Dynamic management information base manager
First Claim
1. A management information base (MIB) manager for maintaining a MIB structure of objects for control by an agent, the agent including functions for managing initially defined objects in the MIB structure and a definition of at least one new object, the MIB manager comprising:
- an agent interface for receiving commands from the agent and for providing object values to the agent from the MIB structure;
a MIB interface for reading and modifying object values in the MIB structure and for modifying the MIB structure; and
a plurality of functions for reading and modifying values of objects in, for adding objects to and for removing objects from the MIB structure as controlled by the agent;
wherein said plurality of functions add a new object to the MIB structure in response to a request by the agent and according to the definition within the agent of the new object.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A MIB manager including set of software interfaces, semantics, procedures and data structures that work together as a system to dynamically manage a tree of SNMP data objects identified by a standard object identifier (OID) along with each object'"'"'s value. An agent uses the interface of the MIB manager to add and delete MIB objects by OID. When one or more new objects are added to the MIB tree, the agent provides the MIB manager with references to subroutines within the agent and external to the MIB manager, which subroutines operate to manage the identified objects by monitoring and controlling the objects'"'"' values. This enables the MIB manager to be implemented in a manner independent of the application and hardware. The MIB manager allows agent to add new objects at any level within the MIB tree, thus allowing modification at any desired degree of granularity. The agent may add a single leaf element, a table row, an entire table or an entire branch of the MIB tree. If the agent adds a branch to the MIB tree through the MIB manager interface, where the branch is itself a tree of MIB objects, then the agent includes proper procedures for managing the objects and values for that branch. Security information may also be defined for new objects, either by referencing an existing access rights definition or by referencing new access rights.
289 Citations
22 Claims
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1. A management information base (MIB) manager for maintaining a MIB structure of objects for control by an agent, the agent including functions for managing initially defined objects in the MIB structure and a definition of at least one new object, the MIB manager comprising:
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an agent interface for receiving commands from the agent and for providing object values to the agent from the MIB structure; a MIB interface for reading and modifying object values in the MIB structure and for modifying the MIB structure; and a plurality of functions for reading and modifying values of objects in, for adding objects to and for removing objects from the MIB structure as controlled by the agent; wherein said plurality of functions add a new object to the MIB structure in response to a request by the agent and according to the definition within the agent of the new object. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3)
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4. A management module for managing a device, comprising:
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a processor; and memory for storing data and executable code for execution by said processor, said data and executable code including; a management information base (MIB) structure defining objects associated with the device for managing the device; and a MIB manager for maintaining said MIB structure, said MIB manager including executable code for dynamically modifying the structure of said MIB structure during operation. - View Dependent Claims (5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A network system, comprising:
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a plurality of network nodes; a network device, including; a plurality of ports, each for coupling to one of said plurality of network nodes; a processor; and memory for storing data and executable code for execution by said processor, said data and executable code including; a management information base (MIB) structure defining objects associated with said network device for managing said network device; and a MIB manager for maintaining said MIB structure, said MIB manager including executable code for dynamically modifying the structure of said MIB structure during operation. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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Specification