Systems and methods for characterizing and fingerprinting a computer data center environment
First Claim
1. A method of providing a report regarding a plurality of devices, the method comprising:
- providing a networking software agent (netbot), the netbot communicating with the plurality of devices, the netbot providing a hardware topology of the plurality of devices, the netbot querying each of the plurality of devices to determine their software configuration information; and
providing a hashing software agent (hashbot), the hashbot providing a condensed representation corresponding to information provided by the netbot.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed are novel methods and apparatus for providing characterization and fingerprinting of computer data center environments. In an embodiment, the present invention generally relates to automated, secure and dynamic methods and apparatus to characterize and/or fingerprint an entire data center hardware and/or software. In another embodiment, a detailed, time-stamped report on the entire data center or specific resources may be generated and archived for billing purposes under a services and resources provisioning scheme such as capacity on demand or utility computing. In a further embodiment, a detailed report with, for example, data center digital fingerprints can be generated in a relatively short period of time (e.g., seconds to minutes) and archived for business expansion, consolidation, disaster recovery, service provisioning, resource provisioning, capacity planning, and/or optimization.
66 Citations
36 Claims
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1. A method of providing a report regarding a plurality of devices, the method comprising:
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providing a networking software agent (netbot), the netbot communicating with the plurality of devices, the netbot providing a hardware topology of the plurality of devices, the netbot querying each of the plurality of devices to determine their software configuration information; and
providing a hashing software agent (hashbot), the hashbot providing a condensed representation corresponding to information provided by the netbot. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A method of determining changes in a plurality of device profiles, the method comprising:
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providing a networking software agent (netbot), the netbot communicating with a plurality of devices, the netbot providing a hardware topology of the plurality of devices, the netbot querying each of the plurality of devices to determine their software configuration information;
providing a hashing software agent (hashbot), the hashbot computing a checksum for each of the plurality of devices, the checksum including device profile data corresponding to information provided by the netbot; and
comparing the computed checksum with a previously computed checksum to determine changes in the device profile data. - View Dependent Claims (16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29)
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30. An article of manufacture for determining changes in a plurality of device profiles, the article comprising:
a machine readable medium that provides instructions that, if executed by a machine, will cause the machine to perform operations including;
providing a networking software agent (netbot), the netbot communicating with a plurality of devices, the netbot providing a hardware topology of the plurality of devices, the netbot querying each of the plurality of devices to determine their software configuration information;
providing a hashing software agent (hashbot), the hashbot computing a checksum for each of the plurality of devices, the checksum including device profile data corresponding to information provided by the netbot; and
comparing the computed checksum with a previously computed checksum to determine changes in the device profile data. - View Dependent Claims (31, 32, 33)
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34. An article of manufacture for providing a report regarding a plurality of devices, the article comprising:
a machine readable medium that provides instructions that, if executed by a machine, will cause the machine to perform operations including;
providing a networking software agent (netbot), the netbot communicating with the plurality of devices, the netbot providing a hardware topology of the plurality of devices, the netbot querying each of the plurality of devices to determine their software configuration information; and
providing a hashing software agent (hashbot), the hashbot providing a condensed representation corresponding to information provided by the netbot. - View Dependent Claims (35, 36)
Specification