Method and system for relocating and using enterprise management tools in a service provider model

• US 20060015613A1
• Filed: 06/14/2005
• Published: 01/19/2006
• Est. Priority Date: 06/03/2002
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Seminaro, Michael D., Greaves, Jon D.
• Granted Patent: US 7,979,521 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/224
• 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 41/0266 using meta-data, objects or commands for formatting management information, e.g. using eXtensible markup language [XML]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/147 for predicting network behaviour
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/06 Generation of reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/103 with adaptive polling, i.e. dynamically adapting the polling rate
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/164 Adaptation or special uses of UDP protocol
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

An embodiment of the invention provides a method for communicating event data in a network, including: receiving the event data in a first device, the event data including a native IP address associated with a source of the event data; translating a native protocol of the event data into XML, a resulting XML message including the event data and an identifier associated with the first device; transmitting the XML message from a first location to a second location; determining a new IP address based on the native IP address and the identifier; and including the new IP address in the XML message.

Claims

1. A method for communicating event data in a network, comprising:

receiving the event data in a first device, the event data including a native IP address associated with a source of the event data;

translating a native protocol of the event data into XML, a resulting XML message including the event data and an identifier associated with the first device;

transmitting the XML message from a first location to a second location;

determining a new IP address based on the native IP address and the identifier, and

including the new IP address in the XML message.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the native protocol is SNMP, and the translating the native protocol is based on Basic Encoding Rules (BER) associated with Abstract Syntax Notation number One (ASN.1) standard.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the native protocol is in system log (SYSLOG) format.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising, prior to transmitting the XML message, persisting the XML message based on a status of a communication link between the first location and the second location.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after the including the new IP address, reporting the XML message to at least one management tool.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the reporting is based at least in part on the operational status of at least one of the at least one management tool.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the reporting is based at least in part on a predetermined assignment, the predetermined assignment providing an association between the event data and at least one of the at least one management tool.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the predetermined assignment based on the new IP address.

9. The method of claim 5, further comprising, after the including the new IP address, and before the reporting, converting the protocol of the event data from XML to a native format.

10. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after the translating the native protocol and before the transmitting, hashing the XML message.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising, after the hashing, at least one of encrypting the XML message and compressing the XML message.

12. The method of claim 1, further comprising, after the translating the native protocol and before the transmitting, at least one of encrypting the XML message and compressing the XML message.

13. A computer-readable medium, the computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for performing a method, the method comprising:

receiving event data in a server, the event data including an appliance identifier and a native IP address;

determining a new IP address, the determining based on the appliance identifier and the native IP address; and

substituting the new IP address for the native IP address in the event data.

14. The computer-readable medium in claim 13, the method further comprising, after substituting the new IP address, reporting the event data to at least one management tool.

15. The computer-readable medium in claim 14, the method further comprising, after the substituting the new IP address, and before the reporting, converting the protocol of the event data from XML to a native format.

16. A system for communicating event data in a network, comprising:

a network management system;

a management server coupled to the management system, the management server including an address translation module, the address translation module configured to translate a native IP address of the event data into a new IP address at the application layer; and

at least one customer appliance coupled to the management server, the at least one customer appliance configured to receive the event data from at least one managed device.

17. The system of claim 16, wherein the network management system includes:

at least one management tool; and

a console coupled to the at least one management tool.

18. The system of claim 16, wherein the network management system including a plurality of management tools, the management server including a load balancing module, the load balancing module configured to balance the distribution of the event data between each of the plurality of management tools.

19. A method for communicating event data in a network, comprising:

determining a status for each of a plurality of management tools, the status being one of functional and non-functional;

receiving event data from a managed network; and

selecting a management tool from a plurality of management tools based on a predetermined assignment; and

if the status of the selected management tool is functional, forwarding the event data to the default management tool.

20. The method of claim 19 further comprising, if the status of the selected management tool is non-functional, selecting an alternative management tool.

21. A computer-readable medium, the computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon for performing a method, the method comprising:

determining a status for each of a plurality of management tools, the status being one of functional and non-functional;

receiving event data from a managed network; and

selecting a management tool from a plurality of management tools based on a predetermined assignment;

if the status of the selected management tool is functional, forwarding the event data to the default management tool; and

If the status of the selected management tool is non-functional, selecting an alternative management tool.