IP Library Granted Patent US 8,862,735
Granted Patent B1
US 8,862,735 · App. 11/941,901 · Granted Oct 14, 2014

IP address management of multiple DHCP and DNS servers

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 8,862,735
App. No.
11/941,901
Granted
Oct 14, 2014
Kind
B1
Abstract

An enterprise network may be managed. A graphical user interface (GUI) that shows IP address allocations for the network and that allows a user to configure DHCP scopes and DNS zones may be provided. A new host reservation request may be received from a user. The request may be translated into a first protocol and provided to a DHCP control server for processing. Based on the processing, configurations of multiple DHCP servers may be updated, to include the new host reservation, and provided to a configuration storage system for (at least temporary) storage and access by the multiple DHCP servers. The request may be translated into a second protocol and provided to a DNS management server for processing. Based on the processing, a configuration for a DNS server may be updated, to include the new host reservation, and stored in a DNS database.

Claims (86)

1. A method for managing an enterprise network provision comprising:

enabling provision of a graphical user interface that shows IP address allocations for the network and that allows a user to configure DHCP scopes and DNS zones;

receiving a new host reservation request based on a user interaction with the graphical user interface;

translating the request into a first protocol to generate a first translated request for communicating with a DHCP control server;

providing the first translated request to the DHCP control server according to the first protocol;

processing the first translated request at the DHCP control server;

based on the processing, updating configurations of multiple DHCP servers to include the new host reservation;

providing the updated configurations from the DHCP control server to a configuration storage system;

storing the updated configurations of the multiple DHCP servers in the configuration storage system;

enabling the multiple DHCP servers to access the updated configurations from the configuration storage system;

translating the request into a second protocol to generate a second translated request for communicating with a DNS management server that is different from the DHCP control server;

providing the second translated request to the DNS management server according to the second protocol;

processing the second translated request at the DNS management server;

updating the configuration for a DNS server managed by the DNS management server to include the new host reservation in accordance with the processed second translated request;

storing the updated DNS server configuration within a DNS database; and

indicating to the user, via the graphical user interface, that the DHCP servers and DNS server configuration were successfully updated.

2. The method of claim 1 further comprising enabling the DNS server to read the updated configuration from the DNS database and restart.

3. The method of claim 1 further comprising enabling the multiple DHCP servers to read the updated configurations from the configuration storage system and restart.

4. The method of claim 1 further comprising querying the DNS database to identify the DNS server associated with the new host reservation request.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising sending a response from the DHCP control server to an application that provides the graphical user interface.

6. The method of claim 5 wherein the response indicates at least one of a valid or invalid translated request and the success or failure of updating the configurations of the multiple DHCP servers.

7. The method of claim 1 further comprising sending a response from the DNS management server to an application that provides the graphical user interface.

8. The method of claim 7 wherein the response indicates at least one of a valid or invalid translated request and the success or failure of updating the configurations of the DNS server.

9. The method of claim 1 further comprising sending DHCP lease information to the DHCP control server from the multiple DHCP servers.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising receiving lease information from the multiple DHCP servers at the DNS management server.

11. The method of claim 1 wherein translating the request into a protocol for communicating with the DHCP control server comprises translating the request into an XML-based protocol.

12. The method of claim 1 wherein translating the request into the first and second protocols comprises translating the request into first and second XML-based protocols.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the first and second XML-based protocols comprise two or more distinct XML-based protocols.

14. The method of claim 1 wherein storing the updated DNS server configuration within the DNS database comprises enabling recovery of the DNS server configuration.

15. The method of claim 1 wherein storing the updated configurations of the multiple DHCP servers in the configuration storage system comprises enabling recovery of the multiple DHCP server configurations.

16. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an indication that the request is to be processed without delay;

translating the indication into at least one of the first and second protocols;

providing the translated indication to the DHCP control server and the DNS management server;

providing the updated multiple DHCP server configurations to the multiple DHCP servers without delay;

providing the updated DNS server configuration to the DNS server without delay; and

indicating to the use, via the graphical user interface, that the DNS server configuration and the multiple DHCP server configurations were successfully updated without delay in accordance with the indication.

