Granular management of network resources

• US 7,693,976 B2
• Filed: 09/10/2004
• Issued: 04/06/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/11/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Ciena Corporation
• Original Assignee: Ciena Corporation
• Inventors: Black, Darryl, Perry, Thomas R., Snow, Kevin D., Perry, James R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Vaughn, Jr., William C
• Assistant Examiner(s): Gupta, Muktesh G
• Application Number:
  US10/938,160
• Publication Number:
  US 20050198247A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,034 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 370/352, 370/252, 370/254, 370/255, 340/825, 710/104, 707/102, 707/203, 713/191, 713/300, 715/734, 715/745
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0856 by backing up or archiving configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/50 using label swapping, e.g. multi-protocol label switch [MPLS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5092 by self-assignment, e.g. picking addresses at random and testing if they are already in use
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/102 Entity profiles
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/105 Multiple levels of security
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/0008 Synchronisation information channels, e.g. clock distribution lines
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

The present invention provides a method and apparatus for granular management of network resources by accessing network device resources through associated references. In one embodiment, the references are group names, and one or more resources (i.e., a resource collection) within each network device in a telecommunications network may be linked with one or more group names. Group names (or other types of references) may then be used to limit a user'"'"'s access to particular network device resources. That is, a user may only have access to those resources associated with group names to which the user has access. Over time, network device resources may be associated or disassociated with particular group names. As a result, group names provide users with dynamic access to network device resources. In one embodiment, the groups to which a user has access are defined within a user profile associated with the user. Grouping network device resources, therefore, allows for a granular view of each network device in the network by limiting a user'"'"'s access to those resources corresponding to group names listed in their user profile. As one example, grouping may allow for customer network management—that is a customer'"'"'s view is limited to only those network device resources for which they have subscribed.

Claims

1. A method of managing a telecommunications network, comprising:

defining a user profile comprising defined management capabilities, wherein the defined management capabilities comprise authorized network devices, authorized network device resources, customized graphical user interface settings, SNMP community strings, SNMP retry and timeout values, and designations of which NMS servers are used;

associating a network device resource corresponding to a network device in the telecommunications network with a reference in the user profile;

accessing a network management system through the user profile;

generating a network device data request including the reference;

retrieving network device data corresponding to the network device resource in accordance with the reference, wherein the network device comprises multiple network device resources, and wherein the reference defines access and management capabilities for which of the multiple of network device resources the user profile has access to;

displaying a graphical user interface in accordance with the user profile, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a user-specific customized view with the defined network management capabilities, user-specific fields in the listing of network devices, and a custom presentation format; and

utilizing the user profile to physically and logically configure the network device within a scope of that profile, wherein at least one of enabling a network device port on the network device or provisioning a network path on a network device port is conducted.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein retrieving network device data corresponding to the network device resource in accordance with the reference, comprises:

using the reference to dynamically determine which network device data to retrieve.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the reference comprises a group name.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

storing network device resource data corresponding to the network device resource in a first data repository, wherein the network device resource data includes the reference;

sending the network device data request including the reference to the first data repository; and

wherein retrieving network device data corresponding to the network device resource in accordance with the reference, comprises;

searching the first data repository for the reference; and

retrieving the network device resource data including the reference from the first data repository.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

storing user profile data in a second data repository, wherein the user profile data includes the reference; and

wherein generating a network device data request including the reference, comprises;

generating a network data request using the reference from the user profile data in the second data repository.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the first data repository is embedded within the network device;

and wherein the network device comprises;

a plurality of processors;

a switching fabric;

one or more forwarding cards communicatively coupled to the switching fabric;

one or more cross-connect cards communicatively coupled to the one or more forwarding cards; and

one or more universal port cards communicatively coupled to the one or more cross-connect cards.

7. The method of claim 5, wherein the first and second data repositories are databases.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the network device resource comprises a configured resource, and wherein the user profile limits limit access to only those network device resources in a particular customer'"'"'s network.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the configured resource comprises a network protocol layer one resource.

10. The method of claim 9, wherein the network protocol layer one resource comprises a SONET path.

11. The method of claim 8, wherein the configured resource comprises a network protocol upper layer resource.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein the network protocol upper layer resource comprises a virtual ATM interface.

13. The method of claim 11, wherein the network protocol upper layer resource comprises an ATM permanent virtual circuit.

