Methods and apparatus for obtaining network information using file transfer

• US 8,972,561 B1
• Filed: 05/13/2009
• Issued: 03/03/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 05/13/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Tellabs Operations Incorporated (Infinera Corp.)
• Original Assignee: Tellabs Operations Incorporated (Infinera Corp.)
• Inventors: Levesque, Gilbert, Jaladanki, Malyadri, Wang, Yi, Dey, Debashis, Giri, Prakash
• Primary Examiner(s): LEE, BRYAN Y
• Application Number:
  US12/465,073
• Time in Patent Office: 2,120 Days
• Field of Search: 709/222, 709/223, 709/224, 709/246
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0246 Exchanging or transporting network management information using the Internet; Embedding network management web servers in network elements; Web-services-based protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0853 by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information

Abstract

An apparatus and method for transferring information in bulk between network devices employing File Transfer Protocol (“FTP”) are disclosed. During a network discovery process, an Element Management System (“EMS”) initiates a file generation command formatted with Simple Network Management Protocol (“SNMP”) to one or more network element (“NE”). After obtaining configuration information from one or more network devices, an NE, in one embodiment, establishes a file containing the configuration information and subsequently stores the file in a storage location. The file formatted in SNMP format is forwarded to EMS suing FTP/SFTP (secure file transfer protocol)/TFTP (trivial file transport protocol).

Claims

1. A method for information transfer, comprising:

initiating a command of file generation formatted in a first network protocol to a network element (“

NE”

) during a network configuration phase, wherein the initiating the command of file generation includes forwarding a second command of file generation to a backup NE after detecting an occurrence of switch-over process, wherein the network configuration phase includes the switch-over process;

obtaining configuration information from one or more network devices;

establishing a file formatted in a second network protocol containing the configuration information and storing the file in a storage; and

forwarding the file formatted in the second network protocol from the NE to a network manager, wherein initiating the command of file generation further includes sending a generate file command coded in Simple Network Management Protocol (“

SNMP”

) from an Element Management System (“

EMS”

) to the NE during an initial network discovery, wherein the network configuration phase includes the initial network discovery.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising sending a command of deletion from the network manager to delete the file from the storage.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising:

identifying the storage located in the NE; and

deleting the file from the storage in response to the command of deletion.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein obtaining configuration information from the one or more network devices further includes collecting information relating to network circuits from the network devices directly or indirectly coupled to the NE.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein establishing a file includes formatting the file with a File Transfer Protocol (“

FTP”

) encapsulating SNMP information relating to multiple network circuits.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein forwarding the file formatted in a second network protocol includes sending the file formatted with one of File Transfer Protocol (“

FTP”

), Trivial FTP (“

TFTP”

), and Secure FTP (“

SFTP”

) capable of providing bulk data transfer from a router to an Element Management System (“

EMS”

).

7. The method of claim 6, further comprising converting the file containing the configuration information formatted in FTP to messages formatted in Simple Network Management Protocol (“

SNMP”

) via a predefined conversion module after the file reaches the EMS.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising removing the file from the storage situated in the NE after the file is forwarded to an element management system (“

EMS”

).

9. A network configuration for file transfer, comprising:

a network element (“

NE”

) capable of building a file with a File Transfer Protocol (“

FTP”

) in a local NE memory during a network discovery process to initialize a network, wherein the file contains a plurality of network circuits collected from a plurality of network devices;

an Element Management System (“

EMS”

) coupled with the NE via a connection and configured to receive the file from the NE, wherein the EMS further includes a converter capable of converting the file containing the plurality of network circuits from FTP to messages indicating the plurality of network circuits formatted in Simple Network Management Protocol (“

SNMP”

), wherein the EMS sends a generate file command coded in SNMP to the NE during the initial network discovery in the network configuration phase, wherein the EMS forwards a second command of file generation to a backup NE after detecting an occurrence of switch-over process during the network configuration phase.

10. The configuration of claim 9, wherein the EMS further includes a SNMP processor capable of processing the file after the file is converted to SNMP.

11. The configuration of claim 10, wherein the EMS further includes a memory control logic capable of managing storage content in the local NE memory.

12. The configuration of claim 11, wherein the EMS includes NE management logic capable of managing a plurality of NEs during initial network discovery.

13. The configuration of claim 12, wherein the EMS further includes switch-over detecting logic capable of pulling a second file containing switch-over information in a buffer from a backup NE.

14. The method of claim 9, wherein detecting the occurrence of switch-over process includes establishing a second file containing a switch-over information stored in a local buffer and storing the second file in a storage located at the backup NE.

15. The method of claim 14, wherein establishing a second file containing a switch-over information stored in a local buffer includes forwarding the second file from the backup NE to an element management system (“

EMS”

) utilizing FTP.

16. The method of claim 14, wherein establishing a second file containing a switch-over information stored in a local buffer includes forwarding the second file from the backup NE to an element management system (“

EMS”

) utilizing SFTP.

17. The method of claim 14, wherein establishing a second file containing a switch-over information includes building the file with a FTP to encapsulate the switch-over information.