Network asset management

• US 10,616,076 B2
• Filed: 05/30/2017
• Issued: 04/07/2020
• Est. Priority Date: 05/30/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Mithal, Akshat
• Primary Examiner(s): Chea, Philip J
• Assistant Examiner(s): Khan, Hassan A
• Application Number:
  US15/608,725
• Publication Number:
  US 20180351828A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,043 Days
• Field of Search: 709223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45583 Memory management, e.g. access or allocation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0226 Mapping or translating multiple network management protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/24 using dedicated network management hardware
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities

Abstract

The network asset management apparatus includes a receiver module, an inquiry module, a translator module, and a sending module. The receiver module receives a request from a host to manage a network asset. The request has a first command format corresponding to the host. The inquiry module determines a second command format compatible with a target of the request. The translator module translates the request from the first command format to the second command format. The sending module provides the translated request for communication to the target of the request.

Claims

1. A network asset management apparatus comprising:

a processor to execute;

a receiver module that receives a request from a host to manage a network asset, the request having a first command format corresponding to the host;

an inquiry module that determines a second command format compatible with a target of the request;

a translator module that translates the request from the first command format to the second command format and generates supplemental data comprising a cryptographic element; and

a sending module that provides the translated request for communication to the target of the request and provides one or more fake responses to the host in the first command format.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the host is a virtual machine host and the target is a storage controller.

3. The apparatus of claim 2, wherein a first instance of the network asset management apparatus is associated with the virtual machine host and a second instance of the network asset management apparatus is associated with a second virtual machine host.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the request to manage the network asset comprises a request to initiate an offload of the network asset from the target, the target comprising a storage location of the network asset.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the inquiry module determines the second format compatible with the target of the request from a response to an inquiry on the target by the inquiry module.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the sending module further provides a generated response to the host.

7. A method comprising:

intercepting a request from a first host to offload a network asset from a first storage location, the request having a first command format associated with the first host and not supported by the first storage location;

executing an inquiry at the first storage location to identify a second command format supported by the first storage location;

generating a translated request having the second command format based on a component parsed from the request and having supplemental data comprising a cryptographic element;

providing one or more fake responses to the first host in the first command format; and

providing the translated request to the first storage location to facilitate the offload of the network asset.

8. The method of claim 7, further comprising receiving a response from the first storage location corresponding to the inquiry, the response specifying the second command format.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the response from the first storage location specifies a plurality of command formats compatible with the first storage location.

10. The method of claim 7, further comprising bypassing the generation of the translated request in response to a determination that the second command format is compatible with the first command format.

11. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the supplemental data comprises intercepting a communication and generating a communication response to simulate compatibility between the first command format of the first host and the second command format of the first storage location.

12. The method of claim 7, wherein generating the translated request further comprises generating a request to initialize a virtual disk at a second storage location.

13. The method of claim 7, further comprising synchronizing a first network asset management apparatus with a second network asset management apparatus.

14. A computer program product for providing network asset management, the computer program product comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium having program instructions embodied therewith, the program instructions readable/executable by a processor to cause the processor to:

intercept, by the processor, a request from a first host to offload a network asset from a first storage location, the request having a first command format associated with the first host and not supported by the first storage location;

execute, by the processor, an inquiry at the first storage location to identify a second command format supported by the first storage location;

generate, by the processor, a translated request having the second command format based on a component parsed from the request and having supplemental data comprising a cryptographic element;

provide, by the processor, one or more fake responses to the first host in the first command format; and

provide, by the processor, the translated request to the first storage location to facilitate the offload of the network asset.

15. The computer program product of claim 14, wherein generating, by the processor, the supplemental data comprises intercepting a communication and generating a communication response to simulate compatibility between incompatible command formats.