Self configuring network management system

• US 9,077,611 B2
• Filed: 07/07/2005
• Issued: 07/07/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/07/2004
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: ScienceLogic
• Original Assignee: ScienceLogic
• Inventors: Link, David, Chart, Richard, Ginter, Karl, Cordray, Christopher
• Primary Examiner(s): Fan, Hua
• Assistant Examiner(s): Ma, Wing
• Application Number:
  US11/175,407
• Publication Number:
  US 20060092861A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,652 Days
• Field of Search: 709/223, 709/224
• US Class Current: 1/1
• 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 41/0253 using browsers or web-pages for accessing management information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0273 using web services for network management, e.g. simple object access protocol [SOAP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/06 Management of faults, events, alarms or notifications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0809 Plug-and-play configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0843 based on generic templates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0856 by backing up or archiving configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5003 Managing SLA; Interaction between SLA and QoS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5009 Determining service level performance parameters or violations of service level contracts, e.g. violations of agreed response time or mean time between failures [MTBF]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5032 Generating service level reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5048 Automatic or semi-automatic definitions, e.g. definition templates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5058 Service discovery by the service manager
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5093 wherein the managed service relates to messaging or chat services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/34 involving the movement of software or configuration parameters network booting or remote initial program loading [RIPL] G06F9/4416

Abstract

Systems, software, and methods for managing networks of connected electronic devices are described. In one example, network management policy and network management applications are downloaded automatically upon detection and identification of a new device on the network. In another example, information related to at least one aspect of the network is obtained by a network management device, and at least one applicable management policy is identified by the device; and the identified policy is used to manage at least one aspect of the network'"'"'s operation.

Claims

1. A method for managing the operation of at least one network-connected electronic device not previously registered with a discovery device processor, the method comprising:

(a) discovering, with the discovery device processor, the existence of an unregistered electronic device on a network, said discovering comprising performing recognition with the discovery device processor to learn information previously unknown to the discovery device processor related to at least one aspect of the network-connected electronic device without requiring use of a software agent, installed on the electronic device, that is specifically designed to respond to device discovery protocols;

(b) selecting and automatically obtaining, installing and launching, for execution by the discovery device processor, a first dynamic application that gives the discovery device processor at least one capability for discovering further aspects of the network-connected electronic device, said automatically obtaining, installing and launching being performed by the discovery device processor on an as-needed basis in response to discovery of the existence of the unregistered electronic device on the network and the learning by the discovery device processor of the previously unknown information related to at least one aspect of the network-connected electronic device, the automatically obtaining including downloading a template on demand in response to the discovery device processor discovering at least one aspect of the network-connected electronic device, said template comprising a data structure that defines at least one aspect of the discovery device processor operation or configuration, the data structure including any one or more of the first dynamic application, a specification of information the first dynamic application is to collect, a storage location for the first dynamic application, a notification and alerting threshold, and a management policy for the discovered device;

(c) the discovery device processor using the template to identify the management policy for use by the discovery device processor to manage the discovered device;

(d) the discovery device processor using the template to identify a second dynamic application to be instantiated and executed, including using said identified management policy to select the identified second dynamic application;

(e) the discovery device processor instantiating and invoking said selected second dynamic application to manage at least one aspect or characteristic of the network in accordance with the identified management policy;

(f) executing said second dynamic application on the discovery device processor remotely from the network-connected electronic device; and

(g) iterating (b) and (f) to learn and discover additional information related to further aspects of the network-connected electronic device, said iteration of (b) and (f) based at least in part on previously learned information, including replacing a previously configured dynamic application with the instantiated and invoked second dynamic application at least in part in response to learned information; and

(h) using said additional information learned and discovered by (g) to manage, over the network, and change state of said network-connected electronic device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein selecting the second dynamic application includes selecting, at least in part, based upon the learned information.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein the discovering comprises using SQL*NET ports and protocols to identify an aspect or characteristic of SQL*NET servers operating on the electronic device.

