System and method for hosted network management
First Claim
1. A method of network management for communications over a managed network in accordance with a network communication protocol, the method comprising:
- establishing communications between a network host and a node device, the node device being one of a plurality of node devices communicatively coupled to the network host, wherein the node device establishes a persistent network connection path to the network host for the communications and performs a self-configuring operation in which the network host provides the node device with data that identifies a network owner associated with the managed network, wherein the network host is a backend server configured to manage the node devices over the Internet, each node device being one of a router, a gateway device, and a wireless access point (AP), wherein different ones of the node devices are part of different ones of local networks that are associated with the network owner, wherein each of the node devices operating as a gateway provides an interface and performs network address translation (NAT) for its local network to the Internet, wherein each of the local networks includes at least one client device that is one of a laptop computer, desktop computer, and a portable computing device;
maintaining the persistent network connection path between the network host and the node device for the exchange of network messages;
wherein the network hostsends a query message to the node device, requesting a query response from the node device,retrieves message data from the query response it receives from the node device such that the message data includes operational data from the node device, andperforms pull-based network monitoring to the identified network owner in accordance with network management operations to provide a user management interface to the identified network owner based on the retrieved operational data,wherein each of the node devices maintains a separate persistent network connection with the network host for exchanging respective network messages, and wherein each persistent network connection includes a secure tunnel.
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Accused Products
Abstract
A hosted network management solution for communications over a computer network supports data communication across a network in accordance with a network message protocol such that communications are established between a network host and a node device. The and the node device performs a self-configuring operation in which the network host identifies a network owner associated with the hosted network, and maintains a persistent network connection path between the network host and the node device for the exchange of network packet messages. The network host retrieves message data from the network packet messages it receives from the node device and performs network management operations to provide a user management interface to the identified network owner. The hosted network management enables more convenient setup and configuration for the network owner and provides more complete and effective network management tools.
64 Citations
8 Claims
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1. A method of network management for communications over a managed network in accordance with a network communication protocol, the method comprising:
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establishing communications between a network host and a node device, the node device being one of a plurality of node devices communicatively coupled to the network host, wherein the node device establishes a persistent network connection path to the network host for the communications and performs a self-configuring operation in which the network host provides the node device with data that identifies a network owner associated with the managed network, wherein the network host is a backend server configured to manage the node devices over the Internet, each node device being one of a router, a gateway device, and a wireless access point (AP), wherein different ones of the node devices are part of different ones of local networks that are associated with the network owner, wherein each of the node devices operating as a gateway provides an interface and performs network address translation (NAT) for its local network to the Internet, wherein each of the local networks includes at least one client device that is one of a laptop computer, desktop computer, and a portable computing device; maintaining the persistent network connection path between the network host and the node device for the exchange of network messages; wherein the network host sends a query message to the node device, requesting a query response from the node device, retrieves message data from the query response it receives from the node device such that the message data includes operational data from the node device, and performs pull-based network monitoring to the identified network owner in accordance with network management operations to provide a user management interface to the identified network owner based on the retrieved operational data, wherein each of the node devices maintains a separate persistent network connection with the network host for exchanging respective network messages, and wherein each persistent network connection includes a secure tunnel. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4)
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5. A network host device for communications over a managed network in accordance with a network communication protocol, the device comprising:
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a network interface for communications using the network communication protocol; a hardware processor that establishes communications with a node device, the node device being one of a plurality of node devices communicatively coupled to the network host device, wherein the node device performs a self-configuring operation in which the network host device provides the node device with data that identifies a network owner associated with the managed network, such that the node device establishes a persistent network connection path to the network host for the communications and maintains the persistent network connection path between the network host device and the node device for the exchange of network messages, and wherein the network host sends a query message to the node device, requesting a query response from the node device, and retrieves message data from the query response it receives from the node device such that the message data includes operational data from the node device, and performs pull-based network monitoring to the identified network owner in accordance with network management operations to provide a user management interface to the identified network owner based on the retrieved operational data, wherein the network host device is a backend server configured to manage the node devices over the Internet, each node device being one of a router, a gateway device, and a wireless access point (AP), wherein different ones of the node devices are part of different ones of local networks that are associated with the identified network owner, wherein each of the node devices operating as a gateway provides an interface and performs network address translation (NAT) for its local network to the Internet, wherein each of the local networks includes at least one client device that is one of a laptop computer, desktop computer, and a portable computing device, and wherein each of the node devices maintains a separate persistent network connection with the network host device for exchanging respective network messages, and wherein each persistent network connection includes a secure tunnel. - View Dependent Claims (6, 7, 8)
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Specification