Intelligent, scalable, low-overhead mechanism for data retrieval in a distributed network environment
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method for data retrieval by a data collection agent operating on a host computer system in a distributed network, the method comprising:
- collecting data from at least one managed resource in the distributed network into a dataset at the data collection agent according to a predefined policy including a data collection frequency;
receiving a poll from a data retrieval component in the distributed network to retrieve the dataset from the data collection agent, wherein the poll causes the data collection agent to transfer the dataset to the data retrieval component according to a firewall hole dedicated to the data retrieval component and wherein the predefined policy further includes a threshold for receiving data retrieval polls from the data retrieval component;
responsive to the poll, transferring the dataset to the data retrieval component, and transferring a poll indication to the data retrieval component indicating when a subsequent dataset will be available for retrieval from the data collection agent by the data retrieval component according to a subsequent poll from the data retrieval component;
collecting data from the at least one managed resource in the distributed network into a subsequent dataset at the data collection agent according to the predefined policy; and
receiving the subsequent poll from the data retrieval component in the distributed network to retrieve the subsequent dataset from the data collection agent at a time based on the poll indication transferred from the data collection agent to the data retrieval component indicating when the subsequent dataset would be available for retrieval from the data collection agent by the data retrieval component.
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Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques disclosed herein describe a data retrieval process for storing management data from a network environment using an efficient polling-based approach without sacrificing the real-time aspect of data retrieval that a push model provides. The process is highly scalable and reliable, and is useful in Network Address Translation (NAT) environments because the number of holes in a NAT firewall is minimized. The data retrieval component uses intelligent polling to retrieve data and store the data in a central database without overloading the system. A data retrieval component polls a data collection agent for a dataset. The data collection agent transfers the data set and a poll indication of when a subsequent data set will be ready for transfer. Subsequent polling is based on a processor load at a data retrieval component.
76 Citations
19 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method for data retrieval by a data collection agent operating on a host computer system in a distributed network, the method comprising:
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collecting data from at least one managed resource in the distributed network into a dataset at the data collection agent according to a predefined policy including a data collection frequency; receiving a poll from a data retrieval component in the distributed network to retrieve the dataset from the data collection agent, wherein the poll causes the data collection agent to transfer the dataset to the data retrieval component according to a firewall hole dedicated to the data retrieval component and wherein the predefined policy further includes a threshold for receiving data retrieval polls from the data retrieval component; responsive to the poll, transferring the dataset to the data retrieval component, and transferring a poll indication to the data retrieval component indicating when a subsequent dataset will be available for retrieval from the data collection agent by the data retrieval component according to a subsequent poll from the data retrieval component; collecting data from the at least one managed resource in the distributed network into a subsequent dataset at the data collection agent according to the predefined policy; and receiving the subsequent poll from the data retrieval component in the distributed network to retrieve the subsequent dataset from the data collection agent at a time based on the poll indication transferred from the data collection agent to the data retrieval component indicating when the subsequent dataset would be available for retrieval from the data collection agent by the data retrieval component. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8)
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9. A computer-implemented method for data retrieval by a data retrieval component computerized device in a distributed network, the method comprising:
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polling a data collection agent in the distributed network to retrieve a dataset, containing data collected from at least one managed resource in the distributed network by the data collection agent according to a predefined policy including a data collection frequency and a threshold for receiving data retrieval polls from the data retrieval component, wherein the poll causes the data collection agent to transfer the dataset to the data retrieval component according to a firewall hole dedicated to the data retrieval component; receiving the dataset from the data collection agent, and receiving a poll indication from the data collection agent indicating when a subsequent dataset will be available for retrieval from the data collection agent by the data retrieval component according to a subsequent poll to the data collection agent; and subsequently polling the data collection agent in the distributed network to retrieve the subsequent dataset from the data collection agent, containing data collected from at least one managed resource in the distributed network by the data collection agent according to the predefined policy, at a time based on the poll indication transferred from the data collection agent to the data retrieval component indicating when the subsequent dataset would be available for retrieval from the data collection agent by the data retrieval component. - View Dependent Claims (10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A system comprising:
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a data collection agent operating on a host computer system configured to collect data within a distributed network into datasets containing data collected from at least one managed resource in the distributed network by the data collection agent according to a predefined policy including a data collection frequency; a data retrieval component computerized device in communication with the data collection agent configured to poll the data collection agent in the distributed network to retrieve the datasets, wherein the predefined policy further includes a threshold for receiving data polls from the data retrieval component; wherein the data collection agent includes computer program code to execute a process that collects data from at least one managed resource in the distributed network into a dataset at the data collection agent according to the policy; wherein the data retrieval component includes computer program code to execute a process that polls the data collection agent in the distributed network to retrieve the dataset from the data collection agent, wherein the poll causes the data collection agent to transfer the dataset to the data retrieval component according to a firewall hole dedicated to the data retrieval component; wherein the data collection agent includes computer program code to execute a process that receives the poll from the data retrieval component in the distributed network to retrieve the dataset from the data collection agent and, responsive to the poll, transfers the dataset from the data collection agent to the data retrieval component, and transfers a poll indication from the data collection agent to the data retrieval component indicating when a subsequent dataset will be available for retrieval from the data collection agent by the data retrieval component according to a subsequent poll from the data retrieval component; wherein the data retrieval component includes computer program code to execute a process that receives the dataset from the data collection agent, and receives the poll indication from the data collection agent indicating when the subsequent dataset will be available for retrieval from the data collection agent by the data retrieval component according to the subsequent poll to the data collection agent; wherein the data collection agent includes computer program code to execute a process that collects data from the at least one managed resource in the distributed network into the subsequent dataset at the data collection agent according to the predefined policy; wherein the data retrieval component includes computer program code to execute a process that subsequently polls the data collection agent in the distributed network to retrieve the subsequent dataset from the data collection agent at a time based on the poll indication transmitted from the data collection agent to the data retrieval component indicating when the subsequent dataset would be available for retrieval from the data collection agent by the data retrieval component; and wherein the data collection agent includes computer program code to execute a process that receives the subsequent poll from the data retrieval component in the distributed network to retrieve the subsequent dataset from the data collection agent at the time based on the poll indication transferred from the data collection agent to the data retrieval component indicating when the subsequent dataset would be available for retrieval from the data collection agent by the data retrieval component. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19)
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Specification