Method and system for managing vendor and model information in a multi-protocol remote monitoring system

• US 20050165927A1
• Filed: 01/27/2004
• Published: 07/28/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 01/27/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Original Assignee: Ricoh Company Limited
• Inventors: Motoyama, Tetsuro, Fong, Avery
• Granted Patent: US 7,610,372 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/2294 by remote test
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/022 Multivendor or multi-standard integration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning

Abstract

A method, system, and computer program product for managing information used by a plurality of communication protocols to extract status information related to a monitored device among distinct devices communicatively coupled to a network. The method includes selecting a communication protocol among the plurality of communication protocols; retrieving, from a first memory, information for accessing the device using the selected communication protocol; and accessing the device using the selected communication protocol and the information retrieved from the first memory. In addition, a vendor-model support map, a protocol parameter map, and a status information map are maintained to allow for the efficient extraction of status information from monitored network devices using the plurality of communication protocols.

Claims

1. A method of managing information related to at least one monitored device communicatively coupled to a network, comprising:

selecting a communication protocol among a plurality of communication protocols used to extract status information from the at least one monitored device;

retrieving, from a first memory, a protocol object associated with the selected communication protocol, wherein the protocol object includes vendor and model information of the at least one monitored device;

obtaining, from the protocol object, a vendor name of a monitored device of the at least one monitored device supported by the selected communication protocol;

obtaining, from the protocol object, a model name corresponding to the obtained vendor name;

creating a descriptive string using the obtained vendor name and the obtained model name;

determining if the descriptive string is present in a second memory; and

if the determining step determines that the descriptive string is not present in the second memory, storing the descriptive string in the second memory in association with the protocol object.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the creating step comprises:

creating the descriptive string using the vendor name, the corresponding model name, and a separator string.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

repeating the selecting, retrieving, obtaining the vendor name, obtaining the model name, creating, determining, and storing steps for each protocol of the plurality of communication protocols.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the storing step comprises:

storing the descriptive string in a vendor-model support map in the second memory, the vendor-model support map having at least one entry, wherein each entry includes the descriptive string and a vendor-model value.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the selecting step comprises:

selecting the communication protocol among SNMP, HTTP, and FTP.

6. A method of managing information necessary to extract status information from a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network, comprising:

selecting a communication protocol among a plurality of communication protocols used to extract the status information from the monitored device;

retrieving a descriptive string from a first memory, the descriptive string including a vendor name and a corresponding model name supported by the selected communication protocol;

extracting the vendor name and the corresponding model name from the descriptive string;

determining if the extracted vendor name and the extracted model name match a vendor name and a model name, respectively, of the monitored device; and

if the determining step determines that the extracted vendor name and the extracted model name match the vendor name and the model name, respectively, of the monitored device, accessing the device to obtain the status information using the selected communication protocol.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the retrieving step comprises:

retrieving the descriptive string comprising the vendor name, the corresponding model name, and a separator string, the separator string being located between the vendor name and the corresponding model name.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the retrieving step comprises:

retrieving a vendor-model map from the first memory, the vendor-model map comprising at least one descriptive string; and

obtaining the descriptive string from the vendor-model map.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein the selecting step comprises:

selecting the communication protocol among SNMP, HTTP, and FTP.

10. A system for managing information related to at least one monitored device communicatively coupled to a network, comprising:

means for selecting a communication protocol among a plurality of communication protocols used to extract status information from the at least one monitored device;

means for retrieving, from a first memory, a protocol object associated with the selected communication protocol, wherein the protocol object includes vendor and model information of the at least one monitored device;

means for obtaining, from the protocol object, a vendor name of a monitored device of the at least one monitored device supported by the selected communication protocol;

means for obtaining, from the protocol object, a model name corresponding to the obtained vendor name;

means for creating a descriptive string using the obtained vendor name and the obtained model name;

means for determining if the descriptive string is present in a second memory; and

means for storing the descriptive string in the second memory in association with the protocol object, when the means for determining determines that the descriptive string is not present in the second memory.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the means for creating comprises:

means for creating the descriptive string using the vendor name, the corresponding model name, and a separator string.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the means for storing comprises:

means for storing the descriptive string in a vendor-model support map in the second memory, the vendor-model support map having at least one entry, wherein each entry includes the descriptive string and a vendor-model value.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the means for selecting comprises:

means for selecting the communication protocol among SNMP, HTTP, and FTP.

