APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR TOPOLOGY NAVIGATION AND CHANGE AWARENESS
First Claim
1. A computer apparatus comprising:
- at least one processor;
a memory coupled to the at least one processor having a plurality of stored topologies, wherein each stored topology represents the state of a topology at a given point in time;
a topology display mechanism in the memory that when executed displays a sequence of the stored topologies controlled by a user interface.
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Accused Products
Abstract
An apparatus and method are described for displaying a topological graph that allows a user to navigate through a history of previous topology displays to increase the user'"'"'s understanding and awareness of the state of the topology. In a preferred embodiment, a topology display mechanism receives state changes to a topology of a computer network and stores a sequence of graphs that reflect the changes that are made to the topology. The topology display mechanism also allows the user to step through the sequence of stored topology graphs using “video” type controls to change the display of the topology graphs. In other embodiments, the topology display mechanism displays the changes in the topology as a sequence of graphs that form an animation to give the user a graphical visualization of the changes from one topology graph in the sequence to the next.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A computer apparatus comprising:
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at least one processor; a memory coupled to the at least one processor having a plurality of stored topologies, wherein each stored topology represents the state of a topology at a given point in time; a topology display mechanism in the memory that when executed displays a sequence of the stored topologies controlled by a user interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 20)
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9. A computer method for displaying a topology, the method comprising the steps of:
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(A) receiving a topology change from a topology monitoring engine; (B) creating a new topology for the topology change; and (C) storing the new topology with a sequence of stored topologies where the sequence of stored topologies represent various states of the topology at points in time. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13)
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14. A computer readable program product comprising:
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a topology display mechanism that when executed displays a plurality of stored topologies controlled by a user interface, wherein each stored topology represents the state of a topology at a given point in time; and recordable computer media bearing the topology display mechanism. - View Dependent Claims (15, 16, 17, 18, 19)
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Specification