JP2000224262A - Network management system - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To obtain a network management system by which a communication network consisting of various devices with different management object forms and different network management protocols can efficiently be managed. SOLUTION: A processing function part depending on a form of a management object among functions of a network management system built up on a distribution object platform CORBA is integrated by gateways 7, 8 and a processing function part independently of the form is integrated with an object operation request section 4, a name management section 5 and an IMO management section 6. Then the IMO management section 6 stores a cross reference between an instance name and an attribute name of a management object processed by the object operation request section 4 and an instance identifier to identify a management object instance of object devices 2, 3 to be managed and a network management protocol type, and a gateway to be used is specified depending on the instance name and the attribute name of the management object to manage a device with the form of different management objects such as SNMP and CMIP.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

[0001] 1. Field of the Invention [0002] The present invention relates to a network management system (NMS) built on a distributed environment platform CORBA, and more particularly to a format of a management object of a device to be managed and a dependency on a network management protocol. The present invention relates to a network management system suitable for efficiently managing managed devices having various types of managed objects, which eliminates performance.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art Communication lines, communication devices, computers, etc.
A common object request broker A (CORBA), which is one of the computing platforms premised on a distributed processing environment, for the purpose of efficiently managing a network for monitoring a failure occurring in the network.
rchitecture) has been proposed. This CORB
A is an ORB (Object Request) function for exchanging messages between objects in a distributed system environment.
Broker).

However, the management objects handled in actual network management differ from device to device. For example,
SNMP (Simple N)
In the case of a device that uses the network management protocol (etwork Management Protocol; TCP / IP), the managed object handled is MIB (Managed Information Base).
It is called.

[0004] In this case, the class of the MIB is represented by an object identifier (OID).
The relationship between MIB instances is represented by an instance index. And the instance is
IP address set in the device and OI of MIB
It is identified by an instance identifier represented by a combination of D and an instance index.

As a network management protocol, CMIP (Common Management Information Protocol;
In the case of an apparatus using an OSI network management protocol), the managed object to be handled is called an MO (Managed Object) that defines the managed object.

[0006] The containment relationship of the network resources represented by the MO is represented by a containment tree, and the relationship between the instances of the management object is represented by the relationship attributes held in the MO. The instance is composed of an MO object identifier (OID) and an FDN (Full Distinguished).
Name) is identified by an instance identifier expressed by a name rule called “Name”. Here, the FDN refers to each RDN (Relative Distinguished Nam) from the top of the containment tree to the instance to be managed.
e) is described in order from the top.

As described above, the format of a managed object to be managed is different for different network management protocols such as SNMP and CMIP. Further, even when the same management function is provided using the same network management protocol, the format of the management object to be mounted may be different depending on the device to be managed. Therefore, even in the same network management protocol, it is necessary to build a network management system in consideration of the format of the management object.

[0008] As described above, the communication network is composed of various devices having various types of management objects, and management communication between the network management system and those devices constituting the network, such as SNMP and CMIP. There are a plurality of network management protocols that perform the above. In such a communication network, the network management system does not depend on devices having various types of managed objects, and does not depend on a plurality of network management protocols. It is desirable to be able to respond flexibly to

However, according to the conventional technology, the network management system is constructed by being aware of the format of the managed object of the device to be managed (device to be managed) and the network management protocol to be used, and depending on them. There is a need. For example, when managing a device having a new management object format, the network management system needs to be rebuilt.

[0010] Regarding the network management technology using such a management object, for example, “Multimedia Network Series Network Operation” edited by Tadashi Shimada / Masayoshi Yoshida and Masayoshi Ejiri (199)
4th year, published by Ohm Co., Ltd.), pp. 36-54.

[0011]

The problem to be solved is that the conventional technology flexibly corresponds to various management object formats and network management protocols of each device constituting a communication network to be managed. Network management cannot be performed.

An object of the present invention is to solve the problems of the prior art and to efficiently manage a communication network composed of various devices having different management object formats and network management protocols. It is to provide.

