Simple home networking

• US 20070022185A1
• Filed: 07/25/2005
• Published: 01/25/2007
• Est. Priority Date: 07/25/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lee, Pamela, Rao, Archana, Hamilton, Stuart
• Granted Patent: US 8,117,290 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0663 Performing the actions predefined by failover planning, e.g. switching to standby network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/085 Retrieval of network configuration; Tracking network configuration history
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5025 by proactively reacting to service quality change, e.g. by reconfiguration after service quality degradation or upgrade

Abstract

A network management system is provided for managing a computer network. The management system is configured to represent the computer network as having one of a plurality of defined network states. Once the state of the network has been identified, the management system can assist the user in making modifications to the computer network and in making recommendations to the user for possible modifications to the computer network. These modifications can include, for example, configuring network devices, removing network devices, replacing network devices, and adding new network devices.

Claims

1. A method of managing a computer network, comprising:

defining a plurality of network states, each network state representing a configuration of network device functions; and

identifying a current network state from the plurality of network states, said current network state representing an existing configuration of network devices in the computer network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said identifying the current network state comprises detecting the existing configuration of network devices of the computer network and determining the network state corresponding to the detected configuration of network devices.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a new device to be added to the computer network; and

based on the current network state, selecting a state transition routine for managing the addition of the new device to the computer network.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein:

said identifying the new device to be added to the computer network comprises detecting a connection of the new device to the computer network.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein:

said identifying the new device to be added to the computer network comprises receiving an input from a user indicating the new device to be added to the computer network.

6. The method of claim 3, further comprising:

executing the state transition routine to provide instructions to a user for changing the configuration of the computer network.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein:

said providing instructions to the user for changing the configuration of the computer network comprises providing instructions to the user for manually connecting computer hardware.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein:

said providing instructions to the user for changing the configuration of the computer network comprises providing instructions to the user for adjusting configuration settings.

9. The method of claim 6, wherein:

said changing the configuration of the computer network comprises replacing one of the network devices in the computer network with another network device of the same network device type.

10. The method of claim 6, wherein:

said changing the configuration of the computer network comprises adding a new network device to the computer network.

11. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

based on the current network state, recommending a change to the existing configuration of network devices in the computer network.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein:

said recommending the change to the existing configuration comprises selecting a recommended network state from a group of potential network state transitions available for the identified network state.

13. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

identifying a group of potential network state transitions available for the identified network state, wherein a preference value is assigned to each of the potential network state transitions in the group of potential network state transitions.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

in response to detecting an attempt to change to a new network state, wherein a preference value for the new network state is inferior to a preference value for the current network state, warning a user of the inferiority of the new network state.

15. The method of claim 13, further comprising:

recommending to a user a network state transition based on the preference value of the recommended network state transition.

16. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating a network state report including information regarding the current network state.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein:

said network state report includes information regarding configuration settings of peripheral devices on the network.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein:

said plurality of network states comprises a plurality of core states, each core state representing a configuration of core network device types.

19. A computer network management system, comprising:

an interface for connecting to a computer network; and

control logic configured to;

define a plurality of network states, each network state representing a configuration of network device functions; and

identify a current network state from the plurality of network states, said current network state representing an existing configuration of network devices in the computer network.

20. The system of claim 19, wherein:

said control logic is configured to identify the current network state by detecting the existing configuration of network devices of the computer network and determining the network state corresponding to the detected configuration of network devices.

21. The system of claim 19, wherein said control logic is further configured to:

identify a new device to be added to the computer network; and

based on the current network state, select a state transition routine for managing the addition of the new device to the computer network.

22. The system of claim 21, wherein:

said control logic is configured to identify the new device to be added to the computer network by detecting a connection of the new device to the computer network.

23. The system of claim 21, wherein:

said control logic is configured to identify the new device to be added to the computer network by receiving an input from a user indicating the new device to be added to the computer network.

24. The system of claim 21, wherein said control logic is further configured to:

execute the state transition routine to provide instructions to a user for changing the configuration of the computer network.

25. The system of claim 24, wherein:

said control logic is configured to provide instructions to the user for changing the configuration of the computer network by providing instructions to the user for manually connecting computer hardware.

26. The system of claim 24, wherein:

said control logic is configured to provide instructions to the user for changing the configuration of the computer network by providing instructions to the user for adjusting configuration settings.

27. The system of claim 24, wherein:

said control logic is configured to change the configuration of the computer network by replacing one of the network devices in the computer network with another network device of the same network device type.

28. The system of claim 24, wherein:

said control logic is configured to change the configuration of the computer network by adding a new network device to the computer network.

29. The system of claim 19, wherein said control logic is further configured to:

based on the current network state, recommend a change to the existing configuration of network devices in the computer network.

30. The system of claim 29, wherein:

said control logic is configured to recommend the change to the existing configuration by selecting a recommended network state from a group of potential network state transitions available for the identified network state.

31. The system of claim 19, wherein said control logic is further configured to:

identify a group of potential network state transitions available for the identified network state, wherein a preference value is assigned to each of the potential network state transitions in the group of potential network state transitions.

32. The system of claim 31, wherein said control logic is further configured to:

in response to detecting an attempt to change to a new network state, wherein a preference value for the new network state is inferior to a preference value for the current network state, warn a user of the inferiority of the new network state.

33. The system of claim 31, wherein said control logic is further configured to:

recommend to a user a network state transition based on the preference value of the recommended network state transition.

34. The system of claim 19, wherein said control logic is further configured to:

generate a network state report including information regarding the current network state.

35. The system of claim 34, wherein:

said network state report includes information regarding configuration settings of peripheral devices on the network.

36. The system of claim 19, wherein:

said plurality of network states comprises a plurality of core states, each core state representing a configuration of core network device types.

37. A computer readable media comprising a program code executable by a computer for managing a network, the program code comprising instructions for:

defining a plurality of network states, each network state representing a configuration of network device functions; and

identifying a current network state from the plurality of network states, said current network state representing an existing configuration of network devices in the computer network.

38. The computer readable media of claim 37, wherein:

said identifying the current network state comprises detecting the existing configuration of network devices of the computer network and determining the network state corresponding to the detected configuration of network devices.

39. The computer readable media of claim 37, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for:

identifying a new device to be added to the computer network; and

based on the current network state, selecting a state transition routine for managing the addition of the new device to the computer network.

40. The computer readable media of claim 39, further comprising:

executing the state transition routine to provide instructions to a user for changing the configuration of the computer network.

41. The computer readable media of claim 37, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for:

based on the current network state, recommending a change to the existing configuration of network devices in the computer network.

42. The computer readable media of claim 41, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for:

identifying a group of potential network state transitions available for the identified network state, wherein a preference value is assigned to each of the potential network state transitions in the group of potential network state transitions.

43. The computer readable media of claim 42, wherein the program code further comprises instructions for:

recommending to a user a network state transition based on the preference value of the recommended network state transition.