IP Library Granted Patent US 10,425,287
Granted Patent B2
US 10,425,287 · App. 15/441,005 · Granted Sep 24, 2019

Systems and methods for network topology discovery

Inventors: Sudhir Vittal Shetty (Cedar Park, TX); Sanjay Sane (Fremont, CA); Balaji Rajagopalan (Sunnyvale, CA); Jacob R. Hutcheson (Round Rock, TX); Prakash Nara (Round Rock, TX); Babu Chandrasekhar (Round Rock, TX)
Assignee: Dell Products L.P.
H04L41/12H04L41/22H04L43/10H04L45/02H04L45/26Y02D30/30
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,425,287
App. No.
15/441,005
Granted
Sep 24, 2019
Kind
B2
Abstract

An information handling system may include a processor, a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by the processor, cause the processor to: (i) responsive to a physical connection being made between components of a system comprising multiple information handling system chassis, receive a message; (ii) process information present in the message indicative of a topology of connectivity among the components of the system; and (iii) update a data structure defining the topology of connectivity of the various components of the system based on the information present in the message.

Claims (33)

1. An information handling system comprising:

a processor;

a memory coupled to the processor, the memory having program instructions stored thereon that, upon execution by the processor, cause the processor to:

responsive to a physical connection being made between components of a system comprising multiple information handling system chassis, receive a first message comprising a Link Layer Discovery Protocol packet and a second message comprising a multicast Domain Name Service advertisement;

combine and process information present in the first and second messages indicative of a topology of connectivity among the components of the system; and

update a data structure defining the topology of connectivity of the components of the system based on the combined and processed information.

2. The information handling system of claim 1 , the instructions for further causing the processor to generate a graphical display to a user interface representative of the topology of connectivity.

3. The information handling system of claim 1 , the instructions for further causing the processor to update the data structure based on the information present in the first and second messages and previous messages generated in response to other physical connections being made between components of the system.

4. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the second message comprises a message communicated from another information handling system integral to a first one of the multiple information handling system chassis to a second one of the multiple information handling system chassis.

5. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the Link Layer Discovery Protocol packet includes at least one service tag or serial number.

6. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the second message comprises an advertisement communicated on a private inter-chassis network communicatively coupled to each of the multiple information handling system chassis, wherein the private inter-chassis network is configured to carry network traffic for managing the multiple information handling system chassis.

7. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein the multicast Domain Name Service advertisement includes at least one service tag or serial number.

8. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first message and the second message comprises metadata associated with a switch fabric.

9. The information handling system of claim 1 , wherein at least one of the first message and the second message comprises an input/output module descriptor file.

10. A method comprising:

responsive to a physical connection being made between components of a system comprising multiple information handling system chassis, receiving a first message comprising a Link Layer Discovery Protocol packet and a second message comprising a multicast Domain Name Service advertisement;

combining and processing information present in the first and second messages indicative of a topology of connectivity among the components of the system; and

updating a data structure defining the topology of connectivity of the components of the system based on the combined and processed information.

11. The method of claim 10 , further comprising generating a graphical display to a user interface representative of the topology of connectivity.

12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising updating the data structure based on the information present in the first and second messages and previous messages generated in response to other physical connections being made between components of the system.

13. The method of claim 10 , wherein the second message comprises a message communicated from another information handling system integral to a first one of the multiple information handling system chassis to a second one of the multiple information handling system chassis.

14. The method of claim 10 , wherein the Link Layer Discovery Protocol packet is received at a switch of the system, wherein the multicast Domain Name Service advertisement is received at a console of the system, and wherein the data structure is updated based on an aggregation of traffic received at the switch and the console.

15. The method of claim 10 , wherein the second message comprises an advertisement communicated on a private inter-chassis network communicatively coupled to each of the multiple information handling system chassis, wherein the private inter-chassis network is configured to carry network traffic for managing the multiple information handling system chassis.

16. The method of claim 10 , wherein the multicast Domain Name Service advertisement includes at least one service tag or serial number of the system.

17. The method of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the first message and the second message comprises metadata associated with a switch fabric.

18. The method of claim 10 , wherein at least one of the first message and the second message comprises an input/output module descriptor file.

19. An article of manufacture comprising:

a non-transitory computer readable medium; and

computer-executable instructions carried on the computer readable medium, the instructions readable by a processor, the instructions, when read and executed, for causing the processor to:

responsive to a physical connection being made between components of a system comprising multiple information handling system chassis, receive a first message comprising a Link Layer Discovery Protocol packet and a second message comprising a multicast Domain Name Service advertisement;

combine and process information present in the first and second messages indicative of a topology of connectivity among the components of the system; and

update a data structure defining the topology of connectivity of the components of the system based on the combined and processed information.

20. The article of claim 19 , the instructions for further causing the processor to generate a graphical display to a user interface representative of the topology of connectivity.

Assignments (8)
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (053546/0001) Recorded Jun 23, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL MARKETING L.P. (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.); DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC. AND WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.); EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
Reel/Frame 071642/0001 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS PREVIOUSLY RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME (042769/0001) Recorded Apr 26, 2022
From: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS NOTES COLLATERAL AGENT
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC (ON BEHALF OF ITSELF AND AS SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO MOZY, INC.); DELL MARKETING CORPORATION (SUCCESSOR-IN-INTEREST TO WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.)
Reel/Frame 059803/0802 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST AT REEL 042768 FRAME 0585 Recorded Nov 2, 2021
From: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; MOZY, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
Reel/Frame 058297/0536 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 22, 2020
From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 053546/0001 →
SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Mar 21, 2019
From: CREDANT TECHNOLOGIES, INC.; DELL INTERNATIONAL L.L.C.; DELL MARKETING L.P.; DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; DELL USA L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; FORCE10 NETWORKS, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A.
Reel/Frame 049452/0223 →
PATENT SECURITY INTEREST (CREDIT) Recorded Jun 12, 2017
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; MOZY, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: CREDIT SUISSE AG, CAYMAN ISLANDS BRANCH, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 042768/0585 →
PATENT SECURITY INTEREST (NOTES) Recorded Jun 12, 2017
From: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.; EMC CORPORATION; EMC IP HOLDING COMPANY LLC; MOZY, INC.; WYSE TECHNOLOGY L.L.C.
To: THE BANK OF NEW YORK MELLON TRUST COMPANY, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 042769/0001 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Feb 23, 2017
From: SHETTY, SUDHIR VITTAL; SANE, SANJAY; RAJAGOPALAN, BALAJI; HUTCHESON, JACOB R.; NARA, PRAKASH; CHANDRASEKHAR, BABU
To: DELL PRODUCTS L.P.
Reel/Frame 041362/0468 →
Continuity (1)
Related Publication 20180241632A1 · Aug 23, 2018