JP2006033288A - Method for configuring monitoring system for monitoring selected network element - Google Patents

Abstract

<P>PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To provide a method of selectively acquiring effective information to a network element concerned with a user so as to monitor only a selected network element. <P>SOLUTION: In one embodiment disclosed herein, the method for configuring a monitoring system for monitoring the selected network element is provided. The method automatically finds out one network or more on a network, and generates identification data for identifying the one network element or more. The method generates identification data of a revised version in response to the user entry and monitors each of the network elements identified by the identification data of the revised version. <P>COPYRIGHT: (C)2006,JPO&NCIPI

Description

  The present invention relates to a device monitoring system, and more particularly to a method for configuring a monitoring system for monitoring selected network elements.

  The plurality of network elements may be communicably connected to a computer network such as a local area network (LAN). These network elements may include computers, printers, copiers, scanners, fax machines and other devices. Each network element may have a set of properties, or attributes, that currently describe the network element. Such attributes may contain information regarding the current status of certain network elements.

  For example, the printer status may describe whether the printer is powered on or off. The printer status may describe whether the printer is in use, being prepared, paper jammed, or out of toner. The printer status may describe how many pages the printer has output. Such status information may be useful for management, support, or billing purposes.

  A monitoring mechanism may be implemented to automatically obtain status information of network elements on a network. The monitoring mechanism monitors each network element included in the list of network elements. This monitoring mechanism may receive status information periodically provided by the network element, or may receive status information by actively polling the network element for status information. In response to polling, each polled network element returns current status information to the monitoring mechanism. The user may obtain status information collected by the monitoring mechanism.

  The list of network elements is generated manually through an automatic discovery mechanism or collected automatically. This automatic discovery mechanism searches the network for all network elements connected to the network. This auto-discovery mechanism adds all network elements that respond to the search to the list. This automatic discovery mechanism does not make a determination as to whether a particular network element is removed from the list. This automatic discovery mechanism does not add network elements that do not respond to the search to the list. As a result, network elements that are not configured to respond to the search are not added to the list and consequently are not subsequently polled by the monitoring mechanism.

  Since the automatic discovery mechanism does not make a determination as to whether a particular network element is removed from the list, the monitoring mechanism monitors all network devices that the automatic discovery mechanism has discovered on the network. In networks where many network elements are connected and polling is frequently performed, this monitoring greatly increases network traffic and degrades network performance. In addition, a user interested in viewing status information for only a few selected network elements may have a potentially large amount of status information that the user must search to obtain information that is actually of interest. May be overwhelmed. For example, a particular vendor may wish to obtain status information for devices manufactured by that particular vendor.

  The monitoring mechanism cannot collect status information for one or more network elements that the user is interested in obtaining status information because the automatic discovery mechanism does not add any network elements that do not respond to the search to the list. There is a case. In addition, there are some useful information about automatically discovered network elements that the automatic discovery mechanism cannot automatically discover. For example, if a network element is not configured to store information about its own location, the auto-discovery mechanism is unable to obtain location information about that network element. Users may have difficulty recognizing specific network elements based solely on information that can be automatically discovered.

  A method for configuring a monitoring system for monitoring selected network elements is highly desirable based on the need to selectively obtain useful information about network elements of interest to a user.

  According to one aspect of the invention, a method is provided for configuring a monitoring system for monitoring selected network elements. According to the method, one or more network elements on a network are automatically discovered. Identification data identifying each of the one or more network elements is generated. The modified version of the identification data is collected in response to user input. Each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data is monitored.

  According to the present invention, it is possible to selectively acquire effective information about network elements that are of interest to the user and to monitor only the selected network elements.

  Embodiments of the present invention will now be described by way of example and without limitation in the figures of the accompanying drawings in which like reference numerals indicate similar elements.

  In the following description, for the purposes of explanation, specific details are set forth in order to provide a thorough understanding of the present invention. However, it will be apparent that the invention may be practiced without these specific details. In some instances, well-known structures and devices are shown in block diagram form in order to avoid unnecessary ambiguity of the present invention.

