NETWORK DISCOVERY SYSTEM

• US 20080155386A1
• Filed: 12/20/2007
• Published: 06/26/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 12/22/2006
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Clear Blue Security LLC
• Original Assignee: Autiq A/S
• Inventors: JENSEN, Robert
• Application Number:
  US11/960,970
• Publication Number:
  US 20080155386A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/201
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5083 Techniques for rebalancing the load in a distributed system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5012 determining service availability, e.g. which services are available at a certain point in time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1012 based on compliance of requirements or conditions with available server resources
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1029 using data related to the state of servers by a load balancer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/30 Profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/40 for recovering from a failure of a protocol instance or entity, e.g. service redundancy protocols, protocol state redundancy or protocol service redirection management of faults, events, alarms or notifications in data switching networks H04L41/06

Abstract

The present application relates to a system for enhancing management of a network, including discovery of resources and management of agents.

Claims

1. A method for managing usage of service objects in a network comprising network resources including the service objects, each service object being configured to be used by other network resources to perform a specified function, the method being computer-implemented and comprising:

monitoring a usage of each service object to determine at least (a) a usage level for each service object, and (b) an identity of each network resource using the service object; and

storing the information determined by said monitoring, the information including for each service object at least (a) the usage level for each service object, and (b) the identity of each network resource using the service object.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein the usage level comprises a frequency of usage of the service object, and a time when the service object was used.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein the information stored for each service object also includes a location of the service object on the network.

4. A method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting a report based on the stored information to a user interface in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format.

5. A method according to claim 3, further comprising determining, for each network resource using the service object, whether there is a direct loose connection or an indirect loose connection between the network resource and the service object;

and storing a type of loose connection as part of the stored information.

6. A method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting an alert to a user interface if the usage level of a given service object exceeds a predetermined threshold.

7. A method according to claim 1, further comprising transmitting an alert to a user interface if a number of network resources using a given service object exceeds a predetermined threshold.

8. A method according to claim 1, further comprising detecting a failure of a service object, and transmitting an alert to a user interface identifying each network resource using the service object based on the stored information.

9. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

identifying one or more critical service objects, each critical service object being a service object meeting at least one of the criteria selected from the group consisting of (a) a usage level exceeding a predetermined usage level threshold, (b) a number of network resources using the service object exceeding a predetermined resource usage threshold, (c) a prioritization level, and (d) a time of when the object was used being within a predetermined period; and

transmitting a report to a user interface reporting the one or more critical service objects.

10. A method according to claim 1, further comprising:

identifying an overloaded service object meeting at least one of the criteria selected from the group consisting of (a) a usage level exceeding a predetermined usage level threshold or (b) a number of network resources using the service object exceeding a predetermined resource usage threshold;

locating or creating a copy of the overloaded service object; and

configuring one or more of the network resources using the overloaded service object to use the copy of the overloaded service object.

11. A method according to claim 10, wherein the locating and configuring acts occur automatically without user intervention.

12. A method according to claim 1, further comprising using the stored information to generate a failure analysis report for a given service object for transmission to a user interface for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format, the failure analysis report including information indicating the network resources that use the given service object and that would be affected by its failure.

13. A method according to claim 12, wherein the failure analysis report further includes information indicating a usage level for the given service object by each network resource.

14. A method according to claim 3, further comprising using the stored information to generate a failure analysis report for a given network location for transmission to a user interface for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format, the failure analysis report including information indicating one or more service objects at the given location, and the network resources that use the one or more service objects and that would be affected by failure of the given network location.

15. A method according to claim 14, wherein the failure analysis report further includes information indicating a usage level for the one or more service objects at the given network location by each network resource.

16. A method according to claim 1, wherein, if a given service object fails, the method further comprises:

detecting the failure of the failed service object; and

locating or creating a copy of the failed service object; and

configuring the network resources identified in the stored information as using the failed service object to use the copy of the failed service object.

17. A method according to claim 16, wherein the detecting, locating, and configuring acts occur automatically without user intervention.

