US 6,633,909 B1Granted

Notification method that guarantees a system manager discovers an SNMP agent

AssigneeInternational Business Machines Corporation

InventorsJeffrey Lee Barrett, Simon C. Chu, David Joseph Doria, Christopher C. Gaskins, James Franklin Macon, Jr., Gregg Matthew Margosian, Michael Robert Primm, Gregory Brian Pruett, Jianping Yang

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Abstract

A method for a guaranteeing a network manager discovers SNMP agents on a communications network. Each SNMP agent transmits a trap to the network manager. The trap contains the network manager's IP address and the SNMP agent's identifying information, including its IP address. When the trap is received at the network manager, it is parsed for the agent identifying information, which is compared against a list of previously identified/discovered agents. If the agent identifying information is not found, i.e., if the agent is a newly discovered agent, the network manager adds the agent to the list of discovered agents. The agent is then registered/stored in the discovered agents file. When the trap does not include sufficient identifying information, the network manager sends a query to the agent to extract additional identifying information. The system manager is thus able to discover all connected agents without broadcasting a query message.

Claims18

Dependent claims

A network, comprising:

a network manager;
a plurality of agents coupled by connecting links to said network manager each agent being capable of sending a notification trap to said network manager via said connecting links;
means for transmitting said notification trap from said agent to said network manager, said means being instantiated by a user of said agent and utilizing said connecting links, wherein the transmission of said notification trap is completed without said network manager issuing a broadcast message on the network to solicit said notification trap, and network bandwidth utilized in a notification process is reduced;
means for receiving said notification trap at said network manager;
means for said network manager to extract identifying information of said agent from said notification trap, wherein said means includes:
means for determining when said notification trap contains sufficient identifying information;
and
means for sending a query on said network from said network manager directly to said agent to extract an identifying information from said agent when said notification trap fails to include sufficient identifying information;
means for comparing said identifying information with a list of previously recorded identifying information to determine when said identifying information has not previously been received;
and
means, responsive to said comparing means, for adding said identifying information to said list when not previously received, thus recording a discovery of said agent on said network.

8 more elements

A method for efficient discovery by a network manager of an agent on a network, said method comprising the steps of:

transmitting a notification trap from said agent to said network manager, said transmission being instantiated by a user of said agent, wherein the transmission of said notification trap is completed without said network manager issuing a broadcast message on the network to solicit said notification trap, and network bandwidth utilized in a notification process is reduced;
receiving said notification trap at said network manager;
extracting identifying information of said agent from said notification trap, wherein said extracting step includes:
determining when said discovery trap contains sufficient identifying information;
and
responsive to said determining step, sending a query on said network from said network manager to said agent to extract an identifying information from said agent when said discovery trap fails to include sufficient identifying information;
comparing said identifying information with a list of previously recorded identifying information to determine when said identifying information has not previously been received;
and
responsive to said comparing step, adding said identifying information to said list when not previously received, thus recording a discovery of said agent on said network.

6 more elements

A computer program product for efficient discovery by a network manager of an agent on a network, said computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage medium;
program instructions on said storage medium for:
receiving a notification trap at said network manager transmitted from said agents wherein the network trap is one that is generated at said agent and transmitted by said agent independent of said network manager, wherein further said notification trap is generated without said network manager broadcasting a message on the network soliciting said notification trap;
extracting identifying information of said agent from said notification trap, wherein said program instructions for said extracting step includes program instructions for:
determining whether said discovery trap contains sufficient identifying information;
and
responsive to said determining step, sending a direct query on said network from said network manager to said agent to extract the identifying information from said agent when said discovery trap fails to include sufficient identifying information;
comparing said identifying information with a list of previously recorded identifying information to determine when said identifying information has not previously been received;
and
responsive to said comparing step, adding said identifying information to said list when not previously received, thus recording a discovery of said agent on said network.

7 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.