Method and system for identifying and conducting inventory of computer assets on a network

• US 7,769,835 B2
• Filed: 11/29/2007
• Issued: 08/03/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 07/21/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Barclays Capital Incorporated (Barclays PLC)
• Original Assignee: Barclays Capital Incorporated (Barclays PLC)
• Inventors: Belugin, Anatoliy, Bernadskii, Yuri, Zarenin, Alex
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Application Number:
  US11/947,050
• Publication Number:
  US 20080077662A1
• Time in Patent Office: 978 Days
• Field of Search: 709220-223, 709217-219, 709/250, 709/203
• US Class Current: 709/220
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3051 Monitoring arrangements for monitoring the configuration of the computing system or of the computing system component, e.g. monitoring the presence of processing resources, peripherals, I/O links, software programs verification or detection of system hardware configuration G06F11/2247
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3093 Configuration details thereof, e.g. installation, enabling, spatial arrangement of the probes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0869 Validating the configuration within one network element
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]

Abstract

A system that includes one or more clients, databases and servers. The clients communicate with the servers using hyper-text transfer protocol. Each client includes a scheduling and monitoring agent. Each server includes several components. A first server component performs a plurality of functions, including receiving requests from the client(s) for configuration file verification information and storing in the database(s) a log of the requests. A second server component is capable of performing a plurality of functions, including receiving hardware and software inventory information, as well as software metering statistics, and storing the inventory information in at least one of the databases.

Claims

1. In a system comprising (a) one or more clients, one or more of which comprises an inventory agent that collects hardware inventory information in accordance with a configuration file of the inventory agent, (b) one or more servers, and (c) one or more databases, communicating over a network, a method comprising:

(A) generating, by one or more of the one or more clients, a checksum of the configuration file;

(B) submitting the checksum by the one or more clients to at least one of the one or more servers over the network for verification, the verification comprising comparing the checksum to current configuration information for the inventory agent stored in at least one of the one or more databases; and

(C) if the verification produces a negative result, requesting a current configuration file for the inventory agent from at least one of the one or more servers;

wherein the configuration file comprises one or more instructions that identify hardware inventory information to be collected by the inventory agent.

2. A system comprising:

(a) one or more clients, one or more of which comprises an inventory agent that collects hardware inventory information in accordance with a configuration file of the inventory agent,

(b) one or more servers, and

(c) one or more databases, communicating over a network,

wherein one or more of the one or more clients generate a checksum of the configuration file;

submit the checksum to at least one of the one or more servers over the network for verification, the verification comprising comparing the checksum to current configuration information for the inventory agent stored in at least one of the one or more databases; and

, if the verification produces a negative result, request a current configuration file for the inventory agent from at least one of the one or more servers; and

wherein the configuration file comprises one or more instructions that identify hardware inventory information to be collected by the inventory agent.