Network management system
First Claim
1. A virtual management system for configuring a data center having a plurality of geographically distributed facilities that provide network applications and services to a plurality of different company subscribers, the virtual management system, comprising:
- a network device having a user interface that presents an administrative management hierarchy of objects, wherein the objects include a set of facility objects that represent the geographically distributed facilities of the data center, and wherein the objects further include a set of subscriber objects that represent the different company subscribers receiving the applications and services from the different facilities, and wherein the objects further include device objects that represent physical devices located at each of the geographically distributed facilities that provide the applications and the services to the different company subscribers; and
a configuration manager implementing changes to the objects in the administrative management hierarchy responsive to configuration input from an administrator via the user interface.
2 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A virtual management system for a network facility, such as a data center, or any facility having a plurality of components which can be organized as objects for presentation in a virtualized environment, is disclosed. The system includes a management topology presenting devices, facilities, subscribers, log servers, and services as objects to an administrative interface; and a configuration manager implementing changes to objects in the topology responsive to configuration input from an administrator via the administrative interface. In an exemplary embodiment, the user interface is a graphical user interface designed to work in a platform independent environment. The system may include a management server coupled to the plurality of objects. In one aspect, the management server communicates with the devices, downloading configuration data to and uploading configuration data from, the devices. The management server and the interface may communicate via a LAN, WAN or the Internet.
185 Citations
54 Claims
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1. A virtual management system for configuring a data center having a plurality of geographically distributed facilities that provide network applications and services to a plurality of different company subscribers, the virtual management system, comprising:
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a network device having a user interface that presents an administrative management hierarchy of objects, wherein the objects include a set of facility objects that represent the geographically distributed facilities of the data center, and wherein the objects further include a set of subscriber objects that represent the different company subscribers receiving the applications and services from the different facilities, and wherein the objects further include device objects that represent physical devices located at each of the geographically distributed facilities that provide the applications and the services to the different company subscribers; and a configuration manager implementing changes to the objects in the administrative management hierarchy responsive to configuration input from an administrator via the user interface. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26)
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27. A system for managing a plurality of networking services provided by devices coupled to a network in a data center having a plurality of geographically distributed facilities that provide network applications and services to a plurality of different company subscribers, the system comprising:
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a configuration controller coupled to the devices in the data center; a service management interface for the controller enabling device configuration based on a service object representing one or more of the services; a subscriber management interface for the controller enabling device configuration based on a subscriber object representing the different company subscribers receiving the applications and the services from the different facilities of the data center; a device management interface for the controller enabling device configuration based on a device object representing one or more of the devices at each of the geographically distributed facilities; and a facility management interface allowing the administrator to configure objects in the system based on a facility object representing one or more of the geographically distributed facilities of the data center, wherein the configuration controller controls access to the service management interface, the subscriber management interface, the device management interface and the facility management interface in accordance with a hierarchy that relates the service object, the subscriber object, the facility object and the device object. - View Dependent Claims (28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36)
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37. An interface for management of a network data center having a plurality of geographically distributed facilities that provide network applications and services to a plurality of different company subscribers, the interface comprising:
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a graphical user interface presenting components of the data center as a hierarchy of objects within the interface, wherein the data center includes devices located at each of the geographically distributed facilities that provide services to the different company subscribers; service applications coupled to the graphical user interface objects, the applications controlling configuration of network objects responsive to the user interface; and a network manager interacting with the devices in the data center to implement changes provided by the service applications. - View Dependent Claims (38, 39, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 45, 46, 47, 48)
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49. A graphical network interface for a data center having a plurality of geographically distributed facilities that provide network applications and services to a plurality of different company subscribers, the interface comprising:
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a plurality of object views representing a network data center, including; a facility object view to view configuration data for the geographically distributed facilities of the data center, a subscriber object view to view configuration data for the different company subscribers receiving the applications and services from the different facilities of the data center, a device object view to view configuration data for physical devices located at each of the geographically distributed facilities of the data center, and a log server object view to view log servers that record events within the data center, each said view including a set of objects organized by a hierarchy relative to another of said views; and at least one link to an object in said set of objects, allowing modification of configuration data for the object via the view. - View Dependent Claims (50, 51, 52, 53, 54)
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Specification