Method and system for automatic discovery of network services

• US 6,286,047 B1
• Filed: 09/10/1998
• Issued: 09/04/2001
• Est. Priority Date: 09/10/1998
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company (HP Inc.), Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.), Viavi Solutions, Inc. (Lumentum Holdings Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Company (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Ramanathan, Srinivas, Caswell, Deborah L.
• Primary Examiner(s): Harrell, Robert B.
• Assistant Examiner(s): WILLETT, STEPHAN F
• Application Number:
  US09/151,134
• Time in Patent Office: 1,090 Days
• Field of Search: 709/202, 709/203, 709/204, 709/205, 709/217, 709/218, 709/220, 709/224, 709/226, 709/227, 709/229, 345/329, 370/229, 370/230, 370/254, 370/258, 707/501, 706/51
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• 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 61/4511 using domain name system [DNS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/329 in the application layer [OSI layer 7]

Abstract

A method for identifying services, service elements and dependencies among the services and service elements includes executing first and second phases of discovery. In the first phase, the services and service elements are detected, as well as a first set of dependencies. The second phase is based on results of the first phase and is focused upon detecting inter-service dependencies, i.e., conditions in which proper operation of one service relies upon at least one other service. Various techniques may be used in executing the first phase, including accessing information in a domain name service (DNS) of the network to identify dependencies, as well as services and service elements. Discovery within the first phase may also be based upon recognizing naming conventions. Regarding the second phase, one approach to discovering inter-service dependencies is to deploy discovery agents implemented in computer software to access content of configuration files of applications detected in the first phase. Discovery agents may also be used to monitor connections completed via specified service elements detected in the first phase, such that other inter-service dependencies are identified. As an alternative or additional approach, network probes may be deployed to access information of data packets transmitted ted between service elements detected in the first phase, with the accessed packet information being used to detect inter-service dependencies. When information of the DNS is accessed in the first phase, the information is used as a basis for determining at least some of (1) groups of service elements that are generally equivalent with respect to executing a particular service within the network, (2) hosts supporting virtual hosting, (3) hosts supporting virtual servers, and (4) name servers.

Claims

1. A method of identifying elements, services and dependencies among said elements and services of a network comprising steps of:

executing a first phase of discovery such that a plurality of services and service elements that are cooperative in performing said services within said network are detected, including discovering a first set of dependencies among said services and service elements, where said services are functionalities offered by said network to perform specific tasks;

executing a second phase of discovery using discovery results of said first phase such that inter-service dependencies among said services detected in said first phase are identified, each said identified inter-service dependency being related to a reliance of one of said services upon at least one other of said services; and

forming a network model that is specific to at least one said specified service detected in said first phase such that said network model maps said first set of dependencies and said inter-service dependencies that are relevant to said at least one specified service.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of executing said second phase to identify said inter-service dependencies is an automated process that is based on said detection of said services and service elements in said first phase of discovery.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of executing said second phase includes deploying discovery agents implemented in computer software, including enabling said discovery agents to access content of configuration files of applications that are detected in said first phase of discovery, such that accessing said content is specific to determining said inter-service dependencies.

4. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of executing said second phase includes deploying discovery agents implemented in computer software, including enabling said discovery agents to monitor connections completed via specified service elements detected in said first phase of discovery, such that said inter-service dependencies are identified.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein said step that includes deploying said discovery agents includes enabling said discovery agents to identify Transmission Control Protocol (TCP) connections of at least one host that is detected in said first phase.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of executing said second phase includes deploying network probes to access information embedded within data packets transmitted between said service elements detected in said first phase, said second phase further including utilizing said accessed information of said data packets to detect said inter-service dependencies.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of executing said first phase includes accessing information of a domain name service (DNS) of said network, including identifying at least two of (1) internal and external name servers, (2) round-robin service groups of said network, and (3) virtual servers and virtual hosts of said network.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein said step of executing said first phase includes recognizing naming conventions within said network, including recognizing and utilizing naming conventions relating to terminal servers of said network, said step of executing said first phase further including identifying execution dependencies relating directly to an application server being executed on a host machine and including identifying component dependencies that ensure redundancy of said services.

9. The method of claim 8 wherein said step of recognizing said naming conventions includes recognizing and utilizing patterns of host names to identify World Wide Web (WWW) sites that are stored on a common host machine of said network.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising a step of selecting a particular core service of said network, said steps of executing said first and second phases and forming said network model being implemented in a manner specific to modeling said core service, said step of forming said network model thereby providing a representation of nodes and node-to-node connections which link all of said services, service elements and dependencies that are relevant to said core service.

11. A method of identifying elements, services and dependencies among said elements and services comprising steps of:

accessing information of a domain name service (DNS) of a network; and

utilizing said information of said DNS as a basis for determining a plurality of;

(a) a group of service elements that are generally equivalent with respect to executing a particular service within said network;

(b) a host supporting virtual hosting;

(c) a host supporting virtual servers; and

(d) name servers that are authoritative for a domain.

12. The method of claim 11 further comprising a step of selecting a core service of said network, said step of utilizing said information of said DNS being executed to model said core service, including modeling said core service such that said network components that are used to perform said core service are represented as nodes and network dependencies among said network components are represented as edges among said nodes.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein said step of selecting said core service includes identifying a service of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) and said step of modeling is executed to represent the cooperation within said ISP to perform said core service.

14. The method of claim 13 wherein said step of utilizing said information further includes determining SMTP servers that correspond to hosts which run POP3 servers.

15. The method of claim 14 wherein said step of utilizing said information further includes determining external mail gateways for the ISP.

16. A system for identifying service elements, services and dependencies among said service elements and services of a network comprising:

a discovery engine means for driving first and second phases of discovering said service elements, services and dependencies, where said services are functionalities offered by said network to perform specific tasks and where said service elements are cooperative in performing said services;

first discovery tools, responsive to said first phase of said discovery engine means, for accessing first information indicative of said service elements, services and a first set of dependencies among said service elements and services, including first information indicative of applications and first information indicative of dependencies among said service elements;

second discovery tools, responsive to said second phase of said discovery engine means and based on said first information, for accessing second information indicative of a second set of dependencies among said service elements and services, said second discovery tools including discovery agents executed in computer software that is configured to detect inter-service dependencies among said services; and

means for generating a discovered instance of at least a preselected portion of said network based on said first and second information from said first and second discovery tools thereby generating a network model which maps said first and second information as interconnected nodes in said discovered instance of said preselected portion.

17. The system of claim 16 wherein said discovery agents are configured to access configuration files of said applications and detect said inter-service dependencies based on said configuration files.

18. The system of claim 16 wherein said discovery agents are configured to monitor connections completed via specified service elements detected by said first discovery tools, said connections including TCP connections completed via a specified host machine.

19. The system of claim 16 wherein said first discovery tools include software configured to access a DNS of said network and to retrieve information indicative of at least two of (1) name servers, (2) round-robin service groups, and (3) virtual servers and virtual hosts.

20. The system of claim 16 wherein said first discovery tools include means for recognizing naming conventions of said service elements of said network, thereby enabling classification of said service elements at least partially based on type and geographic location.