Port assignment of network devices reference and management

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-9769036-B1
Application number	US-201414521789-A
Country	US
Kind code	B1
Filing date	Oct 23, 2014
Priority date	Oct 23, 2014
Publication date	Sep 19, 2017
Grant date	Sep 19, 2017

Abstract

Implementations of the present disclosure involve an apparatus, device, component, and/or method for management of port assignments of networking devices connected to a network and reference materials associated with the port assignments. In one embodiment, a reference material is provided that illustrates the port assignments for one or more networking devices. The reference material may include a full-color illustration of the network device and a port label near each communication port of the network device. The port label may include a description of the port, a port reference number, and a color-coded reference that provides a quick indication of the type of traffic associated with the port. In addition, one embodiment of the present disclosure may automatically populate the reference material based on information obtained from a network administrator or from the network itself.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method for generating a reference for a networking device, the method comprising:
receiving interconnectivity information of the networking device of a network;
populating a port assignment reference with a device illustration corresponding to the networking device, the device illustration comprising a full-color image of the back panel of the networking device, a plurality of ports associated with the networking device located on the full-color image of the back panel of the networking device, and a plurality of port labels, wherein each of the plurality of port labels corresponds to and is adjacent to at least one of the plurality of ports associated with the networking device;
providing port traffic text within each of the plurality of port labels of the device illustration, the port traffic text for each of the plurality of port labels corresponding to a type of traffic carried by the corresponding at least one of the plurality of ports to each of the plurality of port labels, based at least on the received interconnectivity information of the networking device;
creating a computer file of the port assignment reference; and
displaying the port assignment reference on a display device.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein each of the plurality of port labels comprises a color portion corresponding to a type of traffic carried by the corresponding at least one of the plurality of ports.

3. The method of claim 2 wherein the port assignment reference comprises a traffic-color legend, the traffic-color legend comprising a plurality of colors and an associated plurality networking traffic type such that each of the plurality of colors corresponds to a networking traffic type.

4. The method of claim 3 wherein the plurality of colors of the traffic-color legend comprises eight distinct colors.

5. The method of claim 3 wherein at least one of the networking traffic type of the traffic-color legend is customer-specific networking traffic.

6. The method of claim 1 wherein the port traffic text for at least one of the plurality of port labels indicates the corresponding at least one of the plurality of ports is available for future expansion of the networking device within the network.

7. The method of claim 1 wherein the port traffic text for each of the plurality of port labels is editable through inputs received at a computing device.

8. The method of claim 1 wherein at least one of the plurality of port labels corresponds to a subset of the plurality of ports, the subset of the plurality of ports having the same network traffic.

9. The method of claim 1 wherein the networking device is a fabric switch.

10. A non-transitory computer readable media comprising computer executable instructions to perform a method of generating a reference for a networking device comprising:
receiving interconnectivity information of the networking device of a network;
populating a port assignment reference with a device illustration corresponding to the networking device, the device illustration comprising a full-color image of the back panel of the networking device, a plurality of ports associated with the networking device located on the full-color image of the back panel of the network device, and a plurality of port labels, wherein each of the plurality of port labels corresponds to and is adjacent to at least one of the plurality of ports associated with the networking device;
providing port traffic text within each of the plurality of port labels of the device illustration, the port traffic text for each of the plurality of port labels corresponding to a type of traffic carried by the corresponding at least one of the plurality of ports to each of the plurality of port labels, based at least on the received interconnectivity information of the networking device; and
creating a computer file of the port assignment reference.

11. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 10 wherein each of the plurality of port labels comprises a color portion corresponding to a type of traffic carried by the corresponding at least one of the plurality of ports.

12. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 11 wherein the port assignment reference comprises a traffic-color legend, the traffic-color legend comprising a plurality of colors and an associated plurality networking traffic type such that each of the plurality of colors corresponds to a networking traffic type.

13. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 12 wherein the plurality of colors of the traffic-color legend comprises eight distinct colors.

14. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 12 wherein at least one of the networking traffic type of the traffic-color legend is customer-specific networking traffic.

15. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 10 wherein the port traffic text for at least one of the plurality of port labels indicates the corresponding at least one of the plurality of ports is available for future expansion of the networking device within the network.

16. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 10 wherein the port traffic text for each of the plurality of port labels is editable through inputs received at a computing device.

17. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 10 wherein at least one of the plurality of port labels corresponds to a subset of the plurality of ports, the subset of the plurality of ports having the same network traffic.

18. The non-transitory computer readable media of claim 10 wherein the networking device is a multilayered switch of a network.

19. A system for generating a reference for a networking device, the system comprising:
a processing device; and
a non-transitory computer readable media comprising computer executable instructions that, when executed by the processing device, performs the operations of:
receiving interconnectivity information of the networking device of a network;
populating a port assignment reference with a device illustration corresponding to the networking device, the device illustration comprising full-color image of the back panel of the networking device, a plurality of ports associated with the networking device located on the full-color image of the back panel of the network device, and a plurality of port labels, wherein each of the plurality of port labels corresponds to and is adjacent to at least one of the plurality of ports associated with the networking device;
providing port traffic text within each of the plurality of port labels of the device illustration, the port traffic text for each of the plurality of port labels corresponding to a type of traffic carried by the corresponding at least one of the plurality of ports to each of the plurality of port labels, based at least on the received interconnectivity information of the networking device; and
creating a computer file of the port assignment reference.

Assignees

• Vce Co Llc
• Vce Ip Holding Co Llc

Inventors

• Sweeney Denis
• Ferguson Colin

Classifications

• H04L41/26 Primary

  using dedicated tools for LAN [Local Area Network] management · CPC title

• H04L41/24

  using dedicated network management hardware · CPC title

• H04L43/0876

  Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level · CPC title

• H04L43/045 Primary

  for graphical visualisation of monitoring data · CPC title