Processes and apparatuses for managing network devices

• US 6,532,491 B1
• Filed: 11/05/1997
• Issued: 03/11/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 03/24/1997
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: RPX Corporation
• Original Assignee: Novell Incorporated (Open Text Corporation)
• Inventors: Cummings, Jay R., Webster, Mark D., Cluff, William A., Lakis, David M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Burgess, Glenton B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): EDELMAN, BRADLEY E
• Application Number:
  US08/964,535
• Time in Patent Office: 1,952 Days
• Field of Search: 395/200.53, 395/200.3, 395/651, 395/653, 395/615, 395/200.09, 709/223, 709/202, 709/205, 709/224, 709/226, 707/104
• 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 41/024 using relational databases for representation of network management data, e.g. managing via structured query language [SQL]

Abstract

Processes and apparatuses are provided for managing one of a plurality of network manageable devices, each one of the plurality of network manageable devices having a unit of first management information associated therewith. A request is issued to a first computer from a second computer to access the unit of first management information associated with the one of the plurality of network manageable devices. A first data structure is created for storing a unit of first device information for each one of the plurality of network manageable devices with each unit of first device information identifying its respective network manageable device. The first data structure is searched for a unit of first device information associated with the one of the plurality of network manageable devices and the unit of first device information associated with the one of the plurality of network manageable devices is used to locate the unit of first management information associated with the one of the plurality of network manageable devices.

Claims

1. A computer system for management of a plurality of network manageable devices comprising:

a management computer;

a plurality of network manageable devices which are in data communication with and managed by the management computer; and

a display computer in data communication with the management computer and capable of displaying to a user of the display computer information relating to the network manageable devices that can be accessed by a management application, wherein the display computer is configured to generate an SNMP request, wherein the SNMP request comprises an object identifier for a MIB abstract object and an identifier associated with one of the network manageable devices capable of having management information to which access is desired, wherein the management application comprises a MIB compiler capable of generating at least one MIB output file from a MIB input file, wherein the MIB output file contains programming structures which can be used by the management application to determine the information it can access, and wherein the management computer is configured to retrieve MIB item values corresponding to the abstract MIB object and the other network manageable devices managed by the management computer, if the SNMP request is a GETNEXT request.

2. The system as recited in claim 1, wherein the plurality of network manageable devices comprise a plurality of printer devices.

3. A process for accessing management information associated with a plurality of network manageable devices, comprising the steps of:

receiving at a management computer an SNMP request from a display computer, wherein the SNMP request comprises an object identifier for an MIB abstract object and an identifier associated with a network manageable device capable of having management information to which access is desired, wherein the MIB abstract object comprises a logical grouping of MIB items and is generated from an MIB compiler;

initializing an instance list with a device index value for the network manageable device, wherein the instance list can be used to determine if a database includes MIB item values associated with the network manageable device;

retrieving MIB item values corresponding to the abstract MIB object and the network manageable device from the database; and

if the SNMP request is a GETNEXT request, retrieving MIB item values corresponding to the abstract MIB object and any other network manageable device managed by the management computer.

4. The process as recited in claim 3, wherein the network manageable devices comprise a plurality of printer devices.

5. The process as recited in claim 3, wherein the steps are stored as instructions on a computer-readable medium.

6. A computer system for management of a plurality of network manageable devices comprising:

a management computer;

a plurality of network manageable devices which are in data communication with and managed by the management computer; and

a display computer in data communication with the management computer and capable of displaying to a user of the display computer information relating to the network manageable devices that can be accessed by a management application, wherein the display computer is configured to generate an SNMP request, wherein the SNMP request comprises an object identifier for a MIB abstract object, wherein the management application comprises a MIB compiler capable of generating at least one MIB output file from a MIB input file, wherein the MIB output file contains programming structures which can be used by the management application to determine the information it can access, and wherein the management computer is configured to retrieve MIB item values corresponding to the abstract MIB object and to initialize an instance list with a device index value for a network manageable device, wherein the instance list can be used to determine if a database includes MIB item values associated with the network manageable device.

7. The system as recited in claim 6, wherein the plurality of network manageable devices comprise a plurality of printer devices.