Network device with unified management

Details Network device with unified management Network device with unified management

1998-05-14

2001-06-05

Harrell, Robert B. (Department: 2152)

Electrical computers and digital processing systems: multicomput

Computer-to-computer protocol implementing

Computer-to-computer data transfer regulating

Reexamination Certificate

active

06243756

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates generally to networks for communication, and more particularly to a network device with unified management for purposes of control and monitoring.
DESCRIPTION OF THE RELATED ART
Networks serve the purpose of connecting many different electronic devices such as computers, telecommunications devices, printers, file servers etc., so that expensive computing assets may be shared among many users. Such computing assets include, but are not limited to, data and software including programs, files, local and global directories, and databases, and hardware including computers, printers, facsimile machines, copiers, mass storage media, etc., and any combination thereof.
Various communication protocols and standards for networks have been developed to standardize the way in which data packets are transmitted across the data exchange media of the network. For example, Ethernet™, Token Ring™, Fiber Optic Inter-Repeater Link (FOIRL) and Fiber Distributed Data Interface (FDDI) are some of the commonly known network media standards. Also, each standard has its own baseband transmission rate achievable on an applicable physical medium. Ethemet™ is a shared-media network architecture defined in the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.3 standard, and is currently the most widely used architecture for local-area networks (LANs). Ethernet™ uses both bus and star topologies. The 10Base-T is a physical layer standard based on the IEEE 802.3k specification, which is a baseband 802.3-based Ethemet™ network that operates up to 10 Mbps (megabits per second), and is configured in a star topology.
Another Etheme™ standard has emerged, referred to as Fast Ethernet™ or 100Base-T Ethernet™, which includes implementations capable of 100 Mbps transmissions speeds and is defined in IEEE 802.3u. 100Base-T covers three media types, which includes 100Base-T4 using four pairs of category 3, 4 or 5 unshielded twisted-pair (UTP) wire, and another twisted-wire pair scheme referred to as 100Base-TX using two pairs of category 5 UTP or shielded twisted-pair (STP) wire. Also, a 100Base-FX scheme is defined for use with fiber optic cables. It is noted that the present disclosure and invention is not limited to any particular communications protocol, communication speed, or standard, and may be applied to other protocols and mediums. For example, fiber optic and Copper Distributed Data Interface (CDDI) systems are also contemplated.
In a star configuration, several nodes or computers are connected together through a common hub, which is otherwise referred to as a repeater in Ethernet™ topologies. A repeater is a hardware device that generally functions at the physical layer of the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) Reference Model to provide a common termination point for multiple nodes. In particular, a repeater receives data from one node and re-transmits the data to other nodes attached to the repeater. Repeaters usually accommodate a plurality of nodes, such as 4, 8, 12 or more nodes, and some repeaters include connectors for linking to other repeaters. Each node in the network is typically a computer of some type, such as a personal computer (PC), Macintosh, minicomputer, mainframe, or the like, where the computer generally includes a network interface card (MC) for interfacing the node to the repeater to enable networking capabilities. A node may also be a passive device that does not transmit, such as a printer. In the present disclosure, each node is associated with a network device or data terminal equipment (DTE), where each node generally refers to any source and/or destination of data connected to any network system, such as a LAN or the like.
Presently, there is a trend in network technology towards internetworking or enterprise networking, that is, interconnecting networks of different baseband transmission rates to achieve even greater shared access across a larger number of network stations. A current approach to attaining this objective is to use a 2-port bridge device capable of filtering data packets between different network segments or domains by making simple forward/don't forward decisions on each data packet it receives from any of the segments to which it is connected. As is understood in the art, these segments may be provided with a structured wiring architecture such that a repeater (or, synonymously, a hub) or a multi-station access unit (MAU) provides a central connection point for wiring the network stations disposed in that domain.
In a conventional configuration, one of the ports of the hub for a domain with one baseband transmission rate is connected to one port of the 2-port bridge device, whereas a second hub for a second domain with the same or a different baseband transmission rate is connected to the other bridge port. As can be readily appreciated by those skilled in the art, at least three separate devices must be interconnected, managed, maintained and serviced in order to provide the conventional intemetworking solution. Several disadvantages of this arrangement are readily apparent, including less reliability, expensive maintenance, and sub-optimal usage of form-factor.
Accordingly, it should be appreciated that there has arisen a need for an internetworking system that can operate with segments of different baseband transmission rates in a single integrated device. A device that is capable of switch functions at a higher baseband rate is relatively expensive. Also, if several slower speed devices are connected to a single high speed device, such as a server, much of the high speed switch capability is wasted, resulting in an inefficient design. It is desired to provide a cost effective and efficient network for enabling communication among data devices operating at different communication rates. It is further desired to improve effective management of the network.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A network device with unified management according to the present invention includes at least one port operable at any one of a plurality of media standards, port apparatus coupled to the port(s) that monitors and controls the port(s) for each of the media standards, and a management system that interfaces the port apparatus to manage the port(s) in a unified manner with respect to all of the media standards. A specific embodiment described herein illustrates the 10BaseT and the 100BaseTX Ethemet™ media standards, which operate at two different transmission rates of 10 megabits per second (Mbps) and 100 Mbps, respectively. The present invention contemplates, however, other media standards and transmission rates, such as Token Ring™, FOIRL, FDDI, etc., and any combination thereof. Thus, the management system manages each of the ports in a unified manner regardless of the particular supported media standards.
A network device with unified management according to the present invention is useful for many control and monitoring functions. In one embodiment, the network device includes a memory, where the port apparatus maintains and stores in the memory a first set of statistics for each port when operating according to a first media standard and a second set of statistics when operating according to a second media standard. The management system receives a statistics request and provides at least one corresponding statistic from the first and second sets of statistics. The management system is preferably implemented by a processor executing a management agent, where the management agent may interface a management console of a management platform or station, for example. The management platform may be coupled via a serial port or the like for out-of-band management, or through a port of the network device for in-band management. The memory may be implemented as a register set or the like.
The present invention is illustrated herein using a repeater embodiment, where the repeater includes a first repeater module operable at a first transmission rate and a second repeater module operable at a second transmission rate.

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