Apparatus, System, and Method for Enhanced Monitoring and Interception of Network Data

Abstract

An apparatus includes a plurality of microcode controlled state machines and a first circuit. At least one of the microcode controlled state machines is configured to process network data received by the apparatus and to apply a first rule to the network data to produce an associated output indicating a first characteristic of at least a portion of the network data. The first circuit is configured to store a first portion of the network data received by the apparatus prior to the determination of the first characteristic, and to store a second portion of the network data received by the apparatus subsequent to the determination of the first characteristic. The first circuit is also configured to preserve the first portion and the second portion of the network data in response to the determination of the first characteristic.

Description

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS[0001]This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 61 / 924,655 filed on Jan. 7, 2014.[0002]This application is related to (1) U.S. Ser. No. 11 / 208,022, filed on Aug. 19, 2005, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,937,756; (2) U.S. Ser. No. 11 / 483,265, filed on Jul. 7, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,024,799; (3) U.S. Ser. No. 11 / 483,196, filed on Jul. 7, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,882,554; (4) U.S. Ser. No. 11 / 483,251, filed on Jul. 7, 2006, now U.S. Pat. No. 7,890,991; (5) U.S. Ser. No. 12 / 500,493, filed on Jul. 9, 2009; (6) U.S. Ser. No. 12 / 500,519, filed on Jul. 9, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,296,846; (7) U.S. Ser. No. 12 / 500,527, filed on Jul. 9, 2009, now U.S. Pat. No. 8,346,918; (8) U.S. Ser. No. 14 / 097,173, filed on Dec. 4, 2013; (9) U.S. Ser. No. 14 / 097,176, filed on Dec. 4, 2013; (10) U.S. Ser. No. 14 / 097,178, filed on Dec. 4, 2013; (11) U.S. Ser. No. 14 / 097,181, filed on Dec. 4, 2013; and (12) copending U.S. Provisional Patent App...

AI Technical Summary

Benefits of technology

The invention is about a device that includes a plurality of microcode controlled state machines and a first circuit. The microcode controlled state machines process network data and apply a rule to produce an output. The first circuit stores the data before the first characteristic is determined and preserves it afterwards. The technical effect of this invention is to provide a device that can efficiently and accurately process network data and produce relevant output in a timely manner.

Problems solved by technology

Typical SNMP stacks may not be designed for, and may not scale well to, this level of fine-grain monitoring across a large number of network devices that may be deployed worldwide.

In addition, typical network management systems may not provide a user interface that allows for flexible, efficient analysis of large quantities of network monitoring data.

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