Process and system for network and system management

• US 6,430,613 B1
• Filed: 04/15/1999
• Issued: 08/06/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/15/1998
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Bull Sas (Atos SE)
• Original Assignee: Bull Sas (Atos SE)
• Inventors: Lamberet, Florence, Brunet, Jean
• Primary Examiner(s): Burgess, Glenton B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): FLYNN, KIMBERLY D
• Application Number:
  US09/292,561
• Time in Patent Office: 1,209 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224, 709/225, 709/220, 709/221
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/044 comprising hierarchical management structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0604 using filtering, e.g. reduction of information by using priority, element types, position or time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

The present invention relates to a process and a system for network and system management. The process for network management comprises at least one submanager (COACH) located in a containing tree between a main manager (AD) and the equipment units of a local area network. The submanager is located in the local area network (RLE) and is managed by the main manager (AD). A subnetwork comprises various modules that communicate with one another and with the main manager (AD) through a kernel (N). The modules poll the equipment of the subnetwork and receive the alarms sent by agents (SNMP) operating in the equipment units of the subnetwork.

Claims

1. A process for network and system management, said network having at least one submanager (COACH) located in a containing tree between a main manager (AD) and equipment units (ET) of a subnetwork, each having an Internet address, the submanager (COACH) being located in a local area network (RLE) for managing the subnetwork and comprising various modules adapted to communicate with one another and with the main manager (AD) through a kernel (N), the modules being arranged to poll the equipment units (ET) of the subnetwork and receive alarms triggered by agents (SNMP) operating in the equipment units of the subnetwork (ET), the process comprising:

polling all of the possible equipment units (ET) of the subnetwork by a discovery module (MD), that discovers the equipment units (ET) of the subnetwork to be managed and classifies said equipment units into domains as a function of the types of agents installed in them, a domain being a group of equipment units, and being defined based on the unit'"'"'s response or non-response to a set of object instances of a management information base (MIB SNMP),

completing a domain search by the discovery module (MD), when an equipment unit responds to the polling (SNMP),

sending a notification to a model configuration module (MGM) by the discovery module (MD),

noting to the model configuration module (MCM) the Internet address (IP) of the equipment unit discovered and the domain to which the equipment unit discovered belongs, and

notifying an indicator calculation module (MCI) by the model configuration module (MCM) of an indicator to be instantiated in the equipment unit and an alarm filtering module (MFA) of a filter model to be instantiated in the equipment.

2. A process for network and system management according to claim 1, further comprising:

updating the databases of the kernel (N) and of the model configuration module (MCM) containing a list of the equipment units and their domains by the discovery module (MD) with each discovery of an equipment unit of the subnetwork,

wherein the model configuration module (MCM) comprises alarm filter models and indicators adapted to be instantiated automatically in the equipment of the subnetwork, each indicator being associated with a polling period.

3. A process for network and system management according to claim 1, further comprising:

sending alarms by the various modules which communicate with one another to the main manager (AD) via an alarm security module (MSA) having a client (cMSA), said alarms being accompanied by a send message addressed to a server of the alarm security module (sMSA) and storing said alarm in an alarm filtering module (MFA),

wherein the alarm security module (MSA) operates according to a client-server response such that when at least one alarm has been sent to the manager, the client (cMSA) waits for a confirmation message from the server (sMSA) located in the main manager (AD), said server (sMSA), after receiving said send message, sending a reception confirmation message to the client (cMSA), the client sending the alarm and another send message to the manager when the reception confirmation message has not been received by the client after a given amount of time.

4. A process for network and system management according to claim 3, further comprising:

receiving an alarm by the main manager (AD) and said send message by the server of the alarm security module (sMSA),

sending a reception confirmation message by the server of the alarm security module (sMSA) to the client of the alarm security module (cMSA),

receiving the reception confirmation message by the client of the alarm security module (cMSA), and

updating alarm instances stored in the alarm filtering module (MFA).

