KR20100073380A - Network management system capable of editing and managing objects graphically, and supporting various network appratuses - Google Patents

Abstract

PURPOSE: A network management system which can edit and control graphically, and support various network device are provided to easily perform network management about a new network device through graphical editing without complex network management protocol programming. CONSTITUTION: An editing unit(110) arranges at least one components of the network element and a network element(201~205) on a screen. The editing unit edits a command based on predetermined protocol corresponding to a command set. A viewer(130) receives selection of three set of commands about constitution elements thereof and a selected network device. The viewer transmits command corresponding to the selected command set to the network element. The viewer displays status information of the network element.

Description

NETWORK MANAGEMENT SYSTEM CAPABLE OF EDITING AND MANAGING OBJECTS GRAPHICALLY, AND SUPPORTING VARIOUS NETWORK APPRATUSES}

The present invention relates to a network management system, a so-called NMS (Network Management System), and more particularly, in order to facilitate the management of various network equipment, graphically and easily edit management objects for various network equipment, The present invention relates to a network management system that generates network protocol source code for a network device that needs to be managed without a knowledge of a control protocol for a device and enables graphic control.

The system, collectively referred to as network management system or network monitoring system, is a variety of network equipments such as hubs, routers, switches and bridges, which are narrowly located in a company or unit workplace and widely nationwide. Means a system for managing

Equipment repair through uninterrupted functioning, addition of new users, deletion of users, and instant grasp of failures for as few as hundreds to hundreds of thousands of network equipment providing an important foundation for corporate activities or national activities. And replacement must be carried out continuously. In today's enterprise environment that relies heavily on IT infrastructure, managing IT infrastructure without interrupting IT services has become an essential element for business continuity.

Accordingly, the network management system collects data related to the operation status of each device, such as fault data, configuration data, and statistical data for the network devices described above at the request of an administrator, or continuously in real time according to a prescribed management policy. Collect.

However, a company's network or an organization's network is not only composed of various network equipments of various companies for various reasons such as cost reduction, function addition, and discontinuous expansion. Compared to the number of network equipment, the actual number of management personnel is often insufficient.

Thus, standard protocols exist to enable standardized control of multiple network devices. A representative example is the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP).

In early TCP / IP network environment, ICMP (Internet Control Message Protocol) was used to check the connection status between devices. ICMP is a network layer protocol among the OSI layers, which makes it possible to obtain simple information such as whether each host connected to a network, regardless of operating system, and response time is checked. ).

However, in the whole network, there are old network equipments that do not support the above-mentioned SNMP, so that they are controlled / inquired / managed through a conventional console-based control command such as telnet. Not a lot.

In the case of a network management method such as telnet, the devices are controlled by various orders and commands for each network device, and even if the device supports SNMP, each device is used to instruct a control command based on the SNMP protocol. There is a problem that the management object MIB OID is identified and accordingly SNMP programming is additionally required.

In particular, as mentioned above, there is not enough network management personnel, and various network equipments are newly added or removed from the network, and thus the management program for the equipments is modified every time. The operation will be repeated. This not only causes a large loss of management power, but also a waste of time. In addition, the network management personnel must not only clearly understand the SNMP protocol, but also programming knowledge for program coding is required, and a considerable amount of advanced personnel are required for network management.

An object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to provide a network management system capable of graphically editing a network equipment object to be managed, and graphically control the edited network equipment object.

Another object of the present invention for solving the above problems is to provide a network management method capable of graphically editing a network equipment object to be managed, and graphically control the edited network equipment object.

The present invention for achieving the above object, as a network management system that can graphically edit the object indicating the network device to manage, and graphically manage the edited network equipment object, for the network equipment constituting the network A network database for storing information and connection relations between the network devices, the network device and at least one component of the network device are arranged in a drag-and-drop manner on a screen, and the network devices and components are targeted. At least one command set, an editor for editing a command based on a predetermined protocol corresponding to the command set and storing the command as a network device information file, and reading the network database and the network device information file to read network device objects. On the screen, the selected network device and a command set for the components of the network device are selected, and the command corresponding to the selected command set is transmitted to the network device, and the result is received to indicate the state of the network device. Provides a network management system consisting of a viewer that displays information.

