Device and service discovery across multiple network types

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11329887-B2
Application number	US-201916596416-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Oct 8, 2019
Priority date	May 5, 2017
Publication date	May 10, 2022
Grant date	May 10, 2022

Abstract

A computer network discovery system may involve a computing system and a database disposed within a remote network management platform, and a proxy server application disposed within an enterprise network. The computing system may be configured to: transmit first instructions causing the proxy server application to obtain configuration and operational information for virtual machines; store the configuration and operational information for the virtual machines in a first set of tables of the database; transmit second instructions causing the server device to obtain configuration and operational information for services; and store the configuration and operational information for the services in a second set of tables of the database, where the first set and the second set of tables have tables in common that store at least part of the configuration and operational information for the virtual machines and the services.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer network discovery system comprising:
a processor; and
a memory storing:
a database accessible by a remote network management platform, wherein the remote network management platform manages a managed network;
instructions that, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:
logging onto a server device of a third party network with account credentials used to log onto the managed network, wherein the server device is not in the managed network;
transmitting, to the server device, instructions to initiate discovery of devices and services that are hosted by the third party network and are provided to the managed network by the third party network;
receiving, from the server device, configuration and operational information for the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network;
storing the received configuration and operational information in the database; and
providing a graphical user interface representing data corresponding to the received configuration and operational information.

2. The computer network discovery system of claim 1 , wherein the database is configured to store the received configuration and operational information for the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network in accordance with a data model used to store configuration and operational information corresponding to additional devices and services of the managed network.

3. The computer network discovery system of claim 2 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising receiving, via the graphical user interface, an input defining relationships between the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network and the additional devices and services of the managed network.

4. The computer network discovery system of claim 2 , wherein the received configuration and operational information for the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network is stored in a first set of tables in the database, wherein the configuration and operational information corresponding to the additional devices and services of the managed network is stored in a second set of tables in the database, and wherein the first set of tables and the second set of tables have tables in common that store parts of both the received configuration and operational information for the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network and the configuration and operational information corresponding to additional devices and services of the managed network.

5. The computer network discovery system of claim 4 , wherein each of the tables in common is a parent table to a respective pair of tables, wherein each respective pair of tables comprises:
a first table storing the received configuration and operational information for the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network; and
a second table storing the configuration and operational information corresponding to the additional devices and services of the managed network.

6. The computer network discovery system of claim 1 , wherein the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network include one or more virtual machines, applications, web sites, or additional databases, or a combination thereof, leased to the managed network.

7. The computer network discovery system of claim 1 , wherein the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network are available in multiple physical data centers in different geographic locations.

8. The computer network discovery system of claim 1 , wherein the instructions, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising using a proxy server application disposed within the managed network to log onto the server device of the third party network with account credentials used to log onto the managed network.

9. The computer network discovery system of claim 8 , wherein the configuration and operational information for the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network is obtained by way of application programming interfaces.

10. The computer network discovery system of claim 1 , wherein the third party network is not associated with an operator of the managed network or an operator of the remote network management platform.

11. A method comprising:
logging onto a server device of a third party network, by a computing system of a managed network, with account credentials used to log onto the managed network, wherein the server device is not in the managed network;
transmitting, by the computing system, instructions to cause the server device to initiate discovery of devices and services that are hosted by the third party network and are provided to the managed network by the third party network;
receiving, by the computing system, configuration and operational information from the server device, wherein the received configuration and operational information corresponds to the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network;
storing, by the computing system, the received configuration and operational information in a database; and
providing, to a client device, a graphical user interface representing data corresponding to the received configuration and operational information.

12. The method of claim 11 , wherein storing the received configuration and operational information corresponding to the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network comprises storing the received configuration and operational information in accordance with a data model used to store configuration and operational information corresponding to additional devices and services of the managed network.

13. The method of claim 12 , comprising receiving, via the graphical user interface, an input defining relationships between the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network and the additional devices and services of the managed network.

14. The method of claim 12 , wherein storing the received configuration and operational information corresponding to the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network comprises storing the received configuration and operational information in a first set of tables in the database, wherein the method comprises storing the configuration and operational information corresponding to the additional devices and services of the managed network in a second set of tables in the database, and wherein the first set of tables and the second set of tables have tables in common that store parts of both the received configuration and operational information for the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network and the configuration and operational information corresponding to the additional devices and services of the managed network.

15. The method of claim 14 , wherein each of the tables in common is a parent table to a respective pair of tables, wherein each respective pair of tables comprises:
a first table storing the received configuration and operational information for the devices and services provided by the third party network to the managed network; and
a second table storing the configuration and operational information corresponding to the additional devices and services of the managed network.

Assignees

• Servicenow Inc

Inventors

• Grisco Gregory
• Francis Steve
• Bylahalli Shridhar

Classifications

• H04L43/08

  Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters · CPC title

• H04L43/20

  the monitoring system or the monitored elements being virtualised, abstracted or software-defined entities, e.g. SDN or NFV · CPC title

• H04L41/122

  of virtualised topologies, e.g. software-defined networks [SDN] or network function virtualisation [NFV] · CPC title

• H04L41/0895

  Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements · CPC title

• H04L41/40

  using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities · CPC title