  Network elements on a network are automatically discovered. All network elements connected to a specific subnet of the network are automatically discovered. This network element is any type of device. Exemplary devices include, but are not limited to, raster processing and print processing devices such as multifunction peripherals.

  Identification data identifying each of the respective network elements is generated. A hypertext markup language (HTML) web page containing this identification data is generated. This identification data is transferred, for example, in the form of an HTML web page to a remote computer representing the HTML web page in an internet browser application.

  The modified version of the identification data is generated in response to user input. This user input is received from a remote computer via an internet browser application. This modified version of the identification data may identify fewer network elements than the network elements identified in the initially generated identification data. This modified version of the identification data includes information about network elements that are not configured to be automatically discovered by the automatic discovery mechanism.

  An HTML web page containing the modified version of the identification data is generated. The HTML web page is forwarded to a remote computer that represents the HTML web page in an internet browser application.

  Each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data is monitored. Through monitoring, status information about each of the network elements identified in this modified version of the identification data is collected. This status information is transferred to the remote server. This status information is transferred at one or more specified times. This status information is transmitted in response to signals received from the remote computer through the Internet browser application.

  The remote server sends this status information to the user. Because this status information excludes information about network elements that are not included in the modified version of the identification data, the user is not burdened with data that the user is not interested in, and the data that the user is not interested in. The bandwidth to be transferred is not consumed. This status information may include information determined from the modified version of the identification data, and this information is not automatically discovered. Such information assists the user in identifying specific network elements. Since the modified version of the identification data is derived from the automatically discovered data, the user does not need to build such data from scratch.

[System for monitoring selected network elements]
FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating a system 100 configured to monitor selected network elements. This system includes a customer LAN 102, a management server 104, a printer 106A, a copier 106B, a multifunction peripheral device 106C, an administrator computer 108, a customer email server 110, the Internet 112, a central server 114, and a dealer email server. 116, a dealer LAN 118, and a dealer computer 120. In this embodiment, the printer 106A, the copier 106B, and the multi-function peripheral device 106C are collectively referred to as network elements 106A to 106C. The illustrated system is an example of such a system, but may include more or fewer components than those illustrated in other such systems.

  The management server 104, the network elements 106A to 106C, the administrator computer 108, and the customer e-mail server 110 are connected to the customer LAN 102 so as to be communicable. The customer LAN 102, the central server 114, and the dealer LAN 118 are communicably connected to the Internet 112. The dealer e-mail server 116 and the dealer computer 120 are communicably connected to the dealer LAN 118.

  The management server 104 is located remotely from the administrator computer 108 and the central server 114. Although the administrator computer 108 is shown communicatively connected to the customer LAN 102, the administrator computer 108 may instead be communicatively connected to the Internet 112. Alternatively, the administrator computer 108 may be directly connected to the management server 104. Therefore, the administrator computer 108 does not need to be directly connected to the customer LAN 102 in order to communicate with the management server 104.

  Management server 104 is configured to automatically discover network elements 106A-106C. Further, the management server 104 is configured to generate identification data that identifies each of the network elements 106A-106C and to generate a modified version of the identification data in response to user input from the administrator computer 108. Has been. The management server 104 is also configured to monitor each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data.

  In one embodiment of the invention, the management server 104 is configured to execute a web server application. The management server 104 is configured to structure the identification data according to a specified format. Further, the management server 104 is configured to generate an HTML web page that includes identification data automatically discovered by the management server. The management server 104 is also configured to transfer an HTML web page to the administrator computer 108 using the hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP). The management server 104 may be configured to upload identification data to the administrator computer 108 using a file transfer protocol (FTP).

  In one embodiment of the invention, the identification data is structured according to the format “<IP address> = <subnet mask>, <serial number>”. Where “<IP address>” is the internet protocol address of the automatically discovered network element, and “<subnet mask>” identifies the specific subnet in which the automatically discovered network element resides “<Serial number>” is the serial number of the automatically discovered element. For example, the identification data may include an entry that reads “172.30.2.225 = 255.255.255.0,00.00.aa.5b.65.af”.

