Method and apparatus for network management system

A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions readable by the machine to perform a method in a system having a bus and a system controller connected to the bus, said bus having a plurality of fixed ports, each of said ports capable of connecting a router card to the system controller, a method of sending a file from the system controller to a router card connected at a fixed port, said fixed port having a port address, the method comprising:

• receiving a request packet at the system controller from the router card, said request packet including a file type and the port address;
• examining the file type and port address from said request packet to determine the file at the system controller to retrieve, said request packet not containing a media access control (MAC) address for the router card and not including information regarding a file name for the file;
• retrieving the file;
• transmitting a size and name of the file from the system controller to the router card;
• and
• sending one or more data packets comprising the file from the system controller to the router card.

In a system having a bus and a system controller connected to the bus, said bus having a plurality of fixed ports, each of said ports capable of connecting a router card to the system controller, a method of receiving a file from the system controller by a router card connected at a fixed port, said fixed port having a port address, the method comprising:

• sending a request packet to the system controller upon power up of the router card, said request packet including a file type and the port address, not containing a media access control (MAC) address for the router card and not including information regarding a file name for the file;
• receiving a file size and name for the file from the system controller;
• setting up a buffer of a size at least as large as said file size;
• receiving a data packet containing a portion of the file from the system controller;
• checking the data packet for correctness;
• and
• sending an acknowledgement for the data packet to the system controller if the data packet is correct.

A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions readable by the machine to perform a method in a system having a bus and a system controller connected to the bus, said bus having a plurality of fixed ports, each of said ports capable of connecting a router card to the system controller, a method of receiving a file from the system controller by a router card connected at a fixed port, said fixed port having a port address, the method comprising:

• sending a request packet to the system controller upon power up of the router card, said request packet including a file type and the port address, not containing a media access control (MAC) address for the router card and not including information regarding a file name for the file;
• receiving a file size and name for the file from the system controller;
• setting up a buffer of a size at least as large as said file size;
• receiving a data packet containing a portion of the file from the system controller;
• checking the data packet for correctness;
• and
• sending an acknowledgement for the data packet to the system controller if the data packet is correct.

In a system having a bus and a system controller connected to the bus, said bus having a plurality of fixed ports, each of said ports capable of connecting a router card to the system controller, a method of managing an active router card and an inactive router card comprising:

• sending a request packet from the active router card to the system controller upon power up of the active router card, said request packet including a file type of a file to be downloaded and a port address, not containing a media access control (MAC) address for the active router card and not including information regarding a file name for the file;
• receiving a file size and name of said file on the active router card from the system controller;
• setting up a buffer of a size at least as large as said file size on the active router card;
• receiving a first data packet containing a portion of the file on the active router card from the system controller;
• checking the first data packet for correctness on the active router card;
• sending an acknowledgement for the first data packet from the active router card to the system controller if the first data packet is correct;
• detecting a failure of the active router card;
• sending a request packet from the inactive router card to the system controller upon power up of the inactive router card, said request packet including a file type of a file to be downloaded and the port address;
• receiving a file size and name of said file on the inactive router card;
• setting up a buffer of a size at least as large as said file size on the inactive router card;
• receiving a second data packet containing a portion of the file on the inactive router card from the system controller;
• checking the second data packet for correctness on the inactive router card;
• and
• sending an acknowledgement for the second data packet from the inactive router card to the system controller if the second data packet is correct.

A program storage device readable by a machine, tangibly embodying a program of instructions readable by the machine to perform a method for managing an active router card and in inactive router card in a system having a bus and a system controller connected to the bus, said bus having a plurality of fixed ports, each of said ports capable of connecting a router card to the system controller, the method comprising:

• sending a request packet from the active router card to the system controller upon power up of the active router card, said request packet including a file type of a file to be downloaded and a port address, not containing a media access control (MAC) address for the active router card and not including information regarding a file name for the file;
• receiving a file size and name of said file on the active router card from the system controller;
• setting up a buffer of a size at least as large as said file size on the active router card;
• receiving a first data packet containing a portion of the file on the active router card from the system controller;
• checking the first data packet for correctness on the active router card;
• sending an acknowledgement for the first data packet from the active router card to the system controller if the first data packet is correct;
• detecting a failure of the active router card;
• sending a request packet from the inactive router card to the system controller upon power up of the inactive router card, said request packet including a file type of a file to be downloaded and a port address;
• receiving a file size and name of said file on the inactive router card;
• setting up a buffer of a size at least as large as said file size on the inactive router card;
• receiving a second data packet containing a portion of the file on the inactive router card from the system controller;
• checking the second data packet for correctness on the inactive router card;
• and
• sending an acknowledgement for the second data packet from the inactive router card to the system controller if the second data packet is correct.