System and method for configuring a network device
View Patent ↗A system and method for communicating with network devices without regard to the device type and/or manufacturer is described. In one embodiment, the present invention provides a global graphical user interface (GUI) for communicating with various network devices. The global GUI includes an intuitive interface driven by a template library. For each device type and each device manufacturer, this template library can store both the attribute fields required for device configuration and the format for communicating those attribute fields. When a network administrator wants to communicate with a particular network device, the template associated with that device can be retrieved from the template library. The network administrator can then populate the attribute fields of that template with the appropriate data. This attribute data can be formatted and provided to the network device.
1. A method for communicating with a network device, the method comprising:
receiving a message indicating a network event has occurred, the network event affecting communications among the network device and other network devices;
comparing the network event with a collection of policies to determine a response to the network event;
retrieving a command-format template corresponding to the network device, wherein the command-format template indicates how to construct a device-specific command for the network device and includes an attribute field;
identifying, in accord with the determined response to the network event, attribute data corresponding to the attribute field;
generating the device-specific command for the network device using the retrieved command-format template and the identified attribute data; and
providing the generated device-specific command to the network device.
2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of retrieving the command-format template comprises the step of:
retrieving the command-format template from a central repository, wherein the central repository is configured to store a plurality of command-format templates, each of which correspond to at least one of a plurality of network devices.
3. The method of claim 2 , wherein the step of retrieving the command-format template comprises the step of:
traversing a data repository to identify the command-format template in the plurality of command-format templates that corresponds to the received network device identifier.
4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of retrieving the command-format template comprises the step of:
retrieving formatting data associated with the command-format template.
5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of populating the attribute field comprises the step of:
receiving the attribute data from a network administrator.
6. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of populating the attribute field comprises the step of:
receiving the attribute data from a network information system.
7. The method of claim 1 , wherein the generating the device-specific command comprises the step of:
forming an XML message comprising at least an indication of the formatted attribute data.
8. The method of claim 7 , wherein the generating the device-specific command comprises the step of:
forming an HTTP message comprising at least an indication of the network device identifier.
9. The method of claim 8 , wherein generating the device-specific command comprises the step of:
forming a frame comprising the XML message and the HTTP message.
10. The method of claim 1 , wherein generating the device-specific command comprises the step of:
forming a frame comprising at least an indication of the formatted attribute data and at least an indication of the network device identifier; and
comparing the generated frame to a desired configuration template result.
11. The method of claim 10 , wherein the step of providing the generated device-specific command to the network device comprises the step of:
pushing the frame to the network device.
12. The method of claim 10 , further comprising the step of:
extracting the attribute data from the frame.
13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising:
altering the operation of the network device in accordance with a desired configuration template so as to generate an altered configuration record;
comparing the altered configuration record to an expected altered configuration template;
returning the network device to a previous operational state if the comparing indicates the alteration is not implemented correctly; and
storing the altered configuration record in a data repository.