Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput – Computer network managing – Computer network monitoring
Reexamination Certificate
1999-06-10
2002-10-22
An, Meng-Al T. (Department: 2756)
Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput
Computer network managing
Computer network monitoring
C709S223000, C709S241000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06470388
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates generally to computer networks and, more specifically, to a system for coordinating the collection and storing of information from multiple applications and processes.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Organizations, including businesses, governments and educational institutions, increasingly rely on computer networks to share and exchange information. A computer network typically comprises a plurality of interconnected entities. An entity may consist of any device, such as a host or server, that sources (i.e., transmits) and/or receives messages. A common type of computer network is a local area network (“LAN”) which typically refers to a privately owned network within a single building or campus. In many instances, several LANs may be interconnected by point-to-point links, microwave transceivers, satellite hook-ups, etc. to form a wide area network (“WAN”) or intranet that may span an entire city, country or continent. An organization employing multiple intranets, moreover, may interconnect them through the Internet. Remote users may also utilize the Internet to contact and exchange information with the organization's intranet.
One or more intermediate network devices are often used to couple LANs together and allow the corresponding entities to exchange information. For example, a bridge may be used to provide a “bridging” function between two or more LANs or a switch may be utilized to provide a “switching” function for transferring information between a plurality of LANS. A router is often used to interconnect LANs executing different LAN standards, to interconnect two or more intranets and/or to provide connectivity to the Internet. Routers typically provide higher level functionality than bridges or switches.
In many computer networks, applications or processes are distributed across numerous workstations and servers. For example, due to the complexity of many computer networks, network management applications have been developed to assist administrators in the configuration of their networks. These network management applications also facilitate the identification and correction of faults, and assist administrators in maintaining a high level of network performance. Examples of network management applications include HP OpenView® from Hewlett-Packard Co. of Palo Alto, Calif. and NetView 6000 from International Business Machines Corp. of Armonk, N.Y., each of which provide a suite of applications and processes for collecting, storing and displaying network information. These network management applications are typically distributed across several workstations or servers within the network, in part, because their processor and memory requirements often exceed the capabilities of a single workstation or server. Each instance of these applications, moreover, may be responsible for a different area or region of the respective computer network.
FIG. 1
is a highly schematic block diagram of a conventional computer network
100
including three workstations
102
,
104
and
106
, each running an instance of a network management application
108
a
,
108
b
and
108
c
, respectively, such as HP OpenView or IBM's NetView. Each instance
108
a-c
of the network management application, moreover, has been configured to acquire information from and to manage various network devices disposed throughout the computer network
100
. Application
108
a
, for example, communicates with and obtains information from network devices
110
,
112
,
114
and
116
, as indicated by arrows
118
a-d
. Application
108
a
may utilize the well-known Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) for acquiring information. Application
108
b
at workstation
104
acquires information from network devices
116
,
120
and
122
, as indicated by arrows
124
a-c
, and application
108
c
at workstation
106
acquires information from network devices
126
,
128
,
130
and
132
, as indicated by arrows
134
a-d.
These instances
108
a-c
of the network management application may also implement various processes for collecting particularized information or data. Application
108
a
, for example, may implement a trap receiver process
142
. Traps are basically messages that are created in response to exceptional occurrences of devices in the network, such as illegal access, network connections transitioning to an inoperable state, loss of connectivity with neighboring devices, etc. Application
108
b
may implement a polling process
146
that periodically polls network devices
116
,
120
and
122
, and obtains data therefrom. A network topology process
150
may be implemented by application
108
c
at workstation
106
for discovering the various hosts, devices and communications links creating network
100
.
Most application programs, including applications
108
a
-
108
c
and processes
142
,
146
and
150
, can be configured to generate and locally store error, tracking, tracing, and other information. This information relates to the running or operation of the respective application or process, and is used to debug the application or process and trace faults or errors. For example, applications
108
a
-
108
c
may each create a local file
136
,
138
and
140
, respectively, for storing error, auditing, tracing or other such information generated by the corresponding application
108
a
-
108
c
. Trap receiver process
142
may similarly create a local file
144
in which it stores auditing information. Polling process
146
may create a local trace file
148
in connection with its polling of devices
116
,
120
and
122
. Network topology process
150
may create a local error file
152
for storing its error information. In addition, conventional computer workstations and servers typically include basic facilities for monitoring errors and other events occurring in the distributed applications that they are running. For example, UNIX workstations typically include a system log (syslog) daemon, which runs continuously under the operating system. The syslog daemon logs messages regarding discontinuous events, such as errors, warnings and state transitions that occur at that workstation. The syslog daemon writes the messages to a log file located at the workstation. Workstations and servers also include their own trap or interrupt facilities that record exceptional events. Each of these facilities may also have their own directories and files at the workstation or server for recording information.
During normal operation, applications and processes are generally configured so as to not log error, tracking and trace information. Casual logging of such information can consume significant resources and thus severely impact the performance of the application or process. However, when error conditions manifest, the error, tracking and trace facilities are enabled so as to ascertain the problem. Typically, the activation of such facilities must be performed on a per application basis. That is, commands are entered at the particular machine or workstation at which the subject application or process is running. Alternatively, the application or process may be stopped and its start-up configuration parameters changed so as to enable the desired facilities. After these configuration changes are saved, the application is re-started.
Although the distribution of applications, such as application
108
, and processes across many workstations or servers typically improves accessibility and efficiency, it complicates the task of troubleshooting faults and error conditions. That is, with application
108
distributed across numerous machines
102
-
106
, an error manifesting at one location (e.g., workstation
102
) may actually be the result of a problem at some other location (e.g., workstation
104
). In order to track down such problems, administrators and is service personnel are forced to go to each machine included within the distributed system and configure each application or process to generate the appropriate log messages. The administrator or servic
Chambers Kenneth W.
Niemi Frederick E.
An Meng-Al T.
Cesari and McKenna LLP
Cisco Technology Inc.
Lin Wen-Tai
Reinemann Michael R.
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