Network management system

Details Network management system Network management system

1999-03-02

2002-12-03

Chin, Wellington (Department: 2664)

Multiplex communications

Network configuration determination

C709S220000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06490255

ABSTRACT:

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS
The present invention claims priority from Japanese Patent Application No. 10 052265 filed Mar. 4, 1998, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a network management system for operating physical managed objects such as communication equipments and communication services on the basis of an instruction from a management manager and, particularly, to a network management system capable of extending or deleting management functions without interruption of a system operation and capable of performing a conversion between a plurality of management protocols.
2. Description of Related Art
In order to operate physical objects to be managed, such as communication equipments and communication services within a communication network, a network management system has been known in which physical objects to be managed are abstracted as managed objects and a lower layer is operated correspondingly to an instruction which is one of the managed objects from a management manager which is an upper layer.
FIG. 47
shows an example of a management protocol conversion in a conventional network management system. This conventional example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 7-321885 and is constructed with a managed object
4001
which is an upper layer managed object capable of being operated by a management manager according to a protocol “1”, a managed object
4002
which is a lower managed object a management agent of which can be operated by a protocol “2”, a managed object
4003
which is a lower layer managed object a management agent of which can be operated by a protocol “3” and a managed object
4004
which is a lower layer managed object a management agent of which can be operated by a protocol “4”.
When the managed object
4001
which is the upper layer managed object is accessed from the management manager by using the protocol “1”, the network management system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 7-321885 identifies a management operation for the lower layer managed objects
4002
,
4003
and
4004
by referring to an information describing a relation between an upper layer managed object name and a lower layer managed object name, which is held by the system. Further, the network management system has an information related to the kind of protocol for operating the lower layer managed object name and issues an operation request to the management agents by using the protocol “2” for the managed object
4002
, the protocol “3” for the managed object
4003
and the protocol “4” for the managed object
4004
, as shown in FIG.
47
. The protocol conversion is realized by converting the name of the managed object which is the upper layer managed object and has the protocol kind into names of one or more managed objects which are the lower layer managed objects, in this manner.
FIG. 48
shows an example of a conventional management function extension/deletion of a network management system. This example is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-314836 and is constructed with an operator and management application
4101
, a management service object
4102
and managed objects
4103
,
4104
and
4105
.
The management service object
4102
is conducted to define only actions between the managed objects
4103
,
4104
and
4105
and the management application
4101
and is described as a sequence for referring to a table containing parameters necessary for operations for the respective managed objects. In the example shown in
FIG. 48
, a sequence of a name of table storing an information for performing an operation to the managed object
4103
, a name of table storing an information for performing an operation to the managed object
4104
and a name of table storing an information for performing an operation to the managed object
4105
is stored in the table as an action of the management service object
4102
.
In the network management system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-314836, when the management application
4101
requests an action operation of the management service object
4102
, the table registered as the action of the management service object
4102
is referred to and the management operations are executed in the assigned sequence while referring to the tables storing the operation parameters. Further, this network management system provides a function of dynamically rewriting updates of the registered tables.
However, the above mentioned prior art has some problems.
A first problem of them is that a change of a managed object definition (program abstractedly indicative of a management subject) is impossible in extension/deletion of the management function. The reason for this is that, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-314836, subjects are objects (only action operation is executable) of the kind different from the managed objects and the managed object definition is unchangeable.
The second problem is that only operation in managed object unit is permitted for both function extension and protocol conversion. The reason for this is that, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 8-314836, the descriptive capability is limited to a command sequence stored in a table for the purpose of easiness of program development and only correspondence table for each managed object is defined.
The third problem is that it is impossible to guarantee a consistency for one operation from a management manager. The reason for this is that the standardized existing management protocol does no define semantics of a transaction processing.
The fourth problem is that a memory amount required for conversion between a plurality of management protocols is large. The reason for this is that, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 7-321885, a correspondence table of operations converted is produced every managed object instance.
The fifth problem is that the manager can not assign a timing of update of table storing the operation parameters every management service object. The reason for this is that, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 7-321885, the update timing of the table storing the operation parameters is only when the action operation of the management service object is requested.
The sixth problem is that a start time of the action operation of the management service object is long. The reason for this is that, in the technique disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. Hei 7-321885, the table storing the operation parameters is newly generated every time the action operation of the management service object is requested.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
An object of the present invention is to provide a network management system in which, when looking from a management manager, the managed object definition can be changed without interruption of a system operation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a network management system capable of defining a managed object operation having high function for both function extension and protocol conversion.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a network management system which can always guarantee a consistency of management operations for one operation from a management manager.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a network management system in which a required memory amount is saved to make a protocol conversion possible.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a network management system in which the update timing of managed object can be freely assigned according to each managed object.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a network managed object in which operations of managed objects can be executed at high speed.
A network management system according to the present

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