16. The method of claim 1 wherein discovering comprises using mySQL ports and protocols to identify an aspect or characteristic of mySQL servers operating on the electronic device.

17. The method of claim 1 wherein discovering comprises using Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) ports and protocol to identify an aspect or characteristic of LDAP and Active Directory servers on the electronic device.

18. The method of claim 1 wherein discovering comprises using Internet Message Access Protocol (IMAP) ports and protocols to identify an aspect or characteristic of IMAP servers operating on the electronic device.

19. The method of claim 1 wherein discovering comprises using Post Office Protocol (POP) ports and protocols to identify an aspect or characteristic of POP servers operating on the electronic device.

20. The method of claim 1 wherein discovering comprises using Simple Mail Transfer Protocol (SMTP) ports and protocols to identify an aspect or characteristic of SMTP servers operating on the electronic device.

21. The method of claim 1 wherein discovering comprises using Domain Name System (DNS) ports and protocols to identify an aspect or characteristic of DNS servers operating on the electronic device.

22. The method of claim 1 wherein discovering comprises using Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol (DHCP) ports and protocols to identify an aspect or characteristic of DHCP servers operating on the electronic device.

23. The method of claim 1 wherein discovering comprises using any one or more of Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) and Hypertext Transfer Protocol Secure (HTTPS) ports and protocols to identify an aspect or characteristic of any one or more of HTTP and HTTPS servers operating on the electronic device.

24. The method of claim 23 wherein the aspect or characteristic of any one or more of HTTP and HTTPS servers includes a digital certificate.

25. The method of claim 1 further including using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) ports and protocols to identify an aspect or characteristic of the SNMP agent operating on the electronic device.

3. A method for managing the operation of a plurality of heterogeneous electronic devices connected to a network, comprising:

iteratively performing a recognition process with a management device processor to discover the existence of, and learn previously unknown information related to, at least one aspect of electronic devices connected to the network without using a software agent installed on the network-connected electronic devices specifically designed to respond to device discovery protocols, including iteratively selecting and automatically obtaining, installing and launching, on the management device processor remote from the network-connected electronic devices, dynamic applications that give the management device processor at least one capability for discovering further aspects of the network-connected electronic devices, said automatically obtaining, installing and launching being iteratively performed by the management device processor on an as-needed basis in response to the discovery of the existence of the network-connected electronic devices and the learning by the management device processor of the previously unknown information related to at least one aspect of the network-connected electronic devices and the additional information concerning the network-connected electronic devices revealed by previous iterations, the automatically obtaining including downloading a template on demand in response to the management device processor discovering at least one aspect of the network-connected electronic devices, said template comprising a data structure that defines at least one aspect of the management device processor operation or configuration, the data structure including any one or more of a dynamic application, a specification of information the dynamic application is to collect, a storage location for the dynamic application, a notification and alerting threshold, and at least one management policy for the discovered devices;

using the template to identify the at least one management policy applicable to said network-connected electronic devices for use by the management device processor to manage the discovered devices at least in part in response to the learned information;

using the template to identify the dynamic application to be instantiated and executed including using said identified at least one applicable management policy to select the dynamic application;

instantiating and invoking, on the management device processor, said selected dynamic application to manage at least one aspect or characteristic of the network in accordance with the at least one identified management policy; and

executing, with the management device processor, said invoked dynamic application to manage and change the state of the network and enforce the identified at least one applicable management policy applicable to said network-connected electronic devices, including replacing a previously configured dynamic application with the instantiated and invoked dynamic application at least in part in response to learned information, the management device processor not launching dynamic applications until a need to interact with the network-connected electronic devices is recognized.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said executing to manage and change the state of the network includes applying policy parameter limits including limits associated with enterprise defined policies for any one or more of electronic device configuration, electronic device security, electronic device performance, electronic device events, electronic device availability, network utilization, network availability, and network service quality.

