Importance

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Abstract

A computer network resource monitoring and locating system includes one or more hierarchical management information bases (HMIBs) through which a user can locate or obtain information relevant to managing or locating various network resources. The system maintains a portion of the HMIB information on each node, and a user starts from a local node and navigates through the system using the contact information that is part of the HMIBs. Each network node provides information directly to an associated lowest level MIB, referred to herein as a group MIB, and maintains a copy of that MIB. The system condenses the information in the gossip MIB and provides the condensed information as a row of a next highest level MIB, which is referred to herein as a subnetwork MIB. The system further condenses the information in this MIB to produce a row of a next highest level MIB, and so forth. Each row of the MIBs includes an identifier that identifies the source of the information, and contact information for at least a non-empty subset of the associated nodes. Each node maintains a view of each group MIB to which it has supplied information. The node also maintains views of each of the higher level MIBs that link the node to the highest or root level MIB, which contains condensed information of interest about every participating node. A user can obtain, through the contact information in the root MIBs maintained by the nodes, a point of contact for more detailed information about any participating node, such as, for example, the nodes in other subnetworks, and so forth. The system uses a hierarchical gossiping scheme to send gossip messages through contact nodes of various levels, to ensure that each node uses up-to-date information. Each node may also send broadcast and non-broadcast gossip messages to other nodes in the network. The gossiped information thus propagates through the network, using parallel routes and including in the message uncondensed information about only a portion of the nodes and condensed information about the remainder of the nodes in the network.

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First Claim