The present invention relates generally to managing network devices such as network switches. More particularly, the present invention relates to managing network devices remotely.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional network switch management system 100 comprising a network switch 102 in communication with a central processing unit (CPU) 104, and in communication with a personal computer 106 over a network 108. Network switch 102 comprises a memory 110 that can include separate memories for storing packets and the forwarding tables that control the operation of network switch 102, as well as one or more configuration registers.
Remotely managing a network device such as network switch 102 requires reading from, and writing to, a switch memory such as memory 110, for example to modify the forwarding tables stored therein. Conventional techniques for reading from, and writing to, switch memory 110 generally require a significant contribution from a local CPU such as CPU 104. For example, according to the well-known Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP), CPU 104 is required to execute the reads and writes.
FIG. 2 shows a conventional SNMP process 200 for writing to switch memory 110. The SNMP write transaction requires that the write command received by switch 102 (step 202) be forwarded to CPU 104 for execution (step 204). CPU 104 then writes the data to switch memory 110 (step 206).
FIG. 3 shows a conventional SNMP process 300 for reading from switch memory 110. The SNMP read transaction requires that the read command received by switch 102 (step 302) be forwarded to CPU 104 for execution (step 304). CPU 104 then sends a read command to switch memory 110 (step 306), which returns the requested data to CPU 104 (step 308). CPU 104 then sends the requested data to switch 102 (step 310), which forwards the data to PC 106 (step 312).
Clearly these transactions burden CPU 104 significantly, thereby diverting CPU 104 from its normal functions, such as routing and the like.