5. The method of claim 3, further including downloading management policy templates from a network-connected service.

6. A method for managing operations of plural heterogeneous electronic devices connected to a network without the need to have any network management device specific agents on the electronic devices, comprising:

iterating discovery, over the network using a discovery processor of a network node that is remote to said heterogeneous electronic devices, of previously unknown characteristics associated with said network-connected electronic devices without using a software agent installed on the network-connected electronic devices designed to respond to any one or more of device management and device discovery protocols, including;

identifying, at least in part in response to said discovery, application specific templates that are applicable to said network-connected electronic devices, said application specific templates comprising structures that define any one or more of aspects of management device operation and configuration,

downloading at least one said application specific template on demand in response to the discovery processor discovering at least one aspect of the network-connected electronic devices, said at least one application specific template comprising a data structure that defines at least one aspect of the discovery processor operation or configuration, the data structure including any one or more of a first dynamic application, a specification of information the first dynamic application is to collect, a storage location for the first dynamic application, a notification and alerting threshold, and a management policy for the network-connected electronic devices,

using the downloaded at least one application specific template to identify the management policy for use by the discovery processor to manage the network-connected electronic devices,

using said application specific templates to at least in part identify and obtain at least the first dynamic application for execution by the network node discovery processor to discover further information concerning the network-connected electronic devices, including using said identified management policy to select the identified first dynamic application, and

based at least in part on the discovered further information, identifying at least a second dynamic application for execution by the network node processor to manage and change the state of at least one aspect of the network, and

replacing a previously configured dynamic application with the second dynamic application at least in part in response to discovered information.

7. The method of claim 6, further including storing said application specific templates in a directory service.

8. The method of claim 6, further including using said application specific templates to specify at least one of:

a managed electronic device configuration, electronic device security, electronic device availability, network utilization, network availability, and network service quality.

9. The method of claim 6, further including using said application specific templates, at least in part, to form an association with at least one dynamic application.

10. The method of claim 9, further including using said application specific templates to define the association.

11. The method of claim 9, wherein said using comprises comparing information contained in said application specific templates with information discovered from said electronic devices connected to said network.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein said using further comprises generating an event in response to said comparing.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein said using further comprises generating an event, wherein said application specific templates are used, at least in part, to generate said event.

14. A method for enforcing policy for a plurality of networked devices across a network, said network of the type including a network communications medium and the plurality of networked devices communicating via the network communications medium, the plurality of networked devices having different attributes, said method comprising:

iteratively discovering, with at least one discovery processor via the network, attributes associated with said plurality of networked devices without using software agents installed on the network devices designed to respond to any one or more of device management and device discovery protocols, including;

classifying at least one of said plurality of networked devices based on said discovered attributes;

determining whether a policy management template for said at least one classified networked device is already active;

conditioned on said determining, dynamically retrieving a discovery template applicable to said at least one classified networked device and activating said dynamically retrieved discovery template, said discovery template comprising a vocabulary for auto-discovery and functions particularly applicable to said at least one classified networked device, the dynamically retrieving including downloading said discovery template on demand in response to the discovery processor discovering at least one aspect of said at least one classified networked device, said discovery template comprising a data structure that defines at least one aspect of the discovery processor operation or configuration, the data structure including any one or more of a dynamic application, a specification of information the dynamic application is to collect, a storage location for the dynamic application, a notification and alerting threshold, and at least one management policy for said at least one classified networked device;

using the discovery template to identify the at least one management policy for managing said at least one classified networked device;

at least in part in response to activating said discovery template, identifying at least one policy management dynamic application to be used to enforce a policy relating to said at least one classified networked device, including using the discovery template to identify the at least one policy management dynamic application to be instantiated and executed by using the identified at least one management policy to select the identified at least one policy management dynamic application; and

obtaining and using the identified and selected at least one policy management dynamic application to enforce said policy across said network, including instantiating and invoking the identified and selected at least one policy management dynamic application to manage at least one aspect or characteristic of the network in accordance with the identified at least one management policy, and replacing a previously configured dynamic application with the policy management dynamic application at least in part in response to discovered information.