Cisco Technology, Inc.

Cisco Systems Inc.

Shankar Natarajan

Andrew George Harvey

Leo Pereira

Hsuan-Chung Lee

Vipin Rawat

Gregory Alan Fowler

Ramanathan Kavasseri

Praveen Joshi

Sankha Basu

Anand N Iyer

Ramprasad Golla

Raymond John Bell

John Lautmann

Fan Jiao

Richard W Pratt

Venkat Kankipati

Srinivasan Nariangadu

A feedback-based adaptive network is described wherein at least a portion of the network elements report operating information relating to network conditions to a centralized data store. The information which is reported to the data store is analyzed by a policy engine, and updated control information may be generated. The updated control information may be fed back to selected network elements to thereby affect operation of the selected elements. In this way, the dynamic and automatic feedback control of network elements is provided. Events relating to changing conditions in the network may also be reported to selected elements. Additionally the adaptive, feedback-based network may include a network quality monitoring system for evaluating performance characteristics or other aspects of the network. If it is determined that a particular characteristic of the network does not conform with the standards established for that characteristic, the policy which controls that particular characteristic of the network may be automatically and dynamically modified to thereby affect the network performance.

Technique for providing dynamic modification of application specific policies in a feedback-based, adaptive data network

A feedback-based adaptive network is described wherein at least a portion of the network elements report operating information relating to network conditions to a centralized data store. The information is analyzed by a policy engine which includes a plurality of specific plug-in policies for analyzing selected information from the data store and for computing updated control information which is fed back to affect operation of selected network elements. In this way the dynamic and automatic feedback control of network elements is provided to allow the network to adapt to events relating to changing conditions. The adaptive, feedback based network may include a network quality monitoring system for evaluating performance characteristics based upon predetermined standard or criteria. If it is determined that a particular characteristic of the network does not conform, the policy which control that particular characteristic of the network may be automatically and dynamically modified to affect network performance.

A feedback-based adaptive network is described wherein at least a portion of the network elements report operating information relating to network conditions to a centralized data store. The information which is reported to the data store is analyzed by a policy engine which includes a plurality of application specific plug-in policies for analyzing selected information from the data store and for computing updated control information based upon the analysis of the information. The updated control information is fed back to selected network elements to thereby affect operation of the selected elements. Typically, when the operation of a network element has been affected, its corresponding operating information will change. The new or changed network element operating information is then reported to the data store and analyzed by the policy engine. The policy engine may then generate new or updated control information for affecting the operation of selected elements in the network. In this way, the dynamic and automatic feedback control of network elements is provided in order to allow the network to adapt to changing conditions. Events relating to changing conditions in the network may be reported to selected elements in the network using an event notification service. Additionally the adaptive, feedback-based network of the present invention may include a network quality monitoring system for evaluating performance characteristics or other aspects of the network based upon predetermined standards or criteria. If it is determined that a particular characteristic of the network does not conform with the standards established for that characteristic, the policy which controls that particular characteristic of the network may be automatically and dynamically modified to thereby affect the network performance.

A method and apparatus for processing a network operating system operation is provided. A network management application that configures and monitors network components transmits a payload containing an XML document to a transport agent. The XML document contains one or more network device operating system operations and associated data. The XML document and associated data is read from the payload and transmitted to a programmatic agent. The programmatic agent parses the XML document containing the operation and associated data, and provides the operation and associated data in a callback to an appropriate network component. The network component processes the operation, and transmits responsive data to the programmatic agent. The programmatic agent creates a responsive XML document containing the responsive data, and transmits the responsive XML document to the network management application. Network management applications may both configure and monitor network device operating system components using operations within the XML document.

Programmatic interface to network device operating system

Methods and devices are disclosed for changing the configuration state of a network device such as a router, a switch or a similar device without the need for a person to interpret a textual diff. According to some aspects of the invention, a programmatic diff file that includes the output of two comparisons is used as an input file to a program that 'rolls back' the current configuration state to a prior configuration state. According to other aspects of the invention, the output of a single comparison is input to an 'incremental diff' process, which adds new commands to a configuration state. According to preferred aspects of the invention, the output files generated by the comparison processes preserve the hierarchical context of each command in a programmatic format that is usable as direct input by the network device or by another device (such as a host controlled by a network administrator) that performs the incremental diff.

