System and method for routing data across heterogeneous private and non-private networks

Abstract

The invention provides a method and system for routing data across heterogeneous networks. One embodiment comprises a specialized in-band network, an out-of-band network, and a switching platform coupled between them. In one embodiment, the out-of-band network is coupled to an external network such as the Internet via a default gateway. The in-band network is privately accessible within the heterogeneous network and not publicly accessible from the Internet. The switching platform services both in-band and out-of-band networks, which may have incompatible protocols, by recognizing different format requests, converting them if necessary, and transmitting them to appropriate destinations accordingly. In this embodiment, the switching platform performs separate functions from those of the default gateway, proxy servers, firewall, and the likes.

Description

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION [0001] The present invention relates in general to the field of electronic devices, and more particularly to an improved method and system for routing data such as HTTP and FTP data across heterogeneous networks. BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION [0002] Networks may contain a variety of devices which are all coupled to a network medium. The “devices” may include not only individual devices, such as workstations and printers, but also other networks. Typically, the devices on a network are managed through a single one of the devices on the network which queries the other devices for information relevant to management of the system. If the queried devices are on a network other than the network to which the management device is connected, the queries are routed through the respective networks to the queried devices. [0003] In some networks, management functions are performed through an administrator's workstation which is coupled to the network. The workstat...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

[0017] One technical advantage of the present system and method is that they may simplify device management by allowing a unified FTP and / or HTTP interface to network components on both in-band and out-of-band networks. Yet another technical advantage of the present system and method is that they may allow each network component to independently provide HTTP and / or FTP services. This simplifies development efforts since changing the services on one component need not affect the services on other components. Still another technical advantage of the present system and method is that they may require no change to the client TCP, proxy or default gateway configurations. Yet another technical advantage of the present system and method is that they may leverage robust, existing standards and eliminate engineering effort that would otherwise be spent developing custom protocols.

Problems solved by technology

The presence of the incompatible networks may, for example, result from the need for an esoteric or expensive medium to support particular devices such as storage units (e.g., in a storage area network, or SAN).

While such an esoteric or expensive medium may be necessary for particular devices, it is often not suitable for distribution of data to devices such as an administrator's workstation.

In other words, it is not publicly accessible from external networks such as the internet.

Because the management of heterogeneous network systems is typically handled through an administrator's workstation on the out-of-band network, the incompatibility of the in-band and out-of-band protocols create some difficulty in accessing and managing the devices on the in-band network.

One of the drawbacks of this scheme is that most networks already have default gateway routers in place.

If the special purpose gateway does not incorporate all of the functionality of the original default gateway, connectivity to the rest of the corporate local area network (LAN) and the internet may be lost.

On the other hand, including all of the functionality of the original default gateway requires extensive re-engineering and associated expense.

One of the drawbacks of this solution is very similar to the problem with the default gateway—most corporate networks already have proxy servers for local clients, and the clients cannot be reconfigured to use the special purpose proxy server without losing connectivity to the existing (default) proxy server.

Alternatively, building all of the functionality of the default proxy server into the special purpose proxy server would involve extensive re-engineering and would increase the cost so much that it would be impractical.

As a result, standard HTTP and FTP services could not be used in the in-band devices.

This creates another problem, however—keeping the platform up to date if any of the web pages change.

From an engineering point of view, this solution requires more intelligence to be concentrated in one spot than is desirable, and further requires substantial engineering in its own right.

The problems with this solution include the expense of the additional hardware, the possibility that, physically, there may not be available space in the out-of-band network, and additional maintenance will likely be required as a result of the necessary hardware.

This typically is not practical because in-band networks such as Fibre Channel networks generally are not appropriate for distribution of data to the workstation.

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