18. A method according to claim 3, wherein, if a given network location fails, the method further comprises for each service object at the failed network location:

locating or creating a copy of the service object; and

configuring the network resources identified in the stored information as using the service object to use the copy of the service object.

19. A method according to claim 18, wherein the detecting, locating, and configuring acts occur automatically without user intervention.

20. A method according to claim 1, wherein the network comprises a profile database comprising profiles for each of the service objects, wherein the profile for each service object includes at least (a) the location of the service object, and (b) a resource usage list comprising the identity of each network resource using the service object,

wherein storing the information for each service object includes modifying the resource usage list in the service object'"'"'s profile to include the identity of each network resource using the service object.

21. A method according to claim 20, wherein the profile for each service object further includes (c) a usage level for the service object,

wherein storing the information for each service object includes modifying the usage level in the service object'"'"'s profile.

22. A method according to claim 20, further comprising reporting transmitting a report based on the stored information in the profiles to a user interface for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format.

23. A method according to claim 20, further comprising determining, for each service object, each direct loose connection or indirect loose connection between the service object and one or more network resources that use the service object;

and

storing a type of loose connection for each network resource that uses the service object in the profile for the service object.

24. A method according to claim 23, further comprising transmitting a report to a user interface reporting each loose connection for one or more of the service objects.

25. A method according to claim 23, wherein determining an indirect loose connection between a service object and a network resource comprises analyzing the profiles in the profile database to identify a series of direct loose connections between the service object, the network resource, and at least one other network resource.

26. A method according to claim 21, further comprising analyzing the profiles for the service objects and transmitting an alert to a user interface if the usage level stored in the profile of a given service object exceeds a predetermined threshold for the given service object.

27. A method according to claim 20, further comprising analyzing the profiles for the service objects and transmitting an alert to a user interface if a number of network resources using a given service object as stored in its profile exceeds a predetermined threshold for the given service object.

28. A method according to claim 20, further comprising detecting a failure of a service object, and transmitting an alert identifying each network resource using the service object based on the information stored in the profile for the service object.

29. A method according to claim 23, further comprising analyzing the profiles for the service objects and transmitting an alert to a user interface if a number of loose connections stored in the profile for a given service object exceeds a predetermined threshold for the given service object.

30. A method according to claim 23, further comprising detecting a failure of a service object, and transmitting an alert identifying each network resource having a loose connection to the service object and the type of loose connection based on the information stored in the profile for the service object.

31. A method according to claim 21, further comprising:

identifying one or more critical service objects by analyzing the profiles thereof in the profile database, each critical service object being a service object meeting at least one of the criteria selected from the group consisting of (a) a usage level exceeding a predetermined usage level threshold, (b) a number of network resources using the service object exceeding a predetermined resource usage threshold, (c) a prioritization level, and (d) a time of when the object was used being within a predetermined period; and

transmitting a report to a user interface reporting the one or more critical service objects.

32. A method according to claim 23, further comprising:

identifying one or more critical service objects by analyzing the profiles thereof in the profile database, each critical service object being a service object having a number of loose connections exceeding a predetermined loose connection threshold; and

transmitting a report to a user interface reporting the one or more critical service objects.

33. A method according to claim 21, further comprising analyzing the profiles to identify an overloaded service object meeting at least one of the criteria selected from the group consisting of:

(a) a usage level exceeding a predetermined usage level threshold, or (b) a number of network resources using the service object exceeding a predetermined resource usage threshold;

locating or creating a copy of the overloaded service object;

configuring one or more of the network resources using the overloaded service object to use the copy of the overloaded service object; and

modifying the profile for the overloaded service object to delete the one or more network resources from the resource usage list thereof, and modifying the profile for the copy of the given service object to include the one or more network resources in the resource usage list thereof.

34. A method according to claim 33, wherein the locating, configuring and modifying acts occur automatically without user intervention.

