Discovery of a generic device in a non-linear discovery framework

• US 8,185,632 B2
• Filed: 03/12/2009
• Issued: 05/22/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 03/12/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Brown, Eric Wade, Brown, Nicholas Watkins, Kitchener, Jacob Andrew, Sterling, Heather Nicole
• Primary Examiner(s): Nguyen, Phuoc
• Assistant Examiner(s): SISON, JUNE Y
• Application Number:
  US12/403,104
• Publication Number:
  US 20100235510A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,167 Days
• Field of Search: 709/226, 709/220, 709/223, 370/254
• US Class Current: 709/226
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0233 Object-oriented techniques, for representation of network management data, e.g. common object request broker architecture [CORBA]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies

Abstract

In one embodiment, a method includes discovering a resource using a first discovery module, the first discovery module being for identifying resources having identifying information known to the first discovery module. The method also includes discovering the resource using a second discovery module, the second discovery module being for identifying resources having identifying information not known to the first discovery module. An object associated with the resource is created by the first discovery module if the resource has identifying information known to the first discovery module. In addition, an object associated with the resource is created by the second discovery module if the resource has identifying information not known to the first discovery module.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

discovering a resource on a network using a first discovery module, the first discovery module being for identifying resources having identifying information known to the first discovery module;

receiving identifying information of the resource discovered; and

discovering the resource using a second discovery module, the second discovery module being for identifying resources having identifying information not known to the first discovery module,

wherein a known-resource-type object for the resource object associated with the resource is created by the first discovery module when the resource has identifying information correlating to an inclusion list of the first discovery module,

wherein a generic object associated with the resource is created by the second discovery module when the resource has identifying information not in the inclusion list of the first discovery module,

creating a known-resource-type object for the resource when the resource has identifying information; and

creating object associated with the resource when the resource has identifying information not in the inclusion list of at least one known-resource-type discovery module and the resource has identifying information not in an exclusion list of a generic discovery module.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first discovery module ignores the identifying information of the resource when the identifying information is not known to the first discovery module.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the resource is a network resource, wherein the first discovery module is selected from a group consisting of an operating system discovery module and a switch discovery module.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the first discovery module has an inclusion list of identifying information known thereto, wherein the first discovery module compares identifying information of the resource to the identifying information in the inclusion list for determining whether to create the object.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising updating the inclusion list with identifying information of a new resource.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the second discovery module has an exclusion list, wherein the second discovery module compares identifying information of the resource to the identifying information in the exclusion list for determining whether to create the object, wherein the second discovery module does not create an object when the identifying information of the resource matches the identifying information in the exclusion list.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the exclusion list includes all entries in the inclusion list of the first discovery module.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the object is created by the respective discovery module immediately upon initial discovery of the resource.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the discovery modules operate across multiple servers.

11. The method of claim 1, wherein the first discovery module includes multiple discovery modules for identifying resources of different types.

12. The method of claim 1, wherein the first and second discovery modules operate simultaneously.

8. A method, comprising:

discovering a resource using a first discovery module, the first discovery module being for identifying resources having identifying information known to the first discovery module;

discovering the resource using a second discovery module, the second discovery module being for identifying resources having identifying information not known to the first discovery module, wherein an object associated with the resource is created by the first discovery module when the resource has identifying information known to the first discovery module, wherein an object associated with the resource is created by the second discovery module when the resource has identifying information not known to the first discovery module; and

updating the exclusion list upon detecting an update of the inclusion list,

wherein the first discovery module ignores the identifying information of the resource when the identifying information is not known to the first discovery module,

wherein the resource is a network resource,

wherein the first discovery module is selected from a group consisting of an operating system discovery module and a switch discovery module, and

wherein the first and second discovery modules operate simultaneously.

13. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer usable medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising;

a first discovery module for identifying resources having identifying information known to the first discovery module;

a second discovery module for identifying resources having identifying information not known to the first discovery module, wherein an object associated with the resource is created by the first discovery module when the resource has identifying information known to the first discovery module, wherein an object associated with the resource is created by the second discovery module when the resource has identifying information not known to the first discovery module; and

updating the exclusion list upon detecting an update of the inclusion list,

wherein the first discovery module ignores the identifying information of the resource when the identifying information is not known to the first discovery module,

wherein the resource is a network resource,

wherein the first discovery module is selected from a group consisting of an operating system discovery module and a switch discovery module, and

wherein the first and second discovery modules operate simultaneously.

14. A method, comprising:

receiving identifying information of a resource discovered on a network;

creating a known-resource-type object for the resource when the resource has identifying information correlating to an inclusion list of at least one known-resource-type discovery module; and

creating a generic object associated with the resource when the resource has identifying information not in the inclusion list of at least one known-resource-type discovery module and the resource has identifying information not in an exclusion list of a generic discovery module.

15. The method of claim 14, further comprising updating the inclusion list with identifying information of a new resource.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein the exclusion list includes all entries in the inclusion list of the at least one known-resource-type discovery module.

17. The method of claim 15, further comprising updating the exclusion list upon detecting an update of the inclusion list.

18. The method of claim 14, wherein the discovery modules operate across multiple servers.

19. The method of claim 14, wherein the discovery modules operate simultaneously.

20. A computer program product, the computer program product comprising:

a non-transitory computer usable medium having computer usable program code embodied therewith, the computer usable program code comprising;

computer usable program code configured to receive identifying information of a resource discovered on a network;

computer usable program code configured to create a known-resource-type object for the resource when the resource has identifying information correlating to an inclusion list of at least one known-resource-type discovery module; and

computer usable program code configured to create a generic object associated with the resource when the resource has identifying information Snot in the inclusion list of at least one known-resource-type discovery module and the resource has identifying information not in an exclusion list of an unknown-resource-type discovery module.