REDUNDANT STORAGE OF CONFIGURATION OF NETWORK DEVICES

Abstract

The present invention relates to a method for distributing configurations of network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). Said network devices are connected to at least one network (11). At least two network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) are connected to the network (11) via ports (9). All of the network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) are moreover provided with a determinable unique identification, and at least one memory (10) assigned to at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) is used. This memory is embodied in addition to the local memory of each network device. According to the invention, at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) now has means for location determination that determine the location of the at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8). The configuration of the at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) is then stored, according to the invention, in thememory (10) of another network subscriber (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) by including the location. This configuration file can then be used to configure interchanged network devices.

Claims

1. A method of distributing configurations of network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) with at least one network (11) to which network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) can be connected, at least two of network devices (1,2,3,4,5, 6, 7, 8) being connected via ports (9) to the network (11), where the network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) are provided with respective determinable unique identifications, at least one memory (10) being assigned to at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8), characterized in that at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) has means for location determination that determines the location of the at least one of the network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) and that the configuration of the at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) is stored along with the location on the memory (10) in another one of the network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

2. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the configuration of the at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) is stored along with its location on a plurality of memories (10) of the other network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) .

3. The method according to claim 1, characterized in that the storage of the configuration of the at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) takes place with inclusion of the location on at least one memory (10) of other network devices (1,2,3, 4,5,8, 7, 8) according to definable rules.

4. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that as a rule the storage is in the memory (10) of the network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) that itself in on the at least adjacent network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

5. The method according to claim 3, characterized in that as a rule the storage is on the memory (10) of that network device that acts as a server (8) is set.

6. The method according to any one of claims 1 to 5, characterized in that the storage of the configuration of the at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) is performed using the location each time there is a configuration change.

7. The method according to one of claims 1 to 6, characterized in that the storage of the configuration of the at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) is carried out using the location according to a predetermined schedule.

8. The method according to one of claims 1 to 7, characterized in that, in the absence of a configuration of the at least one network device {1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) by the means, the location of the at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) is determined and the configuration of the at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) is loaded and applied by including the location from the memory of another one of the network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

9. The method according to one of claims 1 to 8, characterized in that the characteristics of the adjacent network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) are determined for determining the location and are used as signaling keys.

10. The method according to claim 9, characterized in that ports (9) to which the adjacent network devices are connected are added to a character string.

11. The method according to claim 9 or 10, characterized in that the character string is encrypted by an algorithm, in particular by means of a hashing algorithm.

12. The method according to one of claims 1 to 11, characterized in that the storage of the configurations is carried out as a configuration file that can be encrypted and/or compressed.

13. The method according to one of claims 1 to 12, characterized in that parameters can be generated and displayed on at least one display in order to visualize the state of the network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) and/or their configurations.

14. The method according to one of claims 1 to 13, characterized in that the configuration of the at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) is not stored intact, but is distributed to a plurality of memories (10) of the further network devices (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8).

15. The method according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the configuration of the at least one network device (1,2,3, 4,5,8, 7, 8) is stored by a suitable point-to-point protocol (P2P).

16. The method according to one of claims 1 to 14, characterized in that the configuration of the at least one network device (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) takes place via a suitable protocol with inclusion of the distance to the furthest network device (1,2,3, 4,5,8, 7, 8), on the memory where the configuration is to be stored.

Description

[0039] Further features of the present invention will become apparent from the accompanying drawings. Therein:

[0040] FIG. 1 shows a method according to the invention for distributing configurations in networks.

[0041] FIG. 2 shows a method according to the invention for distributing configurations in networks as in FIG. 1, but with an additional network device as a server.

[0042] FIG. 1 shows a network 11 for applying the method according to the invention for distributing the configuration of network devices 1, 2, 3, 4, 6, and 7. The network 11 shown is partly ring topology and partly star topology. However, in order to use the method according to the invention, it is not necessary to have a specific network topology. The method is applicable in all known networks,

[0043] In the network 11, the network devices 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 are provided. The network connections themselves are implemented via ports 9, so that each network device 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 could access any other network device 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7.

[0044] At least one network device 5 in FIG. 1 also has a memory 10. In this memory, data, for example files, can be stored and read out. The memory 10 is to be considered in addition to the local storage possibilities of each network device.

[0045] The network devices 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 shown in FIG. 1 can be, for example, network routers or hubs, to which the two computers 6 and 7 are for example connected. However, the method is not limited to this type of network. Rather, all types of network devices can be used.

[0046] According to the method according to the invention, at least one network device 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, or 7 is equipped with means for determining its location. This means of location determination ensures that the exact location in the network of the at least one network device 1,2,3, 4, 5, 6 or 7 is recorded.

[0047] The method according to the invention now proposes that the configuration of at least one of the network devices 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 is stored in the memory 10 of another one of the network devices 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 and 7 using the location determined by the location determination means. If, for example, the method for the network device 4 is to be executed, the location determination means determines the location of the network device 4 and stores the configuration of the network device 4 on the memory 10 of the network device 5.

[0048] In FIG. 1, only one 5 of the network devices 1, 2 ,3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 is equipped with a memory 10. However, more memory possibilities are also conceivable, as is shown, inter alia, in FIG. 2.

[0049] In order to be able to determine which network device 1, 2, 3, 4, 5,6, or 7 is provided with a memories 10 on which the configurations can be stored, rules for the method according to the invention can be defined. These rules then clearly define the memory 10 having to be accessed in order to store or read the configurations.

[0050] If the above-mentioned network device 4 then fails because it has a defect or shows other incorrect behavior, it must be exchanged for a structurally identical, factory-fresh device. Then, also using the above-mentioned method, the location of this new device is determined. Since no configuration is present in the new device, an attempt is made to find a corresponding configuration. For this purpose, the network device 4 to be configured is identified by the position determination as well as its associated configuration file, namely taking into account the position. This is read out of the corresponding memory 10 via the above-mentioned rules and is installed in the network device 4.

[0051] FIG. 2 shows, in addition to the other network devices 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5, a server 8 that also has a memory 10. Thus, a network 11 with two memories 10 is shown. Corresponding rules can now determine in which memory 10 the configurations are stored.

[0052] On the one hand, it would be conceivable for all the configurations to be stored on the server 8, as well as a distribution of configurations on a plurality of memories 10. This increases the availability of the configuration files in the entire system.

[0053] The present connection is not limited to the above-described features; rather, further embodiments are conceivable. Thus, instead of using the P2P protocol, it is possible to use an FTP protocol. Furthermore, it would be conceivable to equip all of the network devices with a memory, the claimed memory always being in addition to the local memory of the configuration. However, it is also conceivable for no local memory to be provided and to store the configuration files only centrally, for example on a server. However, when starting the network, all network devices would have to read the configuration from the server and apply them.