35. A method according to claim 23, further comprising analyzing the profiles to identify a given service object with a number of loose connections exceeding a predetermined threshold;

locating or creating a copy of the given service object;

configuring one or more of the network resources directly loosely connected to the given service object to use the copy of the given service object; and

modifying the profile for the given service object to delete the one or more network resources from the resource usage list thereof, and modifying the profile for the copy of the given service object to include the one or more network resources in the resource usage list thereof.

36. A method according to claim 35, wherein the locating, configuring and modifying acts occur automatically without user intervention.

37. A method according to claim 20, further comprising reporting via a user interface a failure analysis report for a given service object for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format using the information stored in the profile for the given service object, the failure analysis report including information indicating the network resources that use the given service object and that would be affected by its failure.

38. A method according to claim 21, further comprising generating a failure analysis report for a given service object for transmission to a user interface for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format using the information stored in the profile for the given service object, the failure analysis report including information indicating the network resources that use the given service object and that would be affected by its failure, and information indicating a usage of the given service object by each network resource.

39. A method according to claim 20, further comprising generating a failure analysis report for a given network location for transmission to a user interface for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format using the information stored in the profiles for the one or more service objects at the given network location, the failure analysis report including information indicating the one or more service objects at the given location, and the network resources that use the one or more service objects and that would be affected by failure of the given network location.

40. A method according to claim 21, further comprising generating a failure analysis report for a given network location for transmission to a user interface for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format using the information stored in the profiles for the one or more service objects at the given network location, the failure analysis report including information indicating the one or more service objects at the given location, and the network resources that use the one or more service objects and that would be affected by failure of the given network location, and information indicating a usage of the one or more service objects at the given network location by each network resource.

41. A method according to claim 23, wherein, if a given service object fails, the method further comprises:

detecting the failure of the failed service object;

locating or creating a copy of the failed service object;

configuring the one or more network resources identified in the profile as directly loosely connected to the failed service object to use the copy of the failed service object; and

modifying the profile for the given service object to delete the one or more network resources from the resource usage list thereof, and modifying the profile for the copy of the given service object to include the one or more network resources in the resource usage list thereof each as a direct loose connection.

42. A method according to claim 41, wherein the detecting, locating, configuring and modifying acts occur automatically without user intervention.

43. A method according to claim 23, wherein, if a given network location fails, the method further comprises for each service object at the network location:

locating or creating a copy of the service object;

configuring the one or more network resources identified in the profile as directly loosely connected to the service object to use the copy of the service object;

modifying the profile for the given service object to delete the one or more network resources from the resource usage list thereof, and modifying the profile for the copy of the given service object to include the one or more network resources in the resource usage list thereof each as a direct loose connection.

44. A method according to claim 43, wherein the detecting, locating, configuring and modifying acts occur automatically without user intervention.

45. A method according to claim 25, further comprising, for each service object, determining each direct relation or indirect relation between the service object and one or more network resources on which the service object operates;

storing the one or more network resources directly or indirectly related to the service object in a relation resource list in the profile for the service object.

46. A method according to claim 45, further comprising storing a type of relation in the relation resource list for the one or more network resources directly or indirectly related to the service object.

47. A method according to claim 45, wherein determining an indirect relation between a service object and a network resource comprises analyzing the profiles in the profile database to identify a series of direct relations between the service object, the network resource, and at least one other network resource.

48. A method according to claim 45, further comprising identifying one or more critical network resources by:

identifying one or more critical service objects by analyzing the profiles thereof in the profile database, each critical service object meeting at least one of the following criteria selected from the group consisting of (a) a usage level exceeding a predetermined usage level threshold or (b) a number of network resources using the service object exceeding a predetermined resource usage threshold, (c) a prioritization level, and (d) a time of when the object was used being within a predetermined period; and

transmitting a report to a user interface reporting the one or more network resources with which each of the one or more critical service objects is directly or indirectly related.

49. A method according to claim 45, further comprising identifying one or more critical network resources by:

identifying one or more critical service objects by analyzing the profiles thereof in the profile database, each critical service object having a number of loose connections exceeding a predetermined threshold; and

transmitting a report to a user interface reporting the one or more network resources with which each of the one or more critical service objects is directly or indirectly related.

