System and method for decoding communications between nodes of a cluster server
First Claim
1. A method of decoding packets communicated between nodes of a cluster server comprising:
- identifying a protocol from a protocol identification field of a communication packet, wherein the protocol is identified in a protocol identification table by reading a unique qualifier present in the protocol identification field of the communication packet, wherein the unique qualifier identifies a value at a location within the communication packet;
identifying a field definition table for the identified protocol, the field definition table defining fields of packets of the identified protocol, wherein the fields of packets of the identified protocol comprise at least a first field and a second field; and
decoding each field of the packet in accordance with a respective field decode handler identified for the field in the field definition table, wherein the field decode handler identified for the first field differs from the field decode handler identified for the second field.
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Abstract
A table-based packet sniffing/decoding system and method suitable for cluster server systems is provided. Packets having portions of various protocols are communicated between nodes of a cluster server. Fields of the packets are decoded using protocol definition tables and may be stored for subsequent analysis. A protocol is identified from a protocol identification field of a packet and the field definition table is identified for the identified protocol. The field definition table defines fields of packets for a particular protocol and identifies a field decode handler for use in decoding each field. A filter may be applied to selectively decode (or refrain from decoding) certain fields. A filter may also be applied to selectively decode particular protocols.
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Citations
20 Claims
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1. A method of decoding packets communicated between nodes of a cluster server comprising:
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identifying a protocol from a protocol identification field of a communication packet, wherein the protocol is identified in a protocol identification table by reading a unique qualifier present in the protocol identification field of the communication packet, wherein the unique qualifier identifies a value at a location within the communication packet; identifying a field definition table for the identified protocol, the field definition table defining fields of packets of the identified protocol, wherein the fields of packets of the identified protocol comprise at least a first field and a second field; and decoding each field of the packet in accordance with a respective field decode handler identified for the field in the field definition table, wherein the field decode handler identified for the first field differs from the field decode handler identified for the second field. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A packet decoding system to decode packets communicated between nodes of a cluster server, the system comprising:
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a network interface to read communication packets communicated over a plurality of private network links coupling the nodes of the cluster server; a memory to store at least a field definition table associated with each protocol of a plurality of protocols, the field definition table defining fields and identifying field decode handlers for fields of the associated protocol, wherein the fields comprise at least a first field and a second field, and wherein the field decode handler identified for the first field differs from the field decode handler identified for the second field; and a processing element to identify a protocol from a protocol identification field of a communication packet, to identify a field definition table for the identified protocol, and to decode each field of the packet in accordance with the respective field decode handler identified for the field in the field definition table; wherein the protocol is identified in a protocol identification table by reading a unique qualifier present in the protocol identification field of the communication packet, wherein the unique qualifier identifies a value at a location within the communication packet. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16)
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17. An article comprising a storage medium having stored thereon instructions, that when executed by a computing platform, result in:
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identifying a protocol from a protocol identification field of a communication packet, wherein the protocol is identified in a protocol identification table by reading a unique qualifier present in the protocol identification field of the communication packet, wherein the unique qualifier identifies a value at a location within the communication packet; identifying a field definition table for the identified protocol, the field definition table defining fields of packets of the identified protocol, wherein the fields of packets of the identified protocol comprise at least a first field and a second field; and decoding each field of the packet in accordance with a respective field decode handler for at least one field identified in the field definition table, wherein the field decode handler identified for the first field differs from the field decode handler identified for the second field. - View Dependent Claims (18, 19, 20)
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Specification