Method and system for determining the topology of a network
View Patent ↗The present invention relates to a method for determining the topology of a network. The method, including the step of a generic agent communicating with a plurality of network devices, using a network management protocol, in order to extract data about the network; wherein the generic agent includes a communication algorithm and wherein each network device corresponds to one of a plurality of network device types and the algorithm is adjusted for each network device using a configuration schema based on the corresponding network device type.
1. A method for determining the topology of a network, comprising:
determining, at a computing device, a particular network device among a plurality of network devices from which information is sought;
adjusting, by the computer device, a discovery algorithm based on a device type of the particular network device wherein the discovery algorithm is adjusted based on a configuration schema associated with the device type of the particular network device and wherein the configuration schema comprises a generic configuration file and a device specific configuration file;
communicating, by the computing device, in accordance with the discovery algorithm to extract information from the particular network device, wherein the extracted information is from a Management Information Base (MIB) table, a proprietary MIB table and a Bridge MIB table located in the particular network device; and
determining, by the computing device, at least part of the topology of the network based on the information extracted from the particular network device.
2. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the information extracted from the particular network device includes virtual local area network (VLAN) configuration details of the particular network device.
3. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the information extracted from the particular network device includes details of a second network device, where the Internet Protocol address of the second network device matches an entry within a forwarding database of the particular network device.
4. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the information extracted from the particular network device includes interface details of the particular network device.
5. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the configuration schema is in extensible markup language (XML) format.
6. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the configuration schema is created in part by a user.
7. A method as claimed in claim 1 , wherein the configuration schema is created in part through the use of a GUI engine that is configured to create processing steps and dependencies between processing steps.
8. A method as claimed in claim 7 , wherein the GUI engine is integrated within a Management Information Base browser such that Object IDs can be dragged-and-dropped from the browser into the GUI engine to assist within the creation of the configuration schema.
9. A device for determining the topology of a network, comprising:
a communication interface configured to communicate with a plurality of network devices;
a processor; and
a storage device including computer-readable instruction stored therein that, upon execution by the processor, cause the device to:
determine a particular network device among the plurality of network devices from which information is sought;
adjust a discovery algorithm based on a device type of the particular network device, wherein the discovery algorithm is adjusted based on a configuration schema associated with the device type of the particular network device and wherein the configuration schema comprises a generic configuration file and a device specific configuration file;
communicate, via the communication interface, in accordance with the discovery algorithm to extract information from the particular network device, wherein the extracted information is from a Management Information Base (MIB) table, a proprietary MIB table and a Bridge MIB table located in the particular network device; and
determine at least part of the topology of the network based on the information extracted from the particular network device.
10. A storage device having stored thereon, computer-executable instructions that, if executed by a device, cause the device to perform a method comprising:
determining, at the device, a particular network device among a plurality of network devices from which information is sought;
adjusting a discovery algorithm based on a device type of the particular network device wherein the discovery algorithm is adjusted based on a configuration schema associated with the device type of the particular network device and wherein the configuration schema comprises a generic configuration file and a device specific configuration file;
communicating in accordance with the discovery algorithm to extract information from the particular network device, wherein the extracted information is from a Management Information Base (MIB) table, a proprietary MIB table and a Bridge MIB table located in the particular network device; and
determining at least part of the topology of the network based on the information extracted from the particular network device.
11. A storage device as claimed in claim 10 , wherein the configuration schema is created in part by a user.
12. A device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the information extracted from the particular network device includes details of a second network device, where the Internet Protocol address of the second network device matches an entry within a forwarding database of the particular network device.
13. A device as claimed in claim 9 , wherein the configuration schema is created in part by a user.