The methods described in this section could be practiced, but have not necessarily been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the methods described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Computer networks that use routers, switches and other network elements are commonly managed using network management software systems. Examples of network management systems include Resource Management Essentials from Cisco Systems, Inc., San Jose, Calif., HP OpenView from Hewlett-Packard Company, Palo Alto, Calif., and others. Such network management systems are commonly used to support detection of network scenarios, including device faults, and to apply corrective instructions or configuration commands to network elements to address the scenarios.
One of the shortcomings of these network management software systems is the lack of guidance and automation for users of the systems. As a result, the network operator is required to know how to identify events that may represent symptoms of problems, how to determine whether symptoms actually represent the problems, how to diagnose the problems, how to select corrective action, and how to apply or perform the corrective action. In addition, the operator is also required to know the syntax of the commands and the usage of the commands in precise sequences to perform the aforementioned steps. All this knowledge that the operator mentally retains is neither easily transferable to another nor easily updateable to reflect platform or software changes.
Another shortcoming of these network management software systems is the primitive and proprietary interfaces of the systems. Specifically, many such systems support command line interfaces that accept character-based commands that conform to a complex grammar. In some cases, diagnosing faults requires the network operator to manually enter one command at a time. Numerous commands may be needed to determine a particular fault.
Also, each of these software systems is designed to handle a specific problem or scenario and has a distinct interface and feature set. As a result, the network operator is forced to learn multiple interfaces, feature sets, and subsequent updates or modifications to effectively manage multiple network scenarios.
Based on the foregoing, there is a clear need for improved network management methods or systems that overcome the stated drawbacks of the current systems. There is a need to flexibly and effectively manage multiple types of devices and respond to various network scenarios. There is also a need to aggregate and interpret relevant information from different network devices.