Methods and apparatus providing an extensible manageable entity model for a network
First Claim
1. A computer program product, stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, having a data structure stored thereon for adaptive storage element deployment in a storage area network, the data structure comprising:
- attributes having associated attribute values of an object to be deployed in the network, the attribute values indicative of network characteristics of the object;
identified attribute definitions in a predetermined set of top level objects adapted to be compared to the attributes of the object to be deployed to determine a matching top level object, each of the top level objects in the set of top level objects having an entity category, matching top level objects being in the same entity category and sharing an attribute definition;
successive attributes corresponding to the matching top level object and indicative of matching object generic attributes corresponding to matching attributes of the object to be added, the successive attributes defining a plurality of levels, the data structure adapted to receive attribute values for entity categories at successive levels;
object specific attribute definitions corresponding to the unmatching attributes adapted to be defined and classified for creating attribute definitions in the data structure corresponding to the unmatching attributes; and
object generic attribute definitions adapted to receive the associated attribute values corresponding to the object to be deployed, the attribute definitions for receiving attribute value pairs indicative of the attribute definition and corresponding attribute value, and the successive ancillary attributes defining a plurality of level, the data structure adapted to receive attribute values for entity categories at successive levels of the plurality of levels.
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Abstract
Deployment of new elements in a computer network can result in development of patch kits adapters, and other software and trigger corresponding regressive test efforts. In a storage area network, a method is disclosed for defining a general, extensible model of a manageable entity for use in management of the entity. The method includes obtaining a set of attribute values related to the manageable entity in relation to the storage area network. A deployment engine identifies corresponding entity categories within a storage area network entity model that contains attribute definitions that correspond to respective attribute values in the set of attribute values obtained from the manageable entity. The deployment engine assigns the respective attribute values of the manageable entity to the corresponding respective attribute definitions identified in the model. The deployment engine then determines if all attribute values of the manageable entity have been assigned. If unassigned attribute values remain, a classification processor defines new entity categories to contain new attribute definitions, and assigns the unassigned attributes value to the new attribute definitions contained in the new entity category.
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Citations
18 Claims
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1. A computer program product, stored on a non-transitory computer readable storage medium, having a data structure stored thereon for adaptive storage element deployment in a storage area network, the data structure comprising:
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attributes having associated attribute values of an object to be deployed in the network, the attribute values indicative of network characteristics of the object; identified attribute definitions in a predetermined set of top level objects adapted to be compared to the attributes of the object to be deployed to determine a matching top level object, each of the top level objects in the set of top level objects having an entity category, matching top level objects being in the same entity category and sharing an attribute definition; successive attributes corresponding to the matching top level object and indicative of matching object generic attributes corresponding to matching attributes of the object to be added, the successive attributes defining a plurality of levels, the data structure adapted to receive attribute values for entity categories at successive levels; object specific attribute definitions corresponding to the unmatching attributes adapted to be defined and classified for creating attribute definitions in the data structure corresponding to the unmatching attributes; and object generic attribute definitions adapted to receive the associated attribute values corresponding to the object to be deployed, the attribute definitions for receiving attribute value pairs indicative of the attribute definition and corresponding attribute value, and the successive ancillary attributes defining a plurality of level, the data structure adapted to receive attribute values for entity categories at successive levels of the plurality of levels. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A method of component reuse in a storage area network defined by a model of entity category templates, each entity category corresponding to a component, comprising:
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identifying a top-level entity category corresponding to a network element to be deployed, each entity category having an attribute definition including attributes common to components in that entity category; identifying, for each of a set of successive levels in the model from the identified top-level category, ancillary categories corresponding to the attributes of the network element to be deployed; defining, for each of the attributes corresponding to an identified category, attribute values derived from an instantiation of an existing component in the same entity category as the network element to be deployed; and repeating the identifying and defining in an iterative manner for the ancillary categories at successive levels of the model of entity category templates. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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18. A computer program product including computer program code embodied as a set of instructions on a computer readable storage medium that, when executed by a computer responsive to the instructions cases the computer to perform steps for invoking a data structure for adaptive storage element deployment in a storage area network comprising:
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computer program code for defining attributes having associated attribute values of an object to be deployed in the network, the attribute values indicative of network characteristics of the object; computer program code for identifying attribute definitions in a predetermined set of top level objects adapted to be compared to the attributes of the object to be deployed to determine a matching top level object, each of the top level objects in the set of top level objects having an entity category, matching top level objects being in the same entity category and sharing an attribute definition; computer program code for defining successive attributes corresponding to the matching top level object and indicative of matching object generic attributes corresponding to matching attributes of the object to be added, the successive attributes defining a plurality of levels, the data structure adapted to receive attribute values for entity categories at successive levels; computer program code for defining object specific attribute definitions corresponding to the unmatching attributes adapted to be defined and classified for creating attribute definitions in the data structure corresponding to the unmatching attributes; and computer program code for defining object generic attribute definitions adapted to receive the associated attribute values corresponding to the object to be deployed, the attribute definitions for receiving attribute value pairs indicative of the attribute definition and corresponding attribute value, and the successive ancillary attributes defining a plurality of levels, the data structure adapted to receive attribute values for entity categories at successive levels of the plurality of levels.
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Specification