Method and system for automatic discovery of network services
First Claim
1. A method of identifying elements, services and dependencies among said elements and services of a network comprising steps of:
- executing a first phase of discovery such that a plurality of services and service elements that are cooperative in performing said services within said network are detected, including discovering a first set of dependencies among said services and service elements, where said services are functionalities offered by said network to perform specific tasks;
executing a second phase of discovery using discovery results of said first phase such that inter-service dependencies among said services detected in said first phase are identified, each said identified inter-service dependency being related to a reliance of one of said services upon at least one other of said services; and
forming a network model that is specific to at least one said specified service detected in said first phase such that said network model maps said first set of dependencies and said inter-service dependencies that are relevant to said at least one specified service.
7 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for identifying services, service elements and dependencies among the services and service elements includes executing first and second phases of discovery. In the first phase, the services and service elements are detected, as well as a first set of dependencies. The second phase is based on results of the first phase and is focused upon detecting inter-service dependencies, i.e., conditions in which proper operation of one service relies upon at least one other service. Various techniques may be used in executing the first phase, including accessing information in a domain name service (DNS) of the network to identify dependencies, as well as services and service elements. Discovery within the first phase may also be based upon recognizing naming conventions. Regarding the second phase, one approach to discovering inter-service dependencies is to deploy discovery agents implemented in computer software to access content of configuration files of applications detected in the first phase. Discovery agents may also be used to monitor connections completed via specified service elements detected in the first phase, such that other inter-service dependencies are identified. As an alternative or additional approach, network probes may be deployed to access information of data packets transmitted ted between service elements detected in the first phase, with the accessed packet information being used to detect inter-service dependencies. When information of the DNS is accessed in the first phase, the information is used as a basis for determining at least some of (1) groups of service elements that are generally equivalent with respect to executing a particular service within the network, (2) hosts supporting virtual hosting, (3) hosts supporting virtual servers, and (4) name servers.
-
Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method of identifying elements, services and dependencies among said elements and services of a network comprising steps of:
-
executing a first phase of discovery such that a plurality of services and service elements that are cooperative in performing said services within said network are detected, including discovering a first set of dependencies among said services and service elements, where said services are functionalities offered by said network to perform specific tasks;
executing a second phase of discovery using discovery results of said first phase such that inter-service dependencies among said services detected in said first phase are identified, each said identified inter-service dependency being related to a reliance of one of said services upon at least one other of said services; and
forming a network model that is specific to at least one said specified service detected in said first phase such that said network model maps said first set of dependencies and said inter-service dependencies that are relevant to said at least one specified service. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
-
-
11. A method of identifying elements, services and dependencies among said elements and services comprising steps of:
-
accessing information of a domain name service (DNS) of a network; and
utilizing said information of said DNS as a basis for determining a plurality of;
(a) a group of service elements that are generally equivalent with respect to executing a particular service within said network;
(b) a host supporting virtual hosting;
(c) a host supporting virtual servers; and
(d) name servers that are authoritative for a domain. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A system for identifying service elements, services and dependencies among said service elements and services of a network comprising:
-
a discovery engine means for driving first and second phases of discovering said service elements, services and dependencies, where said services are functionalities offered by said network to perform specific tasks and where said service elements are cooperative in performing said services;
first discovery tools, responsive to said first phase of said discovery engine means, for accessing first information indicative of said service elements, services and a first set of dependencies among said service elements and services, including first information indicative of applications and first information indicative of dependencies among said service elements;
second discovery tools, responsive to said second phase of said discovery engine means and based on said first information, for accessing second information indicative of a second set of dependencies among said service elements and services, said second discovery tools including discovery agents executed in computer software that is configured to detect inter-service dependencies among said services; and
means for generating a discovered instance of at least a preselected portion of said network based on said first and second information from said first and second discovery tools thereby generating a network model which maps said first and second information as interconnected nodes in said discovered instance of said preselected portion. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
Specification