Here, the network object to be managed may be at least one of a hub, a router, a switch, a bridge, a server, and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS).

Here, the component of the network device to be managed may be at least one of a port, a power status indicator, a fan status indicator, and an error status indicator.

Here, the command based on a predetermined protocol corresponding to the at least one command set stored in the network equipment information file may be a command based on a simple network management protocol (SNMP) protocol. In this case, the command based on the SNMP protocol may include a target MIB object OID (Object ID) and at least one SNMP operation of GET, GET-Next, SET, and Trap.

Here, the command based on a predetermined protocol corresponding to the at least one command set stored in the network equipment information file may be a telnet command script based on the Telnet protocol.

Here, the network equipment information file may include the shape information of the network device to be managed and the shape information of the network equipment components included in the network equipment.

Here, the network device information file may be configured to store a command set corresponding to the network device and network device elements to be managed.

In the case of using the network management system according to the present invention as described above, in the management of a network in which various network devices exist, there is no need to perform complicated network management protocol programming directly, and a network for a new network device through a graphic editing process. Management can be made easy.

In particular, in the network management system according to the present invention, since the configuration information for each network equipment, the supporting instruction set information, and the commands based on the management protocol (SNMP or Telent) corresponding to the instruction set are managed as the network equipment information file, The network device information file required for the new device may be edited, or the device manufacturer may be configured to provide the network device information file. Therefore, the administrator can facilitate management even in the case of a network in which various network equipments are mixed by collecting necessary network equipment information files.

As the invention allows for various changes and numerous embodiments, particular embodiments will be illustrated in the drawings and described in detail in the written description. However, this is not intended to limit the present invention to specific embodiments, it should be understood to include all modifications, equivalents, and substitutes included in the spirit and scope of the present invention. Like reference numerals are used for like elements in describing each drawing.

Terms such as first, second, A, and B may be used to describe various components, but the components should not be limited by the terms. The terms are used only for the purpose of distinguishing one component from another. For example, without departing from the scope of the present invention, the first component may be referred to as the second component, and similarly, the second component may also be referred to as the first component. And / or < / RTI > includes any combination of a plurality of related listed items or any of a plurality of related listed items.

When a component is referred to as being "connected" or "connected" to another component, it may be directly connected to or connected to that other component, but it may be understood that other components may be present in between. Should be. On the other hand, when a component is said to be "directly connected" or "directly connected" to another component, it should be understood that there is no other component in between.

The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular example embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the present invention. Singular expressions include plural expressions unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. In this application, the terms "comprise" or "have" are intended to indicate that there is a feature, number, step, operation, component, part, or combination thereof described in the specification, and one or more other features. It is to be understood that the present invention does not exclude the possibility of the presence or the addition of numbers, steps, operations, components, components, or a combination thereof.

Unless defined otherwise, all terms used herein, including technical or scientific terms, have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art. Terms such as those defined in the commonly used dictionaries should be construed as having meanings consistent with the meanings in the context of the related art and shall not be construed in ideal or excessively formal meanings unless expressly defined in this application. Do not.

Hereinafter, exemplary embodiments of the present invention will be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings.

Configuration of Network Management System According to the Present Invention

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a network management system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 1, the network management system 100 according to the present invention may include an editor 110, a network database 120, and a viewer 130.

On the other hand, the network 200 to be managed by the network management system 100 according to the present invention is composed of network equipment (201 ~ 205). Here, the network equipment may be configured in various ways such as a hub, a router, a bridge, a switch, a server, and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). In addition, each of the network devices 201 to 205 has components that can read and control the state, such as a port, an LED indicating a state, and a fan for heat dissipation. 1 exemplarily illustrates a small network composed of five devices.

