Device detection system and method

1. A method for detecting devices connected to a network, comprising:

sending in parallel multiple scan requests from a client computer to remote command processes running on multiple remote network hosts;

scanning each remote network host with the remote command processes to identify peripheral devices that are directly connected to the remote network hosts;

receiving with the client computer responses to the scan request from the remote command processes that identify the peripheral devices that are connected to the various remote network hosts and that provide network addresses of the peripheral devices;

the client computer requesting information about the peripheral devices directly from the peripheral devices via communications sent to the received network addresses; and

the client computer receiving information about the peripheral devices directly from the peripheral devices, that information facilitating use of the peripheral devices by the client computer.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein a controller process on the client computer is used to send the scan request to the remote command process.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein scanning the remote network hosts with the remote command processes comprises the remote command processes sending scan requests to host application program interfaces (APIs) resident on the remote network hosts that are configured to scan the remote network hosts for peripheral devices.

4. The method of claim 1 , further comprising maintaining an updated list of each remote network host running a remote command process with a host lookup process.

5. The method of claim 4 , further comprising consulting the list prior to sending the scan requests.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising communicating information concerning the identified peripheral devices to a user of the client computer.

7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the peripheral devices comprise at least one of a disk drive, a tape drive, a tape library, and a modem.

8. A device detection system for detecting devices connected to a network, comprising: a processor, a memory

means for sending multiple scan requests in parallel to remote command processes running on multiple remote network hosts;

means for scanning the remote network hosts with the remote command processes to identify peripheral devices that are directly connected to the remote network hosts;

means for receiving responses to the scan requests from the remote command processes that identify the peripheral devices that are connected to the remote network hosts and that provide network addresses of the peripheral devices;

means for requesting information about the peripheral devices directly from the peripheral devices via communications sent to the received network addresses; and

means for receiving information about the peripheral devices directly from the peripheral devices, that information facilitating remote use of the peripheral devices.

9. The system of claim 8 , wherein a controller process is used to send the scan requests to the remote command processes.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein the controller process runs on a network host.

11. The system of claim 8 , wherein the means for scanning the remote network hosts with the remote command processes comprises means for sending scan requests from the remote command processes to host application program interfaces (APIs) resident on the remote network hosts that are configured to scan the remote network hosts for peripheral devices.

12. The system of claim 8 , further comprising means for maintaining an updated list of each remote network host running a remote command process with a host lookup process.

13. The system of claim 12 , further comprising means for consulting the list prior to sending the scan requests.

14. The system of claim 8 , further comprising means for communicating information concerning the identified peripheral devices to a user.

15. The system of claim 8 , wherein the peripheral devices comprise at least one of a disk drive, a tape drive, a tape library, and a modem.

16. A device detection system for detecting devices connected to a network, comprising a memory that stores a logic which when executed perform the steps comprising:

sending multiple scan requests in parallel to remote command processes running on multiple remote network hosts;

scanning the remote network hosts with the remote command processes to identify peripheral devices that are directly connected to the remote network hosts; and

receiving responses to the scan requests from the remote command processes that identify the peripheral devices that are connected to the network hosts and that provide network addresses of the peripheral devices;

requesting information about the peripheral devices directly from the peripheral devices via communications sent to the received network addresses; and

receiving information about the peripheral devices directly from the peripheral devices, that information facilitating remote use of the peripheral devices.

17. The system of claim 16 , wherein a controller process is used to send the scan requests to the remote command processes.

18. The system of claim 17 , wherein the controller process runs on a network host.

19. The system of claim 16 , wherein the logic configured to scan the remote network hosts with the remote command processes comprises logic configured to send scan requests from the remote command processes to host application program interfaces (APIs) resident on the remote network hosts that are configured to scan the remote network hosts for peripheral devices.

20. The system of claim 16 , further comprising logic configured to maintain an updated list of each remote network host running a remote command process with a host lookup process.

21. The system of claim 20 , further comprising logic configured to consult the list prior to sending the scan requests.

22. The system of claim 16 , further comprising logic configured to communicate information concerning the identified peripheral devices to a user.

23. The system of claim 16 , wherein the peripheral devices comprise at least one of a disk drive, a tape drive, a tape library, and a modem.

24. A device detection system for remotely detecting devices connected to a network, comprising: multiple remote network hosts

multiple remote command processes running on said multiple remote network hosts, the remote command processes being configured to receive the scan requests sent by a controller process and, responsive to those scan requests, initiate scanning of the remote network hosts to identify peripheral devices that are directly connected to the remote network hosts, receive results from the scanning that identify the peripheral devices and their network addresses, and provide the results to the controller process; and

a controller process running on a client computer, the controller process being configured to send multiple scan requests in parallel to the multiple remote network hosts, receive the scanning results from the remote command processes, and directly communicate with the Peripheral devices via the received network addresses to obtain information from the peripheral devices that will facilitate use of the peripheral devices by the client computer.

25. The system of claim 24 , further comprising a host lookup process that maintains an updated list of every remote network host that is running a remote command process.

26. The system of claim 25 , wherein the host lookup process runs on the client computer.

27. The system of claim 25 , wherein the host lookup process runs on one of the remote network hosts.

28. The system of claim 24 , wherein the peripheral devices comprise at least one of a disk drive, a tape drive, a tape library, and a modem.