UNIFIED STORAGE FOR CONFIGURING MULTIPLE NETWORKING TECHNOLOGIES

• US 20100131622A1
• Filed: 11/21/2008
• Published: 05/27/2010
• Est. Priority Date: 11/21/2008
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Microsoft Technology Licensing LLC (Microsoft Corporation)
• Original Assignee: Microsoft Corporation
• Inventors: Mandhana, Taroon, Teh, PehKeong, Brewis, Deon C.
• Granted Patent: US 8,615,570 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/221
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/14 Session management for real-time applications in data packet communications networks H04L65/1066
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/303 Terminal profiles

Abstract

A network and connection provisioning framework for configuring and provisioning multiple aspects of network connectivity (e.g., multiple networks, media types, and/or connections). The framework may comprise a unified configuration interface that enables an administrator to configure multiple different types of network connectivity. A single configuration file comprising settings for multiple aspects of network connectivity may be generated based on preferences entered by a system administrator, or by exporting current settings from a particular computing device. Global configuration policies or other configuration settings that span multiple types of network connectivity may be also created and stored in one or more configuration files. Stand-alone media managers and/or plug-in modules may implement one or more standardized application programming interface functions so that they may interoperate with the network and connection provisioning framework. The standardized API may be used to ensure that configuration information is handled and stored in a standardized manner by different media managers and/or plug-in modules.

Claims

1. A method for use in a computer system comprising at least one computer, the at least one computer comprising a plurality of media managers that collectively enable the at least one computer to communicate using a plurality of network connection technologies, the method comprising acts of:

(A) providing at least one management interface that enables an administrator to establish a plurality of sets of one or more network connection settings, each of the plurality of sets of network connection settings corresponding to one of the plurality of media managers and being used to configure the corresponding media manager to enable the at least one computer to communicate using a network connection technology enabled by the corresponding media manager;

(B) in response to input received from the administrator via the at least one management interface, creating a plurality of network connection profiles that each corresponds to one of the plurality of media managers; and

(C) providing the plurality of network connection profiles to the at least one computer in a same network configuration file.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising acts of:

receiving the network configuration file at the at least one computer;

accessing each of the plurality of network connection profiles from the network configuration file; and

using each one of the plurality of sets of network connection settings to configure the corresponding one of the plurality of media managers.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the at least one management interface comprises a common application user interface through which the administrator may establish the plurality of network connection settings, and wherein the common management interface is provided via a single application program.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the single application program comprises a framework and at least first and second plug-ins incorporated into the framework, wherein the first plug-in is specially adapted to provide the single application program with functionality that enables the single application program to be used to establish a first set of network connection settings for a first media manager that enables the at least one computer to communicate using a first network connection technology, and wherein the second plug-in is specially adapted to provide the single application program with functionality that enables the single application program to be used to establish a second set of network connection settings for a second media manager that enables the at least one computer to communicate using a second network connection technology.

5. The method of claim 4, further comprising acts of:

receiving the network configuration file at the at least one computer;

accessing first and second network connection profiles from the network configuration file, the first network connection profile comprising the first set of network connection settings, the second network connection profile comprising the second set of network connection settings;

using the first set of network connection settings to configure the first media manager to enable the computer to communicate using the first network connection technology according to the first set of network connection settings; and

using the second set of network connection settings to configure the second media manager to enable the computer to communicate using the second network connection technology according to the second set of network connection settings.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of network connection settings comprises first and second sets of network connection settings, wherein the first set of network connection settings comprises a first plurality of network settings and the second set of network connection settings comprises a second plurality of network settings.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the network configuration file comprises at least one setting that relates to at least two of the plurality of media managers.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the network configuration file comprises a plurality of sub-sections, with each of the plurality of network connection profiles having a corresponding sub-section.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the plurality of sub-sections that correspond to the plurality of network connection profiles share a common format.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein the network configuration file comprises a hierarchical structure.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the hierarchical structure comprises a root node and three nodes below it, the three nodes below the root node comprising a first node that is a policy node that relates to configuration information that is not specific to any particular network or media type, a second node that is a network layer node that relates to configuration information for layer 3 in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model of networking, and a third node that is a connections node that relates to configuration information for layer 2 in the OSI model of networking.

12. A computer comprising:

a first media manager that enables the at least one computer to communicate using a first network connection technology;

a second media manager that enables the at least one computer to communicate using a second network connection technology that is different than the first network connection technology; and

at least one processor programmed to;

retrieve from a same network configuration file a first network connection profile that comprises a first set of one or more network connection settings for the first network connection technology and a second connection profile that comprises a second set of one or more network connection settings for the second network connection technology;

use the first set of network connection settings to configure the first media manager to enable the computer to communicate using the first network connection technology according to the first set of network connection settings; and

use the second set of network connection settings to configure the second media manager to enable the computer to communicate using the second network connection technology according to the second set of network connection settings.

13. The computer of claim 12, wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to receive the network configuration file in a communication over a network from another computer operated by a system administrator.

14. The method of claim 12, wherein the first set of network connection settings comprises a first plurality of network settings and the second set of network connection settings comprises a second plurality of network settings.

15. The method of claim 12, wherein the network configuration file comprises at least one setting that relates to the first and second media managers, and wherein the at least one processor is further programmed to use the at least one setting to configure the first and second media managers.

16. At least one computer readable medium encoded with a plurality of instructions that, when executed, perform a method for use in a computer system comprising at least one computer, the at least one computer comprising a plurality of media managers that collectively enable the at least one computer to communicate using a plurality of network connection technologies, the method comprising acts of:

(A) providing at least one management interface that enables an administrator to establish a plurality of sets of one or more network connection settings, each of the plurality of sets of network connections corresponding to one of the plurality of media managers and being used to configure the corresponding media manager to enable the at least one computer to communicate using the network connection technology enabled by the corresponding media manager, wherein;

the at least one management interface comprises a common application user interface through which the administrator may establish the plurality of network connection settings;

the common management interface is provided via a single application program comprising a framework and at least first and second plug-ins incorporated into the framework;

the first plug-in is specially adapted to provide the single application program with functionality that enables the single application program to be used to establish a first set of network connection settings for a first media manager that enables the at least one computer to communicate using a first network connection technology; and

the second plug-in is specially adapted to provide the single application program with functionality that enables the single application program to be used to establish a second set of network connection settings for a second media manager that enables the at least one computer to communicate using a second network connection technology; and

(B) in response to input received from the administrator via the at least one management interface, creating a plurality of network connection profiles that each corresponds to one of the plurality of media managers; and

(C) providing the plurality of network connection profiles to the at least one computer in a same network configuration file.

17. The at least one computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the network configuration file comprises at least one setting that relates to at least two of the plurality of media managers.

18. The at least one computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the network configuration file comprises a plurality of sub-sections, with each of the plurality of network connection profiles having a corresponding sub-section, and wherein the plurality of sub-sections that correspond to the plurality of network connection profiles share a common format.

19. The at least one computer readable medium of claim 16, wherein the network configuration file comprises a hierarchical structure.

20. The at least one computer readable medium of claim 19, wherein the hierarchical structure comprises a root node and three nodes below it, the three nodes below the root node comprising a first node that is a policy node that relates to configuration information that is not specific to any particular network or media type, a second node that is a network layer node that relates to configuration information for layer 3 in the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model of networking, and a third node that is a connections node that relates to configuration information for layer 2 in the OSI model of networking.