First, the editor 100 arranges the network device and at least one component of the network device in a drag-and-drop manner on the screen by using the manager 10. Designates at least one command set for network devices and components, and edits a command based on a predetermined protocol corresponding to the command set and stores the command as a network device information file 111. That is, the editor 100 corresponds to a component that allows the manager 10 to edit and set objects managing the network devices 201 to 205 constituting the network 200 in a graphical manner. .

Next, the network database 120 is a component that stores information on the network devices 201 to 205 constituting the network 200 and the topology of the network devices.

As used herein, the term "database" is used to express the ability to store data, and is a strict meaning database defined in relation to the type of database, such as relational or object-oriented. It should be noted that the term is not limited to database. For example, even a simple file-base may serve as the network database 120 of the present invention as long as it stores and reads necessary information.

The viewer 130 reads the network database 120 and the network device information file 111 to display objects representing the network devices 201 to 205 on the screen, and to display the objects on the screen. A component that selects a command set for network devices and components, transmits a command corresponding to the selected command set to the network device, receives a result, and displays status information of the network device.

In other words, the viewer 130 uses the network device information file 111 edited by the manager 10 as a medium, and similarly, on the network 200 based on the network database 120 managed by the manager 10. It is a component that performs a function of actually managing the various types of network equipment (201 ~ 205) present in the.

That is, the editor 110 corresponds to an editing tool for graphically editing the network device and the components existing in the network device to be managed, and the viewer 130 is a network generated by the editor. Corresponds to a network management tool that communicates with the administrator through the device information file.

Hereinafter, the function and configuration of the editor 110, the network database 120, and the viewer 130 constituting the network management system 100 according to the present invention will be described in detail based on practical implementations.

Implementation of Network Management System According to the Present Invention

As mentioned above, in the network management system 100 according to the present invention, the editor 110 and the viewer 130 use the network device information file 111 as a medium to display information of network devices existing on the network. Will be shared.

That is, the editor 110 makes it possible to graphically edit the information of the network devices existing on the network by type, and the edited network device information file is read by the viewer 130, so that a predetermined network Configured to collect current status information of devices based on a management protocol or to convey control commands to the devices.

In this case, the network equipment information file 111 may be configured to exist individually according to the type of equipment existing on the network 200. That is, one network device information file may be assigned to each network device following a different management protocol, having a different name, and corresponding to a different type. In addition, when there are a plurality of identical network equipment, the same network information file is configured to be assigned as a medium for managing a plurality of network equipment.

For example, a network device information file corresponding to a device corresponding to the router device model name '111' manufactured by the manufacturer 'C' may exist, and corresponds to a device corresponding to the router device model name '222' manufactured by the manufacturer 'D'. There may be a network equipment information file.

Therefore, in the network management system 100 according to the present invention, the manager 10 may directly edit network device information files of all network devices existing in the network 200 managed by the administrator 10, but the network device may be manufactured. It may be configured to operate the network management system 100 according to the present invention by receiving a network equipment information file provided by the manufacturer in advance edited. In this case, an object of the present invention is that the manager 10 can easily manage a new network device simply by using a network device information file provided by the device company without knowledge of the management protocol of the network device managed by the manager 10. do.

2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an execution screen of an editor of a network management system according to the present invention.

The execution screen 300 of the editor 110 may drag-and-drop the shapes existing on the shape collection unit 310 and the shape collection unit 310, which prepares network devices and components constituting the network devices in advance. It may be configured to include a canvas 320 to be arranged in a drop manner.

That is, the shape of the network device to be managed by dragging and arranging shapes, such as a port, power LED, and error LED, prepared in advance in the shape collection unit 310 on the canvas 320 in a drag-and-drop manner. You can simply edit.

As described above, the network equipment information file is largely composed of the following two information elements, and therefore the editor 100 also provides a function of editing the following two information elements.

First, as described above, the network equipment shape information having the shape information of the network equipment object representing the shape of the network equipment to be managed.

3A is a conceptual diagram exemplarily illustrating a shape of network equipment being edited in an editor of a network management system according to the present invention.

