Unified storage for configuring multiple networking technologies
First Claim
1. A method for use in a computer system comprising at least one computer, the at least one computer comprising a plurality of media managers that enable the at least one computer to communicate using a plurality of networking technologies, the method comprising acts of:
- providing at least one management interface that enables an administrator to configure a plurality of sets of one or more configuration settings, the sets of configuration settings corresponding, respectively, to the media managers, each set of configuration settings being used by its corresponding media manager to configure at least one corresponding network interface of the at least one computer to control how the at least one computer communicates using a networking technology enabled by the corresponding media manager;
using at least one processor to enable the administrator to create, via the at least one management interface, a plurality of configuration profiles that each corresponds to one of the plurality of media managers, respectively, each configuration profile being created based at least in part on a corresponding set of configuration settings configured by the administrator; and
providing the plurality of configuration profiles to the at least one computer in a same configuration file having a particular format, the particular format comprising a first section and a second section different from the first section, the first section storing configuration information that is not specific to any particular network or networking technology, the second section storing at least the plurality of configuration profiles created by the administrator.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A network and connection provisioning framework for configuring and provisioning multiple aspects of network connectivity (e.g., multiple networks, media types, and/or connections). The framework may comprise a unified configuration interface that enables an administrator to configure multiple different types of network connectivity. A single configuration file comprising settings for multiple aspects of network connectivity may be generated based on preferences entered by a system administrator, or by exporting current settings from a particular computing device. Global configuration policies or other configuration settings that span multiple types of network connectivity may be also created and stored in one or more configuration files. Stand-alone media managers and/or plug-in modules may implement one or more standardized application programming interface functions so that they may interoperate with the network and connection provisioning framework. The standardized API may be used to ensure that configuration information is handled and stored in a standardized manner by different media managers and/or plug-in modules.
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Citations
19 Claims
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1. A method for use in a computer system comprising at least one computer, the at least one computer comprising a plurality of media managers that enable the at least one computer to communicate using a plurality of networking technologies, the method comprising acts of:
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providing at least one management interface that enables an administrator to configure a plurality of sets of one or more configuration settings, the sets of configuration settings corresponding, respectively, to the media managers, each set of configuration settings being used by its corresponding media manager to configure at least one corresponding network interface of the at least one computer to control how the at least one computer communicates using a networking technology enabled by the corresponding media manager; using at least one processor to enable the administrator to create, via the at least one management interface, a plurality of configuration profiles that each corresponds to one of the plurality of media managers, respectively, each configuration profile being created based at least in part on a corresponding set of configuration settings configured by the administrator; and providing the plurality of configuration profiles to the at least one computer in a same configuration file having a particular format, the particular format comprising a first section and a second section different from the first section, the first section storing configuration information that is not specific to any particular network or networking technology, the second section storing at least the plurality of configuration profiles created by the administrator. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
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12. A computer comprising:
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a first media manager that enables the at least one computer to communicate using a first networking technology, the first media manager being adapted to configure at least one first network interface of the computer; a second media manager that enables the at least one computer to communicate using a second networking technology that is different than the first networking technology, the second media manager being adapted to configure at least one second network interface of the computer; and at least one processor programmed to; process a configuration file having a particular format, the particular format comprising a first section and a second section different from the first section, the first section storing configuration information that is not specific to any particular network or networking technology, the second section storing a plurality of configuration profiles; retrieve from the configuration file a first configuration profile that comprises a first set of one or more configuration settings for the first networking technology and a second configuration profile that comprises a second set of one or more configuration settings for the second networking technology; provide the first set of configuration settings to the first media manager for use in configuring the at least one first network interface to enable the computer to communicate using the first networking technology according to the first set of configuration settings; and provide the second set of configuration settings to the second media manager for use in configuring the at least one second network interface to enable the computer to communicate using the second networking technology according to the second set of configuration settings. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15)
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16. At least one tangible computer readable storage device encoded with a plurality of instructions that, when executed, perform a method for use in a computer system comprising at least one computer, the at least one computer comprising a plurality of media managers that enable the at least one computer to communicate using a plurality of networking technologies, the method comprising acts of:
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providing at least one management interface that enables an administrator to configure a plurality of sets of one or more configuration settings, each of the plurality of sets of configuration settings corresponding to one of the plurality of media managers and being used by the corresponding media manager to configure at least one corresponding network interface of the at least one computer to control how the at least one computer communicates using the networking technology enabled by the corresponding media manager, wherein; the at least one management interface comprises a common user interface through which the administrator may configure the plurality of sets of configuration settings; the common user interface is provided via a single application program comprising a framework and at least first and second plug-ins incorporated into the framework; the first plug-in is specially adapted to provide the single application program with functionality that enables the single application program to be used to configure a first set of configuration settings for a first media manager that enables the at least one computer to communicate using a first networking technology; and the second plug-in is specially adapted to provide the single application program with functionality that enables the single application program to be used to configure a second set of configuration settings for a second media manager that enables the at least one computer to communicate using a second networking technology; enabling the administrator to create, via the at least one management interface, a plurality of configuration profiles that each corresponds to one of the plurality of media managers, each configuration profile being created based at least in part on a corresponding set of configuration settings configured by the administrator; and providing the plurality of configuration profiles to the at least one computer in a same configuration file having a hierarchical structure, the hierarchical structure comprising a network layer node that relates to configuration information for layer 3 in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model of networking and a connections node that relates to configuration information for layer 2 in the OSI model of networking. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification