Multiplex communications – Network configuration determination
Reexamination Certificate
1998-04-23
2001-08-28
Jung, Min (Department: 2731)
Multiplex communications
Network configuration determination
C709S224000
Reexamination Certificate
active
06282175
ABSTRACT:
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to computer systems and more particularly to managing and troubleshooting computer systems and other connected devices within networks. Even more particularly, the invention relates to managing and troubleshooting computer systems within networks by tracking configuration changes through historical monitoring of configuration status of devices on the network.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Managing and troubleshooting computer system networks is a critical and essential task in most businesses, governmental entities, and educational institutions today. Several products have been developed to help assist the system administrator perform management and troubleshooting functions on computers and interconnect devices, such as routers, bridges, hubs, switches, etc., on the network. Some products are designed to help manage system configurations on a real time basis. Such products can tell the system administrator what the configurations of particular computers or devices are at the present moment. Some products may also enable the system administrator to make immediate changes to particular computers or devices or restore them to a previous state.
Other products can tell the system administrator what the current configuration of a computer or interconnect device is, but cannot tell the system administrator what the configuration was at a particular point in time in the past. Still other products may be able to tell the system administrator what the configuration was a week ago as compared to its current status, but cannot tell what the configuration was two weeks ago as compared to the configuration status of one week ago. Also, most products do not show the system administrator what has changed during the two time periods in question, but merely show the entire status of the computer or interconnect device at each time period. The system administrator must compare the two configurations to identify what has changed.
It is thus apparent that there is a need in the art for an improved method or apparatus which can provide system administrators management and troubleshooting functions that are not real time based. There is a need in the art for a method to identify what has changed within system configurations for computers or interconnect devices between two points in time in a quick and efficient manner and make those changes readily available to the system administrator for troubleshooting and managing purposes. The present invention meets these and other needs in the art.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
It is an aspect of the present invention to track configuration changes in computer system devices on a network.
It is another aspect of the invention to use a revision control system to historically track configuration changes in computers and interconnect devices on a computer system network.
Yet another aspect of the invention is to save the configuration status of computers and interconnect devices at particular points in time within a revision control system.
Still another aspect of the invention is to identify what has changed in the configuration of computers and interconnect devices to aid in troubleshooting and managing a computer system network.
A further aspect of the invention is to display the configuration status of computers and interconnect devices at particular points in time in the past.
A still further aspect of the invention is to change the time frames for displaying configuration status of computers and interconnect devices.
Another aspect of the invention is to organize the configuration data collected into a logical hierarchy.
A still further aspect of the invention is to display configuration status data collected on computers and interconnect devices on a web browser.
The above and other aspects of the invention are accomplished in a tracking system that uses a revision control system and configuration information gathering to track and store configuration changes on a historical basis for computers and interconnect devices to aid in managing and troubleshooting networks of computer systems. The configuration data of monitored computers and interconnect devices on a network is gathered on a periodic basis and stored in a data storehouse within a separate computer, referred to as a remote support node, which is connected to the network. The data storehouse is made up of a data base and the revision control system. The configuration information may be displayed on a graphics display of the remote support node directly, but more typically is accessed through another computer, having a web browser, that accesses the remote support node over the network.
For monitored computers, the method collects, among other things, configuration information about the operating system, file system, printing and spooling, boot and shutdown, hardware, software, and network configurations. For monitored interconnect devices the method collects, among other things, configuration information about interfaces, IP addresses, routes, static routes, TCP ports, UDP ports, SNMP variables, human and machine readable configuration files, and installed cards.
Collector software residing on the remote support node gathers configuration data from monitored client computers and interconnect devices on the network. Each configuration item collected from computers and network interconnect devices is specified by a data collection template built into the tracking system. Different templates are available for various computer types and interconnect devices, and each template determines what configuration items can be collected from each particular type of device.
All client computers being monitored require special resident software, referred to as client collector software, to help facilitate the secure collection of configuration information. For monitored interconnect devices, no additional software is required, other than the standard SNMP (Simple Network Management Protocol), Telnet (remote login virtual terminal protocol), and TFTP (Trivial File Transfer Protocol) facilities already available within the interconnect devices. The collector examines the interconnect device type and the requested configuration item to be collected to determine which of these communications methods, or which combination of them, is most appropriate. However, monitored interconnect devices must grant access to the collection process. Granting this access usually involves making a configuration change to the monitored interconnect device to enable collection.
The collector software collects configuration items at preset collection cycles, normally once a day, by pre-defining an initial collection time and a frequency, usually daily. Each time a collection occurs, the data base is updated to start the next collection at the last collection time plus the frequency.
At each collection cycle, a snapshot is constructed for each configuration item for each monitored computer or interconnect device, and, if a change has occurred, the changes are stored in the data storehouse. The configuration item may be a text file or the output of a command which displays configuration information in ASCII format. A snapshot is a unit of configuration data as it appears when collected from a monitored device. The actual data collected is stored in the revision control system, while the data base contains information about what has changed and the logical hierarchy of the systems being monitored.
When accessing the stored information through a web browser, the graphics display is split into two frames. The information's logical hierarchy is displayed in a tree format in one of the frames. The changes found between snapshots taken on different collection cycles are displayed in the other frame. Different configuration data may be displayed by changing the collection cycles selected for comparison. Configuration items which have changed between the two collection cycles selected are indicated by a marker placed on the icon of the item in the tree. If the changed configuration item is in a grou
Bryant Craig William
Goin Todd M.
Moos Thomas J.
Steele Douglas William
Hewlett--Packard Company
Jung Min
LandOfFree
Method for tracking configuration changes in networks of... does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this patent.
If you have personal experience with Method for tracking configuration changes in networks of..., we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Method for tracking configuration changes in networks of... will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFUS-PAI-O-2440185