Method and apparatus for collecting, aggregating and monitoring network management information
First Claim
1. A method of collecting network management information from a plurality of network devices in a network management system, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
- configuring said network management system to acquire data from specific network devices from said plurality of network devices based on a user-definable operational specification;
querying said specific network devices for data to form a set of acquired data based on said operational specification;
transforming said acquired data to form a set of transformed data based on one or more formulas specified in said operational specification; and
storing said transformed data to an information base to form a set of stored data based on said operational specification.
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Abstract
A method is disclosed for collecting, aggregating and monitoring network management information from a plurality of network devices in a network management system. The method utilizes user-definable configuration information that contains an operational specification on what to collect, aggregate and monitor, which can be scheduled at desired times or intervals. The method begins by identifying network devices on the network, then querying and acquiring data in accordance with instructions contained in the operational specification. The method performs transformations and will periodically monitor the data for compliance with specific threshold conditions. Notifications are generated whenever a threshold condition has been met. Data is stored to a database and aggregated to generate trending information. Data stored in the database can be subsequently removed automatically based on aging or other criteria specified by the user. The method renders data to a display for viewing by the user using device-specific GUI attributes.
280 Citations
21 Claims
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1. A method of collecting network management information from a plurality of network devices in a network management system, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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configuring said network management system to acquire data from specific network devices from said plurality of network devices based on a user-definable operational specification; querying said specific network devices for data to form a set of acquired data based on said operational specification; transforming said acquired data to form a set of transformed data based on one or more formulas specified in said operational specification; and storing said transformed data to an information base to form a set of stored data based on said operational specification. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9)
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10. A method of collecting and aggregating network management information from a plurality of network devices in a network management system, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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configuring said network management system to acquire data from specific network devices from said plurality of network devices based on a user-definable operational specification; querying said network devices for data to form a set of acquired data based on said operational specification; transforming said acquired data to form a set of transformed data based on said operational specification; storing said transformed data to an information base to form a set of stored data based on said operational specification; and aggregating said stored data to form a set of trending data by performing at least one arithmetic aggregation on said stored data, wherein said arithmetic aggregation is specified by said operational specification. - View Dependent Claims (11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A method of collecting, aggregating and monitoring network management information from a plurality of network devices in a network management system, the method comprising the computer-implemented steps of:
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configuring said network management system to acquire data from specific network devices from said plurality of network devices based on a user-definable operational specification, wherein said operational specification is an Extensible Markup Language file and includes a scheduling block to direct said network management system to operate at a preset point in time; querying said specific network devices for data to form a set of acquired data based on said operational specification, using a network communication protocol that is defined in said operational specification for each of said specific network devices; transforming said acquired data to form a set of transformed data, including performing at least one arithmetic transformation on said acquired data, wherein said arithmetic transformation is specified by said operational specification; storing said transformed data to an information base to form a set of stored data based on said operational specification; monitoring said acquired data, said transformed data and said stored data for compliance with at least one threshold criterion value specified by said operational specification; generating a notification when any of said acquired data, said transformed data and said stored data complies with said threshold criterion value; aggregating said stored data to form a set of trending data by performing at least one arithmetic aggregation on said stored data, wherein said arithmetic aggregation is specified by said operational specification; and removing a quantity of said stored data from said information base based on information in said operational specification.
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19. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for collecting network management information from a plurality of network devices in a network management system, which instructions, when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to carry out the steps of:
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configuring said network management system to acquire data from specific network devices from a plurality of network devices on a network based on a user-definable operational specification; querying said network devices for data to form a set of acquired data based on said operational specification; transforming said acquired data to form a set of transformed data based on formulas specified in said operational specification; and storing said transformed data to an information base to form a set of stored data based on said operational specification.
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20. An apparatus for collecting network management information from a plurality of network devices in a network management system, comprising:
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means for configuring said network management system to acquire data from specific network devices from said plurality of network devices based on a user-definable operational specification; means for querying said network devices for data to form a set of acquired data based on said operational specification; means for transforming said acquired data to form a set of transformed data based on formulas specified in said operational specification; and means for storing said transformed data to an information base to form a set of stored data based on said operational specification.
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21. An apparatus for collecting and aggregating network management information in a network management system, comprising:
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one or more configuration files for configuring said network management system to acquire data from a specific plurality of network devices on a network based on a user-definable operational specification; one or more query modules for querying said network devices for data to form a set of acquired data based on said operational specification; one or more transformation modules for transforming said acquired data to form a set of transformed data based on said operational specification; one or more storage modules for storing said transformed data to an information base to form a set of stored data based on said operational specification; and one or more aggregation modules for aggregating said stored data to form a set of trending data by performing at least one arithmetic operation on said stored data, said arithmetic operation specified by said operational specification.
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Specification