Local Object Instance Discovery for Metric Collection on Network Elements

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-2016352595-A1
Application number	US-201514722875-A
Country	US
Kind code	A1
Filing date	May 27, 2015
Priority date	May 27, 2015
Publication date	Dec 1, 2016
Grant date	—

Abstract

In an embodiment, a computer-implemented method collects metrics on a network element. The method includes receiving, on the network element, a specification of the objects on the network element to monitor. The network element queries an object data structure representing management information of the network element to identify instances of each of the specified objects. For respective instances identified, the network element queries the object data structure for metric values associated with the respective instance. Finally, data representing the instance and the associated metric value is transmitted from the network element to a network information server over a network.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1 . A computer-implemented method for collecting metrics on a network element, comprising:
(a) receiving, on the network element, a specification of the objects on the network element to monitor; (b) querying, on the network element, an object data structure representing management information of the network element to identify instances of each of the specified objects; (c) for respective instances identified in (b), querying, on the network element, the object data structure for metric values associated with the respective instance; and (d) transmitting, from the network element to a network information server over a network, data representing the instance and the associated metric value.

2 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting (d) comprises transmitting, from the network element to a plurality of network information servers over the network, the data representing the instance and the associated metric value.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the receiving (a) comprises receiving the specification from the network information server that looks up the network element in an inventory database with network topology information and transmits the specification in a plurality of network elements selected according to the inventory database.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting (d) occurs periodically.

5 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the transmitting (d) is scheduled according to business rules.

6 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the object data structure is hierarchical.

7 . The method of claim 6 , wherein the specification of objects is a plurality of Object Identifiers (OIDs) formatted according to the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), wherein the data structure is a Management Information Base (MIB) for the network element, and wherein the querying (b) and (c) occurs using SNMP.

8 . A non-transitory computer-readable medium having instructions stored thereon that, when executed by at least one computing device, causes the at least one computing device to perform a method for collecting metrics on a network element, the method comprising:
(a) receiving, on the network element, a specification of the objects on the network element to monitor; (b) querying, on the network element, an object data structure representing management information of the network element to identify instances of each of the specified objects; (c) for respective instances identified in (b), querying, on the network element, the object data structure for metric values associated with the respective instance; and (d) transmitting, from the network element to a network information server over a network, data representing the instance and the associated metric value.

9 . The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the transmitting (d) comprises transmitting, from the network element to a plurality of network information servers over the network, the data representing the instance and the associated metric value.

10 . The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the receiving (a) comprises receiving the specification from the network information server that looks up the network element in an inventory database with network topology information and transmits the specification in a plurality of network elements selected according to the inventory database.

11 . The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the transmitting (d) occurs periodically.

12 . The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the transmitting (d) is scheduled according to business rules.

13 . The computer-readable medium of claim 8 , wherein the object data structure is hierarchical.

14 . The computer-readable medium of claim 13 , wherein the specification of objects is a plurality of Object Identifiers (OIDs) formatted according to the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), wherein the data structure is a Management Information Base (MIB) for the network element, and wherein the querying (b) and (c) occurs using SNMP.

15 . A network element device that collecting metrics, comprising:
a processor; a memory, coupled to the processor, that stores an object data structure representing management information of the network element; a client configuration module executed by the processor to receive a specification of the objects on the network element to monitor; a discovery module executed by the processor to query, on the network element, the object data structure to identify instances of each of the specified objects; a collection module that, for respective instances identified by the discovery module, queries, on the network element, the object data structure for metric values associated with the respective instance; and a scheduling module that transmits, from the network element to a network information server over a network, data representing the instance and the associated metric value.

16 . The device of claim 15 , wherein the scheduling module transmits, from the network element to a plurality of network information servers over the network, the data representing the instance and the associated metric value.

17 . The device of claim 15 , wherein the transmission occurs periodically.

18 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the scheduling module schedules the transmission according to business rules.

19 . The device of claim 1 , wherein the object data structure is hierarchical.

20 . The device of claim 6 , wherein the specification of objects is a plurality of Object Identifiers (OIDs) formatted according to the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), wherein the data structure is a Management Information Base (MIB) for the network element, and wherein the discovery and collection modules use SNMP.

Assignees

• Level 3 Communications Llc

Inventors

• Yermakov Sergey
• Caputo Ii Pete Joseph

Classifications

• H04L41/0233 Primary

  Object-oriented techniques, for representation of network management data, e.g. common object request broker architecture [CORBA] · CPC title

• H04L41/0853

  by actively collecting configuration information or by backing up configuration information · CPC title

• H04L41/0213

  Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP] · CPC title

• H04L41/0806 Primary

  for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play · CPC title

• H04L43/065

  related to network devices · CPC title