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 refers to an indication of a problem condition that should be addressed by a system administrator or a condition that may be of interest to the system administrator, and 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;
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
wherein the determining of whether any of the devices are not in compliance with operational policies comprises;
determine a number of operational policies that a device fails to comply with;
determine a severity weight of each operation policy that the device fails to comply with;
calculate a value based on a first severity weight of a first operation policy that the device fails to comply with;
assign a first severity degree to the device in the event that the value is less than a first threshold;
assign a second severity degree to the device in the event that the value is greater than a second threshold; and
assign a third severity degree to the device in the event that the value is greater than the first threshold and less than the second threshold; and
generate a visual data presentation that includes a representation of device configuration changes, 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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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.
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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 refers to an indication of a problem condition that should be addressed by a system administrator or a condition that may be of interest to the system administrator, and 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; 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
wherein the determining of whether any of the devices are not in compliance with operational policies comprises;determine a number of operational policies that a device fails to comply with; determine a severity weight of each operation policy that the device fails to comply with; calculate a value based on a first severity weight of a first operation policy that the device fails to comply with; assign a first severity degree to the device in the event that the value is less than a first threshold; assign a second severity degree to the device in the event that the value is greater than a second threshold; and assign a third severity degree to the device in the event that the value is greater than the first threshold and less than the second threshold; and generate a visual data presentation that includes a representation of device configuration changes, 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 refers to an indication of a problem condition that should be addressed by a system administrator or a condition that may be of interest to the system administrator, and 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; 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 wherein the determining of whether any of the devices are not in compliance with operational policies comprises; determining a number of operational policies that a device fails to comply with; determining a severity weight of each operation policy that the device fails to comply with calculating a value based on a first severity weight of a first operation policy that the device fails to comply with; assigning a first severity degree to the device in the event that the value is less than a first threshold; assigning a second severity degree to the device in the event that the value is greater than a second threshold; and assigning a third severity degree to the device in the event that the value is greater than the first threshold and less than the second threshold; and generating a visual data presentation that includes a representation of device configuration changes, 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 (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 refers to an indication of a problem condition that should be addressed by a system administrator or a condition that may be of interest to the system administrator, and 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; 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 wherein the determining of whether any of the devices are not in compliance with operational policies comprises; determining a number of operational policies that a device fails to comply with; determining a severity weight of each operation policy that the device fails to comply with; calculating a value based on a first severity weight of a first operation policy that the device fails to comply with; assigning a first severity degree to the device in the event that the value is less than a first threshold; assigning a second severity degree to the device in the event that the value is greater than a second threshold; and assigning a third severity degree to the device in the event that the value is greater than the first threshold and less than the second threshold; and generating a visual data presentation that includes a representation of device configuration changes, 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 (20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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Specification