Granted Patent B2

US 8,041,811 · App. 12/427,539 · Granted Oct 18, 2011

Abstract

Claims (53)

1. A network management system for monitoring a network and maintaining an accurate representation of a topology of the network, the network management system comprising:

a storage module that maintains data representing the topology of the network; and

a network management system server, including a processor, configured to:

receive a notification of a new endpoint discovered in the network, the new endpoint representing an endpoint in a multi-chassis pair,

determine that an address of the new endpoint conflicts with an address of a first existing endpoint of an existing multi-chassis pair, wherein the first existing endpoint is currently paired with a second existing endpoint,

determine whether the new endpoint or the first existing endpoint is a proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair, and

when the new endpoint is the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair, update the data representing the topology in the storage module to replace the first existing endpoint with the new endpoint as paired with the second existing endpoint.

2. The network management system of claim 1 , wherein, upon determining that the address of the new endpoint conflicts with the address of the first existing endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair, the network management system server is further configured to:

raise an alarm, the alarm notifying a user that there is a conflict between the new endpoint and the first endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair.

3. The network management system of claim 2 , wherein the network management system is further configured to:

display an interface element on a graphical user interface accessible to the user, wherein activation of the interface element by the user triggers a procedure to determine whether the new endpoint or the first existing endpoint is the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair.

4. The network management system of claim 1 , wherein, to determine whether the new endpoint or the first existing endpoint is the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair, the network management system server is further configured to:

perform a first ping operation, the first ping operation determining connectivity from the second existing endpoint to the first existing endpoint, and

perform a second ping operation, the second ping operation determining connectivity from the second existing endpoint to the new endpoint.

5. The network management system of claim 4 , wherein the network management system server is further configured to:

determine that the first existing endpoint is not the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair when there is no connectivity from the second existing endpoint to the first existing endpoint, and

determine that the new endpoint is not the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair when there is no connectivity from the second existing endpoint to the new endpoint.

6. The network management system of claim 1 , wherein, to determine whether the new endpoint or the first existing endpoint is the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair, the network management system server is further configured to:

perform a first trace operation to determine a number of hops from the second existing endpoint to the first existing endpoint, and

perform a second trace operation to determine a number of hops from the second existing endpoint to the new endpoint.

7. The network management system of claim 6 , wherein, the network management system server is further configured to:

automatically select an endpoint with a lowest number of hops as the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair.

8. The network management system of claim 6 , wherein, the network management system server is further configured to:

display an interface including the number of hops from the second existing endpoint to the first existing endpoint and the number of hops from the second existing endpoint to the new endpoint, and

receive a user selection of either the first existing endpoint or the new endpoint, the user selection indicating the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair.

9. The network management system of claim 1 , wherein the existing multi-chassis pair operates according to a protocol selected from the group consisting of Multi-Chassis Automatic Protection Switching (MC-APS) and Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation Grouping (MC-LAG).

10. The network management system of claim 1 , wherein the new endpoint and the first existing endpoint are assigned the same Internet Protocol (IP) address in different Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) or Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS) areas.

11. A method performed by a network management system for monitoring a network and maintaining an accurate representation of a topology of the network, the method comprising:

maintaining data representing the topology of the network in a storage module in the network management system;

receiving a notification of a new endpoint discovered in the network, the new endpoint representing an endpoint in a multi-chassis pair;

determining that an address of the new endpoint conflicts with an address of a first existing endpoint of an existing multi-chassis pair, wherein the first existing endpoint is currently paired with a second existing endpoint;

determining whether the new endpoint or the first existing endpoint is a proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair; and

when the new endpoint is the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair, updating the data representing the topology in the storage module to replace the first existing endpoint with the new endpoint as paired with the second existing endpoint.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein, upon determining that the address of the new endpoint conflicts with the address of the first existing endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair, the method further comprises:

raising an alarm, the alarm notifying a user that there is a conflict between the new endpoint and the first endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair.

13. The method of claim 12 , the method further comprising:

displaying an interface element on a graphical user interface accessible to the user, wherein activation of the interface element by the user triggers a procedure to determine whether the new endpoint or the first existing endpoint is the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair.

14. The method of claim 11 , wherein, in determining whether the new endpoint or the first existing endpoint is the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair, the method further comprises:

performing a first ping operation, the first ping operation determining connectivity from the second existing endpoint to the first existing endpoint; and

performing a second ping operation, the second ping operation determining connectivity from the second existing endpoint to the new endpoint.

15. The method of claim 14 , the method further comprising:

determining that the first existing endpoint is not the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair when there is no connectivity from the second existing endpoint to the first existing endpoint; and

determining that the new endpoint is not the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair when there is no connectivity from the second existing endpoint to the new endpoint.

16. The method of claim 11 , wherein, in determining whether the new endpoint or the first existing endpoint is the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair, the method further comprises:

performing a first trace operation to determine a number of hops from the second existing endpoint to the first existing endpoint; and

performing a second trace operation to determine a number of hops from the second existing endpoint to the new endpoint.

17. The method of claim 16 , the method further comprising:

automatically selecting an endpoint with a lowest number of hops as the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair.

18. The method of claim 16 , the method further comprising:

displaying an interface including the number of hops from the second existing endpoint to the first existing endpoint and the number of hops from the second existing endpoint to the new endpoint; and

receiving a user selection of either the first existing endpoint or the new endpoint, the user selection indicating the proper endpoint of the existing multi-chassis pair.

19. The method of claim 11 , wherein the existing multi-chassis pair operates according to a protocol selected from the group consisting of Multi-Chassis Automatic Protection Switching (MC-APS) and Multi-Chassis Link Aggregation Grouping (MC-LAG).

20. The method of claim 11 , wherein the new endpoint and the first existing endpoint are assigned the same Internet Protocol (IP) address in different Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) or Intermediate System to Intermediate System (IS-IS) areas.

Assignments (8)