17. A method for managing an enterprise network provision comprising:

receiving a request based on a user interaction with a graphical user interface, the request being at least one of a request to create, update, or delete a DHCP scope, a lookup one or more scopes request, a request to blacklist a MAC address, a lookup host request, a lookup zone request, a search zones request, an export one or more zones request, a reconciliation of zone data request, a reserve a host request, an unreserve host request, a reserve zone request, an unreserve zone request, and an update zone request;

translating the request into a first protocol to generate a first translated request for communicating with a DHCP control server;

providing the first translated request to the DHCP control server according to the first protocol;

processing the first translated request at the DHCP control server;

based on the processing, updating configurations of multiple DHCP servers according to the request;

providing the updated configurations from the DHCP control server to a configuration storage system;

storing the updated configurations of the multiple DHCP servers in the configuration storage system;

enabling the multiple DHCP servers to access the updated configurations from the configuration storage system;

translating the request into a second protocol to generate a second translated request for communicating with a DNS management server that is different from the DHCP control server;

providing the second translated request to the DNS management server according to the second protocol;

processing the second translated request at the DNS management server;

updating the configuration for the DNS server managed by the DNS management server to include the new host reservation in accordance with the processed second translated request;

storing the updated DNS Server configuration within a DNS database; and

indicating to the user, via the graphical user interface, that the DHCP servers and DNS server configuration were successfully updated.

18. The method of claim 17 wherein:

receiving the request comprises receiving a request associated with a DHCP scope, and

updating configurations of multiple DHCP servers comprises updating configurations of multiple DHCP servers to include a newly created scope, an updated scope, or a deleted scope based on the received request.

19. The method of claim 18 wherein receiving the request comprises receiving a request to create a DHCP scope, the request including at least one of a scope range, DHCP and DNS server IP addresses, router IP address and netmask, domain name, default lease duration, reserved IP addresses within the scope, and MAC addresses associated with the reserved IP addresses.

20. The method of claim 17 wherein receiving the request comprises receiving a request to lookup one or more scopes, and further comprising controlling the multiple DHCP servers to provide information regarding the requested scope or scopes.

21. The method of claim 17 wherein:

receiving the request comprises receiving a request to blacklist a MAC address, and

updating configurations of multiple DHCP servers comprises updating configurations of multiple DHCP servers such that an IP address is not allocated to the blacklisted MAC address by any of the multiple DHCP servers.

22. The method of claim 17 wherein:

receiving the request comprises receiving a reserve host request, an unreserve host request, a reserve zone request, an unreserve zone request, or an update zone request; and

updating the configuration of the DNS server comprises updating the configuration of the DNS server to include a newly created host reservation, newly created zone reservation, or updated zone, or exclude a host or zone that has been unreserved based on the received request.

23. The method of claim 22 wherein receiving the request comprises receiving a reserve new host request, the request including at least one of a DHCP scope, IP address, and MAC address to be associated with the new host reservation.

24. The method of claim 17 wherein receiving the request comprises receiving a lookup host request, a lookup zone request, at search zones request, an export one or more zones request, or a reconciliation of zone data request, and further comprising controlling the DNS server to provide information regarding the requested zone or host.

25. A system for managing an enterprise network comprising:

a storage device that stores a display application configured to provide a graphical user interface that shows IP address allocations for the network and that allows a user to configure DHCP scopes and DNS zones and to receive a new host reservation request based on a user interaction with the graphical user interface;

a first translation service configured to translate the request into a first protocol to generate a first translated request for communicating with a DHCP control server and to provide the first translated request to the DHCP control server according to the first protocol;

a DHCP control server that includes a processor and is configured to process, using the processor, the first translated request, to update configurations of multiple DHCP servers to include the new host reservation based on the processing, and to provide the updated configurations from the DHCP control server to a configuration storage system;

multiple DHCP servers configured to access the updated configurations from the configuration storage system;

a second translation service configured to translate the request into a second protocol to generate a second translated request for communicating with a DNS management server that is different from the DHCP control server and to provide the second translated request to the DNS management server according to the second protocol; and

a DNS management server configured to process the second translated request, to update the configuration for a DNS server to include the new host reservation in accordance with the processed second translated request, and to store the updated DNS server configuration within a DNS database.

