Unconnected connectivity analysis

• US 8,516,134 B2
• Filed: 10/29/2010
• Issued: 08/20/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 10/29/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Verizon Patent and Licensing Incorporated (Verizon Communications Inc.)
• Inventors: Schemitsch, Richard R.
• Primary Examiner(s): Zong, Ruolei
• Application Number:
  US12/915,503
• Publication Number:
  US 20120110195A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,026 Days
• Field of Search: 709/228, 709/220, 709/223, 709/225, 709231-232, 709238-244
• US Class Current: 709/228
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/66 Arrangements for connecting between networks having differing types of switching systems, e.g. gateways

Abstract

A computing device retrieves a set of configuration files of devices associated with a network, and extracts, from the set of configuration files, Internet protocol (IP) address information to form an IP address database. The computing device also extracts, from the set of configuration files, border gateway protocol (BGP) routing protocols to form a BGP routing database. The computing device analyzes the IP address database and the BGP routing database to determine network connection information for each of the devices associated with the network and generates an output file that includes the network connection information for each of the devices associated with the network. The device connectivity information is determined without establishing a connection between the computing device and the devices associated with the network.

Claims

1. A method implemented by a computing device, the method comprising:

receiving, by the computing device, multiple configuration files of devices associated with a network;

extracting, by the computing device and from the multiple configuration files, Internet protocol (IP) address information to form an IP address database;

extracting, by the computing device and from the multiple configuration files, border gateway protocol (BGP) routing protocols to form a BGP routing database that is different from the IP address database;

analyzing, by the computing device, IP addresses in the IP address database and autonomous system numbers (ASNs) in the BGP routing database to determine network connection information for each of the devices associated with the network, wherein the computing device performs a different analysis based on a type of subnet mask associated with each IP address, and wherein the network connection information is determined without network connectivity between the computing device and the devices associated with the network; and

generating, by the computing device, an output file that includes the network connection information for each of the devices associated with the network.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

converting one or more of the multiple configuration files from a non-text-based format into a text-based format.

3. The method of claim 1, where the network is one of a wide area network (WAN) or a local area network (LAN).

4. The method of claim 3, where the output file includes one or more of:

a network diagram of the network,

local and remote BGP autonomous system numbers (ASNs) for each of the devices associated with the network,

device connectivity for each of the devices associated with the network, or

IP routing protocols associated with the network.

5. The method of claim 1, where analyzing IP addresses in the IP address database and ASNs in the BGP routing database to determine network connection information for each of the devices associated with the network comprises:

creating duplicate copies of the IP address database, and

comparing the duplicate copies to determine if a device is directly connected to another device in the IP address database.

6. The method of claim 1, where analyzing IP addresses in the IP address database and ASNs in the BGP routing database to determine network connection information for each of the devices associated with the network comprises:

identifying self connectivity for subnet masks in the IP address database,

calculating a remote IP address for subnet masks of /30 and /31 in the IP address database, and

for an IP address/subnet mask pair for any subnets with a subnet mask of /1 through /29, calculating a network number and broadcast address and searching the IP address database for direct IP connectivity based on defined algorithms.

7. The method of claim 6, where the computing device employs a binary search algorithm to identify a registered IP address that matches one of the calculated remote IP addresses for subnet masks of /30 and /31 in the IP address database.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

generating, based on the analyzing, a data file that includes the IP address database and the network connection information for each of the devices associated with the network; and

storing, in a memory of the computing device, the data file.

9. A device, comprising:

a memory to store;

a plurality of instructions, and

multiple configuration files of devices associated with a network; and

a processor to execute instructions in the memory to;

retrieve, from the memory, the multiple configuration files of devices associated with a network,

extract, from the multiple configuration files, Internet protocol (IP) address information to form an IP address database,

extract, from the multiple configuration files, border gateway protocol (BGP) routing protocols to form a BGP routing database,

analyze IP addresses in the IP address database and autonomous system numbers (ASNs) in the BGP routing database to determine network connection information for each of the devices associated with the network, wherein the computing device performs a different analysis based on a type of subnet mask associated with each IP address, and

generate an output file that includes the network connection information for each of the devices associated with the network.

10. The device of claim 9, where the processor is further to execute instructions to:

convert one or more of the multiple configuration files from a non-text-based format into a text-based format.

11. The device of claim 9, where the network is one of a wide area network (WAN) or a local area network (LAN).

12. The device of claim 9, where the output file includes one or more of:

a network diagram of the network,

local and remote BGP autonomous system numbers (ASNs) for each of the devices associated with the network,

device connectivity for each of the devices associated with the network,

IP routing protocols associated with the network,

a listing of multi-protocol label switching (MPLS) WAN links for each of the devices associated with the network, per interface,

IP multicast configurations for each of the devices associated with the network, or

quality-of-service (QoS) policies for each of the devices associated with the network, per interface.

13. The device of claim 9, where, when analyzing IP addresses in the IP address database, the processor is further to execute instructions to:

create duplicate copies of the IP address database, and

compare the duplicate copies to determine if a device is directly connected to another device in the IP address database.

14. The device of claim 9, where, when analyzing IP addresses in the IP database, the processor is further to execute instructions to:

identify self connectivity for subnet masks in the IP address database,

calculate a remote IP address for subnet masks of /30 and /31 in the IP address database, and

calculate a network number and a broadcast address for subnet masks of /1through /29 in the IP address database and search for matches within the IP address database.

15. The device of claim 14, where the processor is further to execute instructions to:

employ a binary search algorithm to identify a registered IP address that matches one of the calculated remote IP address for subnet masks of /30 and /31 in the IP address database.

16. The device of claim 9, where the device is not connected to the devices associated with the network.

17. The device of claim 9, where the processor is further to execute instructions to:

store, in the memory, the IP address database, the BGP routing database, and the output file.

18. A non-transitory computer-readable medium that includes instructions for execution by one or more processors, the computer-readable medium comprising:

one or more instructions to extract, from a set of configuration files of devices associated with a network, Internet protocol (IP) address information to form an IP address database,

one or more instructions to extract, from the set of configuration files, border gateway protocol (BGP) routing protocols to form a BGP routing database,

one or more instructions to analyze IP addresses in the IP address database and autonomous system numbers (ASNs) in the BGP routing database to determine network connection information for each of the devices associated with the network, wherein the computing device performs a different analysis based on a type of subnet mask associated with each IP address, and

one or more instructions to generate an output file including the network connection information for each of the devices associated with the network.

19. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, where the network connection information is determined without a connection between the one or more processors and the devices associated with the network.

20. The non-transitory computer-readable medium of claim 18, further comprising:

one or more instructions to store in a memory, the set of configuration files, and

one or more instructions to retrieve, from the memory, the set of configuration files.