IP discovery apparatus and method
First Claim
Patent Images
1. A method of discovering devices on a network, comprising the steps of:
- accessing an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) table from at least one device on the network;
using each accessed ARP table to identify other devices on the network;
identifying additional devices on the network by;
sending at least two batches of pings to addresses of devices that have not been identified in accessed ARP tables; and
after sending each batch of pings, waiting an interval for responses from any devices at the addresses to which the pings were sent;
wherein the step of sending a batch of pings comprises sending pings to multiple addresses without waiting for responses until all the pings have been sent to the multiple addresses.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Disclosed herein are methods and apparatus for discovering devices on a network. Active devices can be discovered in ARP tables from routers on the network. Pings can then be sent to the active devices for verification, or pings can be sent to devices at other addresses on the network. Devices can also be discovered by sending a batch of pings to addresses on the network and monitoring responses from those addresses over an interval. After the interval elapses, another batch of pings can be sent. The devices can be discovered by a host on the network or by a network manager. The network manager can add the discovered devices to a network topology database.
-
Citations
21 Claims
-
1. A method of discovering devices on a network, comprising the steps of:
-
accessing an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) table from at least one device on the network; using each accessed ARP table to identify other devices on the network; identifying additional devices on the network by; sending at least two batches of pings to addresses of devices that have not been identified in accessed ARP tables; and after sending each batch of pings, waiting an interval for responses from any devices at the addresses to which the pings were sent; wherein the step of sending a batch of pings comprises sending pings to multiple addresses without waiting for responses until all the pings have been sent to the multiple addresses. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A method of determining a hierarchical data structure of a network, comprising the steps of:
-
accessing routing tables to identify routers on the network; accessing address translation tables and IP address tables from the identified routers to identify other devices on the network; saving IP addresses of the routers and the other devices on the accessed routing tables and address translation tables; and identifying additional devices on the network by; identifying subnets of the network from the IP address tables of the identified routers; and sending pings to IP addresses of undiscovered devices on the subnets. - View Dependent Claims (13)
-
-
14. A method of discovering devices on a network, comprising the steps of:
-
sending batches of pings to different addresses on the network; and for each batch, waiting an interval for responses from devices before sending out another batch of pings, whereby the devices that respond to the pings are discovered; wherein each batch of pings is sent by transmitting pings to multiple addresses without waiting for responses until all the pings have been transmitted to the multiple addresses. - View Dependent Claims (15)
-
-
16. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising:
-
a network management module for discovering devices on a network, the network management module including instructions for; accessing an ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) table from at least one device on the network; using each accessed ARP table to identify other devices on the network; and identifying additional devices on the network by; sending at least two batches of pings to addresses of devices that have not been identified in accessed ARP tables; and after sending each batch of pings, waiting an interval for responses from any devices at the addresses to which the pings were sent; wherein the step of sending a batch of pings comprises sending pings to multiple addresses without waiting for responses until all the pings have been sent to the multiple addresses. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
-
-
20. A computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system, the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising:
-
a network management module for discovering devices on a network, the network management module including instructions for; sending batches of pings to different addresses on the network; and for each batch, waiting an interval for responses from devices before sending out another batch of pings, whereby the devices that respond to the pings are discovered; wherein each batch of pings is sent by transmitting pings to multiple addresses without waiting for responses until all the pings have been transmitted to the multiple addresses. - View Dependent Claims (21)
-
Specification