SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR AUTOMATING NETWORK MANAGEMENT TASKS

• US 20150156077A1
• Filed: 02/11/2015
• Published: 06/04/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 03/15/2013
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Netbrain Technologies Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Netbrain Technologies Incorporated
• Inventors: GAO, Lingping, LIAO, Guangdong
• Granted Patent: US 10,454,782 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/052 using standardised network management architectures, e.g. telecommunication management network [TMN] or unified network management architecture [UNMA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0677 Localisation of faults
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0681 Configuration of triggering conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0686 Additional information in the notification, e.g. enhancement of specific meta-data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/069 using logs of notifications; Post-processing of notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• 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 43/045 for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0817 by checking functioning
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 Threshold monitoring

Abstract

System and method are disclosed for providing network management automation. The method may include providing a graphical user interface (GUI) for automating network management tasks associated with a computer network and receiving, through the GUI, a network command to be executed on the computer network. The method may also include obtaining result from the computer network based on an execution of the network command. The method may further include receiving, through the GUI, a parser for retrieving information associated with a network parameter based on the result. The parser may include a variable for storing the retrieved information. The method may also include receiving, through the GUI, an analysis routine for analyzing the computer network based on the variable. The method may also include generating a network management application based on the parser and the analysis routine. The network management application may include instructions for updating the variable recursively.

Claims

1. A method, implemented by a processor device, for providing network management automation, the method comprising:

providing a graphical user interface (GUI) for automating network management tasks associated with a computer network;

receiving, through the GUI, a network command to be executed on the computer network;

obtaining, by the processor device, a result from the computer network based on an execution of the network command;

receiving, through the GUI, a parser for retrieving information associated with a network parameter based on the result, the parser including a variable for storing the retrieved information;

receiving, through the GUI, an analysis routine for analyzing the computer network based on the variable; and

generating, by the processor device, a network management application based on the parser and the analysis routine, the network management application including instructions for updating the variable recursively.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the network command includes at least one of a command-line interface (CLI) command, a configuration command, or a simple network management protocol (SNMP) command.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

receiving, through the GUI, a frequency for recursively updating the variable.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the parser includes at least one of:

a keyword parser;

a paragraph parser;

a table parser;

or

a filter parser.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the analysis routine includes a condition to be evaluated based on the variable and an alert to be displayed when the condition is satisfied.

6. The method of claim 5, wherein the condition includes a threshold to be compared with the variable.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the condition includes whether the variable increases, decreases, or flaps with time.

8. The method of claim 5, wherein the alert includes at least one of a textual alert or a change of display of one or more graphical indicators.

9. The method of claim 5, wherein the analysis routine further includes location information for displaying the variable or the alert on a map of the computer network.

10. A system for providing network management automation, the system comprising:

a memory device storing computer codes for automating network management tasks associated with a computer network; and

a processor device operatively coupled to the memory device, wherein the computer codes stored on the memory device, when executed by the processor device, cause the processor device to perform operations comprising;

providing a graphical user interface (GUI);

receiving, through the GUI, a network command to be executed on the computer network;

obtaining a result from the computer network based on an execution of the network command;

receiving, through the GUI, a parser for retrieving information associated with a network parameter based on the result, the parser including a variable for storing the retrieved information;

receiving, through the GUI, an analysis routine for analyzing the computer network based on the variable; and

generating a network management application based on the parser and the analysis routine, the network management application including instructions for updating the variable recursively.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the network command includes at least one of a command-line interface (CLI) command, a configuration command, or a simple network management protocol (SNMP) command.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the operations further comprise:

receiving, through the GUI, a frequency for recursively updating the variable.

13. The system of claim 10, wherein the analysis routine includes a condition to be evaluated based on the variable and an alert to be displayed when the condition is satisfied.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the condition includes a threshold to be compared with the variable.

15. The system of claim 13, wherein the alert includes at least one of a textual alert or a change of display of one or more graphical indicators.

16. The system of claim 13, wherein the analysis routine further includes location information for displaying the variable or the alert on a map of the computer network.

17. A method, implemented by a processor device, for providing network management automation, the method comprising:

providing a graphical user interface (GUI); and

executing, by the processor device, a network management application to automate network management tasks associated with a computer network, including;

recursively executing a network command to obtain result information from the computer network;

retrieving, using a parser of the network management application, information associated with a network parameter based on the result information;

storing the retrieved information in a variable of the parser; and

analyzing, using a analysis routine of the network management application, the computer network based on the variable; and

displaying an analysis result in the GUI.

18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

generating a historical chart associated with the network parameter based on the variable; and

displaying the historical chart in the GUI.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the GUI contains a topology network map.

20. The method of claim 17, further comprising:

comparing the variable with a threshold; and

generating an alert when the variable is beyond the threshold.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

displaying a map of the computer network in the GUI, the map including a plurality of graphical indicators depicting network components of the computer network;

wherein the alert includes a change of display of at least one of the plurality of graphical indicators.

22. The method of claim 21, wherein the change of display includes at least one of a change of color, a change of size, a change of shape, a change of highlighting, or a change of description.

23. A system for providing network management automation, the system comprising:

a memory device storing computer codes for automating network management tasks associated with a computer network; and

a processor device operatively coupled to the memory device, wherein the computer codes stored on the memory device, when executed by the processor device, cause the processor device to perform operations comprising;

providing a graphical user interface (GUI);

recursively executing a network command to obtain result information from the computer network;

retrieving information associated with a network parameter based on the result information;

storing the retrieved information in a variable of the parser;

analyzing the computer network based on the variable; and

displaying an analysis result in the GUI.

24. The system of claim 23, wherein the operations further comprise:

generating a historical chart associated with the network parameter based on the variable; and

displaying the historical chart in the GUI.

25. The system of claim 23, wherein the operations further comprise:

comparing the variable with a threshold; and

generating an alert when the variable is beyond the threshold.

26. The system of claim 25, wherein the operations further comprise:

displaying a map of the computer network in the GUI, the map including a plurality of graphical indicators depicting network components of the computer network;

wherein the alert includes a change of display of at least one of the plurality of graphical indicators.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the change of display includes at least one of a change of color, a change of size, a change of shape, a change of highlighting, or a change of description.