50. A method according to claim 45, further comprising generating a failure analysis report for a given network resource for transmission to a user interface for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format using the information stored in the profile for each service object directly or indirectly related to the service object, the failure analysis report including information indicating each directly or indirectly related service object and the network resources that use each directly or indirectly related service object and that would be affected by failure of the given network resource.

51. A method according to claim 45, further comprising generating a failure analysis report for a given network resource for transmission to a user interface for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format using the information stored in the profile for each service object directly or indirectly related to the service object, the failure analysis report including information indicating each directly or indirectly related service object, the network resources that use the each directly or indirectly related service object and that would be affected by its failure, and information indicating a usage of directly or indirectly related service object by each network resource.

52. A method according to claim 45, wherein, if a given network resource fails, the method further comprises:

detecting the failure of the failed network resource;

locating or creating a copy of one or more of the service objects directly or indirectly related to the failed network resource;

configuring the one or more network resources identified in the profile as directly loosely connected to each of the one or more of the service objects to use the copy of the each of the one or more service objects.

53. A method according to claim 52, wherein the detecting, locating, and configuring acts occur automatically without user intervention.

54. A method for managing usage of process objects in a network comprising network resources including service objects and the process objects, each service object being configured to performed a specified function and further being configured to be used by other network resources including the process objects, each process object comprising executable code for performing a process including using one or more of the service objects, the method being computer-implemented and comprising:

monitoring a usage of each process object to determine at least (a) a usage level for the process object, (b) an identity of each network resource using the process object, and (c) an identity of each service object used by the process object; and

storing the information determined by said monitoring, the information including for each process object at least (a) the usage level for the process object, (b) the identity of each network resource using the process object, and (c) the identity of each service object used by the process object.

55. A method according to claim 54, further comprising, for each service object used by the process object:

(i) monitoring a usage of each service object to determine at least (a) a usage level for each service object, and (b) an identity of each network resource using the service object; and

(ii) storing information determined by said monitoring, the information including for each service object at least (a) the usage level for each service object, and (b) the identity of each network resource using the service object.

56. A method according to claim 54, wherein the information stored for each process object also includes a location of the process object on the network.

57. A method according to claim 54, further comprising transmitting a report to a user interface reporting the stored information for each process object for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format.

58. A method according to claim 55, further comprising transmitting a report to a user interface reporting the stored information for each process object for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format.

59. A method according to claim 55, further comprising determining for each network resource using the process object, whether there is a loose connection or an indirect loose connection between the network resource and the process object;

and storing a type of loose connection as part of the stored information.

60. A method according to claim 54, further comprising transmitting an alert to a user interface if the usage level of a given process object exceeds a predetermined threshold.

61. A method according to claim 54, further comprising transmitting an alert to a user interface if the usage level of a service object used by a given process object exceeds a predetermined threshold.

62. A method according to claim 54, further comprising transmitting an alert to a user interface if a number of network resources using a given process object exceeds a predetermined threshold.

63. A method according to claim 54, further comprising transmitting an alert to a user interface if a number of network resources using a service object also used by a given process object exceeds a predetermined threshold.

64. A method according to claim 54, further comprising detecting a failure of a process object, and transmitting an alert to a user interface identifying each network resource using the process object based on the stored information.

65. A method according to claim 54, further comprising:

identifying one or more critical process objects, each critical process object being a process object meeting at least one of the criteria selected from the group consisting of (a) a usage level exceeding a predetermined usage level threshold and (b) a number of network resources using the process object exceeding a predetermined resource usage threshold; and

transmitting a report to a user interface reporting the one or more critical process objects.

66. A method according to claim 55, further comprising using the stored information to generate a failure analysis report for a given process object for transmission to a user interface for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format, the failure analysis report including information indicating the network resources that use the given process object and that would be affected by its failure.

67. A method according to claim 66, wherein the failure analysis report further includes information indicating a usage level for the given process object by each network resource.

