System and method for bulk network data collection

• US 8,805,993 B2
• Filed: 12/02/2005
• Issued: 08/12/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 12/02/2005
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: AT&T Knowledge Ventures, L.P. (AT&T, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: AT&T Intellectual Property I LP (AT&T, Inc.)
• Inventors: Cambron, Keith, Jiang, Baofeng, Wu, Xidong, Otsuka, Jim
• Primary Examiner(s): Dharia, Rupal
• Assistant Examiner(s): Chacko, Joe
• Application Number:
  US11/292,591
• Publication Number:
  US 20070130322A1
• Time in Patent Office: 3,175 Days
• Field of Search: 709/224, 709/223
• US Class Current: 709/224
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5032 Generating service level reports
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5087 wherein the managed service relates to voice services management of VoIP services H04M7/0081
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/509 wherein the managed service relates to media content delivery, e.g. audio, video or TV
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1008 based on parameters of servers, e.g. available memory or workload monitoring of computer activity G06F11/30
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/101 based on network conditions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70

Abstract

A system and method for bulk data collection for multiple network elements is provided. The method includes initiating a session between a data collection server and a network server, maintaining a correlation between a plurality of queries and a corresponding plurality of network elements, and concurrently sending the plurality of queries over the initiated session to collect data from the network server.

Claims

1. A data collection server comprising:

a processor;

a database available to the processor, for storing a plurality of identifiers relating to a plurality of network elements;

a computer readable storage medium including processor executable instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations including;

accessing a plurality of target files, each of the plurality of target files identifying a corresponding group of network elements associated with a data management server wherein the plurality of target files collectively identify all network elements associated with the data management server;

initiating, by a data collection server, a plurality of concurrent sessions with the data management server;

generating, for each of the concurrent sessions, a plurality of queries, wherein each query is associated with a network element from the group of network elements identified in the corresponding target file;

concurrently sending each of the plurality of queries to the data management server over a corresponding one of the plurality of concurrent sessions, the plurality of concurrent sessions includes initiating a session for each of the plurality of target files; and

responsive to receiving data corresponding to each network element from the data management server, storing the data in a data file organized according to a port list.

2. The data collection server of claim 1, wherein the operations include:

correlating data received from the data management server to a corresponding network element based on an identifier included in a corresponding query.

3. The data collection server of claim 2, wherein the operations include:

generating a performance report from the received data relating to each of the plurality of network elements.

4. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium including processor-executable instructions that, when executed by a processor, perform operations comprising:

accessing a plurality of target files, each of the plurality of target files identifying a corresponding group of network elements associated with a data management server, wherein the plurality of target files collectively identify all network elements associated with the data management server;

initiating, by a data collection server, a plurality of concurrent sessions with the data management server;

generating, for each of the concurrent sessions, a plurality of queries, wherein each query is associated with a network element from the group of network elements identified in the corresponding target file;

concurrently sending each of the plurality of queries to the data management server over a corresponding one of the plurality of concurrent sessions, the plurality of concurrent sessions includes initiating a session for each of the plurality of target files; and

responsive to receiving data corresponding to each network element from the data management server, storing the data in a data file organized according to a port list.

5. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 4, wherein:

the number of target files equals a maximum number of available sessions permitted by the data management server.

8. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the operations include:

multiplexing the queries among the plurality of concurrent sessions.

9. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein:

each of the target files is associated with a substantially equal number of network elements.

10. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein:

the data collection server comprises a regional data collection server associated with a regional network covering a region and wherein the network elements comprise network elements within the region.

11. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 10, wherein:

a plurality of data management servers is associated with the data collection server wherein each data management server is associated with a central office of the regional network.

12. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the operations include:

load balancing each of the plurality of concurrent sessions by assigning approximately equal numbers of queries to each of the plurality of concurrent sessions.

13. The non-transitory computer readable storage medium of claim 4, wherein the operations include:

correlating data received from each query to the network element corresponding the query.

6. A method for data collection in a communication network, the method comprising:

accessing a plurality of target files, each of the plurality of target files identifying a corresponding group of network elements associated with a data management server, wherein the plurality of target files collectively identify all network elements associated with the data management server;

initiating, by a data collection server, a plurality of concurrent sessions with the data management server;

generating, for each of the concurrent sessions, a plurality of queries, wherein each query is associated with a network element from the group of network elements identified in the corresponding target file;

concurrently sending each of the plurality of queries to the data management server over a corresponding one of the plurality of concurrent sessions, the plurality of concurrent sessions includes initiating a session for each of the plurality of target files; and

responsive to receiving data corresponding to each network element from the data management server, storing the data in a data file organized according to a port list.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the data collection server and data management server communicate within a common firewall.

14. The method of claim 6, wherein each network element is a switch that provides a DSL service to a plurality of customers and wherein each query identifies a corresponding switch.