Methods and apparatus for obtaining network information using file transfer
First Claim
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.
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Accused Products
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).
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Citations
17 Claims
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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. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A network configuration for file transfer, comprising:
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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. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification