Connectivity management system client inventory and configuration operation for interconnected connectivity management clients

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11924045-B2
Application number	US-202217874401-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jul 27, 2022
Priority date	Jul 27, 2022
Publication date	Mar 5, 2024
Grant date	Mar 5, 2024

Abstract

A system, method, and computer-readable medium are disclosed for performing a data center connectivity management operation. The connectivity management operation includes: providing a plurality of data center assets with a respective plurality of data center asset client modules; establishing a connection between the respective plurality of data center asset client modules and a connectivity management system, the connectivity management system comprising a connectivity management system aggregator; discovering interrelationships of the plurality of data center assets; and, generating a topological map of the plurality of data center assets based upon the interrelationships of the plurality of data center assets.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A computer-implementable method for performing a data center connectivity management operation, comprising:
providing a plurality of data center assets with a respective plurality of data center asset client modules;
establishing a connection between the respective plurality of data center asset client modules and a connectivity management system, the connectivity management system comprising a connectivity management system aggregator, the establishing the connection between the data center asset client module and the connectivity management system establishing the connectivity management system client in a trusted and claimed state, the trusted state indicating a channel of communication between the data center asset and the connectivity management system is guaranteed, the claimed state indicating the data center asset can be authenticated and bound to a user;
discovering interrelationships of the plurality of data center assets using the connection between the respective plurality of data center asset client modules and the connectivity management system; and,
generating a topological map of the plurality of data center assets based upon the interrelationships of the plurality of data center assets.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
using the topological map of the plurality of data center assets when performing a connectivity management operation.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
designating one of the respective plurality of data center asset client modules as a primary data center asset client module; and,
designating others of the respective plurality of data center asset client modules as secondary data center asset client modules.

4. The method of claim 3 , wherein:
the primary data center asset client module provides the connectivity management system with data center asset interconnectivity information; and,
the connectivity management system uses to data center asset interconnectivity information to discover the interrelationships of the plurality of data center assets.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein:
the primary data center asset client module functions as a proxy to automate configuration and claiming processes associated with the plurality of data center assets.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein:
the data center asset interconnectivity information includes type-length-value (TLV) information contained within Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) packets associated with at least some of the plurality of data center assets.

7. A system comprising:
a processor;
a data bus coupled to the processor;
a data center asset client module; and,
a non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program code, the non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium being coupled to the data bus, the computer program code interacting with a plurality of computer operations and comprising instructions executable by the processor and configured for:
providing a plurality of data center assets with a respective plurality of data center asset client modules;
establishing a connection between the respective plurality of data center asset client modules and a connectivity management system, the connectivity management system comprising a connectivity management system aggregator, the establishing the connection between the data center asset client module and the connectivity management system establishing the connectivity management system client in a trusted and claimed state, the trusted state indicating a channel of communication between the data center asset and the connectivity management system is guaranteed, the claimed state indicating the data center asset can be authenticated and bound to a user;
discovering interrelationships of the plurality of data center assets using the connection between the respective plurality of data center asset client modules and the connectivity management system; and,
generating a topological map of the plurality of data center assets based upon the interrelationships of the plurality of data center assets.

8. The system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions executable by the processor are further configured for:
using the topological map of the plurality of data center assets when performing a connectivity management operation.

9. The system of claim 7 , wherein the instructions executable by the processor are further configured for:
designating one of the respective plurality of data center asset client modules as a primary data center asset client module; and,
designating others of the respective plurality of data center asset client modules as secondary data center asset client modules.

10. The system of claim 9 , wherein:
the primary data center asset client module provides the connectivity management system with data center asset interconnectivity information; and,
the connectivity management system uses to data center asset interconnectivity information to discover the interrelationships of the plurality of data center assets.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein:
the primary data center asset client module functions as a proxy to automate configuration and claiming processes associated with the plurality of data center assets.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein:
the data center asset interconnectivity information includes type-length-value (TLV) information contained within Link Layer Discovery Protocol (LLDP) packets associated with at least some of the plurality of data center assets.

13. A non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium embodying computer program code, the computer program code comprising computer executable instructions configured for:
providing a plurality of data center assets with a respective plurality of data center asset client modules;
establishing a connection between the respective plurality of data center asset client modules and a connectivity management system, the connectivity management system comprising a connectivity management system aggregator, the establishing the connection between the data center asset client module and the connectivity management system establishing the connectivity management system client in a trusted and claimed state, the trusted state indicating a channel of communication between the data center asset and the connectivity management system is guaranteed, the claimed state indicating the data center asset can be authenticated and bound to a user;
discovering interrelationships of the plurality of data center assets using the connection between the respective plurality of data center asset client modules and the connectivity management system; and,
generating a topological map of the plurality of data center assets based upon the interrelationships of the plurality of data center assets.

14. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 13 , wherein the computer executable instructions are further configured for:
using the topological map of the plurality of data center assets when performing a connectivity management operation.

15. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 14 , wherein the computer executable instructions are further configured for:
designating one of the respective plurality of data center asset client modules as a primary data center asset client module; and,
designating others of the respective plurality of data center asset client modules as secondary data center asset client modules.

16. The non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium of claim 15 , wherein:
the primary data center asset client module provid

Assignees

• Dell Products Lp

Inventors

• Shetty Sudhir V
• Atkinson Christopher
• Williams Eric
• Earley Damon G
• Prunier Dominique
• Young Susan E

Classifications

• H04L41/12 Primary

  Discovery or management of network topologies · CPC title

• H04L43/045

  for graphical visualisation of monitoring data · CPC title

• H04L43/0811

  by checking connectivity · CPC title