Adapting a Network Topology

• US 20090327902A1
• Filed: 06/22/2009
• Published: 12/31/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 06/27/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Hutchison, Gordon D., Bethune, Iain A., Smith, Bruce J.
• Granted Patent: US 8,352,866 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 715/735
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]

Abstract

A mechanism is provided for adapting a network topology, in which the network topology comprises a plurality of points, a plurality of connections, each connection connecting a pair of points, and a zoneset comprising a plurality of zones, each zone defining a series of points that are connected. The mechanism performs operations of receiving one or more user inputs, each user input comprising a change to a zone, performing an analysis of the or each user input, to determine one or more consistent universal changes to the zoneset, presenting an output to the user comprising one or more of the determined consistent universal changes to the zoneset, receiving a selection user input selecting a presented consistent universal change to the zoneset, and changing the zoneset according to the selected consistent universal change to the zoneset.

Claims

1. A method of adapting a network topology, the network topology comprising a plurality of points, a plurality of connections, each connection connecting a pair of points, and a zoneset comprising a plurality of zones, each zone defining a series of points that are connected, the method comprising:

receiving one or more user inputs from a user, wherein each of the one or more user inputs comprises a change to a zone;

performing analysis of each of the one or more user inputs to determine one or more consistent universal changes to the zoneset;

presenting an output to the user comprising one or more of the determined consistent universal changes to the zoneset;

receiving a selection user input selecting a presented consistent universal change to the zoneset; and

changing the zoneset according to the selected consistent universal change to the zoneset.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein changing the zoneset according to the selected consistent universal change to the zoneset comprises adding points to or deleting points from one or more zones.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more user inputs comprise addition of a new point to a zone, and wherein performing analysis of each of the one or more user inputs comprises identifying one or more potential types of the new point.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the one or more user inputs comprise deletion of a point from a zone, and wherein performing analysis of each of the one or more user inputs comprises identifying one or more potential cancelled connections.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

presenting an output to the user comprising one or more of the determined consistent universal changes to the zoneset;

receiving a further user input, wherein the further user input comprises a change to a zone;

performing analysis of the further user input to determine universal changes to the zoneset, within the one or more consistent universal changes to the zoneset, that are still consistent; and

presenting a new output to the user comprising the universal changes to the zoneset still determined to be consistent.

16. The method of claim 1, wherein changing the zoneset according to the selected consistent universal change to the zoneset comprises adding zones to or deleting zones from the zoneset.

17. The method of claim 3, wherein the one or more consistent universal changes to the zoneset comprise one or more universal changes to the zoneset based on the one or more potential types of the new point.

6. A system for adapting a network topology, the network topology comprising a plurality of points, a plurality of connections, each connection connecting a pair of points, and a zoneset comprising a plurality of zones, each zone defining a series of points that are connected, the system comprising:

a user interface arranged to receive one or more user inputs, wherein each of the one or more user inputs comprises a change to a zone;

a processor arranged to perform analysis of each of the one or more user inputs to determine one or more consistent universal changes to the zoneset; and

a display device arranged to present an output to the user comprising one or more of the determined consistent universal changes to the zoneset,

wherein the user interface is further arranged to receive a selection user input selecting a presented consistent universal change to the zoneset, and wherein the processor is further arranged to change the zoneset according to the selected consistent universal change to the zoneset.

7. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is arranged, when changing the zoneset according to the selected consistent universal change to the zoneset, to add points to or to delete points from one or more zones.

8. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more user comprise addition of a new point to a zone, and wherein the processor is arranged, when performing analysis of each of the one or more user inputs, to identify one or more potential types of the new point.

9. The system of claim 6, wherein the one or more user comprise deletion of a point from a zone, and wherein the processor is arranged, when performing analysis of each of the one or more user inputs, to identify one or more potential cancelled connections.

10. The system of claim 6, wherein the user interface is further arranged to receive a further user input, wherein the further user input comprises a change to a zone, wherein the processor is further arranged to perform analysis of the further user input to determine universal changes to the zoneset, within the one or more consistent universal changes to the zoneset, that are still consistent, and wherein the display device is further arranged to present a new output to the user comprising the universal changes to the zoneset still determined to be consistent.

18. The system of claim 6, wherein the processor is arranged, when changing the zoneset according to the selected consistent universal change to the zoneset, to add zones to or to delete zones from the zoneset.

19. The system of claim 8, wherein the one or more consistent universal changes to the zoneset comprise one or more universal changes to the zoneset based on the one or more potential types of the new point.

11. A computer program product for adapting a network topology, the network topology comprising a plurality of points, a plurality of connections, each connection connecting a pair of points, and a zoneset comprising a plurality of zones, each zone defining a series of points that are connected, the computer program product comprising a computer recordable medium having a computer readable program recorded thereon, wherein the computer readable program, when executed on a computing device, causes the computing device to:

receive one or more user inputs from a user, wherein each of the one or more user inputs comprises a change to a zone;

perform analysis of each of the one or more user inputs to determine one or more consistent universal changes to the zoneset;

present an output to the user comprising one or more of the determined consistent universal changes to the zoneset;

receive a selection user input selecting a presented consistent universal change to the zoneset; and

change the zoneset according to the selected consistent universal change to the zoneset.

12. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein changing the zoneset according to the selected consistent universal change to the zoneset comprises adding points to or deleting points from one or more zones.

13. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the one or more user inputs comprise addition of a new point to a zone, and wherein performing analysis of each of the one or more user inputs comprises identifying one or more potential types of the new point.

14. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the one or more user inputs comprise deletion of a point from a zone, and wherein performing analysis of each of the one or more user inputs comprises identifying one or more potential cancelled connections.

15. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein the computer readable program further causes the computing device to:

present an output to the user comprising one or more of the determined consistent universal changes to the zoneset;

receive a further user input, wherein the further user input comprises a change to a zone;

perform analysis of the further user input to determine universal changes to the zoneset, within the one or more consistent universal changes to the zoneset, that are still consistent; and

present a new output to the user comprising the universal changes to the zoneset still determined to be consistent.

20. The computer program product of claim 11, wherein changing the zoneset according to the selected consistent universal change to the zoneset comprises adding zones to or deleting zones from the zoneset.