System and method for remote management of private networks having duplicate network addresses

• US 6,425,008 B1
• Filed: 02/16/1999
• Issued: 07/23/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 02/16/1999
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Electronic Data Systems Corporation (Perspecta, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lecheler, Paul A., Tillinghast, Harold G.
• Primary Examiner(s): Dinh, Dung C.
• Assistant Examiner(s): KUPSTAS, TOD A
• Application Number:
  US09/250,841
• Time in Patent Office: 1,253 Days
• Field of Search: 709/245, 709/223, 709/224, 709/295, 714/47
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/044 comprising hierarchical management structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0677 Localisation of faults
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5074 Handling of user complaints or trouble tickets

Abstract

A system for remote management of private networks having duplicate network addresses is provided which consists of a plurality of managed customer networks (16) within a customer domain (12). The managed customer networks (16) within the customer domain (12) are linked to a level one manager (34) and have unique network addresses. The managed customer networks (16) within the customer domain (12) which have duplicate network addresses are assigned to different level one managers. Errors occurring in the managed customer networks are sent to a level one manager (34) which generates an error message uniquely identifying the node or interface link experiencing the error. This error message is forwarded to a level two manager (40) which then routes the error message to an appropriate operator console (42) where the error is diagnosed and corrected.

Claims

1. A system for remote management of private networks having duplicate network addresses, comprising:

a plurality of customer networks, each customer network having devices with unique domain names but identical network addresses as devices in others of the plurality of customer networks;

a plurality of level one managers linked to the plurality of customer networks wherein each level one manager is linked to a group of customer networks having devices with unique network addresses, each of the plurality of level one managers having a domain name and network address associated therewith, the plurality of level one managers operable to monitor the plurality of customer networks for error conditions and to generate an error message including a location identifier uniquely identifying the device which experiences an error condition despite the device having an identical network address as devices in other groups of customer networks, the unique location identifier including the unique domain name of the device experiencing the error condition and the domain name of the level one manager associated with the device having the error condition; and

a level two manager linked to the plurality of level one managers, the level two manager operable to receive the error messages and route the error messages to an operator console.

2. The system of claim 1, wherein each level one manager includes a network interface linked to the group of customer networks and a network interface linked to the level two manager.

3. The system of claim 1, wherein the network address is an Internet Protocol address.

4. The system of claim 1, wherein each level one manager includes a network monitor operable to detect device errors occurring within the group of customer networks to which the level one manager is linked.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the network monitor is further operable to start a session using the location identifier in the error message to locate the device experiencing the error, the network monitor further operable to diagnose and correct the error.

6. The system of claim 4, wherein the network monitor is further operable to receive an error notice from the group of customer networks and to query the group of customer networks for a status of a device within the group of customer networks.

7. The system of claim 5, wherein the level two manager is further operable to initiate a session through the network monitor in a level one manager.

8. The system of claim 1, wherein each level one manager further includes a message sender operable to send the error message to the level two manager.

9. The system of claim 1, wherein each level one manager includes a message formatter operable to format an error message containing a location identifier for the device experiencing the error.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein each level one manager includes a mapper operable to convert a network address of the device experiencing the error into its unique domain name.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the unique domain name includes a customer interface identifier, a customer node identifier, a customer domain name, and a customer location identifier.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the location identifier includes the unique domain name of the device experiencing the error and a domain name of the level one manager formatting the message, the domain name of the level one manager including a level one manager identifier and a level two manager identifier.

13. A gateway for monitoring customer networks and generating error messages for customer networks, comprising:

a first network interface linked to a plurality of customer networks;

a network monitor operable to detect errors occurring on one of the plurality of customer networks;

a mapper operable to convert the network address of a device experiencing an error into a unique domain name;

a message formatter operable to format an error message containing the unique domain name of the device experiencing the error and a domain name of the gateway formatting the message;

a second network interface linked to a level two manager; and

a message sender operable to send the error message to the level two manager through the second network interface.

14. The gateway of claim 13, wherein the unique domain name includes a customer interface, a customer node, a customer domain name, and a customer location identifier.

15. The gateway of claim 13, wherein the network monitor is further operable to initiate a session with the device identified in the error message, the network monitor further operable to diagnose and correct the error.

16. The gateway of claim 13, wherein the network monitor is further operable to receive an error notice from one of the plurality of customer networks and to query the plurality of customer networks for a status of a device within the plurality of customer networks.

17. A method for remote management of private networks having duplicate network addresses, comprising:

monitoring a plurality of customer networks wherein two or more of the customer networks have duplicate network addresses;

detecting an error condition occurring on a device within one of the plurality of customer networks;

determining a unique domain name for the network address of the device experiencing the error;

formatting an error message containing a description of the error condition, the unique domain name, and a domain name of a level one manager generating the error message;

sending the error message from the level one manager to a level two manager; and

routing the error message from the level two manager to an operator console.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein detecting an error condition includes receiving an error notice from the device within one of the plurality of customer networks which experiences the error condition.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein detecting an error condition includes querying each of the plurality of customer networks for a status of a device within each of the plurality of customer networks.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein determining a unique domain name includes mapping a network address of the device experiencing the error to a unique domain name stored in a domain name mapping table.