Method and apparatus for automatic discovery of logical links between network devices
First Claim
1. A method for automatic discovery of logical links associated with network devices comprising the steps of:
- selecting a first managed network device having a first network interface, said first network device being managed by a network management system;
determining a local interface address and a next neighbor address associated with said first network interface;
comparing said local interface address and next neighbor address with endpoint address information associated with a plurality of logical links stored in a logical link database associated with said network management system;
creating a first logical link between said local interface address and said next neighbor address;
storing said first logical link in said logical link database;
displaying a graphical representation of said first logical link on a display device.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention comprises a method and apparatus for automatic discovery of logical links between network devices. In one embodiment, the present invention comprises part of a network management system (“NM”) that manages a discrete set of network devices. The NM sends SNMP queries to individual network devices managed by the NM to obtain interface configuration data for each of the network interfaces of the device. The information requested includes destination information (“next hop” or “neighbor” IP address) for data packets sent from the interface. The NM checks to see whether a logical link corresponding to the received configuration information already exists in a logical link database maintained by the NM. If such a link exists the NM checks to see if the existing information for the link is valid. If the existing link data is valid, no change is made. If the existing information is not valid, or if no corresponding link is found in the link database, the NM creates a new link corresponding to the new configuration information. In one or more embodiments, the NM displays a graphical view of the discovered IP links on a graphical network map.
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Citations
40 Claims
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1. A method for automatic discovery of logical links associated with network devices comprising the steps of:
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selecting a first managed network device having a first network interface, said first network device being managed by a network management system;
determining a local interface address and a next neighbor address associated with said first network interface;
comparing said local interface address and next neighbor address with endpoint address information associated with a plurality of logical links stored in a logical link database associated with said network management system;
creating a first logical link between said local interface address and said next neighbor address;
storing said first logical link in said logical link database;
displaying a graphical representation of said first logical link on a display device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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32. A method for automatic discovery of logical links associated with network devices comprising the steps of:
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selecting a first managed network device having a first network interface, said first network device being managed by a network management system;
determining a local interface address and a next neighbor address associated with said first network interface;
comparing said local interface address and next neighbor address with endpoint address information associated with a plurality of logical links stored in a logical link database associated with said network management system;
determining that said local interface address and next neighbor address are both associated with endpoint address information for a first logical link stored in said logical link database. - View Dependent Claims (33, 34)
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35. An apparatus for discovering logical links associated with network devices comprising:
a network management system comprising;
a database of managed network devices;
a database of logical links associated with said managed network devices;
a network communications system for sending messages to managed network devices and receiving messages from said managed network devices;
a message analysis system for determining local interface address information and next neighbor address information from messages received from said managed network devices. - View Dependent Claims (36, 37, 38, 39, 40)
Specification