3A illustrates an example in which a target network device 400 being edited by an editor is a switch. Ports 410, a power display LED (PWR LED) 420, and an error display are illustrated. Represents a network equipment object that is being designed, including components such as an LED (FAIL LED) 430 and a Fan Status LED (440).

That is, a canvas for drawing the shape of the network equipment to be edited by drag-and-drop operation of the components already prepared on the editing screen of the editor shown in FIG. 2 from the shape collection unit 310 ( The shape 400 of the network equipment may be drawn by dragging and placing on 320.

In this case, the shapes (ports, LEDs, etc.) existing in the shape collection unit 310 are for distinguishing the network equipment components represented by the respective shapes. When the shapes are arranged on the canvas 320, the corresponding configuration is applied to the corresponding network equipment. This means that the elements exist. For example, when twelve ports 410 are disposed on a canvas, the corresponding network device refers to a device having twelve ports.

To this end, the network device information file may store a location value, a background color, an image file, etc. for displaying the network device, and display the location value and display of network device components (ports, LEDs) constituting the network device. Information such as an image and attribute values specifying the type of each component may be stored. Since the storage method and the storage form of the information may vary depending on the implementation, a detailed description thereof will be omitted.

Secondly, in response to the network equipment shape information described above, the instruction set information designates a command set for executing control corresponding to the component for the network equipment or each component constituting the network equipment. That is, the command set means defining a read / write command that can be executed for the network device or the components of the network device.

3B is a conceptual diagram exemplarily illustrating a command set being edited in an editor of a network management system according to the present invention.

That is, in FIG. 3B, a screen for defining a command set for one of the ports 410 existing in the network equipment having the shape 400 illustrated in FIG. 3A is illustrated.

For example, "Read Port Status" for reading the current port state (Up / Down) for one of the ports 410, "Set Port UP" for setting the state of the current port. And a "set port down" command set.

For reference, in the network equipment shape editing screen illustrated in FIG. 3A, one port may be selected from the ports 410 among the network equipment shapes 400 arranged on the canvas 320, and the screen illustrated in FIG. 3B may be performed. . Or, if the same instruction set can be defined for all the ports 410 existing in the network equipment shape 400, it can be configured to define the instruction set by grouping the entire ports 410. It may be.

That is, in FIG. 3B, a list 510 of instruction sets executable for one or the port selected in FIG. 3A is displayed. In this case, one or more command sets executable for one component (port) may be provided.

Currently, in FIG. 3B, for a port, two command sets for reading the current port state ("read port state") and two command sets for setting the current port state ("port up setting" and "port down setting") ) Illustrates the state where.

By selecting one instruction set from the instruction set list 510, the attributes of the currently selected instruction set are displayed on the right 520. The attribute of the command set ("port up setting") illustrated in FIG. 3B illustrates a case in which the command set is composed of commands based on the SNMP protocol to be described later. For example, as information on the properties of the "Set Port Up" command set, an SNMP operation ("Set") based on the SNMP protocol, and a MIB OID (1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.7) to set the port state to Up. In addition, information such as setting value ("1") to be written to the corresponding OID by SNMP operation ("Set") should be edited as an attribute of the command set.

That is, the command set may correspond to commands according to the above-described SNMP protocol or Telnet protocol, respectively. The network device information file 111 stores commands based on a management protocol corresponding to each command set. Although FIG. 3B illustrates an example of configuring a command based on the SNMP protocol, a case of using a command based on SNMP and a case of using a telnet command will be described below as representative network management protocols.

1) Command set corresponds to SNMP protocol

Hereinafter, a case where the corresponding command set corresponds to a command based on the SNMP protocol will be described.

Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) is a standard protocol that allows a system or network administrator to remotely monitor and configure network devices. As the Internet becomes more common, the number of hosts connected to the network increases, and the configuration of the systems that make up the network becomes complicated and diversified. In 1988, a new standardization work was started on the Internet Architecture Board (IAB). System (SGMP), Simple Gateway Monitoring Protocol (SGMP), and Common Management Information Protocol / Services (CMIP / CMIS) have been proposed, but SNMP, which developed SGMP, has been adopted as a standard.

