Electrical computers and digital processing systems: interprogra – Interprogram communication using message – Object oriented message
Reexamination Certificate
2000-04-21
2004-11-02
Lao, Sue (Department: 2126)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: interprogra
Interprogram communication using message
Object oriented message
C719S331000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06813770
ABSTRACT:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer software. More particularly, the present invention relates to network management software.
2. Description of the Relevant Art
The field of network management involves the management of networked devices, often remotely. A computer network is a linked group of two or more computers. Generally, networks may be classified as Local-Area Networks (LANs) or Wide-Area Networks (WANs). In a LAN, the computers or devices are typically connected together within a “local” area such as a home, office, or group of offices. In a WAN, the computers or devices are typically separated by a greater distance and are often connected via telephone/communication lines, radio waves, or other suitable means of connection.
Networks are usually classified using three properties: topology, protocol, and architecture. Topology specifies the geometric arrangement of the network. Common topologies are bus, ring, and star configurations. A network's protocol specifies a common set of rules and/or signals, such as Ethernet or Token Ring, that the networked devices use to communicate with each other. A network's architecture typically specifies one of the two major types of network architecture: peer-to-peer or client/server. In a peer-to-peer networking configuration, there is no server, and computers simply connect with each other in a workgroup to share files, printers, services, and Internet access. Client/server networks often include a domain controller to which all of the networked computers log on. This server may provide various services such as centrally routed Internet access, e-mail, file sharing, printer access, and security services.
Many types of devices may be managed over a network, such as printers, scanners, phone systems, copiers, and many other devices and appliances configured for network operation. Managing such devices tends to require that the data types of each device's control parameters and signals be well defined. For example, a networked printer might have a Boolean status parameter that indicates whether the device is currently on or off and a control parameter which turns the printer on or off. The printer may also be capable of generating an alert signal indicating, for example, that the toner level is low. The network management software should be able to read and write these data correctly in order to manage the device. To do this, information about the data is required. Such information is referred to as metadata, or “data about data.” Metadata may typically describe what type of data (string, integer, Boolean, structure) an object has and how the data are formatted. Metadata is essential for understanding information related to managed devices, as well as information stored in data warehouses. Typically, network management software manages a given device by storing and manipulating a representation of its pertinent data as a software object, herein referred to as a “managed object.” This object is the virtual representation of the device on the network.
FIG. 1
a
illustrates an example of typical elements of a telecommunications network. The telecommunications world is characterized by devices such as cell phones, cell phone towers and other kinds of towers
156
, phone systems
151
, faxes
152
, routers
153
, switches
154
, satellite dishes
155
, etc., which may be interconnected via networks
108
a
. In response to the network management needs of this technology sector, a conceptual framework for telecom network management called Telecommunications Management Network (TMN) was developed by the TeleManagement Forum (TMF). TMN defines the relationship between basic network building blocks, such as network elements, different network protocols, and operations systems, in terms of standard interfaces. Generally, a TMN system includes Agent hardware
150
, Manager software
170
, and Agent software
160
. The Agent hardware
150
includes the managed devices such as those shown in
FIG. 1
a
. The Manager software
170
includes any application used to manage a networked device. These manager applications, or client applications, may be installed and executed on one or more client computer systems
171
a
,
171
b
, . . . ,
171
n
. The Agent software
160
includes the software interface between the Manager software
170
(for communications via network
108
b
) and the Agent hardware
150
(for communications via network
108
a
). The Agent software
160
may be installed and executed on one )r more server computer systems
161
a
,
161
b
, . . . ,
161
n
. In some instances, the Agent software
160
and Manager software
170
may be installed and executed on the same computer system. The Agent software
160
may also reside, in whole or part, on the Agent hardware
150
itself.
One TMN approach to managing objects over a network is the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), a set of protocols for managing complex networks. SNMP works by sending messages, called protocol data units (PDUs), to different parts of a network. SNMP-compliant devices, called agents, store data about themselves in Management Information Bases (MIBs) and return this data to the SNMP requesters. The metadata used by SNMO to describe managed object data variables includes the variable title, the data type of the variable (e.g. integer, string), whether the variable is read-only or read-write, and the value of the variable. SNMP works over the TCP/IP (Transport Control Protocol/Internet Protocol) communication stack. SNMP also uses UDP over IP, and also may support TCP over IP. It is widely held, however, that SNMP was developed as a simple “quick fix” and was never intended to be a permanent solution to network management. Consequently, one problem with SNMP is that the information it specifies is neither detailed nor well-organized enough to adequately serve the expanding needs of modern networking.
Another example of a TMN network management protocol is the Common Management Information Protocol (CMIP). In the U.S. the CMIP protocol is primarily run over TCP/IP, while in Europe it is generally run over the OSI (Open Systems Interconnection) communication stack and was designed to replace SNMP and address SNMP's shortcomings by providing a larger, more detailed network manager. Its basic design is similar to SNMP: Management requests, management responses, and notifications are employed to monitor a network. These correspond to SNMP's PDUs. CMIP, however, contains eleven types of messages, compared to SNMP's five types of PDUs.
In CMIP, variables are seen as complex and sophisticated data structures with many attributes. These include: variable attributes, which represent the variable's characteristics (e.g., its data type, whether it is writable); variable behaviors, or the actions of that variable that can be triggered; and notifications, or event reports generated by the variable whenever a specified event occurs (e.g., a terminal shutdown would cause a variable notification event).
As a comparison, SNMP only employs variable attributes and notifications, but not variable behaviors. One of the strongest features of the CMIP protocol is that its variables not only relay information to and from the terminal (as in SNMP), but they can also be used to perform tasks that would be impossible under SNMP. For instance, if a terminal on a network cannot reach its fileserver for a predetermined number of tries, then CMIP can notify the appropriate personnel of the event. With SNMP, a user would need to explicitly keep track of the number of unsuccessful attempts to reach the fileserver. CMIP thus results in a more efficient network management system, as less work is required by a user to keep updated on the status of the network.
A significant disadvantage of the CMIP protocol is that it requires more system resources than SNMP, often by a factor of ten. Thus, any move to CMIP from SNMP requires a dramatic upgrade in network resources. Another disadvantage with
Allavarpu Sai V.
Angal Rajeev
Klowert Robert C.
Lao Sue
Meyertons Hood Kivlin Kowert & Goetzel P.C.
Sun Microsystems Inc.
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