EP0773649A2
Expired / Lapsed
EP
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Network topology management system
Assignee: Sun Microsystems Inc
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Filing: 1996-11-05
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Granted: —
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Expires: 2016-11-05
Abstract
Abstract A system and method for maintaining complex relationships between computer network elements provides a common database for storing node, type, and view data. The views are created and maintained by the network management system. When a new node is added or parentage of a node is changed, the views of a node are modified in a network database.
Inventors
- 👤 Abhay S. Kulkarni
- 👤 Willie Hsu
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
EP
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-10-24 15:40
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L41/00; H04L41/22; H04L41/02; H04L41/0233; H04L41/024; H04L41/12; H04L45/00; H04L45/02
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 17
Claim 1
Independent Claim
82 words
A computer network comprising: a plurality of network nodes and interconnections; a network management system comprising a database of managed network resources, said database of managed network resources defining network nodes, associated node types and associated views of said nodes, the system being operable to modify said views based on user input changes in attributes of said nodes; and a plurality of network management users, said network management users being arranged to display views of said network using said network management database.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
41 words
A computer network as claimed in claim 1 wherein said attributes of said nodes comprise parent relationships, and the system being arranged to form a new view node each time a new parent is added to an attribute of a node.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
29 words
A computer network as claimed in claim 2 wherein the system is arranged to delete a view node each time a parent is deleted from attributes of a node.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
21 words
A computer network as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein said parent relationships include logical and physical parent relationships.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
41 words
A computer network as claimed in claim 1, 2, 3 or 4 comprising a network viewer on a plurality of user workstations, so that said user workstations can form views of said network based on said database of managed network resources.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
62 words
A computer network as claimed in any one of the preceding claims wherein said network nodes are defined by a node database object class, said node database object class containing node objects, a type database object class, said type object class containing network object types, and a view database object class, said view database object class containing view objects of said network.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
31 words
A computer network as claimed in claim 6 wherein said nodes are associated with a severity, wherein alarms posted for a particular node are propagated to selective views of said network.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
29 words
A computer network as claimed in claim 1 wherein views of said network are created by said network management system when a new node is added to said system.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
50 words
A computer network as claimed in any one of the preceding claims and including one or more storage media conveying software defining said database and a network administration program, said network administration program modifying said views of said nodes based on user input of changes in attributes of said nodes.
Claim 10
Independent Claim
67 words
A method of managing a computer network comprising: forming an object oriented database of managed network resources, said database of managed network resources comprising network nodes, associated node types and associated views of said nodes; displaying a plurality of views of said network using said database of managed network resources; and modifying said views based on user input changing said nodes in said database of managed network
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
31 words
A method as claimed recited in claim 10 and comprising the steps of: defining parent relationships of said nodes; and forming new views based on additions of parents to a node.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
21 words
A method as claimed in claim 11 and comprising deleting a view node when a parent is deleted from a node.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
65 words
A method as claimed in claim 10, 11 or 12 wherein said step of forming an object oriented database of managed network resources comprises the steps of: forming a node type class containing a plurality of node type objects; forming a node type class containing a topogrophy of nodes in said network; and forming a view type class containing views of objects in said network.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
43 words
A method as claimed in claim 10, 11, 12 or 13 and comprising the step of defining alarm severity for at least one node in said database, said severity defining when alarms are propagated to other nodes in a view of said network.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
57 words
One or more storage media conveying software comprising: a database of managed network resources, said database of managed network resources comprising network nodes, network node types, and views of said nodes; and a network administration program, said network administration program modifying said views of said nodes based on user input of changes in attributes of said nodes.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method as claimed in claim 9 or media as claimed in claim 15, the software comprising a network viewing program, said network viewing program being operable to display various views of said network based on user selection input.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
47 words
A method as claimed in claim 9 or 16 or media as claimed in claim 15 or 16, the software comprising an alarm propagation system, said alarm propagation system being operable to propagate alarms in views of said network based on propagation severities associated with said nodes.
References Cited (Backward Citations)
No citation records indexed.
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