5. A process for network and system management according to claim 3, further comprising monitoring the reception of the confirmation message by a client of an alarm confirmation module (MCA) and when the client of the alarm confirmation module (MCA) has not received the reception confirmation message after a given amount of time, sending an the alarm to the main manager (AD), the alarm being accompanied by a send message sent to the server of the alarm security module (sMSA).

6. A process for network and system management according to claim 1, characterized in that when an indicator calculation module (MCI) or the discovery module (MD) does not obtain a response to a request sent to an equipment unit of the subnetwork, the indicator calculation module (MCI) or the discovery module (MD) sends a message to a watchdog module (MCG) to indicate an assumed disappearance of the equipment unit and polling the equipment unit assumed to have disappeared by the watchdog module and waiting a further predetermined amount of time for a response,

wherein the Watchdog module (MCG), when requested by a module, verifying the existence of an equipment unit through the repeated sending of calls, and if the existence of an equipment unit is not verified that the equipment unit has disappeared and has not responded to a predefined number of calls, sending an alarm to the main manager (AD), which will be perceived by the latter as having originated from the equipment unit that has disappeared.

7. A process for network and system management according to claim 6, characterized in that when, after a given amount of time, the watchdog module (MCG) has not obtained a response from the equipment unit assumed to have disappeared, the equipment unit of the subnetwork assumed to have disappeared is deleted from the database of the kernel (N), from the database of the discovery module (MD) and from the data base of the domain configuration module (MCM), the watchdog module (MCG) sending an alarm to the main manager (AD), indicating to it the disappearance of the equipment, the alarm being perceived by the manager as having originated from the equipment unit through the security module and being sent using the security module.

8. A process for network and system management according to claim 6, characterized in that when the watchdog module (MCG) obtains a response from the equipment unit assumed to have disappeared, it requests rediscovery of the domains if the request was sent by the indicator calculation module (MCI).

9. A process for network and system management according to claim 1, wherein the indicator calculation module (MCI) calculates the result of the application of an indicator to an equipment unit, the indicator being defined for the domain to which the equipment unit belongs, and the result of this application being compared to a threshold value not exceeded by a certain number of times within a certain time period.

10. A. process for network and system management according to claim 1, in which the alarm filtering module (MFA) receives the alarms sent by the agents (SNMP) operating in the equipment of the subnetwork, and then selects some of said alarms using a filter defined for a given domain, said selected alarms being sent to the main manager (AD).

11. A process for network and system management according to claim 1, further comprising:

updating the databases of the kernel (N) and of the model configuration module (MCM) containing a list of the equipment units and their domains by the discovery module (MD) with each discovery of an equipment unit of the subnetwork.

12. A process for network and system management according to claim 1, further comprising:

sending alarms by the various modules which communicate with one another to the main manager (AD) via an alarm security module (MSA) having a client (cMSA), said alarms being accompanied by a send message addressed to a server of the alarm security module (sMSA) and storing said alarm in an alarm filtering module (MFA).

13. A process for network and system management according to claim 1, characterized in that when an indicator calculation module (MCI) or the discovery module (MD) does not obtain a response to a request sent to an equipment unit of the subnetwork, the indicator calculation module (MCI) or the discovery module (MD) sends a message to a watchdog module (MCG) to indicate an assumed disappearance of the equipment unit and polling the equipment unit assumed to have disappeared by the watchdog module and waiting a further predetermined amount of time for a response.

14. A system for network and system management by a main manager communicating with equipment units (ET) of local area networks (RLE) through a wide area network (WAN) comprising:

at least one submanager (COACH) located in the local area network (RLE) and managed by the main manager (AD), wherein the submanager (COACH) includes

means for polling the equipment units of the local area network (RLE), for filtering and storing alarms triggered by agents (SNMP) operating in the equipment units of the local area networks,

means for protecting the alarms sent to the main manager (AD), and

means for maintaining a dialogue with the main manager and between the means for polling and means for protecting the alarms,

wherein the polling means includes a discovery module (MD) that discovers the equipment units (ET) of the subnetwork to be managed and classifies said equipment units into domains as a function of the types of agents installed in them, and

wherein a domain is a group of equipment units and is defined based on the unit'"'"'s response or non-response to a set of object instances of a management information base (MIB SNMP).

