Customizable user interface for network navigation and management

• US 6,225,999 B1
• Filed: 11/10/1999
• Issued: 05/01/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 12/31/1996
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Williams, Robert, Jain, Sunil
• Primary Examiner(s): Bayerl, Raymond J.
• Assistant Examiner(s): Thai, Cuong T.
• Application Number:
  US09/438,026
• Time in Patent Office: 538 Days
• Field of Search: 345/440, 345/356, 345/357, 345/349, 345/969, 709/223
• US Class Current: 715/734
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: Y10S 715/969 Network layout and operation interface

Abstract

A graphical user interface for network management permits a network manager to select a limited number of network components to be displayed, along with the information relative thereto, while removing the display of undesirable or unnecessary data. Information is provided to inform the network manager that connections to other components may exist. In addition, information regarding the relationship of other components connected to the selected components is displayed. The network manager is provided with the opportunity to navigate about the map which illustrates the network topology, to locate the source of a problem. If the relationship between components changes, the network manager can expand the information displayed on the screen, to view all of the components that are directly connected to an illustrated component associated with a problem. The network manager can continue to request the display of specific connections, until the component which is the source of the problem is itself displayed and identified. Once the problem has been corrected, the manager can collapse the view to the originally selected components.

Claims

1. A method of displaying a graphical representation of selected logical connections of components of a computer network in a network management system that includes stored information pertaining to the components that form the computer network and the logical connections among the components, the method comprising the steps of:

receiving a selection of at least two individual components from among all the components, which comprise less than all the components for which information is stored in the repository; and

displaying a graphical representation of the topology of the computer network that comprises only the selected components, logical connections between only the selected components, and an indicator that identifies a relationship between each selected component and non-displayed components that are logically connected to the selected components.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

displaying, in the graphical representation, a second indicator that is displayed when there are logical connections of the selected components of the network that are not displayed in the graphical map.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

displaying, in the graphical representation, a second indicator that is displayed when there are logical connections of the selected components of the network that are not displayed in the graphical representation, and consisting of a numerical value that indicates a number of non-displayed components to which a selected component is logically connected.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

displaying the graphical representation in expanded form by displaying previously un-selected components that are logically connected to the designated component and that are logical peers of the designated component.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

displaying the graphical representation in expanded form by displaying previously un-selected components that are logically connected to the designated component and that are logical peers of the designated component;

displaying the indicator in the expanded graphical representation in association with each previously un-selected component.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the non-displayed components are only those components that are directly connected to the designated component.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

creating and storing one or more monitor objects that are associated with one of the components of the network, each of the monitor objects representing a performance metric of the components, each of the monitor objects having an associated stored limit value that represents the onset of an error condition for the associated performance metric;

detecting whether a monitor object exceeds its limit value; and

changing the indicator if any limit value of any of the monitor objects is exceeded.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of:

creating and storing one or more monitor objects that are associated with one of the components of the network, each of the monitor objects representing a performance metric of the components, each of the monitor objects having an associated stored limit value that represents the onset of an error condition for the associated performance metric;

detecting whether a monitor object exceeds its limit value;

changing the indicator of a displayed component to a first indication when the error condition is associated with the displayed component; and

changing the indicator to a second indication when the error condition is associated with a non-displayed component.

9. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions for displaying a graphical representation of selected logical connections of components of a computer network in a network management system that includes stored information pertaining to the components that form the computer network and the logical connections among the components, the one or more sequences of one or more instructions including instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

receiving a selection of at least two individual components from among all the components, which comprise less than all the components for which information is stored in the repository; and

displaying a graphical representation of the topology of the computer network that comprises only the selected components, logical connections between only the selected components, and an indicator that identifies a relationship between each selected component and non-displayed components that are logically connected to the selected components.

10. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions causes the one or more processors to perform the further steps of:

displaying, in the graphical representation, a second indicator that is displayed when there are logical connections of the selected components of the network that are not displayed in the graphical map.

11. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions causes the one or more processors to perform the further steps of:

displaying, in the graphical representation, a second indicator that is displayed when there are logical connections of the selected components of the network that are not displayed in the graphical representation, and consisting of a numerical value that indicates a number of non-displayed components to which a selected component is logically connected.

12. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions causes the one or more processors to perform the further steps of:

displaying the graphical representation in expanded form by displaying previously un-selected components that are logically connected to the designated component and that are logical peers of the designated component.

13. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions causes the one or more processors to perform the further steps of:

displaying the graphical representation in expanded form by displaying previously un-selected components that are logically connected to the designated component and that are logical peers of the designated component;

displaying the indicator in the expanded graphical representation in association with each previously un-selected component.

14. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein the non-displayed components are only those components that are directly connected to the designated component.

15. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions causes the one or more processors to perform the further steps of:

creating and storing one or more monitor objects that are associated with one of the components of the network, each of the monitor objects representing a performance metric of the components, each of the monitor objects having an associated stored limit value that represents the onset of an error condition for the associated performance metric;

detecting whether a monitor object exceeds its limit value; and

changing the indicator if any limit value of any of the monitor objects is exceeded.

16. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 9, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions causes the one or more processors to perform the further steps of:

creating and storing one or more monitor objects that are associated with one of the components of the network, each of the monitor objects representing a performance metric of the components, each of the monitor objects having an associated stored limit value that represents the onset of an error condition for the associated performance metric;

detecting whether a monitor object exceeds its limit value;

changing the indicator of a displayed component to a first indication when the error condition is associated with the displayed component; and

changing the indicator to a second indication when the error condition is associated with a non-displayed component.

17. A network device configured for displaying a graphical representation of selected logical connections of components of a computer network in a network management system that includes stored information pertaining to the components that form the computer network and the logical connections among the components, comprising:

a network interface;

a processor coupled to the network interface and receiving information from the network interface;

a computer-readable medium accessible by the processor and comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of;

receiving a selection of at least two individual components from among all the components, which comprise less than all the components for which information is stored in the repository; and

displaying a graphical representation of the topology of the computer network that comprises only the selected components, logical connections between only the selected components, and an indicator that identifies a relationship between each selected component and non-displayed components that are logically connected to the selected components.

18. A network device as recited in claim 17, further comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

displaying, in the graphical representation, a second indicator that is displayed when there are logical connections of the selected components of the network that are not displayed in the graphical map.

19. A network device as recited in claim 17, further comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

displaying, in the graphical representation, a second indicator that is displayed when there are logical connections of the selected components of the network that are not displayed in the graphical representation, and consisting of a numerical value that indicates a number of non-displayed components to which a selected component is logically connected.

20. A network device as recited in claim 17, further comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

displaying the graphical representation in expanded form by displaying previously un-selected components that are logically connected to the designated component and that are logical peers of the designated component.

21. A network device as recited in claim 17, further comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

displaying the graphical representation in expanded form by displaying previously un-selected components that are logically connected to the designated component and that are logical peers of the designated component;

displaying the indicator in the expanded graphical representation in association with each previously un-selected component.

22. A network device as recited in claim 17, wherein the non-displayed components are only those components that are directly connected to the designated component.

23. A network device as recited in claim 17, further comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

creating and storing one or more monitor objects that are associated with one of the components of the network, each of the monitor objects representing a performance metric of the components, each of the monitor objects having an associated stored limit value that represents the onset of an error condition for the associated performance metric;

detecting whether a monitor object exceeds its limit value; and

changing the indicator if any limit value of any of the monitor objects is exceeded.

24. A network device as recited in claim 17, further comprising instructions for performing the steps of:

creating and storing one or more monitor objects that are associated with one of the components of the network, each of the monitor objects representing a performance metric of the components, each of the monitor objects having an associated stored limit value that represents the onset of an error condition for the associated performance metric;

detecting whether a monitor object exceeds its limit value;

changing the indicator of a displayed component to a first indication when the error condition is associated with the displayed component; and

changing the indicator to a second indication when the error condition is associated with a non-displayed component.

25. A network device configured for displaying a graphical representation of selected logical connections of components of a computer network in a network management system that includes stored information pertaining to the components that form the computer network and the logical connections among the components, comprising:

means for receiving a selection of at least two individual components from among all the components, which comprise less than all the components for which information is stored in the repository; and

means for displaying a graphical representation of the topology of the computer network that comprises only the selected components, logical connections between only the selected components, and an indicator that identifies a relationship between each selected component and non-displayed components that are logically connected to the selected components.

26. A method as recited in claim 25, further comprising:

means for displaying, in the graphical representation, a second indicator that is displayed when there are logical connections of the selected components of the network that are not displayed in the graphical map.

27. A method as recited in claim 25, further comprising:

means for displaying, in the graphical representation, a second indicator that is displayed when there are logical connections of the selected components of the network that are not displayed in the graphical representation, and consisting of a numerical value that indicates a number of non-displayed components to which a selected component is logically connected.

28. A method as recited in claim 25, further comprising:

means for displaying the graphical representation in expanded form by displaying previously un-selected components that are logically connected to the designated component and that are logical peers of the designated component.

29. A method as recited in claim 25, further comprising:

means for displaying the graphical representation in expanded form by displaying previously un-selected components that are logically connected to the designated component and that are logical peers of the designated component;

means for displaying the indicator in the expanded graphical representation in association with each previously un-selected component.

30. A method as recited in claim 25, wherein the non-displayed components are only those components that are directly connected to the designated component.

31. A method as recited in claim 25, further comprising:

means for creating and storing one or more monitor objects that are associated with one of the components of the network, each of the monitor objects representing a performance metric of the components, each of the monitor objects having an associated stored limit value that represents the onset of an error condition for the associated performance metric;

means for detecting whether a monitor object exceeds its limit value; and

means for changing the indicator if any limit value of any of the monitor objects is exceeded.

32. A method as recited in claim 25, further comprising:

means for creating and storing one or more monitor objects that are associated with one of the components of the network, each of the monitor objects representing a performance metric of the components, each of the monitor objects having an associated stored limit value that represents the onset of an error condition for the associated performance metric;

means for detecting whether a monitor object exceeds its limit value;

means for changing the indicator of a displayed component to a first indication when the error condition is associated with the displayed component; and

means for changing the indicator to a second indication when the error condition is associated with a non-displayed component.