Apparatus and method for automated discovery and monitoring of relationships between network elements

• US 20050157654A1
• Filed: 07/29/2004
• Published: 07/21/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 10/12/2000
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Tantiprasut, Thanes Duke, Farrell, Craig Anthony
• Application Number:
  US10/901,680
• Publication Number:
  US 20050157654A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/241
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

A network discovery and monitoring apparatus and method of using the same. An apparatus includes an agent configured for being hosted on one of a plurality of interconnected network elements that form at least a portion of a communication network. A method includes the agent gathering application data representing a network-based application that is accessible from the network element hosting the agent. The agent monitors application traffic between each discovered application and any network element having a relationship to the application. A result of the monitoring is a relational topology, at the application layer, of the network elements in the network.

Claims

1. A method of monitoring a network, comprising:

hosting an agent on at least one of a plurality of interconnected network elements, wherein the agent is configured to gather application data representing a network-based application for use by the host network element; and

using the agent, monitoring application traffic between the application and at least one other network element.

2. The method according to claim 1, further comprising tracing a route of the application traffic with the agent.

3. The method according to claim 2, wherein the tracing the route includes identifying a server of the application.

4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the tracing the route includes identifying a client of the server.

5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the tracing the route includes identifying any intermediate network elements along the route between the server and the client.

6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the client is the host network element.

7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the agent is further configured to identify a relationship between the application and the other network element based on the application traffic.

8. The method according to claim 7, wherein the relationship is a client/server relationship.

9. The method according to claim 7, wherein the relationship is a peer-to-peer relationship.

10. A method of monitoring a network, comprising:

hosting an agent on at least one of a plurality of interconnected network elements;

gathering, with said agent, application data representing a network-based application for use by the host network element; and

using said agent, monitoring application traffic between the application and any other network element having a relationship with the application.

11. The method according to claim 10, wherein the monitoring further comprises tracing a route of said application traffic.

12. The method according to claim 10, wherein the application data includes data representing a server of the application.

13. The method according to claim 10, further comprising reporting the application data and application traffic data to a network management system.

14. The method according to claim 13, wherein the network management system is hosted on a different one of the network elements.

15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the monitoring further comprises identifying any intermediate network elements between the server and a client traversed by said application traffic.

16. The method according to claim 15, wherein the monitoring further comprises tracing a route between the server and the client.

17. The method according to claim 16, wherein the route forms an topology of network elements for the application.

18. The method according to claim 10, further comprising repeating the gathering application data and the monitoring application traffic for each network-based application used by the host network element.

19. The method according to claim 18, wherein the monitoring further comprising tracing a route between a server and a client of each application.

20. (canceled)

21. A method of monitoring a network, comprising:

hosting an agent on at least one of a plurality of interconnected network elements, for autonomously gathering application data with said hosted agent, wherein the application data represents a network-based application for use by the host network element; and

using said agent, monitoring application traffic between the application and any other network element having a relationship to the application.

22-26. -26. (canceled)