  In one embodiment of the invention, the administrator server 104 is configured to download a modified version of the identification data from the administrator computer 108 using FTP. The administrator server 104 may be configured to generate an HTML web page that includes the modified version of the identification data and transfer the HTML web page to the administrator computer 108 using HTTP.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, each entry of the modified version of the identification data is structured according to the format “<IP address> = <subnet mask>, <serial number>, <additional ID>, <comment>”. It has become. Here, “<additional ID>, <comment>” is information that is not configured for the administrator server 104 to automatically discover. For example, this identification data may include an entry that reads “172.30.2.225 = 255.255.255.0,00.00.aa.5b.65.af.12345, OSD B & W Printer”.

  In one embodiment of the invention, the administrator server 104 is configured to automatically obtain status information for each of the network elements 106A-106C identified in the modified version of the identification data. Administrator server 104 may be configured to automatically obtain status information via a polling mechanism. According to one embodiment of the present invention, the administrator server 104 is configured to format this status information as an extensible markup language (XML) page.

  In one embodiment of the invention, the administrator server 104 is configured to generate an email that includes status information. The management server 104 sends this e-mail to the central server 114 and transmits this e-mail to the customer e-mail server 110 through the customer LAN 102. The administrator server 104 generates an email and sends the email at one or more specified times, for example, at a time or any time in response to receiving a signal from the administrator computer 108. May be configured.

  In one embodiment of the invention, each of the network elements 106A-106C includes a raster processing mechanism, a print processing mechanism, or both. One or more network elements 106 </ b> A- 106 </ b> C may be in a particular subnet of customer LAN 102. One or more network elements 106A-106C are configured to respond to a search for an automatic discovery mechanism and to provide status information to the administrator server 104 in response to being polled by the administrator server 104.

  According to one embodiment of the invention, the administrator computer 108 is configured to execute an Internet browser application such as Microsoft Internet Explorer or Netscape Navigator. The administrator computer 108 is configured to receive an HTML web via an Internet browser application and display an HTML web page. The administrator computer 108 may be configured to download identification data from the management server that identifies network elements that are automatically discovered by the management server 104 via an Internet browser application.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the administrator computer 108 uses a text editing application, such as Microsoft Notepad, to allow the user to generate a modified version of the identification data using the text editing application. Configured to run. The changed version of the identification data is uploaded to the management server 104 via the Internet browser application. The administrator computer 108 may be configured to receive an HTML web page and display the HTML web page via an Internet browser application.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, customer email server 110 is configured to receive email from management server 104 through customer LAN 102, which email is identified in the modified version of the identification data. Status information about each of the selected network elements. The customer e-mail server 110 sends the e-mail to the central server 114 through the Internet 112.

  In one embodiment of the invention, the central server 114 is configured to maintain a database and receive emails over the Internet 112. The central server 114 stores the status information included in the email in a database. The central server 114 also transmits status information about each of the network elements identified in the changed version of the identification data to the dealer e-mail server 116. For example, the central server 114 transmits this status information via the Internet 112 by e-mail. Alternatively, the central server 114 may send this status information to the dealer computer 120 using FTP.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the dealer email server 116 is configured to receive email over the Internet 112 that includes status information about each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data. Yes. The dealer e-mail server 116 is configured to upload an e-mail to the dealer computer 120 through the dealer LAN 118.

  In one embodiment of the invention, the dealer computer 120 is configured to execute an email application such as Microsoft Outlook. The dealer computer 120 downloads an email containing status information about each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data. The dealer computer 120 may download an email from the dealer email server 116 through the dealer LAN 118. Alternatively, dealer computer 120 may download status information from central server 114 using FTP.

[Technology for configuring a monitoring system to monitor selected network elements]
FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating a technique for configuring a monitoring system that monitors only selected network elements according to an embodiment of the present invention. This technique may be performed with respect to the system illustrated in FIG. Alternatively, this technique may be performed on other systems different from the system illustrated in FIG.

  At block 202, one or more network elements on a network are automatically discovered. For example, the management server 104 may automatically discover the network elements 106A-106C.

  At block 204, identification data identifying one or more automatically discovered network elements is generated. For example, the management server 104 may generate identification data that identifies the network elements 106A to 106C.