14. The method of claim 11, wherein the network protocol upper layer resource comprises an ATM interface.

15. The method of claim 11, wherein the network protocol upper layer resource comprises an MPLS interface.

16. The method of claim 11, wherein the network protocol upper layer resource comprises an IP interface.

17. The method of claim 11, wherein the network protocol upper layer resource comprises an MPLS path.

18. The method of claim 1, wherein associating a network device resource corresponding to a network device with a reference, comprises:

associating a plurality of network device resources of the multiple network device resources corresponding to a network device with a reference; and

wherein retrieving network device data corresponding to the network device resource in accordance with the reference, comprises;

retrieving network device data corresponding to the plurality of resources in accordance with the reference.

19. The method of claim 1, wherein the network device resource is a first network device resource, the network device data request is a first network device data request and the reference is a first reference and wherein the method further comprises:

associating a second network device resource corresponding to the network device with a second reference;

generating a second network device data request including the second reference; and

retrieving network device data corresponding to the second network device resource in accordance with the second reference.

20. A method of managing a telecommunications network, comprising:

defining a user profile comprising defined management capabilities, wherein the defined management capabilities comprise authorized network devices, authorized network device resources, customized graphical user interface settings, SNMP community strings, SNMP retry and timeout values, and designations of which NMS servers are used;

storing a reference in a first data repository, wherein the reference is associated with a network device in the telecommunications network, wherein the reference is stored in the user profile, wherein the network device comprises multiple network device resources, and wherein the reference defines access and management capabilities for which of the multiple of network device resources the user profile has access to;

storing the reference in a second data repository, wherein the second data repository stores network device data corresponding to the network device and wherein the reference is associated with network device data corresponding to one or more network device resources;

receiving a request from a user for access responsive to the user profile for the user;

detecting a request from the user for data corresponding to the network device;

ensuring the user has access through the reference to the data;

generating a data access request to the second data repository using the reference from the first data repository;

retrieving network device data associated with the reference from the second data repository;

displaying a graphical user interface in accordance with the user profile, wherein the graphical user interface comprises a user-specific customized view with the defined network management capabilities, user-specific fields in the listing of network devices, and a custom presentation format; and

utilizing the user profile to physically and logically configure the network device within a scope of that profile, wherein at least one of enabling a network device port on the network device or provisioning a network path on a network device port is conducted.

21. The method of claim 20, wherein retrieving network device data associated with the reference from the second data repository comprises:

using the reference to dynamically determine which data in the second data repository is retrieved.

22. The method of claim 20, wherein the first and second data repositories are databases and wherein retrieving network device data associated with the reference from the second database, comprises:

using the reference in a database query to actively filter which data in the second database is retrieved.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein generating a data access request to the second database using the reference from the first database comprises:

generating a where clause including the reference; and

sending the where clause to the second database.

24. The method of claim 20, wherein the reference comprises a group name.

25. The method of claim 20, wherein the first and second data repositories are databases;

and wherein the network device comprises;

a plurality of processors;

a switching fabric;

one or more forwarding cards communicatively coupled to the switching fabric;

one or more cross-connect cards communicatively coupled to the one or more forwarding cards; and

one or more universal port cards communicatively coupled to the one or more cross-connect cards.

26. The method of claim 20, wherein the first data repository is a central data repository and the second data repository is embedded within the network device.

27. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

displaying the

retrieved data in a user interface responsive to the user profile.

28. The method of claim 20, wherein the first and second data repositories are relational databases and the reference is stored in a first table in the first database and in a second table in the second database.

29. The method of claim 28, wherein the first table is a user resource group table and the second table is a managed resource group table.

30. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

generating a user profile logical managed object (LMO) including the reference from the first data repository; and

wherein generating a data access request to the second data repository using the reference from the first data repository, comprises;

generating a data access request to the second data repository using the reference from the user profile LMO.

31. The method of claim 30, wherein prior to generating a user profile LMO, the method further comprises:

detecting a user log-on request.

32. The method of claim 20, wherein detecting a request from a user for data corresponding to the network device comprises:

detecting the user request through a network management system (NMS) client; and

sending a data request from the NMS client to an NMS server, wherein the NMS server generates the data access request to the second data repository using the reference from the first data repository and retrieves the network device data associated with the reference from the second data repository; and

wherein the method further comprises;

sending the retrieved data from the NMS server to the NMS client.

33. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

generating a user profile logical managed object (LMO) at the NMS server, wherein the user profile LMO includes the reference from the first data repository;

sending the NMS client the user profile LMO; and

wherein generating a data access request to the second data repository using the reference from the first data repository, comprises;

generating a data access request to the second data repository utilizing the reference from the user profile LMO.

