International Business Machines Corporation

Felix Eickhoff

Andreas Koenig

Gerd Konrad Bayer

Carl Mayer

Onur Keles

Frank Koeble

An improved method for connection exploration in a network is disclosed, wherein said network includes a plurality of network elements each including at least one port, wherein a globally unique identifier is assigned to each individual port of said network elements, and wherein connected ports of two network elements transfer their globally unique identifiers over a corresponding connection using heartbeat-ordered sequences. The method comprises capturing said transferred globally unique identifiers at receiving ports, storing each of said captured globally unique identifiers at a corresponding receiving port, reading out said transferred globally unique identifiers stored at each port of said network elements using an in-band access, matching said read out globally unique identifiers to a hardware configuration data set to identify connected network elements and connections between said connected network elements, and recording information about existing connections between said network elements.

Growing community of inventors

Schoenaich, Germany

Felix Eickhoff