14. A system for managing information necessary to extract status information from a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network, comprising:

means for selecting a communication protocol among a plurality of communication protocols used to extract the status information from the monitored device;

means for retrieving a descriptive string from a first memory, the descriptive string including a vendor name and a corresponding model name supported by the selected communication protocol;

means for extracting the vendor name and the corresponding model name from the descriptive string;

means for determining if the extracted vendor name and the extracted model name match a vendor name and a model name, respectively, of the monitored device; and

means for accessing the device to obtain the status information using the selected communication protocol, when the means for determining determines that the extracted vendor name and the extracted model name match the vendor name and the model name, respectively, of the monitored device.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the means for retrieving comprises:

means for retrieving the descriptive string comprising the vendor name, the corresponding model name, and a separator string, the separator string being located between the vendor name and the corresponding model name.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the means for retrieving comprises:

means for retrieving a vendor-model map from the first memory, the vendor-model map comprising at least one descriptive string; and

means for obtaining the descriptive string from the vendor-model map.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the means for selecting comprises:

means for selecting the communication protocol among SNMP, HTTP, and FTP.

18. A computer program product having a computer usable medium for managing information related to at least one monitored device communicatively coupled to a network, comprising:

instructions for selecting a communication protocol among a plurality of communication protocols used to extract status information from the at least one monitored device;

instructions for retrieving, from a first memory, a protocol object associated with the selected communication protocol, wherein the protocol object includes vendor and model information of the at least one monitored device;

instructions for obtaining, from the protocol object, a vendor name of a monitored device of the at least one monitored device supported by the selected communication protocol;

instructions for obtaining, from the protocol object, a model name corresponding to the obtained vendor name;

instructions for creating a descriptive string using the obtained vendor name and the obtained model name;

instructions for determining if the descriptive string is present in a second memory; and

instructions for storing the descriptive string in the second memory in association with the protocol object, when the instructions for determining determine that the descriptive string is not present in the second memory,

19. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the instructions for creating comprise:

instructions for creating the descriptive string using the vendor name, the corresponding model name, and a separator string.

20. The computer program product of claim 18, further comprising:

instructions for repeating the instructions for selecting, instructions for retrieving, instructions for obtaining the vendor name, instructions for obtaining the model name, instructions for creating, instructions for determining, and instructions for storing for each protocol of the plurality of communication protocols.

21. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the instructions for storing comprise:

instructions for storing the descriptive string in a vendor-model support map in the second memory, the vendor-model support map having at least one entry, wherein each entry includes the descriptive string and a vendor-model value.

22. The computer program product of claim 18, wherein the instructions for selecting comprise:

instructions for selecting the communication protocol among SNMP, HTTP, and FTP.

23. A computer program product having a computer usable medium for managing information necessary to extract status information from a monitored device communicatively coupled to a network, comprising:

instructions for selecting a communication protocol among a plurality of communication protocols used to extract the status information from the monitored device;

instructions for retrieving a descriptive string from a first memory, the descriptive string including a vendor name and a corresponding model name supported by the selected communication protocol;

instructions for extracting the vendor name and the corresponding model name from the descriptive string;

instructions for determining if the extracted vendor name and the extracted model name match a vendor name and a model name, respectively, of the monitored device; and

instructions for accessing the device to obtain the status information using the selected communication protocol, when the instructions for determining determine that the extracted vendor name and the extracted model name match the vendor name and the model name, respectively, of the monitored device.

24. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the instructions for retrieving comprise:

instructions for retrieving the descriptive string comprising the vendor name, the corresponding model name, and a separator string, the separator string being located between the vendor name and the corresponding model name.

25. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the instructions for retrieving comprises:

instructions for retrieving a vendor-model map from the first memory, the vendor-model map comprising at least one descriptive string; and

instructions for obtaining the descriptive string from the vendor-model map.

26. The computer program product of claim 23, wherein the instructions for selecting comprise:

instructions for selecting the communication protocol among SNMP, HTTP, and FTP.