For reference, SNMP is a Management Network Information Protocol (MIB) that represents a set of information organized into a hierarchical tree structure for network management tasks, and the Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), a protocol related to access to MIBs. It is composed of

That is, in the case of network management through SNMP, an SNMP agent (that is, a client-client) is located in the network devices to be managed, and an SNMP manager (that is, a kind of server) is used in the network management system that is the subject of management. -server) is located. Accordingly, the network management system according to the present invention aims to perform a role of an SNMP manager and to facilitate control / management of SNMP agents located in heterogeneous network devices. In other words, based on the SNMP protocol for network devices to be managed, the network management program can be worked graphically without writing and modifying at the code level.

On the other hand, the SNMP agent (located on each network device) and the SNMP manager (network management system according to the present invention) can be assigned to share the object (the attributes of the network equipment and network equipment components) to be managed by each other This is necessary, which is the MIB mentioned earlier.

At this time, the general structure for defining MIB is Structure of Management Information (SMI), and SMI uses Abstract Syntax Notation (ASN.1) as an official language for describing data and data attributes. ASN.1 is a notation developed based on the Backus-Naur Form (BNF) to represent various kinds of data handled by the application layer of the OSI reference model. That is, ASN.1 represents data as data types and values, as in most other high-level programming languages.

4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a hierarchical structure of a MIB.

Referring to FIG. 4, the MIB is a hierarchical tree structure, for example, if it is desired to obtain system information (System Description) from a network device on which an SNMP agent is installed, ISO.org.dod.internet.mgmt.mib-2. You can specify the information in the same way as system.sysDescr so that the SNMP manager requests data from the SNMP agent.

At this time, since it is inconvenient to use the unique string described above, a unique number structured hierarchically is used, which is referred to as an object identifier (OID).

The MIB is managed by an organization called the Internet Assigned Number Authority (IANA), and companies that develop and sell new network equipment must be additionally assigned an OID through IANA. OIDs used by products from large companies like Cisco are becoming almost de facto standards, so most equipment manufacturers use de facto standard OIDs.

However, if there are OIDs that individual equipment manufacturers have implemented only for their own equipment, or for limited equipment, OID can be defined and used in private (4) enterprise (1). Therefore, the network device information file 111 used in the editor 110 and the viewer 130 according to the present invention can easily edit the information directly reflecting the individual characteristics of these devices, or equipment manufacturers for the convenience of the administrator. It can be a means of distribution.

5 is a diagram illustrating an example of configuration of command set information stored in a network equipment information file of a network management system according to the present invention.

FIG. 5 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a relationship between mapping OIDs of SNMP corresponding to individual command sets, SNMP operations for executing the command set, and the like, and exemplarily shows a table existing in a network device information file. .

That is, in the table illustrated in FIG. 5, as the command based on the SNMP protocol corresponding to the command set for the network device and the command set for the network device element, the OID and the corresponding OID of the object to be executed in the command set, respectively An SNMP operation ("Get", "Get Next", "Set", "Trap") to be performed is specified for (see FIG. 5 only for the operations "Get" and "Set").

Referring to FIG. 5, it is illustrated that command sets including “change system name”, “change location information” and “change contact” may be defined as a command set for the network device itself.

For example, "Change System Name" corresponds to OID of SNMP, 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.5.0, "Change Location Information" corresponds to OID, 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.6.0, and "Change Contact". It can be seen that corresponds to OID 1.3.6.1.2.1.1.4.0. In addition, SNMP operation "Set" is applied to these object MIB OIDs, and it is defined that a value of OctetString type can be input as a setting value.

In addition, referring to FIG. 5, the command set for the 'port' component constituting the network equipment is largely referred to as "read port status", "port up setting", "port down setting", and "read ARP table". It is illustrated that it can be defined. Additionally, "Address Table Read", "Interface Table Read", and "Router Table Read" may be defined, but are omitted in FIG.

For example, in the context of the "Read Port Status" instruction set, MIB OID 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.7.x corresponds (where x is the number of the port, for a switch with 12 ports). , Values from 1 to 12). In addition, an SNMP operation ("Get") is performed for the "Read Port Status" command set, and the result defines that an integer32 type value is read.

In addition, "Port Up Settings" and "Port Down Settings" illustrate that an SNMP operation ("Set") is performed with a value of 1 or 2 for the MIB OID 1.3.6.1.2.1.2.2.1.7.x. have. The rest of the description of the "Read ARP Table" command set is omitted.

That is, in the network equipment information file of the network management system according to the present invention illustrated in FIG. 5, a user directly adds and edits an OID corresponding to each instruction set to correspond to a component corresponding to various network equipment. You can edit the command set.

2) Command set corresponds to Telnet protocol script

In addition, hereinafter, a case in which the corresponding instruction set corresponds to the TELNET protocol will be described.

6 is a diagram illustrating another configuration example of the instruction set information stored in the network equipment information file of the network management system according to the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a mapping relationship with telnet scripts corresponding to individual instruction sets, and exemplarily shows a table existing in a network device information file.

That is, in the table exemplified in FIG. 6, the command set for the network device and the command set for the network device component each include a telnet command script that must be transmitted to the target network device in order to execute the corresponding command set. Saving.

For example, a telnet script that must be defined for a set of commands ("read system version") for reading the system version of a network device is a user name input (601), password input (602), system version read command for the telnet login process. ("show ver"; 603).

In addition, the telnet script, which should be defined for a command set for reading system information of a network device ("reading system information"), includes an ID input 604 and a password input 605 for a telnet login process, and a system version read command ( "show system" 606.

That is, the script means input values or telnet commands that must be executed on the telnet prompt in order for each command set to perform a desired task.

For example, for the "read system version" command set,

V1724 login: root <enter>

Password: <Enter>

V1724 # show ver <enter>

The script is entered in the form of (where V1724 is an example Telnet prompt consisting of the model name of the device).

For reference, the result of this is

Switch OS Version: 9.19 # 4428

Answered from the network equipment in the form of.

Here, the telnet script for the exemplary command sets is merely an example of one command set for one network device, and different telnet scripts may correspond to different command sets for different network devices.

In the case of 1) and 2), each command set corresponds to a MIB object OID and an SNMP command according to the SNMP protocol, and a case corresponding to a telnet script according to the telnet protocol.

However, in the network management system according to the present invention, the protocol executed corresponding to the instruction set accompanying each network equipment object is not limited to the SNMP and telnet protocols, but for network management other than the existing SNMP and telnet protocols. It should be understood that the protocol may correspond to a protocol (for example, a management protocol such as WMI-Windows Management Instrumentaiton for managing Windows-based servers) or various network management protocols to be developed in the future.

Referring back to FIG. 1, the viewer 130 reads the network database 120 and the network equipment information file 111 generated by the editor 110 described above, displays network equipment objects on the screen, and selects the selected network equipment objects. A command set for the network device and the components of the network device is selected, the command corresponding to the selected command set is transmitted to the network device, the result is received, and the status information of the network device is displayed on the screen.

7A is a conceptual diagram illustrating an execution screen of a viewer of a network management system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7A, the initial execution screen 700 of the network management system viewer according to the present invention may be configured such that a plurality of objects indicating network devices existing on a network to be managed are displayed.

That is, the initial execution screen 700 of the network management system viewer according to the present invention reads the network database 120, and grasps the connection relationship between the network devices existing in the network to be managed and the network devices, The network devices existing in the entire network are displayed on the screen in consideration of the connection relationship between the devices.

For example, the initial execution screen 700 of the viewer illustrated in FIG. 7A assumes the network 200 illustrated in FIG. 1. In the initial execution screen 700 of the viewer, five network devices are connected to each other. May be configured to output on the screen (five network devices 201 to 205 illustrated in FIG. 1 are represented by five network equipment objects 701 to 705 in FIG. 7A). At this time. FIG. 7A illustrates a simple network consisting of five network devices as an example, but a network having network devices ranging from tens to hundreds of units may be represented in this manner.

In this case, the network equipment objects may be configured such that each corresponds to one network equipment information file, and the same model network equipment of the same type may be configured such that several network equipment corresponds to one network equipment information file. Accordingly, the initial screen 700 of the viewer may be configured such that the network devices are positioned and displayed as respective nodes so as to correspond to the connection topology of the network devices to be managed.

In addition, each network device may be configured such that the shape, color, and size of the displayed icon vary according to the type (hub, router, switch, bridge, server) of the network device, the manufacturer of the network device, and the operation status of the network device. Could be.

In the viewer initial screen 700 of the network management system shown in FIG. 7A, a network device object 701 ˜ 705 that is a direct management target is clicked or double-clicked to a viewer screen that displays the corresponding network device object in more detail. It may be configured to allow progress. Alternatively, it may be possible to control common attributes of the selected network equipment objects by group by selecting several network equipment objects.

7B is a conceptual diagram illustrating an execution screen for one network device in the viewer of the network management system according to the present invention.

In the case where an icon 702 representing a target network device is selected on the initial screen 700 of the viewer illustrated in FIG. 7A, detailed shapes of individual network devices (202 devices represented by 702 objects) are displayed on the screen. Is displayed.

That is, the shape of the network equipment illustrated in FIG. 7B is the same as that of the network equipment designed by the editor described with reference to FIG. 3A. That is, the shape of the switch including the ports 702-1, the power LED 702-2, the error LED 702-3, and the like are illustrated by way of example.

The shape of such network equipment (e.g., switch equipment) is configured to read and display data related to the shape recorded by a predetermined format in the network equipment information file created by the design in the editor. Therefore, as described above, the network equipment information file may store location values, background colors, image files, etc. for indicating the network equipment, and network equipment components (ports, LEDs) constituting the network equipment. Information such as a location value, a display image, and an attribute value for designating a type of network equipment components may be stored.

On the other hand, the current state of the network equipment object and the network equipment components (eg, ports and LEDs) displayed on the viewer 130 may be configured to be monitored on the viewer by the above-mentioned trap.

In other words, the information on the network equipment and components displayed on the viewer is displayed in the viewer, and there is information that should be refreshed periodically without additional request from the administrator, or at the request of the administrator. There may be a case where the instruction set is invoked and the result should be read from the MIB of the target network equipment and displayed.

The network management system may operate in a polling manner to periodically send queries to network devices to be managed and receive a response.

In this case, if you are managing a network with 200 switches, routers, servers, and UPSs, 200 polls must occur. In particular, if the polling period is short, polling may occur several hundred times per second. If the network condition is poor or a failure occurs, serious problems may occur due to bottlenecks.

In order to solve this problem, SNMP also provides an SNMP manager that generates an interrupt in reverse when an event occurs in the SNMP agent by using an interrupt mechanism called a trap.

For example, the UP / DOWN state of the ports can thus be configured to be periodically indicated by a trap. In this case, the port components of the switch network device shown in FIG. 7A have state information generated by a trap registered in the SNMP agent of the network device without the administrator invoking a command set for finding out the state. It is delivered to SNMP manager periodically. Therefore, the viewer functioning as an SNMP manager in the network management system according to the present invention can display on the screen the information transmitted through the trap from each network device. That is, in FIG. 7A, the port up / down state of the switch equipment can be displayed in real time (for example, the port up state is turned on in green, and the port down state is turned on in black, etc.).

On the other hand, the administrator can directly invoke the required instruction set for the network devices as needed.

7C is a conceptual diagram illustrating a screen for executing a command set for one network device in a viewer of a network management system according to the present invention.

Referring to FIG. 7C, the administrator executes an instruction set that can be executed for the device object itself or each component by selecting the network device object itself displayed on the screen or selecting a component of the network device. Can be directed.

For example, an administrator places a cursor on a component of a network device and clicks the right button of the mouse, or moves the cursor to the background of the network device on which the component of the network device is not located and clicks the right button of the mouse. In addition, the command set executable for the target object may be displayed in the form of a context menu 710.

