Method and system for discovering managed systems in a network

• US 7,877,477 B2
• Filed: 06/30/2008
• Issued: 01/25/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Oracle America, Inc. (Oracle Corporation)
• Inventors: Wookey, Michael J.
• Primary Examiner(s): Srivastava; Vivek
• Assistant Examiner(s): CHOUDHURY, AZIZUL Q
• Application Number:
  US12/164,420
• Publication Number:
  US 20090327480A1
• Time in Patent Office: 939 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/083 for increasing network speed
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0833 for reduction of network energy consumption
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/16 using machine learning or artificial intelligence

Abstract

A method for discovering managed systems in a network including classifying a first managed system associated with a first active Internet Protocol (IP) address in the network using a plurality of network protocols, identifying a set of drivers using the classification, where the set of drivers are configured to obtain first management information about the managed system, obtaining a first set of drivers, populating a data model with the first management information obtain using at least one of the first set of drivers, and managing the first managed system using the data model.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a first managed system executing in a network, wherein the first managed system comprises a first hardware component and a first software component;

a second managed system executing in the network, wherein the second managed system comprises a second hardware component and a second software component; and

a proxy management object (PMO) executing in the network, wherein the PMO is configured to;

classify the first managed system associated with a first active Internet Protocol (IP) address in the network using a plurality of network protocols to obtain a first classification,

identify a first set of drivers using the first classification, wherein the first set of drivers is configured to obtain first management information about the first managed system,

obtain the first set of drivers,

populate a data model with the first management information obtained using at least one of the first set of drivers, and

manage the first managed system using the data model,

classify the second managed system associated with a second active IP address in the network to obtain a second classification, by;

sending a multicast protocol message to a plurality of IP addresses in the network, wherein the second active IP address is one of the plurality of IP addresses,

receiving a response to the multicast protocol message from the second active IP address, wherein the response comprises an identification (ID) and type of the second managed system, and

setting the classification of the second managed system using the ID and type;

identify a second set of drivers using the second classification, wherein the second set of drivers is configured to obtain second management information about the second managed system;

obtain the second set of drivers;

populate the data model with the second management information obtain using at least one of the second set of drivers; and

manage the second managed system using the data model,

wherein the PMO is configured to classify the first managed system and the second managed system in parallel.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein the PMO is configured to populate the data model with the first management information obtain using at least one of the set of drivers, by:

identifying a first driver from the first set of drivers;

loading the first driver;

obtaining information about the first managed system using the first driver;

verifying, using the information, that the first driver is the correct driver to obtain the first management information from the first managed system;

obtaining the first management information using the first driver, when the first driver is the correct driver;

identifying a second driver from the first set of drivers using the information, when the first driver is the correct driver; and

obtaining the first management information using the second driver, when the first driver is not the correct driver.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the plurality of network protocols comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of a secure shell (SSH) login request, a simple network management protocol (SNMP) request, an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) request, an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) request, a ServiceTag protocol request, a management information base (MIB) request, and a private protocol request.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein classifying the first managed system associated with the first active IP address in the network using the plurality of network protocols, comprises:

sending a first network protocol request to the first active IP address;

receiving a first response to the first network protocol request;

determining whether the first managed system is classified using a neural network and the first response;

obtaining the classification of the first managed system from the neural network, when the first managed system is classified;

when the first managed system is not classified;

identifying a second network protocol from the plurality of network protocols using the neural network and the first response;

sending a second network protocol request to the first active IP address; and

receiving a second response to the first network protocol request, wherein the first managed system is classified using the neural network and the second response.

5. The system of claim 4, further comprising:

a satellite management object (SMO),

wherein the SMO comprises the neural network,

wherein the neural network comprises a mapping between a plurality of classifications and a plurality of drivers, and

wherein the SMO is operatively connected to the PMO.