34. The method of claim 32, further comprising:

generating a user profile LMO at the NMS server, wherein the user profile LMO includes the reference from the first data repository;

generating a client user profile LMO at the NMS server, wherein the client user profile LMO includes the reference from the user profile LMO;

sending the client user profile LMO to the NMS client; and

wherein generating a data access request to the second data repository using the reference from the first data repository, comprises;

generating a data access request to the second data repository utilizing the reference from the client user profile LMO.

35. The method of claim 20, further comprising:

removing the reference in the second data repository;

detecting another request from the user for data corresponding to the network device;

generating a data access request to the second data repository using the reference from the first data repository; and

returning an empty data set in response to the user request.

36. The method of claim 20, wherein the reference is a first reference and the one or more network device resources are a first one or more network device resources and the method further comprises:

storing a second reference in the first data repository, wherein the second reference is associated with the network device;

storing the second reference in the second data repository, wherein the second reference is associated with network device data corresponding to a second one or more network device resources; and

wherein generating a data access request to the second data repository using the reference from the first data repository, comprises;

generating a data access request to the second data repository using the first and second references from the first data repository; and

wherein retrieving network device data associated with the reference from the second data repository, comprises;

retrieving network device data associated with the first and second references from the second data repository.

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the first and second one or more network device resources comprise different network device resources.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the first and second one or more network device resources comprise at least one common network device resource.

39. The method of claim 20, wherein the reference is a first reference, the one or more network device resources are a first one or more network device resources and the user is a first user, and wherein the method further comprises:

storing a second reference in the first data repository, wherein the second reference is associated with the network device;

storing the second reference in the second data repository, wherein the second reference is associated with network device data corresponding to a second one or more network device resources;

detecting a request from a second user for data corresponding to the network device;

generating a data access request to the second data repository using the second reference from the first data repository; and

retrieving network device data associated with the second reference from the second data repository.

40. The method of claim 39, wherein the first and second references comprise the same reference.

41. The method of claim 39, wherein the first and second references comprise different references.

42. The method of claim 20, wherein the reference is a first reference and the network device is a first network device, and wherein the method further comprises:

storing a second reference in the first data repository, wherein the second reference is associated with a second network device in the telecommunications network;

storing the second reference in a third data repository, wherein the third data repository stores network device data corresponding to the second network device and wherein the second reference is associated with network device data corresponding to one or more network device resources within the second network device;

detecting a request from the user for data corresponding to the second network device;

generating a second data access request to the third data repository using the second reference from the first data repository; and

retrieving network device data associated with the second reference from the third data repository.

43. The method of claim 20, wherein the reference is a first reference, the user is a first user and the network device is a first network device, and wherein the method further comprises:

storing a second reference in the first data repository, wherein the second reference is associated with a second network device in the telecommunications network;

storing the second reference in a third data repository, wherein the third data repository stores network device data corresponding to the second network device and wherein the second reference is associated with network device data corresponding to one or more network device resources within the second network device;

detecting a request from a second user for data corresponding to the second network device;

generating a second data access request to the third data repository using the second reference from the first data repository; and

retrieving network device data associated with the second reference from the third data repository.

44. A method of managing a telecommunications network, comprising:

storing a group name in a first database;

storing the group name in a second database;

logging in a user through a user profile, wherein the user profile comprises parameters for management capabilities assigned to one or more users associated with the user profile for physically and logically configuring one or more of network devices in the telecommunications network, wherein the management capabilities comprise authorized network devices, authorized network device resources, customized graphical user interface settings, SNMP community strings, SNMP retry and timeout values, and designations of which NMS servers are used;

detecting a request from the user for data corresponding to a network device of the one or more network devices in the telecommunications network;

wherein each of the one or more network devices comprise a plurality of processors, a switching fabric, one or more forwarding cards communicatively coupled to the switching fabric, one or more cross-connect cards communicatively coupled to the one or more forwarding cards, and one or more universal port cards communicatively coupled to the one or more cross-connect cards;

checking the user profile to determine if the request corresponds to the group name, wherein the group name defines management capabilities and access to particular resources in the network device, wherein the particular resources comprise any of SONET paths, VAIM interfaces, and ATM PVCs;

generating a data access request to the second database using the group name from the first database;

retrieving data from the second database associated with the group name in response to the user request;

displaying the data in a user interface, wherein the user interface comprises a user-specific customized view with predefined network management capabilities, user-specific fields in the listing of network devices, and a custom presentation format responsive to the user profile; and

utilizing the user profile to physically and logically configure the network device within a scope of that profile, wherein at least one of enabling a network device port on the network device or provisioning a network path on a network device port is conducted.