  At block 206, a modified version of the identification data is generated in response to user input. For example, the administrator computer 108 may download the original identification data from the management server 104. A user of the administrator computer 108 may edit the original identification data, possibly using a text editing application, to generate a modified version of the identification data. The modified version of the identification data may exclude one or more network elements identified in the initial identification data. The changed version of the identification data may include information that the management server 104 did not automatically discover. The modified version of the identification data may include one or more network elements that were not identified in the original identification data.

  For example, a user may identify only network elements 106B-106C (because the dealer is not interested in receiving printer 106A status information) and edit the identification data to not identify printer 106A. The user may edit the identification data to include names for users of the network elements 106B-106C, which may not be configured for automatic discovery by the management server 104. In addition, the user may add attributes of network elements 106 </ b> B to 106 </ b> C that are not discoverable by the management server 104. For example, the user may add to the identification data the serial number of the manufacturer of the copier 106B that would otherwise not be discoverable by the management server 104.

  At block 208, each network element identified with the modified version of the identification data is monitored. For example, the administrator computer 108 uploads the changed version of the identification data to the management server 104. The management server 104 monitors the network elements 106B to 106C and does not monitor the printer 106A. This is because the network elements 106B-106C are identified in the modified version of the identification data, but the printer 106A is not identified.

  At block 210, status information regarding each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data is transmitted to the remote device. For example, the management server 104 sends an e-mail addressed to the central server 114 to the customer e-mail server 110. In one embodiment of the invention, the email may be addressed to a dealer email account. This e-mail may include status information of the network elements 106B to 106C, but does not include status information of the printer 106A. This is because the network elements 106B-106C are identified in the modified version of the identification data, but the printer 106A is not identified. The customer e-mail server 110 sends an e-mail to the central server 114 through the Internet 112.

  In one embodiment of the invention, the automatically discovered network element is a device that includes a print processing mechanism, a raster processing mechanism, or both. For example, the printer 106A includes a print processing mechanism, and the copier 106B and the multifunction peripheral device 106C include both a raster processing mechanism and a print processing mechanism, respectively. Thus, all network elements 106A-106C may be automatically discovered. In one embodiment of the invention, all network elements on a particular subnet are automatically discovered.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, identification data identifying one or more automatically discovered network elements is sent to a remote device configured to represent the identification data in an internet browser application. . For example, a user of the administrator computer 108 may point an Internet browser application to a first HTML web page generated by the management server 104. In response to the request by the Internet browser application, the management server 104 transmits a first HTML web page to the administrator computer 108. This first HTML web page may contain identification data. Thus, the user may use an internet browser application to view the network element currently being monitored. Based on this information, the user may decide whether to edit the identification data.

  The first HTML web page may also include controls such as buttons that the user may activate to cause the Internet browser application to download identification data from the management server 104. In one embodiment of the invention, the user may specify a file in which the Internet browser application should store identification data on the administrator computer 108.

  In one embodiment of the present invention, the first HTML web page is like a button that the user may activate to cause the management server 104 to upload the modified version of the identification data to the Internet browser application. It may contain various controls. In one embodiment of the invention, the user may specify a file on the administrator computer 108 to which the Internet browser application should upload a modified version of the identification data. In one embodiment of the invention, the modified version of the identification data may be sent to a remote device that is configured to represent an HTML web page in an internet browser application. For example, in response to receiving a modified version of identification data from the administrator computer 108, the management server 104 may generate a second HTML web page. This second HTML web page may contain a modified version of the identification data. This second HTML web page may contain a statement that the modified version was successfully sent. The management server 104 returns this second HTML web page to the Internet browser application running on the administrator computer 108. Thus, the user may prove through the Internet browser application that the management server 104 has received the modified version of the identification data.

  In one embodiment of the invention, status information regarding each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data is transmitted to the remote device at one or more specified times. For example, the management server 104 sends an e-mail to the central server 114 at a plurality of times designated by the user.

  In one embodiment of the invention, status information about each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data is transmitted to the first remote device in response to receiving a signal from the second remote device. Is done. For example, the management server 104 may send an e-mail to the central server 114 in response to receiving a signal from the administrator computer 108. This signal may be sent in response to the user activating control on the HTML web page through an Internet browser application running on the administrator computer 108. Therefore, the user may cause the central server 114 to send status information at an arbitrary time.

