium; and

a computer program code mechanism embedded in the computer storage medium for causing a computer to transfer monitoring information of at least one network device from a remote monitor to a central monitor, the computer program code mechanism having

a first computer code device configured to create a communication link between the remote monitor and a message transfer server and to close the communication link after monitoring information has been sent by the remote monitor to the message transfer server, the monitoring information including at least one of configuration information and status information corresponding to at least one network device monitored by the remote monitor,

a second computer code device configured to format the monitoring information into a standard format, and

a third computer code device configured to send the monitoring information to the message transfer server as an attachment to a message via the communication link using a transfer protocol.

37. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the computer program code mechanism further having

a fourth computer code device configured to encrypt the monitoring information prior to sending the monitoring information to the message transfer server.

38. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein the computer program code mechanism further having

a fifth computer code device configured to encode the monitoring information after the fourth computer code device encrypts the monitoring information and prior to sending the monitoring information to the message transfer server.

39. The computer program product of claim 38, wherein the fifth computer code device is further configured to encode the monitoring information using a base 64 encoding.

40. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the computer program code mechanism further having

a fourth computer code device configured to encode the monitoring information prior to sending the monitoring information to the message transfer server.

41. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the computer program code mechanism further having

a fourth computer code device configured to

store a source address corresponding to the remote monitor in a first memory of the remote monitor, and

store a destination address corresponding to the central monitor in a second memory of the remote monitor;

and

a fifth computer code device configured to

query the first memory for the source address,

query the second memory for the destination address, and

create a header including the source address and the destination address, wherein

the message includes the header.

42. The computer program product of claim 41, wherein at least one of the first memory and the second memory comprise a system registry of the remote monitor.

43. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the transfer protocol comprises a store-and-forward protocol.

44. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the transfer protocol comprises a simple mail transfer protocol.

45. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein:

the message comprises an Internet e-mail message, and

the attachment comprises a multipurpose Internet mail extensions attachment to the Internet e-mail message.

46. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the standard format does not change with a type of monitoring information being formatted.

47. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the at least one network device comprises at least one of a printer, a facsimile device, a copier, a scanner, an appliance, a video cassette recorder, a digital camera, a cellular phone, and a personal data assistant.

48. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the computer program code mechanism further having

a fourth computer code device configured to store the monitoring information in a digital repository coupled to the remote monitor and retrieve the monitoring information from the digital repository.

49. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the transfer protocol comprises a direct connection protocol.

50. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the transfer protocol comprises at least one of a file transfer protocol and a hyper text transfer protocol.

51. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the configuration information comprises at least one of an Internet protocol address and a media access control address of the at least one network device.

52. The computer program product of claim 36, wherein the status information comprises at least one of an alarm and an operational status of the at least one network device.

53. The computer program product of claim 37, wherein a new encryption technique may be added by modifying the fourth computer code device without modifying the first computer code device, the second computer code device, the third computer code device, or an application that interfaces with the computer program product.