26. The system of claim 25 wherein the display application is configured to indicate to the user, via the graphical user interface, that the DHCP servers and DNS server configuration were successfully updated.

27. The system of claim 25 wherein the DNS server is configured to read the updated configuration from the DNS database and restart.

28. The system of claim 25 wherein the multiple DHCP servers are configured to read the updated configurations from the configuration storage system and restart.

29. The system of claim 25 wherein the DHCP control server is configured to send a response to an application that provides the graphical user interface.

30. The system of claim 29 wherein the response indicates at least one of a valid or invalid translated request and the success or failure of updating the configurations of the multiple DHCP servers.

31. The system of claim 25 wherein the DNS management server is configured to send a response to an application that provides the graphical user interface.

32. The system of claim 31 wherein the response indicates at least one of a valid or invalid translated request and the success or failure of updating the configurations of the DNS server.

33. The system of claim 25 wherein the multiple DHCP servers are configured to send DHCP lease information to the DHCP control server.

34. The system of claim 25 wherein the DNS management server is configured to receive lease information from the multiple DHCP servers.

35. The system of claim 25 wherein the first and second translation services are configured to translate the request into an XML-based protocol.

36. The system of claim 25 wherein the first and second translation services are configured to translate the request into first and second XML-based protocols, respectively.

37. The system of claim 36 wherein the first and second XML-based protocols comprise two or more distinct XML-based protocols.

38. The system of claim 25 wherein the DNS database is configured to enable recovery of the DNS server configuration.

39. The system of claim 25 wherein the configuration storage system is configured to enable recovery of the multiple DHCP server configurations.

Assignments (8)
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Aug 19, 2021
From: VERIZON MEDIA INC.
To: VERIZON PATENT AND LICENSING INC.
Reel/Frame 057453/0431 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 26, 2020
From: OATH INC.
To: VERIZON MEDIA INC.
Reel/Frame 054258/0635 →
CHANGE OF NAME Recorded Aug 24, 2017
From: AOL INC.
To: OATH INC.
Reel/Frame 043672/0369 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT RIGHTS -RELEASE OF 030936/0011 Recorded Jul 1, 2015
From: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A.
To: AOL ADVERTISING INC.; AOL INC.; BUYSIGHT, INC.; MAPQUEST, INC.; PICTELA, INC.
Reel/Frame 036042/0053 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Aug 2, 2013
From: AOL INC.; AOL ADVERTISING INC.; BUYSIGHT, INC.; MAPQUEST, INC.; PICTELA, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 030936/0011 →
TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT RIGHTS Recorded Nov 16, 2010
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N A
To: AOL INC; AOL ADVERTISING INC; GOING INC; LIGHTNINGCAST LLC; MAPQUEST, INC; NETSCAPE COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION; QUIGO TECHNOLOGIES LLC; SPHERE SOURCE, INC; TACODA LLC; TRUVEO, INC; YEDDA, INC
Reel/Frame 025323/0416 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Dec 31, 2009
From: AOL LLC
To: AOL INC.
Reel/Frame 023723/0645 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Dec 14, 2009
From: AOL INC.; AOL ADVERTISING INC.; BEBO, INC.; ICQ LLC; GOING, INC.; LIGHTNINGCAST LLC; MAPQUEST, INC.; NETSCAPE COMMUNICATIONS CORPORATION; QUIGO TECHNOLOGIES LLC; SPHERE SOURCE, INC.; TACODA LLC; TRUVEO, INC.; YEDDA, INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICAN, N.A. AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 023649/0061 →