  In one embodiment of the invention, the modified version of the identification data is generated remotely on the administrator computer 108 and uploaded to the management server 104, although in an alternative embodiment of the invention The changed version of the identification data may be generated locally on the management server 104.

[Realization mechanism]
FIG. 3 is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system upon which an embodiment of the invention may be implemented. The computer system 300 includes a bus 302 or other communication mechanism for exchanging information, and a processor 304 connected to the bus 302 for processing information. The computer system 300 also includes a main memory 306, such as random access memory (RAM) or other dynamic storage device, connected to the bus 302 for storing information and instructions executed by the processor 304. Contains. Main memory 306 may also be used to store temporary variables and other intermediate information during execution of instructions executed by processor 304. In addition, the computer system 300 includes a read only memory (ROM) 308 or other static storage device for storing static information and instructions for the processor. A storage device 310 such as a magnetic disk or optical disk is provided and connected to the bus 302 for storing information and instructions. The management server 104 may be realized by the computer system 300.

  Computer system 300 may be connected via bus 302 to a display 312 such as a cathode ray tube (CRT) for displaying information to a computer user. Input device 314 includes alphabets or other keys and is connected to bus 302 for exchanging information and command selections for processor 304. Another type of user input device is a cursor control 316 such as a mouse, trackball, stylus, or cursor direction key for exchanging direction information and command selections to the processor 304 and controlling cursor movement on the display 312. It is. The input device typically has two degrees of freedom in two axes, a first axis (eg, x) and a second axis (eg, y), which allows the device to The position in the plane can be specified.

  The invention is related to the use of computer system 300 for configuring a monitoring system for monitoring selected network elements. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a monitoring system is configured to monitor selected network elements in response to processor 304 executing one or more sequences of one or more instructions contained in main memory 306. A computer system 300 is provided for doing so. Such instructions may be read into main memory 306 from another computer readable recording medium such as storage device 310. By executing the instruction sequence included in the main memory 306, the processor 304 executes the processing steps described in this embodiment. In alternative embodiments of the present invention, hard-wired circuitry may be used in place of or in combination with software instructions to implement the present invention. Therefore, embodiments of the present invention are not limited to specific combinations of hardware circuits and software.

  The term “computer-readable medium” as used in this embodiment refers to any medium that participates in providing instructions to processor 304 for execution. Such a medium may take many forms, including but not limited to, non-volatile media, volatile media, and transmission media. Non-volatile media includes, for example, optical or magnetic disks such as storage device 310. Volatile media includes dynamic memory, such as main memory 306. Transmission media includes coaxial cables, copper wire, and optical fibers, including wires with bus 302. Transmission media can also take the form of sound waves or light waves, such as those generated during radio wave and infrared communications.

  Common forms of computer readable media are, for example, floppy disks, flexible disks, hard disks, magnetic tapes, or any other magnetic medium, CD-ROM, any other optical medium, punch card , Paper tape, any other physical media with hole pattern, RAM, PROM and EPROM, flash EPROM, any other memory chip or cartridge, carrier wave as described below, or computer-readable Includes any other possible media.

  Various forms of computer readable media may be involved in carrying one or more sequences of one or more instructions to processor 304 for execution. For example, this instruction may be initially transported to the remote computer's magnetic disk. The remote computer loads the instructions into its dynamic memory and sends the instructions over a telephone line using a modem. A modem local to computer system 300 receives the telephone line data and uses an infrared transmitter to convert the data to infrared data. Infrared detectors can receive data carried in the infrared signal and appropriate circuitry sends the data to bus 302. The bus 302 carries the data to the main memory 306, from which the processor 304 retrieves and executes instructions. The instructions received by main memory 306 may optionally be stored on storage device 310 either before or after execution by processor 304.

  The computer system 300 also includes a communication interface 318 connected to the bus 302. The communication interface 318 is connected to a network link 320 that is connected to the local network 322, and provides bidirectional data communication. For example, communication interface 318 may be an integrated services digital network (ISDN) card or modem for providing a data communication connection to a corresponding type of telephone line. As another example, the communication interface 318 may be a LAN card for providing a data communication connection to a compatible LAN. A wireless link may be realized. In any such implementation, communication interface 318 sends and receives electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams representing various types of information.

