Network management apparatus and method for determining the topology of a network

1. A method for use in determining the topology of a network in which a Spanning-Tree protocol is implemented, and in which the identity of the devices on the network can be determined, the method comprising the step of:

obtaining address table data for the ports of core network devices on the network, the address table data including the identity of each said port and the addresses of other network devices which the port has learnt;

obtaining Spanning-Tree protocol information from one or more of the core network devices;

using the Spanning-Tree protocol information, processing the address table data, by removing data relating to ports which are in a blocking state;

providing the processed address table data for use to build a network tree to determine a topology of the network; and

building a data presentation of the network tree without the data relating to ports in the blocking state, thus determining a topology of the network

wherein the step of removing comprises storing the removed data in memory so that the removed data may be utilized for determining links for ports in the blocking state.

2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the step of removing comprises determining the ports that are in the blocking state, and removing address table data of those ports.

3. A method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising presenting the determined topology of the network.

4. A method as claimed in claim 3 , wherein, prior to the step of presenting, the method further comprises the step of retrieving the removed data from memory, and determining links for the ports in the blocking state.

5. A method as claimed in claim 4 , wherein the Spanning-Tree protocol information includes a Designated Bridge identifier and a Designated Port identifier, and said step of determining links for the ports in the blocking state comprises matching pairs of ports having the same Designated Bridge and Designated port identifiers and determining a link between each matched pair of ports.

6. A method as claimed in claim 1 , further comprising adding the determined links for the ports in the blocking state into the network topology.

7. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the step of obtaining the Spanning-Tree protocol information comprises, identifying the core network devices in which the Spanning-Tree protocol is enabled, and retrieving the Spanning-Tree protocol information from the identified core network devices.

8. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein, prior to the step of obtaining address table data, the method comprises:

determining the identity of the core network devices on the network;

determining the identity of the ports of the core network devices; and

reading the address tables of the ports of the core network devices.

9. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the step of determining the identity of the core network devices includes sending an SNMP data request onto the network, and receiving and processing the response.

10. A computer program embedded in a computer readable medium, for use in determining the topology of a network in which a Spanning-Tree protocol is implemented, and in which the identity of the devices on the network can be determined, the program comprising:

a program step for obtaining address table data for the ports of core network devices on the network, the address table data including the identity of each said port and the addresses of other network devices which the port has learnt;

a program step for obtaining Spanning-Tree protocol information from one or more of the core network devices;

a program step for processing the address table data, by removing data relating to ports which are in a blocking state, said ports being determined using the Spanning-Tree protocol information;

a program step for providing the processed address table data for use to build a network tree without the data relating to ports in the blocking state to determine a topology of the network, and

a program step for building a data representation of the network tree, thus determining a topology of the network

wherein removing data comprises storing the removed data in memory so that the removed data may be utilized for determining links for ports in the blocking state.

11. A network management apparatus for determining the topology of a network in which a Spanning-Tree protocol is implemented, the apparatus comprising:

means for obtaining address table data for the ports of the core network devices on the network, the address table data including the identity of each said port and the addresses of other network devices which the port has learnt;

means for obtaining Spanning-Tree protocol information from a least one of the core network devices;

processing means for processing, using the Spanning-Tree protocol information, the address table data, the processing means for removing data relating to ports having links which are in a blocking state;

means for providing the processes address table data for use to build a network tree to determine a topology of the network, and

means for building a data representation of the network tree without the data relating to ports in the blocking state, thus determining a topology of the network wherein the step of removing comprises storing the removed data in memory so that the removed data may be utilized for determining links for ports in the blocking state.

12. An Apparatus as claimed in claim 11 , further comprising memory for storing data for use in determining the network topology.

13. An apparatus as claimed in claim 12 , further comprising a display screen and/or a printer for presenting the determined topology of the network.