68. A method according to claim 55, further comprising using the stored information to generate a failure analysis report for a given network location for transmission to a user interface for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format, the failure analysis report including information indicating one or more process objects at the given location, and the network resources that use the one or more process objects and that would be affected by failure of the given network location.

69. A method according to claim 68, wherein the failure analysis report further includes information indicating a frequency of usage of the one or more process objects at the given network location by each network resource.

70. A system for managing usage of service objects in a network comprising network resources including the service objects, each service object being configured to be used by other network resources to perform a specified function, the system comprising:

a monitor for monitoring a usage of each service object to determine at least (a) a usage level for each service object, and (b) an identity of each network resource using the service object; and

a database for storing the information determined by said monitoring, the information including for each service object at least (a) the usage level for each service object, and (b) the identity of each network resource using the service object.

71. A system according to claim 70, wherein the monitor is configured to monitor the usage level comprising a frequency of usage of the service object, and a time when the service object was used.

72. A system according to claim 71, wherein database also stores the information including a location of the service object on the network.

73. A system according to claim 70, further comprising a report generator, the report generator being configured to generate a report for transmission to a user interface for reporting the stored information in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format.

74. A system according to claim 72, further comprising a report generator, the report generator being configured to generate a report for transmission to a user interface for reporting the stored information in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format.

75. A system according to claim 70, further comprising an alert generator, the alert generator being configured to transmit an alert to a user interface if the usage level of a given service object exceeds a predetermined threshold.

76. A system according to claim 70, further comprising an alert generator, the alert generator being configured to detect a failure of a service object, and transmit an alert to a user interface identifying each network resource using the service object based on the stored information.

77. A system according to claim 70, further comprising:

a critical service object manager configured to identify one or more critical service objects, each critical service object being a service object meeting at least one of the criteria selected from the group consisting of (a) a usage level exceeding a predetermined usage level threshold, (b) a number of network resources using the service object exceeding a predetermined resource usage threshold, (c) a prioritization level, and (d) a time of when the object was used being within a predetermined period; and

a report generator for generating a report for transmission to a user interface for reporting the one or more critical service objects.

78. A system according to claim 70, further comprising an overloaded re-distribution manager configured to:

identify an overloaded service object meeting at least one of the criteria selected from the group consisting of (a) a usage level exceeding a predetermined usage level threshold or (b) a number of network resources using the service object exceeding a predetermined resource usage threshold;

locate or create a copy of the overloaded service object; and

configure one or more of the network resources using the overloaded service object to use the copy of the overloaded service object.

79. A system according to claim 70, further comprising a report generator configured to generate a failure analysis report for a given service object using the stored information for transmission to a user interface for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format, the failure analysis report including information indicating the network resources that use the given service object and that would be affected by its failure.

80. A system according to claim 79, wherein the report generator is configured to generate the failure analysis report to further include information indicating a usage level for the given service object by each network resource.

81. A system according to claim 72, further comprising a report generator configured to generate a failure analysis report for a given network location using the stored information for transmission to a user interface for display in a textual, graphical, or textual and graphical format, the failure analysis report including information indicating one or more service objects at the given location, and the network resources that use the one or more service objects and that would be affected by failure of the given network location.

82. A system according to claim 81, wherein the report generator is configured to generate the failure analysis report to further include information indicating a usage level for the one or more service objects at the given network location by each network resource.

83. A system according to claim 82, wherein the database is a profile database comprising profiles for each of the service objects, wherein the profile for each service object includes at least (a) the location of the service object, and (b) a resource usage list comprising the identity of each network resource using the service object,

wherein a database manager is configured to store the information for each service object by modifying the resource usage list in the service object'"'"'s profile to include the identity of each network resource using the service object.

84. A system according to claim 83, wherein the profile for each service object further includes (c) a usage level for the service object,

wherein the database manager is configured to store the information for each service object by also modifying the usage level in the service object'"'"'s profile.

85. A system according to claim 84, wherein the monitor is configured to monitor the usage level by monitoring a frequency of usage of the service object and a time when the service object was used.