15. A system for network and system management according to claim 14, characterized in that the dialogue means is constituted by a kernel (N), which dialogues with the main manager (AD) and allows the dialogue between the various modules composing said system.

16. A system for network and system management according to claim 15, characterized in the kernel (N) is polled by the modules in order to initialize their operating parameters.

17. A system for network and system management according to claim 14, characterized in that the means for polling the equipment of the local area network (RLE), for filtering and storing the alarms triggered by the agents (SNMP) operating in the equipment of the network comprise:

a model configuration module (MCM) comprising alarm filter models and indicators adapted to be instantiated automatically in the equipment of the subnetwork, each indicator being associated with a polling period,

an indicator calculation module (MCI) that calculates the result of the application of an indicator to an equipment unit, the indicator being defined for the domain to which the equipment unit belongs, the result of this application being compared to a threshold value not exceeded by a certain number of times within a certain time period, and

an alarm filtering module (MFA) that receives the alarms sent by the agents (SNMP) operating in the equipment of the subnetwork, and then selects some of said alarms using a filter defined for a given domain, said selected alarms being sent to the main manager (AD).

18. A system for network and system management according to claim 17, characterized in that when the threshold value has been exceeded a certain number of times within a given time period, the indicator calculation module (MCI) sends an alarm to the main manager (AD), said alarm being perceived by the main manager as having been sent by the equipment unit for which the instantiation has been performed.

19. A system for network and system management according to claim 17, characterized in that the indicator is an equation applied to object instances in the management information base (MIB), the instances being obtained by polling the agents (SNMP) operating in each of the equipment units of the subnetwork.

20. A system for network and system management according to claim 14, characterized in that the kernel (N) manages a database containing all the instances of the management information base (MIB), said kernel comprising at least two communication sockets and common interface for managing communication with the modules.

21. A system for network and system management according to claim 17, further including a file archived on the hard disk for storing the result of an indicator and/or a list of the alarms sent.

22. A system for network and system management according to claim 14, characterized in that the means for protecting the alarms sent to the main manager (AD) comprise:

a watchdog module (MCG) which, when requested by a module, verifies the existence of an equipment unit through the repeated sending of calls; and

if the existence of an equipment unit is not verified that the equipment unit has disappeared and has not responded to a predefined number of calls, said watchdog module (MCG) sends an alarm to the main manager (AD), which will be perceived by the latter as having originated from the equipment unit that has disappeared,

an alarm security module (MSA) that operates according to a client-server response such that when at least one alarm has been sent to the manager, the client (cMSA) waits for a confirmation message from the server (sMSA) located in the main manager (AD), said server (sMSA), after receiving said send message, sending a reception confirmation message to the client (cMSA), the client sending the alarm and another send message to the manager when the reception confirmation message has not been received by the client after a given amount of time.

23. A system for network and system management according to claim 14, further including alarm filters that are parameterized either by an initialization file or via the protocol SNMP.

24. A system for network and system management according to claim 14, further including an the alarm confirmation module for accumulating alarms to be sent, said alarms being grouped in packets, with a given frequency.

25. A system for network and system management according to claim 14, wherein the alarm filter module (MFN) contains a description of the alarm to be recognized and a maximum number of alarm occurrences before which another alarm is sent to the main manager (AD), if said maximum number of alarm occurrences is received within a certain period.

26. A system for network and system management according to claim 14, characterized in that initialization parameters of the discovery module (MD) include the period between two discoveries, a minimum number of systems to be discovered and an Internet protocol (IP) mask that determines the span of the network to be discovered.

27. A system for network and system management according to claim 14, characterized in that an equipment unit (ET) that has been discovered is classified into one or more domains as a function of its responses to the polling performed on each set of object instances of the management information base (MIB) defining a domain.