System and method for network auto-discovery and configuration
First Claim
1. A network management system, comprising:
- a network;
a plurality of telephony devices coupled to said network; and
a server said server including an auto-discovery unit configured to make a determination of the presence of configurable components associated with said plurality of telephony devices on said network by communicating with said telephony devices, said server further configured to provide a graphical user interface (GUI) based network map of said configurable components, wherein said server is further configured to automatically determine which others of said configurable components is interested in configuration information associated with said configurable components and automatically propagate said configuration information to said others of said configurable components.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A Network Auto-Discovery service is provided. In operation, an administrator inputs a set of IP (Internet Protocol) address ranges inside which the distributed system exists. The Auto-Discovery Unit (104) steps through the IP addresses in the ranges testing each one to determine if there is a machine at that IP address. If a machine is found at that address, an exploration process is begun. First, attempts are made to contact a Responder (112) on the machine. If one exists, the Responder (112) accepts the configuration information provided to it. Then the Responder (112) returns a set of objects that describe the hardware and software components of that machine. The returned information contains a list of management applications associated with system components. The Auto-Discovery Unit (104) then stores this information. The location and exploration process is repeated at scheduled intervals indefinitely.
357 Citations
15 Claims
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1. A network management system, comprising:
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a network;
a plurality of telephony devices coupled to said network; and
a server said server including an auto-discovery unit configured to make a determination of the presence of configurable components associated with said plurality of telephony devices on said network by communicating with said telephony devices, said server further configured to provide a graphical user interface (GUI) based network map of said configurable components, wherein said server is further configured to automatically determine which others of said configurable components is interested in configuration information associated with said configurable components and automatically propagate said configuration information to said others of said configurable components. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method for managing a network including a plurality of telephony devices, comprising:
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automatically determining the presence of configurable components associated with said plurality of telephony devices;
receiving configuration information from said plurality of telephony devices;
automatically determining which others of said plurality of telephony devices is interested in said configuration information of said plurality of telephony devices;
automatically propagating said configuration information to said others of said plurality of telephony devices at predetermined intervals; and
displaying a map of said configurable components. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14)
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15. A network management system, comprising:
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a network;
a plurality of telephony devices coupled to said network; and
a server, said server including an autodiscovery unit configured to automatically search for new components and distribute corresponding configuration information to other components, and further wherein said server is configured to determine whether other components need to be informed of the configuration of the newly discovered components and automatically distribute said configuration information to said other components.
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Specification