RAPID DEPLOYMENT REMOTE NETWORK MONITOR

• US 20100049839A1
• Filed: 08/21/2008
• Published: 02/25/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 08/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Red Hat, Inc. (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: Parker, David, Karandikar, Anirudha S., Meyer, Luke
• Granted Patent: US 8,046,443 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/221
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0843 based on generic templates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks

Abstract

A method and apparatus for imaging a network monitor. In one embodiment, the method includes receiving information concerning a customer network to be monitored by a network monitor, and selecting a bootable image for the network monitor using the network information. The bootable image contains network monitoring software and an operating system, and can be booted on any computing device of the customer network. The method further includes providing the bootable image of the network monitor to a requester, and then receiving a fixed IP address of the network monitor from a computing device on the customer network that is designated to host the network monitor.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

selecting a bootable image for a network monitor for monitoring a customer network, the bootable image including network monitoring software and an operating system;

providing the bootable image to a requester, wherein the bootable image is to be installed on a computing device of the customer network, the bootable image including instructions to cause a certificate signing request to be generated for the network monitor;

receiving the generated certificate signing request;

validating the received certificate signing request;

in response to successfully validating the received certificate signing request, requesting a fixed IP address of the network monitor of the customer network; and

receiving the fixed IP address of the network monitor having the bootable image installed thereon.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein network requirements for the computing device used to host the network monitor are limited to having an established secure connection with a communications network.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the selected bootable image is generated using network information received from the requestor.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein an installation of the bootable image on the computing devices causes an existing operating system and data of the computing device to be overwritten.

5. The method of claim 1 wherein:

the requestor is a client computer that is different from the computing device used to host the network monitor; and

the bootable image is provided to the client computer in response to a request of the client computer for the bootable image of the network monitor.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the bootable image includes instructions to request an IP address of a gateway for the customer network, an IP address of a DNS server of the customer network, and a hostname of the network monitor, when the bootable image is being installed on the computing device used to host the network monitor.

7. A computer implemented method, comprising:

providing, to a service provider, information concerning a customer network to be monitored;

receiving a bootable image that includes network monitoring software and an operating system, wherein the bootable image has been selected for installation on a computing device of the customer network using the provided network information;

installing the received bootable image on a computing device designated to host the network monitor;

generating a certificate signing request in response to the installation of the received bootable image;

sending the certificate signing request to the service provider, wherein the certificate signing request is associated with transaction identifier that is known to the service provider;

receiving a signed digital identity certificate in response to the service provider validating the sent certificate signing request;

obtaining a fixed IP address of the network monitor during the installation of the bootable image; and

providing the fixed IP address to the service provider using the signed digital identity certificate to establish a secure session in which the fixed IP address is provided.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising:

sending a request for the bootable image to the service provider.

9. The method of claim 7 wherein the network monitoring software comprises monitoring services and support tools.

10. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

overwriting an existing operating system and data of the computing device used for the network monitor during the installation of the bootable image.

11. The method of claim 7 wherein the network information is provided to the service provider, and the bootable image is received from the service provider, by a client computer that is different from the computing device designated to host the network monitor.

12. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

obtaining, during the installation of the bootable image, an IP address of a gateway for the customer network, an IP address of a DNS server of the customer network, and a hostname of the network monitor.

13. The method of claim 7 further comprising:

sending identification information identifying the customer network to the service provider when sending the certificate signing request to the service provider.

14. A machine-accessible storage medium including instructions that, when executed by a first machine, cause the first machine to perform a computer implemented method comprising:

receiving network information concerning a customer network to be monitored by a network monitor;

selecting a bootable image for the network monitor, the bootable image including network monitoring software and an operating system, wherein the bootable image is selected using the network information;

providing the bootable image to a requester, wherein the bootable image is to be installed on any computing device of the customer network, the bootable image including instructions to securely request a fixed IP address of the network monitor when the bootable image is being installed on a computing device of the customer network that is designated to host the network monitor; and

receiving the fixed IP address of the network monitor from the designated computing device having the bootable image installed thereon.

15. The machine-accessible storage medium of claim 14 wherein the bootable image contains instructions to generate a certificate signing request and to use a signed digital identity certificate generated in response to validating the certificate signing request to securely request the fixed IP address of the network monitor.

16. The machine-accessible storage medium of claim 14 wherein the network monitoring software comprises monitoring services and support tools.

17. The machine-accessible storage medium of claim 14 wherein an installation of the bootable image on the designated computing devices causes an existing operating system and data of the designated computing device to be overwritten.

18. The machine-accessible storage medium of claim 14 wherein:

the requester is a client computer that is different from the computing device designated to host the network monitor; and

the bootable image is provided to the client computer in response to a request of the client computer for the bootable image of the network monitor.

19. The machine-accessible storage medium of claim 14 wherein the bootable image includes instructions to request an IP address of a gateway for the customer network, an IP address of a DNS server of the customer network, and a hostname of the network monitor, when the bootable image is being installed on the computing device designated to host the network monitor.

20. A system, comprising:

a monitor image generator to receive network information concerning a customer network to be monitored by a network monitor, to generate a bootable image for the network monitor, the bootable image including network monitoring software and an operating system, wherein the bootable image is generated using the provided configuration information, and to provide the bootable image to a requester, wherein the bootable image is to be installed on any computing device of the customer network, the bootable image including instructions to request a fixed IP address of the network monitor when the bootable image is being installed on a computing device of the customer network that is designated to host the network monitor; and

an install and provisioning manager, coupled to the monitor image generator, to receive the fixed IP address of the network monitor from the designated computing device having the bootable image installed thereon.

21. The system of claim 20 wherein the bootable image contains instructions to generate a certificate signing request and to use a signed digital identity certificate generated in response to validating the certificate signing request to securely request the fixed IP address of the network monitor.

22. The system of claim 20 wherein the network monitoring software comprises monitoring services and support tools.

23. The system of claim 20 wherein an installation of the bootable image on the designated computing devices causes an existing operating system and data of the designated computing device to be overwritten.

24. The system of claim 20 wherein:

the requestor is a client computer that is different from the computing device designated to host the network monitor; and

the bootable image is provided to the client computer in response to a request of the client computer for the bootable image of the network monitor.

25. The system of claim 20 wherein the bootable image includes instructions to request an IP address of a gateway for the customer network, an IP address of a DNS server of the customer network, and a hostname of the network monitor, when the bootable image is being installed on the computing device designated to host the network monitor.