Method and system for generating a network monitoring display with animated utilization information
First Claim
1. A computer-based method comprising:
- generating a performance monitoring display output signal operable to cause display of at least a portion of a topology map of a network and a graphical representation of a performance parameter of the network,wherein the graphical representation of the performance parameter is displayed by moving elements,wherein the performance parameter represents utilization of a data throughput capacity of a data connection,wherein the output signal is further operable to cause the graphical representation to include a double line, each of the lines being solid when there is no utilization and replaced by parallel broken lines comprising dashes separated by a distance when there is a level of utilization, the length of the dashes gradually decreasing with increasing utilization, andwherein the dashes are moving elements and the dashes in one of the parallel broken lines moves in a first direction and the dashes in the other one of the parallel broken lines moves in a second direction opposite of the first direction to represent two channel data flow.
8 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A method for displaying storage network information in a user interface. The method includes identifying a topology map for a storage network and gathering operating information, which is processed to determine a performance parameter, such as utilization. A performance monitoring display is generated including a topology map and a graphical representation of the performance parameter, which is positioned in the display relative to the components for which the parameter applies. The graphical representation can be a pair of parallel dashed lines between communicating components. The dashes in the lines are moved using a speed coding scheme representative of the performance parameter, e.g., with faster speeds used to show higher ranges of utilization, and the direction of movement matches data flow. The dashed lines are colored using a color coding scheme and the line segment lengths vary in association with the performance value.
-
Citations
28 Claims
-
1. A computer-based method comprising:
-
generating a performance monitoring display output signal operable to cause display of at least a portion of a topology map of a network and a graphical representation of a performance parameter of the network, wherein the graphical representation of the performance parameter is displayed by moving elements, wherein the performance parameter represents utilization of a data throughput capacity of a data connection, wherein the output signal is further operable to cause the graphical representation to include a double line, each of the lines being solid when there is no utilization and replaced by parallel broken lines comprising dashes separated by a distance when there is a level of utilization, the length of the dashes gradually decreasing with increasing utilization, and wherein the dashes are moving elements and the dashes in one of the parallel broken lines moves in a first direction and the dashes in the other one of the parallel broken lines moves in a second direction opposite of the first direction to represent two channel data flow. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7)
-
-
8. A method comprising:
-
generating a performance monitoring display output signal operable to cause display of a graphical representation of a topology of a network including data connections between components of the network, the graphical representation including two parallel broken lines comprising dashes separated by a distance with the lines representing active transmit and receive channels of each data connection based on data flow information captured from the network, with the broken lines replaced with solid lines when there is no utilization; wherein the output signal is further operable to cause display of the dashes to appear to move in directions of data flow in the channels represented by each of the broken lines, wherein the dashes in the broken lines having a length inversely proportional to a magnitude of a performance value represented by the lines, and wherein the dashes in one of the broken lines moves in a first direction and the dashes in the other one of the broken lines moves in a second direction opposite of the first direction to represent two channel data flow. - View Dependent Claims (9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
-
-
16. A user interface displayed on a computer monitor, comprising:
-
a map of a network with icons representing physical components of the network; and pairs of broken lines between the components representing transmit and receive channels used by connected ones of the components for transferring digital data, wherein at the pairs of broken lines comprising dashes separated by a distance, with the broken lines replaced with solid lines when there is no utilization; wherein the dashes in the pairs of broken lines have a length inversely proportional to a magnitude of a performance value represented by the broken lines, and wherein the dashes in one of the broken lines moves in a first direction and the dashes in the other one of the broken lines moves in a second direction opposite of the first direction to represent two channel data flow. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20)
-
-
21. A computer-based method comprising:
-
generating a performance monitoring display signal operable to cause display of at least a portion of a topology map for a network and a representation of a performance parameter of the network, wherein the representation of the performance parameter is graphically displayed with animation along a data connection representation on the topology map; wherein the data connection representation comprises two parallel broken lines comprising dashes separated by a distance, the dashes having a length inversely proportional to a magnitude of a performance value represented by the data connection, with the two parallel broken lines replaced with two parallel solid lines when there is no utilization, and wherein the dashes in one of the broken lines moves in a first direction and the dashes in the other one of the broken lines moves in a second direction opposite of the first direction to represent two channel data flow. - View Dependent Claims (22, 23)
-
-
24. One or more memory readable by a computing device encoding computer-executable instructions for executing on a computer system a computer process, the computer process comprising:
-
generating a performance monitoring display signal operable to cause display of at least a portion of a topology map for a network and a representation of a performance parameter of the network, wherein the representation of the performance parameter is graphically displayed with animation along a data connection representation on the topology map; wherein the data connection representation comprises two parallel broken lines comprising dashes separated by a distance, the dashes having a length inversely proportional to a magnitude of a performance value represented by the data connection, with the two parallel broken lines replaced with two parallel solid lines when there is no utilization, and wherein the dashes in one of the broken lines moves in a first direction and the dashes in the other one of the broken lines moves in a second direction opposite of the first direction to represent two channel data flow. - View Dependent Claims (25, 26)
-
-
27. A memory readable by a computing device and executable on a computer system, the memory comprising:
-
computer software configured to; generate a display output signal operable to cause display of at least a portion of a topology map for a network and a representation of a performance parameter of the network, wherein the representation of the performance parameter is graphically displayed with animation along a data connection representation on the topology map, wherein the data connection representation comprises two parallel broken lines comprising dashes separated by a distance, the dashes having a length inversely proportional to a magnitude of a performance value represented by the data connection, with the two parallel broken lines replaced with two parallel solid lines when there is no utilization, and wherein the dashes in one of the broken lines moves in a first direction and the dashes in the other one of the broken lines moves in a second direction opposite of the first direction to represent two channel data flow.
-
-
28. A computer system comprising:
-
a processor; and a memory coupled to the processor storing instructions for a computer program, the computer program being operable to cause the processor to; generate a display output signal operable to cause display of at least a portion of a topology map for a network and a representation of the performance parameter of the network, wherein the representation of the performance parameter is graphically displayed with animation along a data connection representation on the topology map; wherein data connection representation comprises two parallel broken lines comprising dashes separated by a distance, the dashes having a length inversely proportional to a magnitude of a performance value represented by the data connection, with the two parallel broken lines replaced with two parallel solid lines when there is no utilization, and wherein the dashes in one of the broken lines moves in a first direction and the dashes in the other one of the broken lines moves in a second direction opposite of the first direction to represent two channel data flow.
-
Specification