[0013]

In order to achieve the above object, a network management system according to the present invention is a network management system constructed on a distributed object platform CORBA, and comprises a format of a management object for each managed device. Information Management Object (IMO: Information Managed Object) defined to be able to provide a network management service function without depending on
ct), an object operation request unit that does not depend on the format of the managed object of the managed device (requests various software modules in accordance with the processing content of the network management service function), and (IMO) A name management unit for managing an instance name of the object and an instance identifier IOR of an object used on CORBA;
It has an IMO management unit for managing an instance of the MO, and depends on the format of the management object of the managed device (PD corresponding to the network management protocol).
(A process that depends on the format of the managed object of the managed device, such as creation and recognition of U).

As described above, of the functions of the network management system, the processing function part which depends on the format of the management object is collected in the gateway, and the processing function part which does not depend on the object operation request part, the name management part and the IMO management part. The correspondence relationship between the instance name and attribute name of the managed object handled by the object operation request unit, the instance identifier for identifying the managed object instance of the managed device, and the network management protocol type is defined as IM.
The gateway used by a plurality of gateways that perform processing depending on the format of the managed object is selectively used according to the instance name and attribute name of the managed object that is held in the O management unit and does not depend on the format of the managed object and the network management protocol. As a result, devices having various types of managed objects can be managed using a plurality of network management protocols such as SNMP and CMIP without depending on the devices to be managed.

[0015]

Embodiments of the present invention will be described below in detail with reference to the drawings. FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an embodiment of the configuration of the network management system of the present invention according to the present invention. In FIG. 1, reference numeral 1 denotes a network management system (described as “NMS” in the figure), 2 denotes a managed device that uses SNMP for a network management protocol, and 3 denotes a managed device that uses CMIP for a network management protocol. is there.

The network management system 1 of the present embodiment includes an object operation request unit 4, a name management unit 5, an IMO management unit 6, and a gateway (described as "SNMP GW unit" in the figure).
7 and gateway ("GW section for CMIP" in the figure)
8) are connected via an ORB 9 defined by the distributed object platform CORBA.

Object operation request unit 4 and name management unit 5
And the IMO management unit 6 performs processing independent of the format of the managed object of the managed devices 2 and 3, and the gateway 7 and the gateway 8 perform the processing of the managed object format and the network of the managed devices 2 and 3. Collection processing of management information depending on the type of management protocol, here, SNMP or CMIP is performed.

That is, the object operation requesting unit 4
Requests processing from various software modules according to the processing content of the network management service function. The name management unit 5 includes an instance name of an information management object (IMO: Information Managed Object) defined without depending on the format of the management object of the managed devices 2 and 3 and an object (CORBA) used on CORBA.
Object) instance identifier (IOR: Intern)
et Object Reference).

The IMO management unit 6 has the configuration shown in FIG. 2 and manages an instance of an information management object (IMO). The gateway 7 supports SNMP,
In addition, the gateway 8 has a PDU (Pr
Processing such as creation and recognition of an otocol Data Unit is performed depending on the format of the managed object of each of the managed devices 2 and 3.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of the IMO management unit in FIG. The IMO management unit 6 includes an IMO management DB unit 10, an IMO management processing unit 11, and an IMO management operation request unit 12.

As shown in FIG. 3, the IMO management DB unit 10 stores an instance name and an attribute name of a managed object handled by the object operation requesting unit 4 and an instance identifier for identifying a managed object instance of the managed devices 2 and 3. And network management protocol types,
It also holds attribute information.

The IMO management processing unit 11 receives an operation request from the object operation request unit 4 and receives the operation request from the IMO management DB unit 1.
Based on the correspondence between the instance name and attribute name held in 0, the instance identifier, and the network management protocol type, the gateways 7 and 8 that make operation requests are determined. The IMO management operation request unit 12 issues an operation request to the gateways 7 and 8 determined by the IMO management processing unit 11.

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of information held in the IMO management DB unit in FIG. IMO management DB
In the unit 10, the IMO instance information 31 and the IMO
Information 32 on the correspondence between attribute names and instance identifiers of
Information 33 for accessing a GW (gateway) is held. The instance identifier is used to identify a managed object instance of the managed devices 2 and 3.

As information 31 of the IMO instance,
Holds the IMO instance name and IMO class name. I
As the information 32 of the correspondence between the attribute name of the MO and the instance identifier, the attribute name of the IMO, the class name of the managed object, the FDN, and the OID of the attribute are stored. However, the class name and FDN of the management object are held when the network management protocol type is CMIP.

The information 33 for accessing the GW unit includes a network management protocol type (CMIP / S
NMP). In particular, when the network management protocol type is SNMP, the IP address and the community name are stored. Hereinafter, the processing operation of the network management system having the configuration shown in FIGS. 1 to 3 will be described with reference to FIG.

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing a processing operation example of the network management system in FIG. 1 according to the present invention. The object operation request unit 4 stores a host name, a server name, and a CO representing the IMO instance name, which are running the IMO management unit 6 that manages the IMO instance.
In order to clarify the instance identifier (IOR) of the RBA object, the name management unit uses the instance name (IMO identifier) of the management target managed by the object operation request unit 4 uniquely determined in the management target network as a search key. 5 for the host name, server name and I
Request OR (S1).

In response to the request from the object operation request unit 4, the name management unit 5 retrieves the host name, server name, and IOR that match the search conditions, and responds to the object operation request unit 4 (S2). As a result, the object operation requesting unit 4 transmits the IMO
The host and server running the MO management unit 6;
The IOR corresponding to the MO instance can be specified.

Then, using the host name, server name, and IOR where the IMO instance of the IMO management unit 6 obtained from the name management unit 5 as described above, the object operation requesting unit 4 uses the IMO management unit 6 Management processing unit 1
1 is requested (S3).

The IMO management processing section 11 in the IMO management section 6
Searches the IMO management data DB unit 10 using the instance name and attribute name of the management target requested from the object operation request unit 4 as a key (S4), and checks whether the corresponding network management protocol, instance identifier, and the presence or absence of the information. A determination is made (S5).

If information exists, its IMO management DB
A response is made to the object operation requesting unit 4 using the information held by the unit 10 (S6). If there is no information, the gateways 7 and 8 that make the operation request are determined from the protocol type and the instance identifier. (S
7) Instruct the IMO management operation request unit 12 to use the gateways 7 and 8 and issue an operation request (S8). The IMO management operation request unit 12 issues an operation request to the gateways 7 and 8 specified by the IMO management processing unit 11 (S9).

In this way, the IMO management operation request unit 12
In response to the operation request, the gateways 7 and 8 generate a PDU corresponding to the network management protocol and perform processing depending on the format of the management object according to the operation request. An operation request is made (S10), and a response is received (S11),
Responds to the IMO management processing unit 11 (S12). And
The IMO management processing unit 11 that has received the responses from the gateways 7 and 8 further responds to the object operation requesting unit 4 (S13).

As described above with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4, the network management system 1 of this embodiment is built on the distributed object platform CORBA, and its processing function depends on the format of the management object. It is divided into functional parts (gateways 7 and 8) and independent processing functional parts (object operation request unit 4, name management unit 5, and IMO management unit 6), The correspondence between the attribute names, the instance identifiers for identifying the managed object instances of the managed devices 2 and 3, and the network management protocol type is stored in the IM
The gateway used by the gateways 7 and 8 that perform processing dependent on the format of the management object is stored in the O management DB unit 10 and performs processing depending on the format of the management object according to the instance name and attribute name of the management target and the network management protocol that do not depend on the format of the management object. .

As a result, the managed devices 2 and 3 having different management object formats can be efficiently managed. Since a network management system can be flexibly constructed without depending on the managed devices 2 and 3 as described above, for example, every time a management object of a new managed device is defined, network management is performed. There is no need to recompile system software.

The present invention is not limited to the example described with reference to FIGS. 1 to 4 and can be variously modified without departing from the gist thereof. For example, in this example,
Network management protocol is SNMP or CMIP
However, the present invention is not limited to these. In the IMO management unit 6, a response from the gateway may be held in the IMO management DB unit 10 and reused.

[0035]

According to the present invention, on the distributed object platform CORBA, it is possible to flexibly cope with various management object formats and network management protocols of each device constituting the communication network, and to realize a communication network including various devices. Management can be performed efficiently.

[Brief description of the drawings]

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

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a configuration example of an IMO management unit in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an explanatory diagram showing an example of information held in an IMO management DB unit in FIG. 2;

FIG. 4 is a sequence diagram showing an example of a processing operation according to the present invention of the network management system in FIG. 1;

[Explanation of symbols]

1: Network management system (NMS) 2: Managed device (using SNMP) 3: Managed device (CM
IP: 4) Object operation request section, 5: Name management section, 6: IMO management section, 7: Gateway (SNMP)
GW section), 8: Gateway (CMIP GW section),
9: ORB (CORBA), 10: IMO management DB unit,
11: IMO management processing unit, 12: IMO management operation requesting unit, 31: IMO instance information, 32: IMO attribute name and instance identifier information, 33:
Information for accessing the GW unit.

 ──────────────────────────────────────────────────続 き Continuing on the front page (72) Inventor Akira Murashige 3-19-2 Nishi-Shinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo Inside Japan Telegraph and Telephone Corporation (72) Inventor Naoki Watanabe 3--19, Nishishinjuku, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo No. 2 Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation F term (reference) 5B089 GA31 HB07 HB10 JA11 JA36 JB16 KB03 KB06 KF06 5K030 GA14 HB08 JA10 KA07 MA01 MC07 5K035 AA06 BB02 EE01 HH07 KK01

Claims (4)

[Claims] 1. A network management system configured using a distributed platform CORBA and managing a plurality of managed devices each having a different managed object format, wherein each managed object of the plurality of managed devices is One or more management information collecting means for collecting management information depending on the format of the management object, and an instance of an information management object (IMO) uniquely defined in advance without depending on the format of the management object of the managed device. Name management means for storing a name in association with an instance identifier (IOR) of an object used on CORBA, and requesting the name management means for an IOR corresponding to the instance name of the IMO to be managed,
R, an object operation request means for making an operation request for the IMO instance to be managed, and a management object in the form of a management object corresponding to the instance name and attribute name of the IMO to be managed received in the operation request from the object operation request means The management information collection means for collecting management information is specified, and the specified management information collection means is provided with an IMO management means for performing an operation request for the IMO instance to be managed, connected via an ORB, respectively. A network management system. 2. The network management system according to claim 1, wherein the IMO management unit corresponds to an instance name and an attribute name of the information management object to be managed received in advance by an operation request from the object operation requesting unit. And a management DB unit for storing an instance identifier for identifying a managed object instance of the managed device and a network management protocol type, and receiving an operation request from the object operation request unit based on the storage contents of the management DB unit. Read the instance identifier and the network management protocol type and attribute information for identifying the managed object instance of the managed device corresponding to the instance name and attribute name of the information management object to be managed, and specify the management information collecting means. A network management system, comprising: a management processing unit for performing the operation; and a management operation requesting unit for making an operation request to the management information collection unit specified by the management processing unit. 3. The network management system according to claim 2, wherein the IMO management unit stores information corresponding to an attribute name of the information management object to be managed received in an operation request from the object operation request unit. When stored in the management DB means, the network management system further comprises means for passing the information to the object operation request means via the management processing means. 4. The network management system according to claim 1, wherein the name management means stores an operation request for an instance of the IMO as information to be stored in association with the instance name of the IMO. The host has the identification information of the host and the server running the IMO management means for specifying the above, and the object operation request means acquires the identification information of the host and the server together with the IOR from the name management means, and A network management system for making the operation request to the host and server specified by the identification information.