Computer network system and method using domain name system to locate MIB module specification and web browser for managing SNMP agents

• US 6,003,077 A
• Filed: 09/15/1997
• Issued: 12/14/1999
• Est. Priority Date: 09/16/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Wind River Systems Incorporated (Aptiv PLC)
• Original Assignee: Integrated Systems Incorporated
• Inventors: Austein, S. Robert, Routhier, Shawn A., Bawden, Alan, Gilbert, Lowell S.
• Primary Examiner(s): Luu, Le Hien
• Application Number:
  US08/929,633
• Time in Patent Office: 820 Days
• Field of Search: 707/10, 705/8, 709/223, 709/224
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0253 using browsers or web-pages for accessing management information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor

Abstract

A standard SNMP management station is replaced by a client computer having a standard Web browser while utilizing the services of a Web/SNMP proxy agent in accordance with the present invention. The Internet locations of the ASN.1 specifications for various MIB modules, as well as other information resources associated with those MIB modules, are stored in resource records in a section of the DNS established for storing such information. The Web/SNMP proxy agent automatically locates the ASN.1 specification for each MIB module of any identified SNMP agent, by looking up the location in the DNS. The Web/SNMP proxy agent then compiles the ASN.1 MIB module specifications into HTML documents for viewing on the client computer. User requests for retrieving data from specified MIB objects and/or for sending data values to specified MIB objects are communicated from the client computer to the Web/SNMP proxy agent using standard HTTUP communications. When the specified SNMP agent is remotely located from the Web/SNMP proxy agent, the Web/SNMP proxy agent converts the user requests into SNMP packets that are communicated to the specified SNMP agent. SNMP reply packets are converted into HTML documents, generally by inserting the information in the reply packets into previously generated HTML MIB specification documents, that are then communicated back to the user'"'"'s client computer.

Claims

1. Apparatus for facilitating management of SNMP-manageable devices, comprising:

a World Wide Web server for receiving user requests from users at locations remote to the Web server, a first subset of said user requests specifying an SNMP agent to be managed, and a second subset of said user requests indicating specific SNMP operations to be performed with respect to a specified SNMP agent;

said Web server including;

a MIB module information locator for locating, for said user specified SNMP agent, at least one associated MIB module specification by accessing a domain name system (DNS);

a MIB compiler for converting said located MIB module specification into an HTML formatted MIB module specification, and for transferring a copy of said HTML formatted MIB module specification to a respective user associated with the user request that specified said SNMP agent with which said MIB module specification is associated;

said HTML formatted MIB module specification including one or more HTML formatted forms for displaying data values retrieved from a MIB module associated with the user specified SNMP agent and for entering user requests in the second subset of user requests; and

a SNMP management module for converting each said user request indicating one or more specific SNMP operations to be performed with respect to a specified SNMP agent into one or more corresponding SNMP request packets for transmission to said specified SNMP agent, and for converting SNMP reply packets received from said specified SNMP agent into HTML formatted reply documents for transmission to said user.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein

said MIB module information locator is configured to convert a MIB module object identifier associated with said user specified SNMP agent into a domain name system (DNS) name, and for then utilizing said DNS name to access an associated resource record that contains information indicating an Internet accessible location at which said associated MIB module specification is stored.

3. A method of facilitating management of SNMP-manageable devices, comprising the steps of:

receiving user requests from users, a first subset of the user requests specifying an SNMP agent to be managed, and a second subset of the user requests indicating specific SNMP operations to be performed with respect to a specified SNMP agent;

locating, for the user specified SNMP agent, at least one associated MIB module specification by accessing a domain name system (DNS);

converting the located MIB module specification into an HTML formatted MIB module specification, and for transferring a copy of the HTML formatted MIB module specification to a respective user associated with the user request that specified the SNMP agent with which the MIB module specification is associated;

said HTML formatted MIB module specification including one or more HTML formatted forms for displaying data values retrieved from a MIB module associated with the user specified SNMP agent and for entering user requests in the second subset of user requests;

converting each user request indicating one or more specific SNMP operations to be performed with respect to a specified SNMP agent into one or more corresponding SNMP request packets for transmission to the specified SNMP agent; and

converting SNMP reply packets received from the specified SNMP agent into HTML formatted reply documents for transmission to the user.

4. The method of claim 3, the MIB module specification locating step including:

converting a MIB module object identifier associated with the user specified SNMP agent into a domain name system (DNS) name, and then utilizing the DNS name to access an associated resource record that contains information indicating an Internet accessible location at which the associated MIB module specification is stored.

5. A computer program product for facilitating management of SNMP-manageable devices, the computer program product for use in conjunction with a computer system that receives user requests from users, a first subset of the user requests specifying an SNMP agent to be managed, and a second subset of the user requests indicating specific SNMP operations to be performed with respect to a specified SNMP agent;

the computer program product comprising a computer readable storage medium and a computer program mechanism embedded therein, the computer program mechanism comprising;

a MIB module information locator for locating, for the user specified SNMP agent, at least one associated MIB module specification by accessing a domain name system (DNS);

a MIB compiler for converting the located MIB module specification into an HTML formatted MIB module specification, and for transferring a copy of the HTML formatted MIB module specification to a respective user associated with the user request that specified the SNMP agent with which the MIB module specification is associated;

said HTML formatted MIB module specification including one or more HTML formatted forms for displaying data values retrieved from a MIB module associated with the user specified SNMP agent and for entering user requests in the second subset of user requests; and

a SNMP management module for converting each user request indicating one or more specific SNMP operations to be performed with respect to a specified SNMP agent into one or more corresponding SNMP request packets for transmission to the specified SNMP agent, and for converting SNMP reply packets received from the specified SNMP agent into HTML formatted reply documents for transmission to the user.

6. The computer program product of claim 5, wherein

the MIB module information locator is configured to convert a MIB module object identifier associated with the user specified SNMP agent into a domain name system (DNS) name, and for then utilizing the DNS name to access an associated resource record that contains information indicating an Internet accessible location at which the associated MIB module specification is stored.