SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EFFICIENTLY MANAGING NETWORK CHANGES
Methods and system for managing network changes. A network change cycle is divided into a multi-stage cascade of events. User interfaces are provided to define and manage each stage of events. Before a change is executed, a network state is benchmarked. Change results are saved into various data folders for comparison. Rollback utilities are provided to rollback the change to a particular event in a timeline.
1 . A network management system for managing a network change, comprising:
a visual cascade of managed steps for a full cycle of conducting a network change wherein each of said managed steps includes a corresponding set of functionalities;
a visual timeline for displaying an action occurred in real time; and
a set of functions for rolling back a network change to a previous state.
2 . The network management system of claim 1 , wherein
said managed steps include a step of defining a change, a step of Benchmarking network state before a change, a step of executing a change, a step of Benchmarking network state after a change, a step of comparing network change results and a step of documentation.
3 . The network management system of claim 2 , wherein said step of defining a change includes selecting a set of devices, and editing a Command template in an editing pane.
4 . The network management system of claim 2 , wherein said steps of Benchmarking network state before and after a change includes automatically retrieving configuration files and route table.
5 . The network management system of claim 2 , wherein said steps of Benchmarking network state before and after a change includes automatically retrieving any CLI commands added individually or via a template.
6 . The network management system of claim 2 , wherein said step of executing a change includes an option to execute all at once, an option to execute device by device, and an option to execute line by line, and a function to stop execution.
7 . The network management system of claim 2 , wherein said step of comparing network change results includes an option to select a datafolder containing a set of data for a particular execution timeline.
8 . The network management system of claim 2 , wherein said step of documentation includes an option to convert a network change task into another format.
9 . The network management system of claim 1 , wherein the said timeline records a review node, an execution of a benchmarking task, an execution of network change task in according to time sequence.
10 . A method for managing a network change, said method comprising the steps:
dividing a full cycle of conducting a network change into a visual cascade of managed steps;
providing a corresponding set of functionalities for each of said managed steps;
providing a visual timeline to display an action occurred in real time; and
providing a set of functions for rolling back a network change to a previous state.
11 . The method of claim 10 , wherein
said managed steps include a step of defining a change, a step of Benchmarking network state before a change, a step of executing a change, a step of Benchmarking network state after a change, a step of comparing network change results and a step of documentation.
12 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said step of defining a change includes selecting a set of devices, and editing a Command template in an editing pane.
13 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said steps of Benchmarking network state before and after a change includes automatically retrieving configuration files and route table.
14 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said steps of Benchmarking network state before and after a change includes automatically retrieving any CLI commands added individually or via a template.
15 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said step of executing a change includes an option to execute all at once, an option to execute device by device, and an option to execute line by line, and a function to stop execution.
16 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said step of comparing network change results includes an option to select a datafolder containing a set of data for a particular execution timeline.
17 . The method of claim 11 , wherein said step of documentation includes an option to convert a network change task into another format.
18 . The method of claim 11 , wherein the said timeline records a review node, an execution of a benchmarking task, an execution of network change task in according to time sequence.