System and method for suppressing side-effect alarms in heterogenoeus integrated wide area data and telecommunication networks

A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for suppressing side-effect alarms in a network management system that includes a plurality of programmatic objects each representing elements of a managed network, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

• creating and storing state information for each of the objects, wherein the state information comprises a current connection state value and a parent object state value;
• receiving connection information that defines a connection in the network;
• receiving segment alarm information that identifies an alarm condition of a segment of the connection;
• determining a new connection state value as a result of the segment alarm identified in the segment alarm information and based on the current connection state value;
• selectively suppressing or forwarding an alarm reflecting the new connection state value based on the parent object state value, a self state transition value, and a secondary state transition value.

A network management system that automatically suppresses side-effect alarms, comprising:

• a plurality of programmatic objects each representing elements of a managed network;
• one or more connection managers, wherein each connection manager manages connections between network end stations in a particular sub-network of the network;
• an alarm suppression mechanism that is communicatively coupled to the connection managers and that has access to the objects, and comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by one or more processors, carry out the steps of:
• creating and storing state information for each of the objects, wherein the state information comprises a current connection state value and a parent object state value;
• receiving connection information that defines a connection in the network;
• receiving segment alarm information that identifies an alarm condition of a segment of the connection;
• determining a new connection state value as a result of the segment alarm identified in the segment alarm information and based on the current connection state value;
• selectively suppressing or forwarding an alarm to the connection managers reflecting the new connection state value based on the parent object state value, a self state transition value, and a secondary state transition value.

An apparatus for suppressing side-effect alarms in a network management system that includes a plurality of programmatic objects each representing elements of a managed network, comprising:

• means for creating and storing state information for each of the objects, wherein the state information comprises a current connection state value and a parent object state value;
• means for receiving connection information that defines a connection in the network;
• means for receiving segment alarm information that identifies an alarm condition of a segment of the connection;
• means for determining a new connection state value to which the connection transitions as a result of the segment alarm identified in the segment alarm information and based on the current connection state value;
• means for selectively suppressing or forwarding an alarm reflecting the new connection state value based on the parent object state value, a self state transition value, and a secondary state transition value.

In a computer program that carries out network management functions, a data processing method that suppresses spurious secondary alarms that are generated as side effects of primary alarms, wherein the computer program is defined in an object-oriented programming language and creates and manages a plurality of programmatic objects each representing elements of a managed network, the method comprising the steps of:

• creating and storing state information in association with each of the objects, wherein the state information comprises a current connection state value, a secondary state value, and a parent object state value;
• receiving connection information that defines a connection in the network between nodes in the network;
• receiving segment alarm information that identifies an alarm condition of a segment of the connection that joins intermediate network elements that are logically disposed between the nodes in the network;
• determining a new connection state value to which the connection transitions as a result of the segment alarm identified in the segment alarm information and based on the current connection state value;
• selectively suppressing or forwarding an alarm reflecting the new connection state value based on the parent object state value, a self state transition value, and the secondary state transition value.

A device for suppressing side-effect alarms in a network management system that includes a plurality of programmatic objects each representing elements of a managed network, comprising:

• a network interface capable of connection to a network for receiving network messages therefrom;
• a processor that is coupled to the network interface for receiving network messages therefrom and configured to perform the steps of:
• creating and storing state information for each of the objects, wherein the state information comprises a current connection state value and a parent object state value;
• receiving connection information that defines a connection in the network;
• receiving segment alarm information that identifies an alarm condition of a segment of the connection;
• determining a new connection state value to which the connection transitions as a result of the segment alarm identified in the segment alarm information and based on the current connection state value;
• selectively suppressing or forwarding an alarm reflecting the new connection state value based on the parent object state value, a self state transition value, and a secondary state transition value.