6. The system of claim 1, wherein classifying the first managed system associated with the first active IP address in the network using the plurality of network protocols, comprises:

sending a first network protocol request to the first active IP address;

receiving a first response to the first network protocol request;

determining whether the first managed system is classified using a first portion of neural network and the first response, wherein the first portion of the neural network is obtained from a satellite management object (SMO) comprising the neural network;

obtaining the classification of the first managed system from the first portion of the first portion of the neural network, when the first managed system is classified;

when the first managed system is not classified;

receiving a second portion of the neural network from the SMO based on the first response;

identifying a second network protocol from the plurality of network protocols using the second portion of the neural network and the first response;

sending a second network protocol request to the first active IP address; and

receiving a second response to the first network protocol request, wherein the first managed system is classified using the second portion of the neural network and the second response.

7. A computer readable medium comprising computer readable program code embodied therein for causing a computer system to:

classify a first managed system associated with a first active Internet Protocol (IP) address in the network using a plurality of network protocols to obtain a first classification;

identify a first set of drivers using the first classification, wherein the first set of drivers is configured to obtain first management information about the first managed system;

obtain a first set of drivers;

populate a data model with the first management information obtain using at least one of the first set of drivers; and

manage the first managed system using the data model;

classify a second managed system associated with a second active IP address in the network, comprising;

sending a multicast protocol message to a plurality of IP addresses in the network, wherein the second IP address is one of the plurality of IP addresses,

receiving a response to the multicast protocol message from the second IP address, wherein the response comprises an identification (ID) and type of the second managed system, and

setting the classification of the second managed system using the ID and Type to obtain a second classification;

identify a second set of drivers using the second classification, wherein the second set of drivers is configured to obtain second management information about the second managed system;

obtain a second set of drivers;

populate the data model with the second management information obtain using at least one of the second set of drivers; and

manage the second managed system using the data model, wherein classifying the first managed system and the second managed system occurs in parallel.

8. The computer readable medium of claim 7, further causing the computer system to populate the data model with the first management information obtain using at least one of the set of drivers, by:

identifying a first driver from the first set of drivers;

loading the first driver;

obtaining information about the first managed system using the first driver;

verifying, using the information, that the first driver is the correct driver to obtain the first management information from the first managed system;

obtaining the first management information using the first driver, when the first driver is the correct driver;

identifying a second driver from the first set of drivers using the information, when the first driver is the correct driver; and

obtaining the first management information using the second driver, when the first driver is not the correct driver.

9. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein the plurality of network protocols comprises at least one selected from a group consisting of a secure shell (SSH) login request, a simple network management protocol (SNMP) request, an Internet Control Message Protocol (ICMP) request, an Intelligent Platform Management Interface (IPMI) request, a ServiceTag protocol request, a management information base (MIB) request, and a private protocol request.

10. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein classifying the first managed system associated with the first active IP address in the network using the plurality of network protocols, comprises:

sending a first network protocol request to the first active IP address;

receiving a first response to the first network protocol request;

determining whether the first managed system is classified using a neural network and the first response;

obtaining the classification of the first managed system from the neural network, when the first managed system is classified;

when the when the first managed system is not classified;

identifying a second network protocol from the plurality of network protocols using the neural network and the first response;

sending a second network protocol request to the first active IP address; and

receiving a second response to the first network protocol request, wherein the first managed system is classified using the neural network and the second response.

11. The computer readable medium of claim 7, wherein classifying the first managed system associated with the first active IP address in the network using the plurality of network protocols, comprises:

sending a first network protocol request to the first active IP address;

receiving a first response to the first network protocol request;

determining whether the first managed system is classified using a first portion of neural network and the first response, wherein the first portion of the neural network is obtained from a satellite management object (SMO) comprising the neural network;

obtaining the classification of the first managed system from the first portion of the first portion of the neural network, when the first managed system is classified;

when the first managed system is not classified;

receiving a second portion of the neural network from the SMO based on the first response;

identifying a second network protocol from the plurality of network protocols using the second portion of the neural network and the first response;

sending a second network protocol request to the first active IP address; and

receiving a second response to the first network protocol request, wherein the first managed system is classified using the second portion of the neural network and the second response.