Remote computer management using network communications protocol that enables communication through a firewall and/or gateway

• US 8,161,162 B1
• Filed: 06/30/2004
• Issued: 04/17/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 06/30/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Datto LLC
• Original Assignee: Kaseya International Limited (Kaseya Limited)
• Inventors: Sutherland, Mark J., Wong, Paul Y.
• Primary Examiner(s): Etienne, Ario
• Assistant Examiner(s): SHIU, HO T
• Application Number:
  US10/883,639
• Time in Patent Office: 2,848 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 709/227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/029 Firewall traversal, e.g. tunnelling or, creating pinholes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/168 above the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

The invention facilitates remote management of a computer via a network. Remote computer management in which communication between a managed computer and a remote computer management server is initiated by the managed computer is implemented so that the communication is formatted in accordance with a network communications protocol that can be used to format communication that is allowed to pass through a firewall and/or gateway that mediates communication with the managed computer.

Claims

1. A computer network comprising a managed computer and a remote computer management server, each having software installed thereon, said software comprising instructions for:

initiating, from the managed computer, communication between the managed computer and the remote computer management server via a network if the remote computer management server has a management action to be performed on the managed computer, wherein the communication is formatted in accordance with a network communications protocol that can be used to format communication that is allowed to pass through at least one of a firewall and a gateway that mediates communication with the managed computer by performing a succession of formatting changes to the communication in accordance with each of a plurality of different network communications protocols until one protocol version of the initial communication is allowed to pass through the firewall and/or gateway of the managed computer, the network communications protocol allowed to pass being further used to format subsequent communication between the managed computer and the remote computer management server during an ensuing communication session;

receiving a response from the remote computer management server indicating whether a management action is to be performed on the managed computer and, if so, what operation or operations are to be performed by the managed computer to effect performance of the management action, wherein the operation or operations are performed on at least one of the managed computer itself and a device attached to the managed computer, and wherein the operation or operations to be performed are each broken down into one or more simpler component operations;

effecting performance by the managed computer of the operation or operations that effect performance of a management action; and

communicating to the remote computer management server a result or results of the performance by the managed computer of the operation or operations that effect performance of a management action.

2. The computer network as in claim 1, wherein the network communications protocol is an HTTP protocol.

3. The computer network as in claim 1, wherein the network communications protocol is an HTTPS protocol.

4. The computer network as in claim 1, wherein the network communications protocol is an FTP protocol.

5. The computer network as in claim 1, wherein the network communications protocol is a TCP/IP protocol.

6. The computer network as in claim 1, wherein the network is the Internet.

7. The computer network as in claim 1, further comprising instructions for executing on a recurring basis the instructions for initiating communication from the managed computer.

8. The computer network as in claim 7, further comprising instructions for executing at a regular interval the instructions and/or data for initiating communication from the managed computer.

9. The computer network as in claim 8, wherein the regular interval is one minute or less than one minute.

10. The computer network as in claim 1, further comprising instructions for determining, prior to initiating communication between the managed computer and a remote computer management server, whether a connection is open to enable communication from the managed computer to the network, wherein, if not, the instructions for initiating communication between the managed computer and a remote computer management server do not operate to initiate communication between the managed computer and a remote computer management server.

11. The computer network as in claim 1, further comprising instructions for routing all communication between the managed computer and the remote computer management server through a single network communications port that is allowed by the at least one of the firewall and the gateway of the managed computer for other network communication.

12. The computer network as in claim 1, further comprising instructions and/or data for authenticating the managed computer to the remote computer management server.

13. The computer network as in claim 1, further comprising instructions for encrypting communication between the managed computer and the remote computer management server.

14. The computer network as in claim 13, wherein the instructions and/or data for encrypting communication between the managed computer and the remote computer management server further comprise instructions for generating a new encryption key each time that the managed computer initiates communication with the remote computer management server.

15. The computer as in claim 14, wherein the instructions and/or data for encrypting communication between the managed computer and the remote computer management server further comprise instructions for successively comparing different combinations of a specified number of the most recent encryption keys stored by the managed computer and a specified number of the most recent encryption keys stored by the remote computer management server.

16. A method for facilitating remote management of a managed computer, comprising the steps of:

initiating, from the managed computer, communication between the managed computer and a remote computer management server via a network, the step of initiating comprising the step of querying, if the communication between the managed computer and the remote computer management server is initiated, if the remote computer management server has a management action to be performed on the managed computer, wherein the communication is formatted in accordance with a network communications protocol that can be used to format communication that is allowed to pass through at least one of a firewall and a gateway that mediates communication with the managed computer by performing a succession of formatting changes to the communication in accordance with each of a plurality of different network communications protocols until one protocol version of the initial communication is allowed to pass through the firewall and/or gateway of the managed computer, the network communications protocol allowed to pass being further used to format subsequent communication between the managed computer and the remote computer management server during an ensuing communication session;

receiving a response from the remote computer management server indicating if a management action is to be performed on the managed computer and, if so, what operation or operations are to be performed by the managed computer to effect performance of the management action, wherein the operation or operations are performed on at least one of the managed computer itself and a device attached to the managed computer, and wherein the operation or operations to be performed are each broken down into one or more simpler component operations;

effecting performance by the managed computer of the operation or operations that effect performance of a management action; and

communicating to the remote computer management server a result or results of the performance by the managed computer of the operation or operations that effect performance of a management action.

17. A system for facilitating remote management of a managed computer, comprising:

the managed computer that initiates communication between the managed computer and a remote computer management server via a network, and based on the initiated communication, the remote computer management server if a management action is to be performed on the managed computer, wherein the communication is formatted in accordance with a network communications protocol that can be used to format communication that is allowed to pass through at least one of a firewall and a gateway that mediates communication with the managed computer by performing a succession of formatting changes to the communication in accordance with each of a plurality of different network communications protocols until one protocol version of the initial communication is allowed to pass through the firewall and/or gateway of the managed computer, the network communications protocol allowed to pass being further used to format subsequent communication between the managed computer and the remote computer management server during an ensuing communication session;

the remote computer management server that sends a response indicating whether a management action is to be performed on the managed computer and, if so, what operation or operations are to be performed by the managed computer to effect performance of the management action, wherein the operation or operations are performed on at least one of the managed computer itself and a device attached to the managed computer, and wherein the operation or operations to be performed are each broken down into one or more simpler component operations;

the managed computer that effects performance of the operation or operations that effect performance of a management action; and

the remote computer management server that receives a result or results of the performance by the managed computer of an operation or operations that effect performance of a management action.