Using context-sensitive intelligent diffs to modify router configurations

Methods and devices are disclosed for determining differences in the configuration states of network devices. Context-sensitive diffs are produced by comparing two configuration files of a network device. According to some aspects of the invention, the context of each command is preserved in a 'programmatic' format that is usable by a network element such as a router. In some aspects of the invention, only commands at a corresponding hierarchical level of the configuration files are compared when producing a diff, in order to increase accuracy and efficiency.

Context-sensitive intelligent diffs of router configurations

The invention provides a method and system for auto-sensing LMI protocols in frame relay networks. When a router is first coupled to a frame relay network, it automatically configures the local management interface (LMI) to use one of a selected set of possible LMI protocols, by generating a set of protocol requests for a plurality of protocols, and by thereafter simultaneously listening for protocol responses from the configuration server. Multiple valid responses from the configuration server are assigned priority in response to which valid response is last to arrive.

Autosensing LMI protocols in frame relay networks

A feedback-based adaptive network is described wherein at least a portion of the network elements report operating information relating to network conditions to a centralized data store. The information which is reported to the data store is analyzed by a policy engine which includes a plurality of application specific plug-in policies for analyzing selected information from the data store and for computing updated control information based upon the analysis of the information. The updated control information is fed back to selected network elements to thereby affect operation of the selected elements. Additionally the adaptive, feedback-based network of the present invention may include a network quality monitoring system for evaluating performance characteristics or other aspects of the network based upon predetermined standards or criteria.

Technique for collecting operating information from network elements, and for controlling network element behavior in a feedback-based, adaptive data network

Dynamically adaptive network element in a feedback-based data network

Policy engine which supports application specific plug-ins for enforcing policies in a feedback-based, adaptive data network

Client network devices and configuration servers are used together to automatically configure the client network devices. Configuration information for multiple network devices is arranged in a multi-level directory. Leaf nodes in a hierarchical directory correspond to specific network devices. Configuration information associated with such leaf nodes is specific to the associated network device. Configuration information common to a group of network devices is provided with nodes at higher levels in the hierarchy. All network devices grouped under such higher levels inherit the configuration parameters from the higher level nodes. During configuration, all nodes from a leaf to the root of a directory are traversed. The parameters associated with each node are aggregated to obtain a set of parameters provided to the client network device. These aggregated parameters are used to automatically configure the client network device.

Directory assisted autoinstall of network devices

Technique for providing automatic event notification of changing network conditions to network elements in an adaptive, feedback-based data network

Dynamic adjustment of network elements using a feedback-based adaptive technique

A feedback-based adaptive network is described wherein at least a portion of the network elements report operating information relating to network conditions to a centralized data store. The information which is reported to the data store is analyzed by a policy engine which includes a plurality of application specific plug-in policies for analyzing selected information from the data store and for computing updated control information based upon the analysis of the information. The updated control information is fed back to selected network elements to thereby affect operation of the selected elements. Typically, when the operation of a network element has been affected, its corresponding operating information will change. The new or changed network element operating information is then reported to the data store and analyzed by the policy engine. The policy engine may then generate new or updated control information for affecting the operation of selected elements in the network. In this way, the dynamic and automatic feedback control of network elements is provided in order to allow the rework to adapt to changing conditions. Events relating to changing conditions in the network may be reported to selected elements in the network using an event notification service. Additionally the adaptive, feedback-based network of the present invention may include a network quality monitoring system for evaluating performance characteristics or other aspects of the network based upon predetermined standards or criteria. If it is determined that a particular characteristic of the network does not conform with the standards established for that characteristic, the policy which controls that particular characteristic of the network may be automatically and dynamically modified to thereby affect the network performance.

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Fremont, CA, United States of America

Shankar Natarajan