86. A system according to claim 84, wherein database also stores the information including a location of the service object on the network.

87. A system according to claim 84, further comprising an alert generator configured to analyze the profiles for the service objects and transmit an alert to a user interface if the usage level of a given service object as stored in its profile exceeds a predetermined threshold.

88. A system according to claim 83, further comprising an alert generator configured to analyze the profiles for the service objects and configured to transmit an alert via the user interface if a number of network resources using a given service object as stored in its profile exceeds a predetermined threshold.

89. A system according to claim 84, further comprising an alert generator configured to, in response to detecting the failure of given service object, transmit an alert to a user interface identifying each network resource using the given service object based on the information stored in its profile.

90. A system according to claim 84, further comprising:

a critical service object manager for identifying one or more critical service objects by analyzing the profiles thereof in the profile database, each critical service object being a service object meeting at least one of the criteria selected from the group consisting of (a) a usage level exceeding a predetermined usage level threshold, (b) a number of network resources using the service object exceeding a predetermined resource usage threshold, (c) a prioritization level, and (d) a time of when the object was used being within a predetermined period; and

a report generator for generating a report for transmission to a user interface for reporting the one or more critical service objects.

91. A system according to claim 85, further comprising an overload re-distribution manager configured to:

determine if the usage level of or number of network resources using the given service object exceeds a predetermined threshold;

locate or create a copy of the given service object;

configure one or more of the network resources using the given service object to use the copy of the given service object; and

modify the profile for the given service object to delete the one or more network resources from the resource usage list thereof, and modifying the profile for the copy of the given service object to include the one or more network resources in the resource usage list thereof.

92. A system according to claim 85, further comprising an object failure manager configured to:

detect a failure of a service object;

locate or create a copy of the failed service object;

configure the one or more network resources identified the profile as directly loosely connected to the failed service object to use the copy of the failed service object; and

modify the profile for the given service object to delete the one or more network resources from the resource usage list thereof, and modifying the profile for the copy of the given service object to include the one or more network resources in the resource usage list thereof each as a direct loose connection.

93. A system for managing usage of process objects in a network comprising network resources including service objects and the process objects, each service object being configured to performed a specified function and further being configured to be used by other network resources including the process objects, each process object comprising executable code for using one or more of the service objects, the system comprising:

a monitor for monitoring a usage of each process object to determine at least (a) a usage level for the process object, (b) an identity of each network resource using the process object, and (c) an identity of each service object used by the process object; and

a database for storing the information determined by said monitoring, the information including for each process object at least (a) the usage level for the process object, (b) the identity of each network resource using the process object, and (c) the identity of each service object used by the process object.

94. A system according to claim 93, wherein, for each service object used by the process object:

(i) the monitor is configured to monitor a usage of each service object to determine at least (a) a usage level for each service object, and (b) an identity of each network resource using the service object; and

(ii) the database is configured to store information determined by said monitoring, the information including for each service object at least (a) the usage level for each service object, and (b) the identity of each network resource using the service object.

95. A system according to claim 93, wherein the information stored for each process object also includes a location of the process object on the network.

96. A system according to claim 93, further comprising an alert generator configured to transmit an alert to a user interface if the usage level of a given process object exceeds a predetermined threshold.

97. A system according to claim 93, further comprising an alert generator configured to transmit an alert via the user interface if the usage level of a service object used by a given process object exceeds a predetermined threshold.

98. A system according to claim 93, further comprising an alert generator configured to transmit an alert via the user interface if a number of network resources using a service object also used by a given process object exceeds a predetermined threshold.

99. A system according to claim 93, further comprising:

a critical process object manager for identifying one or more critical process objects, each critical process object being a process object meeting at least one of the criteria selected from the group consisting of (a) a usage level exceeding a predetermined usage level threshold and (b) a number of network resources using the process object exceeding a predetermined resource usage threshold; and

a report generator for generating a report for transmission to a user interface for reporting one or more critical process objects.