In this case, the displayed command set list may be displayed by a list of command sets corresponding to the corresponding network device and the network device component by the command set edit screen of FIG. 3B.

Therefore, the administrator can select the command set to be executed in the context menu, so that the command according to the SNMP protocol or the Telnet protocol for the corresponding network device and the network device component can be transmitted to the actual network device.

That is, according to the command set selection of the administrator, from the table stored in the network device information file illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, the SNMP associated with the corresponding network device and the command sets corresponding to the corresponding network device or the network device components. OID and SNMP operations according to protocols, and telnet scripts according to the telnet protocol are queried and executed by the viewer.

Finally, the management / control command corresponding to the command set by the viewer is transmitted to the target network device through the SNMP protocol or the Telnet protocol, and each network device responds to the command according to the corresponding protocol, and the result value is similarly SNMP. The protocol or Telnet protocol is used to return to the viewer of the network management system according to the present invention. Accordingly, the viewer finishes by displaying the received result value on the corresponding part of the network equipment object on the viewer execution screen.

Therefore, this operation may be repeated for the selected network device again if another network device is selected again on the viewer initial screen illustrated in FIG. 7A, and the network device component is displayed on the viewer screen for the network device illustrated in FIG. 7B. It can be performed repeatedly as you select. Alternatively, the method may be repeatedly performed by selecting another instruction set for the corresponding element on the context menu displayed in FIG. 7C.

It will be apparent to those skilled in the art that various modifications and variations can be made in the present invention without departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention as defined by the following claims It can be understood that

1 is a block diagram showing the configuration of a network management system according to the present invention.

2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating an execution screen of an editor of a network management system according to the present invention.

3A is a conceptual diagram exemplarily illustrating a shape of network equipment being edited in an editor of a network management system according to the present invention.

3B is a conceptual diagram exemplarily illustrating a command set being edited in an editor of a network management system according to the present invention.

4 is a conceptual diagram illustrating a hierarchical structure of a MIB.

5 is a diagram illustrating an example of configuration of command set information stored in a network equipment information file of a network management system according to the present invention.

6 is a diagram illustrating another configuration example of the instruction set information stored in the network equipment information file of the network management system according to the present invention.

7A is a conceptual diagram illustrating an execution screen of a viewer of a network management system according to the present invention.

<Explanation of symbols for the main parts of the drawings>

100: network management system 110: editor

120: network database 130: viewer

200: network 201 to 205: network equipment

Claims (8)

A network management system capable of graphically editing an object indicating a managed network device and graphically managing the edited network device object. A network database for storing information on network devices constituting a network and a connection relationship between the network devices; Drag and drop the network device and at least one component of the network device on a screen, designate at least one command set for the network device and the components, and correspond to the command set. An editor for editing a command based on a predetermined protocol and storing the command as a network equipment information file; And The network database and the network device information file are read, the network device objects are displayed on the screen, a command set for the selected network device and the components of the network device is selected, and the command corresponding to the selected command set is recalled. A network management system comprising a viewer for transmitting to a network device, receiving a result, and displaying status information of the network device. The method of claim 1, The network device to be managed is at least one of a hub, a router, a switch, a bridge, a server, and an uninterruptible power supply (UPS). The method of claim 1, The component of the network device to be managed is at least one of a port, a power status indicator, a fan status indicator, and an error status indicator. The method of claim 1, And a command based on a predetermined protocol corresponding to the at least one command set stored in the network equipment information file is a command based on a simple network management protocol (SNMP) protocol. The method of claim 4, wherein The SNMP protocol-based command comprises a target MIB object OID (Object ID) and at least one SNMP operation of GET, GET-Next, SET, and Trap. The method of claim 1, And a command based on a predetermined protocol corresponding to the at least one command set stored in the network equipment information file is a telnet command script based on a telnet protocol. The method of claim 1, The network device information file, The network management system comprising the shape information of the network device to be managed and the shape information of the network device components included in the network device. The method of claim 1, The network device information file, And a command set corresponding to the managed network device and the network device components.

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