  Network link 320 provides data communication through one or more networks to other data devices. For example, the network link 320 may provide a connection through the local network 322 to a data device operated by a host computer 324 or an Internet service provider (ISP) 326. ISP 326 sequentially provides data communication services through a global packet data communication network now called the Internet 328. Local network 322 and Internet 328 both use electrical, electromagnetic or optical signals that carry digital data streams. The signals through the various networks and the signals on the network link 320 through the communication interface 318 carry digital data to the computer system 300 and carry digital data from the computer system, An exemplary form of carrier for transferring information.

  Computer system 300 sends messages and receives data, including program code, through the network, network link 320 and communication interface 318. In the Internet example, the server 330 may send the requested code for the application program over the Internet 328, the local network 322, and the communication interface 318. According to the present invention, one such downloaded application provides the configuration of a monitoring system that monitors the selected network element described in this embodiment. The processor 304 may execute the received code when the code is received and / or stored in the storage device 310 or other non-volatile storage for later execution. In this manner, computer system 300 may obtain application code in the form of a carrier wave.

  In the above-described embodiments, specific embodiments related to the present invention have been described. However, various changes and modifications may be made to such embodiments of the invention without departing from the broader spirit and scope of the invention. The specification and drawings are, accordingly, to be regarded in an illustrative rather than a restrictive sense.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a system configured to monitor selected network elements. It is a flowchart explaining the technique for comprising the monitoring system which monitors only the selected network element concerning 1 aspect of this invention. It is a block diagram which shows the computer system by which embodiment of this invention is implement | achieved.

Claims (39)

