Network management using abstract device descriptions

• US 6,754,703 B1
• Filed: 01/03/2003
• Issued: 06/22/2004
• Est. Priority Date: 06/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Spring, Maximilian J.
• Primary Examiner(s): EL HADY, NABIL M
• Application Number:
  US10/336,284
• Time in Patent Office: 536 Days
• Field of Search: 709/201, 709/202, 709/203, 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 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

A method and apparatus are disclosed for creating and storing information that defines one or more network devices for use with a network management system. In one aspect, a network device having one or more logical slots, each of which may contain one of a plurality of sub-components, may be defined in terms of a logical expression that is evaluated by the network management system at runtime. A containment tree representing physical hardware and software elements of the network device is created and stored in memory. The logical expression is evaluated, based in part on a value that is obtained in real time from the network device using a dynamic discovery operation. A node representing the actual sub-component present in the slot of the device at runtime is created and stored in the tree based on the result of evaluating the expression.

Claims

1. A method of creating and storing information that represents a logical description of a network device for use in a network management system, the method comprising the steps of:

creating and storing a tree that represents a logical hierarchy of the components of the network device, based on a textual description of physical components of the network device, wherein the description includes a logical expression;

creating and storing a first node of the tree that represents a logical slot of the network device that may be configured with one of a plurality of sub-components;

creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value that is obtained from the network device in real time;

selecting one of the plurality of sub-components based on the result value;

creating and storing a second node as a child node of the first node, wherein the second node represents the selected one of the plurality of sub-components.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing a tree further comprising the steps of:

creating and storing a tree that logically represents the components of the network device, wherein the tree comprises a third node representing the device type and one or more component nodes that represent hardware or software elements of the network device;

creating and storing a the first node as a child node of the third node.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of creating and storing the textual description in the form of one or more stored device descriptions, each device description comprising a definition of a device type node and one or more component type nodes.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, further comprising the steps of creating and storing the textual description in the form of one or more stored device descriptions, each device description comprising a definition of a device type node, one or more component type nodes, and one or more slot type nodes, wherein each of the slot type nodes includes a logical expression that can be used to select a sub-component node that is contained within that slot type node.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing a result value includes creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing a result value includes creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time at a time at which the tree is created and stored.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing a result value includes creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time at run time of the network management system.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing a result value includes creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time upon initialization of the network management system.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing a result value includes creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time using a dynamic device discovery operation of the network management system.

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

creating and storing the textual description, including a description of the first node according to the grammar;

11. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for creating and storing information that represents a logical description of a network device for use in a network management system, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

creating and storing a tree that represents a logical hierarchy of the components of the network device, based on a textual description of physical components of the network device, wherein the description includes a logical expression;

creating and storing a first node of the tree that represents a logical slot of the network device that may be configured with one of a plurality of sub-components;

creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value that is obtained from the network device in real time;

selecting one of the plurality of sub-components based on the result value;

creating and storing a second node as a child node of the first node, wherein the second node represents the selected one of the plurality of sub-components.

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

creating and storing a tree that represents a logical hierarchy of the components of the network device, based on a textual description of physical components of the network device, wherein the description includes a logical expression;

creating and storing a first node of the tree that represents a logical slot of the network device that may be configured with one of a plurality of sub-components;

creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value that is obtained from the network device in real time;

selecting one of the plurality of sub-components based on the result value;

creating and storing a second node as a child node of the first node, wherein the second node represents the selected one of the plurality of sub-components.

13. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein creating and storing a tree further comprising the steps of:

creating and storing a tree that logically represents the components of the network device, wherein the tree comprises a third node representing the device type and one or more component nodes that represent hardware or software elements of the network device;

creating and storing a the first node as a child node of the third node.

14. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, further comprising the steps of creating and storing the textual description in the form of one or more stored device descriptions, each device description comprising a definition of a device type node and one or more component type nodes.

15. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, further comprising the steps of creating and storing the textual description in the form of one or more stored device descriptions, each device description comprising a definition of a device type node, one or more component type nodes, and one or more slot type nodes, wherein each of the slot type nodes includes a logical expression that can be used to select a sub-component node that is contained within that slot type node.

16. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein creating and storing a result value includes creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device.

17. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein creating and storing a result value includes creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time at a time at which the tree is created and stored.

18. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein creating and storing a result value includes creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time at run time of the network management system.

19. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein creating and storing a result value includes creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time upon initialization of the network management system.

20. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, wherein creating and storing a result value includes creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time using a dynamic device discovery operation of the network management system.

21. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 11, further comprising the steps of:

creating and storing the textual description, including a description of the first node according to the grammar;

22. An apparatus for creating and storing information that represents a logical description of a network device for use in a network management system, comprising:

means for creating and storing a tree that represents a logical hierarchy of the components of the network device, based on a textual description of physical components of the network device, wherein the description includes a logical expression;

means for creating and storing a first node of the tree that represents a logical slot of the network device that may be configured with one of a plurality of sub-components;

means for creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value that is obtained from the network device in real time;

means for selecting one of the plurality of sub-components based on the result value;

means for creating and storing a second node as a child node of the first node, wherein the second node represents the selected one of the plurality of sub-components.

23. An apparatus as recited in claim 22, wherein the means for creating and storing a tree further comprises:

means for creating and storing a tree that logically represents the components of the network device, wherein the tree comprises a third node representing the device type and one or more component nodes that represent hardware or software elements of the network device;

means for creating and storing a the first node as a child node of the third node.

24. An apparatus as recited in claim 22, further comprising means for creating and storing the textual description in the form of one or more stored device descriptions, each device description comprising a definition of a device type node and one or more component type nodes.

25. An apparatus as recited in claim 22, further comprising means for creating and storing the textual description in the form of one or more stored device descriptions, each device description comprising a definition of a device type node, one or more component type nodes, and one or more slot type nodes, wherein each of the slot type nodes includes a logical expression that can be used to select a sub-component node that is contained within that slot type node.

26. An apparatus as recited in claim 22, wherein the means for creating and storing a result value includes means for creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device.

27. An apparatus as recited in claim 22, wherein the means for creating and storing a result value includes the means for creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time at a time at which the tree is created and stored.

28. An apparatus as recited in claim 22, wherein the means for creating and storing a result value includes means for creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time at run time of the network management system.

29. An apparatus as recited in claim 22, wherein the means for creating and storing a result value includes means for creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time upon initialization of the network management system.

30. An apparatus as recited in claim 22, wherein the means for creating and storing a result value includes means for creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time using a dynamic device discovery operation of the network management system.

31. An apparatus as recited in claim 22, further comprising:

means for creating and storing the textual description, including a description of the first node according to the grammar;

32. An apparatus for creating and storing information that represents a logical description of a network device for use in a network management system, comprising:

a processor;

a network interface configured to be communicatively coupled to a network to receive packet flows therefrom; and

a computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for creating and storing information that represents a logical description of a network device for use in a network management system, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of;

creating and storing a tree that represents a logical hierarchy of the components of the network device, based on a textual description of physical components of the network device, wherein the description includes a logical expression;

creating and storing a first node of the tree that represents a logical slot of the network device that may be configured with one of a plurality of sub-components;

creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value that is obtained from the network device in real time;

selecting one of the plurality of sub-components based on the result value;

creating and storing a second node as a child node of the first node, wherein the second node represents the selected one of the plurality of sub-components.

33. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the sequences of instructions for creating and storing a tree further comprise sequences of instructions for:

creating and storing a tree that logically represents the components of the network device, wherein the tree comprises a third node representing the device type and one or more component nodes that represent hardware or software elements of the network device;

creating and storing a the first node as a child node of the third node.

34. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising sequences of instructions for creating and storing the textual description in the form of one or more stored device descriptions, each device description comprising a definition of a device type node and one or more component type nodes.

35. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising sequences of instructions for creating and storing the textual description in the form of one or more stored device descriptions, each device description comprising a definition of a device type node, one or more component type nodes, and one or more slot type nodes, wherein each of the slot type nodes includes a logical expression that can be used to select a sub-component node that is contained within that slot type node.

36. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the sequences of instructions for creating and storing a result value include sequences of instructions for creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device.

37. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the sequences of instructions for creating and storing a result value include sequences of instructions for the creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time at a time at which the tree is created and stored.

38. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the sequences of instructions for creating and storing a result value include sequences of instructions for creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time at run time of the network management system.

39. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the sequences of instructions for creating and storing a result value include sequences of instructions for creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time upon initialization of the network management system.

40. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, wherein the sequences of instructions for creating and storing a result value include sequences of instructions for creating and storing a result value by evaluating the logical expression using a value for a variable in the expression that is obtained from the network device in real time using a dynamic device discovery operation of the network management system.

41. An apparatus as recited in claim 32, further comprising sequences of instructions for creating and storing the textual description, including a description of the first node according to the grammar: