Method and/or system for identifying information appliances
First Claim
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1. A method of using a computer programmed with an automatic inventory discovery system to discover the existence and attributes of a plurality of assets of an entity and to keep track of said inventory over time even as assets are changed comprising:
- A) using a computer programmed by an automatic inventory discovery system to probe one or more networks to which assets used by an entity are coupled to detect responding addressesB) for each responding address, using a fingerprint from a plurality of fingerprints to determine the type of asset present at said responding address, said determination being made by attributes gathered from said responding address, each fingerprint providing a definition of a type of asset which can be recognized by said automated inventory discovery system, said definition provided in each said fingerprint by inclusion of a list of attributes said asset can have, each attribute listed in said fingerprint definition either including a collection instruction or pointing to a file containing a collection instruction which can control a collection computer to gather said attribute from a device at said responding address, and using said collection instruction for each attribute to control a computer to collect said attribute;
C) using one or more complete or partial fingerprint matching rules to compare attributes collected from said responding address to attributes listed in said fingerprint, and drawing a conclusion as to the existence or non existence at said responding address of an asset of the type defined by said fingerprint and making an entry in a data repository storing records for all assets found by said automated inventory discovery system and their attributes for each attribute found;
D) repeating the process of using other fingerprints in said plurality of fingerprints so as to discover as many instances of assets coupled to said one or more networks as can be discovered using said fingerprints and their attributes and making entries in said data repository for said discovered assets and their attributes so as to build in said data repository an inventory of particular instances of assets of types which can be recognized using said fingerprints;
E) using a plurality of attributes gathered about each instance of an asset to create a unique a signature data set for said instance of said asset, said signature data set being unique to said particular instance of an asset, which means that said signature data set for each particular instance of a type of asset can be used to identify said particular instance of an asset when attributes said particular instance of said asset are fetched again in subsequent iterations of steps B and C;
F) storing said signature data set;
G) repeating the process of using said fingerprints to scan said network or networks from time to time to gather attributes, each said scan after a first scan being referred to as a subsequent scan;
H) using said signature data sets and signature data set matching rules to compare each said signature data set to attributes gathered in each subsequent scan so as to ascertain whether said asset to which said signature data set pertains still exists and is coupled to said network or networks and so as to prevent double counting of said asset in inventory thereby providing the ability to track assets in inventory over time including changes therein.
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Abstract
Methods and/or systems for identifying and/or representing information appliances on a communication system retrieve data sets and store signature data for later identification of individual information systems.
65 Citations
24 Claims
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1. A method of using a computer programmed with an automatic inventory discovery system to discover the existence and attributes of a plurality of assets of an entity and to keep track of said inventory over time even as assets are changed comprising:
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A) using a computer programmed by an automatic inventory discovery system to probe one or more networks to which assets used by an entity are coupled to detect responding addresses B) for each responding address, using a fingerprint from a plurality of fingerprints to determine the type of asset present at said responding address, said determination being made by attributes gathered from said responding address, each fingerprint providing a definition of a type of asset which can be recognized by said automated inventory discovery system, said definition provided in each said fingerprint by inclusion of a list of attributes said asset can have, each attribute listed in said fingerprint definition either including a collection instruction or pointing to a file containing a collection instruction which can control a collection computer to gather said attribute from a device at said responding address, and using said collection instruction for each attribute to control a computer to collect said attribute; C) using one or more complete or partial fingerprint matching rules to compare attributes collected from said responding address to attributes listed in said fingerprint, and drawing a conclusion as to the existence or non existence at said responding address of an asset of the type defined by said fingerprint and making an entry in a data repository storing records for all assets found by said automated inventory discovery system and their attributes for each attribute found; D) repeating the process of using other fingerprints in said plurality of fingerprints so as to discover as many instances of assets coupled to said one or more networks as can be discovered using said fingerprints and their attributes and making entries in said data repository for said discovered assets and their attributes so as to build in said data repository an inventory of particular instances of assets of types which can be recognized using said fingerprints; E) using a plurality of attributes gathered about each instance of an asset to create a unique a signature data set for said instance of said asset, said signature data set being unique to said particular instance of an asset, which means that said signature data set for each particular instance of a type of asset can be used to identify said particular instance of an asset when attributes said particular instance of said asset are fetched again in subsequent iterations of steps B and C; F) storing said signature data set; G) repeating the process of using said fingerprints to scan said network or networks from time to time to gather attributes, each said scan after a first scan being referred to as a subsequent scan; H) using said signature data sets and signature data set matching rules to compare each said signature data set to attributes gathered in each subsequent scan so as to ascertain whether said asset to which said signature data set pertains still exists and is coupled to said network or networks and so as to prevent double counting of said asset in inventory thereby providing the ability to track assets in inventory over time including changes therein. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20)
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21. An automated inventory discovery apparatus able to uniquely identify multiple assets coupled to the networks of an entity comprising:
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a computer executing a query process able to determine the existence of one or more networks and determine addresses on said networks which are responding and request and receive from devices at said responding addresses data defining attributes of multiple assets coupled to said network(s) at said responding addresses, said attributes characterizing each said asset, said query process using one or more fingerprints from a plurality of fingerprints to determine the type of asset present at each said responding address, and the operating system, if any, controlling each said asset, said determination being made from attributes gathered from each said responding address, each fingerprint providing a definition of a type of asset which can be recognized by said automated inventory discovery system, said definition provided in each said fingerprint by inclusion of a list of attributes assets of the type associated with said fingerprint will have, each attribute listed in said fingerprint definition either including a collection instruction or pointing to a file containing a collection instruction which is used to control a collection computer to rather said attribute from an asset at said responding address; a computer programmed to use a matching process comprised of using one or more complete and/or partial matching rules to compare attributes collected from each said responding address to attributes listed in said fingerprint, and draw a conclusion as to the existence or non existence at said responding address of an asset of the type defined by said fingerprint, and making an entry in a data repository storing records for all assets found by said automated inventory discovery system and their attributes for each attribute found, and if a partial match indicates an asset previously found is present but one or more of its attributes have changed, updating any changed attributes for said asset in said data repository; a computer executing a signature data set generation process which generates from attributes collected from each instance of an asset found by said one or more computers executing said query and matching processes a unique signature data set for storage and association with said instance of said assets; a computer executing a signature data comparison process which gathers attribute data from multiple assets coupled to said one or more networks in multiple subsequent scans and compares said gathered attributes using full matching rules, and, if no full match is found, using partial matching rules to compare signature data sets for assets which have previously been found and recorded with their attributes in said data repository to attributes collected during said multiple subsequent scans so as to determine, by virtue of full or partial matches between said gathered attributes and said signature data sets, which assets whose attributes were collected in one or more of said subsequent scans are assets which have been previously counted by said automated inventory discovery apparatus. - View Dependent Claims (22)
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23. A computer readable medium which is any volatile or nonvolatile memory capable of storing computer executable instructions, said computer readable medium storing computer executable instructions which, when executed, control said computer to perform the following process:
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A) using a computer programmed by an automatic inventory discovery system to probe one or more networks to which assets used by an entity are coupled to detect responding addresses; B) for each responding address, using a fingerprint from a plurality of fingerprints to determine the type of asset present at said responding address, said determination being made by attributes gathered from said responding address, each fingerprint providing a definition of a type of asset which can be recognized by said automated inventory discovery system, said definition provided in each said fingerprint by inclusion of a list of attributes said asset can have, each attribute listed in said fingerprint definition either including a collection instruction or pointing to a file containing a collection instruction which can control a collection computer to gather said attribute from a device at said responding address; C) using one or more complete or partial matching rules to compare attributes collected from said responding address to attributes listed in said fingerprint, and drawing a conclusion as to the existence or non existence at said responding address of an asset of the type defined by said fingerprint and making an entry in a data repository storing records for all assets found by said automated inventory discovery system and their attributes for each attribute found, and if a partial match indicates an asset previously found is present but one or more of its attributes have changed, updating any changed attributes for said asset in said data repository; D) repeating the process of using fingerprints in said plurality of fingerprints so as to discover as many assets coupled to said one or more networks as possible and make entries therefor in said data repository so as to build in said data repository an inventory of particular instances of assets of all the types which can be recognized using said fingerprints; E) using attributes gathered about each instance of an asset to create a unique signature data set for said instance of said asset, said signature data set being unique to said particular asset, which means that said signature data set for each particular instance of a type of asset can be used to identify said particular instance of said asset when attribute data about said particular asset is fetched again in subsequent scans of said one or more networks; F) storing said signature data set; G) repeating the process of scanning said network or networks using said plurality of fingerprints from time to time to gather attributes, each said scan after a first scan being referred to as a subsequent scan; H) using said signature data sets and full and partial signature data set matching rules to compare each said signature data set to attributes gathered in each subsequent scan so as to ascertain whether said asset to which said signature data set pertains still exists and is coupled to said network or networks and so as to prevent double counting of said asset in inventory thereby providing the ability to track assets in inventory over time including changes therein. - View Dependent Claims (24)
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Specification