A method for configuring a monitoring system for monitoring selected network elements, comprising:
Automatically discovering one or more network elements on the network;
Generating identification data identifying each of the one or more automatically discovered network elements;
Generating a modified version of identification data in response to user input;
Monitoring each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data;
A method comprising: The one or more network elements are one or more devices, each of the one or more devices including one or more raster processing mechanisms and print processing mechanisms;
The method of claim 1. Automatically discovering the one or more network elements comprises automatically discovering all network elements in a particular subnet on the network;
The method of claim 1. The modified version of the identification data includes information about one or more network elements that are not configured for automatic discovery by the automatic discovery mechanism;
The method of claim 1. The modified version of the identification data identifies fewer elements than the one or more network elements;
The method of claim 1. Further comprising the step of transferring the identification data to a remote device configured to represent an HTML web page in an internet browser application.
The method of claim 1. Further comprising receiving user input from a remote device via the internet browser application;
The method of claim 1. Generating an HTML web page containing the identification data;
Transferring the HTML web page to a remote device;
The method of claim 1, further comprising: Generating an HTML web page containing the modified version of the identification data;
Transferring the HTML web page to a remote device;
The method of claim 1, further comprising: Transferring status information about each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data to a remote device;
The method of claim 1. Transferring status information about each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data to the remote device at one or more specified times;
The method of claim 1. Responsive to receiving a signal from the first remote device, further comprising transferring status information about each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data to the second remote device.
The method of claim 1. A method for configuring a monitoring system for monitoring selected network elements, comprising:
Automatically discovering one or more network elements on the network;
Generating identification data identifying each of the one or more automatically discovered network elements;
Generating an HTML web page containing the identification data;
Transferring the HTML web page to a remote device;
Generating a modified version of identification data in response to user input;
Transferring status information about each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data to the remote device at one or more specified times;
A method comprising: A computer readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of one or more instructions comprising a monitoring system for monitoring selected network elements,
When the instruction is executed by one or more processors,
Automatically discovering one or more network elements on the network;
Generating identification data identifying each of the one or more automatically discovered network elements;
Generating a modified version of identification data in response to user input;
Monitoring each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data;
A computer-readable medium that causes the one or more processors to execute. The one or more network elements are one or more devices, each of the one or more devices including one or more raster processing mechanisms and print processing mechanisms;
The computer readable medium of claim 14. Automatically discovering the one or more network elements comprises automatically discovering all network elements in a particular subnet on the network;
The computer readable medium of claim 14. The modified version of the identification data includes information about one or more network elements that are not configured for automatic discovery by the automatic discovery mechanism;
The computer readable medium of claim 14. The modified version of the identification data identifies fewer elements than the one or more network elements;
The computer readable medium of claim 14. When the instruction is executed by one or more processors,
Causing the one or more processors to perform the step of transferring the identification data to a remote device configured to represent an HTML web page in an internet browser application;
The computer readable medium of claim 14. When the instruction is executed by one or more processors,
Causing the one or more processors to receive user input from a remote device via the Internet browser application;
The computer readable medium of claim 14. When the instruction is executed by one or more processors,
Generating an HTML web page containing the identification data;
Transferring the HTML web page to a remote device;
Causing the one or more processors to execute,
The computer readable medium of claim 14. When the instruction is executed by one or more processors,
Generating an HTML web page containing the modified version of the identification data;
Transferring the HTML web page to a remote device;
Causing the one or more processors to execute,
The computer readable medium of claim 14. When the instruction is executed by one or more processors,
Causing the one or more processors to perform a step of transferring status information about each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data to a remote device;
The computer readable medium of claim 14. When the instruction is executed by one or more processors,
Causing the one or more processors to perform a step of transferring status information about each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data to a remote device at one or more specified times;
The computer readable medium of claim 14. When the instruction is executed by one or more processors,
Transferring status information about each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data to the second remote device in response to receiving a signal from the first remote device;
Causing the one or more processors to execute,
The computer readable medium of claim 14. A computer readable medium having stored thereon a sequence of one or more instructions comprising a monitoring system for monitoring selected network elements,
When the instruction is executed by one or more processors,
Automatically discovering one or more network elements on the network;
Generating identification data identifying each of the one or more automatically discovered network elements;
Generating an HTML web page containing the identification data;
Transferring the HTML web page to a remote device;
Generating a modified version of identification data in response to user input;
Transferring status information about each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data to the remote device at one or more specified times;
A computer-readable medium that causes the one or more processors to execute. A device constituting a monitoring system for monitoring a selected network element,
Means for automatically discovering one or more network elements on the network;
Means for generating identification data identifying each of the one or more automatically discovered network elements;
Means for generating a modified version of the identification data in response to user input;
Means for monitoring each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data;
A device comprising: The one or more network elements are one or more devices, each of the one or more devices including one or more raster processing mechanisms and print processing mechanisms;
28. The apparatus of claim 27. Automatically discovering the one or more network elements comprises means for automatically discovering all network elements in a particular subnet on the network;
28. The apparatus of claim 27. The modified version of the identification data includes information about one or more network elements that are not configured for automatic discovery by the automatic discovery mechanism;
28. The apparatus of claim 27. The modified version of the identification data identifies fewer elements than the one or more network elements;
28. The apparatus of claim 27. Means for transferring the identification data to a remote device configured to represent an HTML web page in an internet browser application;
28. The apparatus of claim 27. Means for receiving user input from a remote device via the internet browser application;
28. The apparatus of claim 27. Means for generating an HTML web page including the identification data;
Means for transferring the HTML web page to a remote device;
28. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising: Means for generating an HTML web page including the modified version of the identification data;
Means for transferring the HTML web page to a remote device;
28. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising: Means for transferring status information about each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data to a remote device;
28. The apparatus of claim 27. Means for transferring status information regarding each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data to the remote device at one or more specified times;
28. The apparatus of claim 27. Means for transferring status information regarding each of the network elements identified by the modified version of the identification data to the second remote device in response to receiving a signal from the first remote device;
28. The apparatus of claim 27. A device constituting a monitoring system for monitoring a selected network element,
Means for automatically discovering one or more network elements on the network;
Means for generating identification data identifying each of the one or more automatically discovered network elements;
Means for generating an HTML web page including the identification data;
Means for transferring the HTML web page to a remote device;
Means for generating a modified version of the identification data in response to user input;
Means for transferring status information for each of the network elements identified in the modified version of the identification data to the remote device at one or more specified times;
A device comprising:

Images