Methods and apparatus for identifying the impact of changes in computer networks
First Claim
1. An apparatus, comprising:
- a processor configured to analyze configuration information collected from a plurality of devices in a computer network, and further configured to;
determine whether a configuration change has occurred in a configuration of any of the devices based on the collected configuration information, wherein the configuration change of a device refers to a modification or alteration to the device'"'"'s software, hardware, or setting configuration;
determine whether an operational issue exists for any of the devices based on the collected configuration information, wherein the operational issue relates to an improper or inefficient configuration, a component failure, a failure state, an overutilization of resources, or any combination thereof;
in the event that the operational issue exists for one of the devices;
determine a level of severity of the operational issue comprising;
determine whether the operational issue refers to a problem condition to be immediately addressed by a system administrator;
in the event that the operational issue refers to a problem condition to be immediately addressed by the system administrator;
assign the level of severity to a first level; and
in the event that the operational issue does not refer to an indication of a problem condition that should be addressed by the system administrator;
assign the level of severity to a second level;
determine whether any of the devices are not in compliance with operational policies based on the collected configuration information, wherein the operational policies refer to a collection of rules that the plurality of devices in the computer network are required or expected to follow; and
generate a visual data presentation that includes a representation of device configuration changes, operational issues, severity levels of the operational issues, and policy compliance information for a group of devices in the computer network;
wherein the representation of device configuration changes, operational issues, and policy compliance information for the group of devices in the computer network facilitates causal analysis between configuration changes, operational issues, or policy compliance information, or any combination thereof.
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0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
The impact of device configuration changes on operational issues and policy compliance in a computer network can be discerned from a visual data presentation that jointly shows representations of changes, issues, and policy compliance in a common view for a group of network devices. Configuration information is collected from devices in the computer network and processed to determine whether a change has occurred in a configuration of any of the devices, whether any operational issues exist for each of the devices, and whether any of the devices are not in compliance with any applicable operational policies. A display device displays the visual data presentation to allow an operator to see trends and relationships between device configuration changes and operational issues and incidents of policy non-compliance. The visual data presentation can be depicted as a graphical timeline view, a network topology view, or a table view of the information.
13 Citations
24 Claims
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1. An apparatus, comprising:
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a processor configured to analyze configuration information collected from a plurality of devices in a computer network, and further configured to; determine whether a configuration change has occurred in a configuration of any of the devices based on the collected configuration information, wherein the configuration change of a device refers to a modification or alteration to the device'"'"'s software, hardware, or setting configuration; determine whether an operational issue exists for any of the devices based on the collected configuration information, wherein the operational issue relates to an improper or inefficient configuration, a component failure, a failure state, an overutilization of resources, or any combination thereof; in the event that the operational issue exists for one of the devices; determine a level of severity of the operational issue comprising; determine whether the operational issue refers to a problem condition to be immediately addressed by a system administrator; in the event that the operational issue refers to a problem condition to be immediately addressed by the system administrator;
assign the level of severity to a first level; andin the event that the operational issue does not refer to an indication of a problem condition that should be addressed by the system administrator;
assign the level of severity to a second level;determine whether any of the devices are not in compliance with operational policies based on the collected configuration information, wherein the operational policies refer to a collection of rules that the plurality of devices in the computer network are required or expected to follow; and generate a visual data presentation that includes a representation of device configuration changes, operational issues, severity levels of the operational issues, and policy compliance information for a group of devices in the computer network; wherein the representation of device configuration changes, operational issues, and policy compliance information for the group of devices in the computer network facilitates causal analysis between configuration changes, operational issues, or policy compliance information, or any combination thereof. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A method, comprising:
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determining using a processor whether a configuration change has occurred in a configuration of any of the devices based on collected configuration information, wherein the configuration change of a device refers to a modification or alteration to the device'"'"'s software, hardware, or setting configuration; determining using the processor whether an operational issue exists for any of the devices based on the collected configuration information, wherein the operational issue relates to an improper or inefficient configuration, a component failure, a failure state, an overutilization of resources, or any combination thereof; in the event that the operational issue exists for one of the devices; determining a level of severity of the operational issue comprising; determining whether the operational issue refers to a problem condition to be immediately addressed by a system administrator; in the event that the operational issue refers to a problem condition to be immediately addressed by the system administrator;
assigning the level of severity to a first level; andin the event that the operational issue does not refer to an indication of a problem condition that should be addressed by the system administrator;
assigning the level of severity to a second level;determining using the processor whether any of the devices are not in compliance with operational policies based on the collected configuration information, wherein the operational policies refer to a collection of rules that the plurality of devices in the computer network are required or expected to follow; and generating a visual data presentation that includes a representation of device configuration changes, operational issues, severity levels of the operational issues, and policy compliance information for a group of devices in the computer network; wherein the representation of device configuration changes, operational issues, severity levels of the operational issues, and policy compliance information for the group of devices in the computer network facilitates causal analysis between configuration changes, operational issues, or policy compliance information, or any combination thereof. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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19. A computer program product, the computer program product being embodied in a tangible, non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
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determining whether a configuration change has occurred in a configuration of any of the devices based on collected configuration information, wherein the configuration change of a device refers to a modification or alteration to the device'"'"'s software, hardware, or setting configuration; determining whether an operational issue exists for any of the devices based on the collected configuration information, wherein the operational issue relates to an improper or inefficient configuration, a component failure, a failure state, an overutilization of resources, or any combination thereof; in the event that the operational issue exists for one of the devices; determining a level of severity of the operational issue comprising; determining whether the operational issue refers to a problem condition to be immediately addressed by a system administrator; in the event that the operational issue refers to a problem condition to be immediately addressed by the system administrator;
assigning the level of severity to a first level; andin the event that the operational issue does not refer to an indication of a problem condition that should be addressed by the system administrator;
assigning the level of severity to a second level;determining whether any of the devices are not in compliance with operational policies based on the collected configuration information, wherein the operational policies refer to a collection of rules that the plurality of devices in the computer network are required or expected to follow; and generating a visual data presentation that includes a representation of device configuration changes, operational issues, severity levels of the operational issues, and policy compliance information for a group of devices in the computer network; wherein the representation of device configuration changes, operational issues, severity levels of the operational issues, and policy compliance information for the group of devices in the computer network facilitates causal analysis between configuration changes, operational issues, or policy compliance information, or any combination thereof. - View Dependent Claims (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification