Method of searching servers in a distributed network
First Claim
1. A method of querying computers connected to a distributed network, said method comprising the steps of:
- providing a range of Internet Protocol (“
IP”
) addresses to be queried, said range being defined by a beginning address and an ending address;
selecting an IP address to be queried from the range of Internet Protocol (“
IP”
) addresses, the selected IP address including a primary number, a secondary number, a third number, and a fourth number;
transmitting a request to the selected IP address;
creating a response record associated with the selected IP address in a response output file, said response record comprising the selected IP address;
incrementing the address to be queried according to a predefined order, the predefined order including;
(a) incrementing the secondary number without changing the primary number, third number, and fourth number until the entire range of secondary numbers has been queried;
(b) incrementing the third number by one;
(c) incrementing the secondary number without changing the primary number, third number, and fourth number until the entire range of secondary numbers has been queried;
(d) repeating steps (b) and (c) until the entire range of secondary numbers and third numbers has been queried;
(e) incrementing the fourth number by one;
(f) incrementing the secondary number without changing the primary number, third number, and fourth number until the entire range of secondary numbers has been queried;
(g) incrementing the third number by one;
(h) incrementing the secondary number without changing the primary number, third number, and fourth number until the entire range of secondary numbers has been queried; and
(i) repeating steps (e) through (h) until the entire range of secondary numbers, third numbers, and fourth numbers has been queried;
repeating said steps of transmitting a request, creating a response record, and incrementing the address until every address in the range of addresses has been queried; and
initiating a process that examines content at least a first address from which a reply is received.
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Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention relates to methods of searching and querying computers and websites connected to a distributed network such as the Internet. When the computers and websites are uniquely identified by an IP address or similar identifier, the processes of the present invention systematically proceed through a given range of addresses to be queried in a top-to-bottom manner. The process preferably comprises four stages: the Initial Process, the Second Pass, the Ping Process, and the Ping Follow-Up. Essentially, the Initial Process establishes a preliminary listing of computers that respond to requests transmitted over the network. The Second Pass attempts to establish a connection to computers with which a connection could not be established during the Initial Process. The Ping Process uses ping commands to verify the operability of non-responsive computers; and the Ping Follow-Up makes one final attempt to transmit requests to computers that have responded to ping commands. Output files may be generated, based upon responses to the requests, that may be used in subsequent processes such as filtering Internet websites for content.
128 Citations
27 Claims
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1. A method of querying computers connected to a distributed network, said method comprising the steps of:
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providing a range of Internet Protocol (“
IP”
) addresses to be queried, said range being defined by a beginning address and an ending address;
selecting an IP address to be queried from the range of Internet Protocol (“
IP”
) addresses, the selected IP address including a primary number, a secondary number, a third number, and a fourth number;
transmitting a request to the selected IP address;
creating a response record associated with the selected IP address in a response output file, said response record comprising the selected IP address;
incrementing the address to be queried according to a predefined order, the predefined order including;
(a) incrementing the secondary number without changing the primary number, third number, and fourth number until the entire range of secondary numbers has been queried;
(b) incrementing the third number by one;
(c) incrementing the secondary number without changing the primary number, third number, and fourth number until the entire range of secondary numbers has been queried;
(d) repeating steps (b) and (c) until the entire range of secondary numbers and third numbers has been queried;
(e) incrementing the fourth number by one;
(f) incrementing the secondary number without changing the primary number, third number, and fourth number until the entire range of secondary numbers has been queried;
(g) incrementing the third number by one;
(h) incrementing the secondary number without changing the primary number, third number, and fourth number until the entire range of secondary numbers has been queried; and
(i) repeating steps (e) through (h) until the entire range of secondary numbers, third numbers, and fourth numbers has been queried;
repeating said steps of transmitting a request, creating a response record, and incrementing the address until every address in the range of addresses has been queried; and
initiating a process that examines content at least a first address from which a reply is received. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22)
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10. The method of clam 6, wherein the positive response output file is in a format selected from the group consisting of a text file, a Hypertext Markup Language file, a comma separated values file, a database file, a spreadsheet file, and a pdf file.
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11. The method of clam 6, wherein the negative response output file is in a format selected from the group consisting of a text file, a Hypertext Markup Language file, a comma separated values file, a database file, a spreadsheet file, and a pdf file.
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23. A method of querying a range of IP addresses, wherein each IP address in the range uniquely identifies a computer connected to a distributed network, wherein the IP address comprises a primary number, a secondary number, a third number, and a fourth number, and wherein the range of IP addresses is queried by transmitting a request to each IP address in the range, said method comprising:
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(a) inputting a beginning IP address in the range of IP addresses to be queried;
(b) incrementing the secondary number in the IP address without changing the primary number, third number, or fourth number until the entire range of possible secondary numbers has been queried;
(c) incrementing the third number in the IP address by one;
(d) incrementing the secondary number in the IP address without changing the primary number, third number, and fourth number until the entire range of possible secondary numbers has been queried;
(e) repeating steps (c) and (d) until the entire range of possible secondary numbers and third numbers has been queried;
(f) incrementing the fourth number in the IP address by one;
(g) incrementing the secondary number in the IP address without changing the primary number, third number, and fourth number until the entire range of possible secondary numbers has been queried;
(h) incrementing the third number in the IP address by one;
(i) incrementing the secondary number in the IP address without changing the primary number, third number, and fourth number until the entire range of possible secondary numbers has been queried; and
(j) repeating steps (f) through (i) until the entire range of possible secondary numbers, third numbers, and fourth numbers has been queried. - View Dependent Claims (24, 25, 26, 27)
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Specification