System and methods for robust discovery of servers and services in a heterogeneous environment
First Claim
1. A system for discovering and identifying a server, the system comprising:
- a network comprising at least one domain, the at least one domain comprising a plurality of servers; and
a communication device comprising;
a server monitoring unit operable for;
dynamically discovering a server on the network;
monitoring the server on the network;
determining information associated with the monitored server, wherein the information is used to connect to the monitored server after a network failure situation;
determining if additional information associated with the monitored server is required, the additional information including data necessary to robustly connect to the monitored server or to identify the monitored server'"'"'s type;
requesting the additional information from the monitored server; and
determining the monitored server'"'"'s role based on the additional information received from the monitored server; and
a potential server storage unit operable for storing the information associated with the monitored server.
3 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The present invention is contained in a system for facilitating the identification, discovery, and monitoring of servers and services within a distributed network. The present invention is a system for dynamically discovering all of the servers and services on a network. The dynamic discovery of servers includes first enumerating all of the domains within a network and second enumerating all of the known servers in each of the discovered domains. Next, the system acquires and stores additional server contact information necessary to robustly connect to the server. Finally, the system determines the role of a server in a specified domain within a network. The system will continually monitor the connections to the servers and may use the server contact information to connect to a server or service when a network failure occurs.
27 Citations
42 Claims
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1. A system for discovering and identifying a server, the system comprising:
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a network comprising at least one domain, the at least one domain comprising a plurality of servers; and a communication device comprising; a server monitoring unit operable for; dynamically discovering a server on the network; monitoring the server on the network; determining information associated with the monitored server, wherein the information is used to connect to the monitored server after a network failure situation; determining if additional information associated with the monitored server is required, the additional information including data necessary to robustly connect to the monitored server or to identify the monitored server'"'"'s type; requesting the additional information from the monitored server; and determining the monitored server'"'"'s role based on the additional information received from the monitored server; and a potential server storage unit operable for storing the information associated with the monitored server. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A method for discovering a server in a network and contacting the server in a network failure situation, the method comprising:
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dynamically discovering a server on a network; receiving a name of the server on the network, the name being selected from a list comprising a NetBIOS name and a FQDN; filling in contact information associated with the server, the filling in contact information associated with the server including processing the name of the server on the network, the processing comprising; (a) locating the server in a predetermined domain and (b) storing the name of the sever as the contact information necessary for connecting to the server; determining whether the network is functioning properly; and connecting to the server, if the network is not functioning properly. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21)
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22. A method for identifying a server in a network, the method comprising:
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designating a remote computer for determining a server role for the remote computer the server role being defined by a functionality of the server, the server role being used to contact the server in a network failure situation, the server role including a printer server; selecting a role inquiry from a set of role inquiries, the set of role inquiries comprising requests to determine the server role and requests to monitor the server after the server role has been determined, wherein if the server role has been determined as the printer server, the requests to monitor the server include printer ports information and spool directory information; querying the remote computer with the role inquiry; receiving a response to the role inquiry from the remote computer; attempting to determine a server role of the remote computer from the response; and storing the determined server role. - View Dependent Claims (23, 24)
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25. A computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions for discovering a server in a network stored thereon, the computer-executable instructions performing steps comprising:
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dynamically discovering a server on a network; receiving a name of the server on the network, the name being selected from a list comprising a NetBIOS name and a FQDN; filling in contact information associated with the server, the filling in contact information associated with the server including processing the name of the server on the network, the filling in contact information being used to connect to the server after a network failure situation, the processing the name of the server on the network comprising; (a) locating the server in a predetermined domain; and (b) storing the name of the server as the contact information necessary for connecting to the server; determining whether the network is functioning properly; and connecting to the server, if the network is not functioning properly. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37, 38, 39)
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40. A computer-readable storage medium having computer- executable instructions for identifying a server in a network stored thereon, the computer- executable instructions performing steps comprising:
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designating a remote computer for determining a server role for the remote computer the server role being defined by a functionality of the server, the server role including a printer server; selecting a role inquiry from a set of role inquiries, the set of role inquiries comprising requests to determine the server role and requests to monitor the server after the server role has been determined, wherein if the server role has been determined as the printer server, the requests to monitor the server include printer ports information and spool directory information; querying the remote computer with the role inquiry; receiving a response to the role inquiry from the remote computer; attempting to determine a server role of the remote computer from the response and storing the determined server role. - View Dependent Claims (41, 42)
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Specification