L2 switch detection method and program

Abstract

To provide a method of detecting an unknown L2 switch in a communication network.SOLUTION: A method of detecting a L2 switch, includes: a first step of receiving port information of a L2 switch Sj by performing a request to the L2 switch Sj (it is an integer number of j:1 or larger) into which a network monitoring terminal H is registered in a management table; a second step of extracting a MAC address M (Zi)(it is an integer number of i:1 or larger) of a terminal other than the L2 switch Sj existed between two L2 switches Sx and Sy on the basis of the port information; a third step of researching the presence / absence of a MAC address of the L2 switch from the MAC address M(Zi); and a fourth step of registering a L2 switch Xk to the management stable in the case of detecting the MAC address M(Xk)(it is an integer number of k:1 or larger) of the L2 switch Xk in the MAC address M(Zi).SELECTED DRAWING: Figure 2

Description

[Technical Field]

[0001] The present invention relates to a technique for displaying the connection configuration of communication devices in a communication network as a tree-type network map. [Background technology]

[0002] In recent years, as the usage environment for communication networks has become larger and larger, the connection configurations of communication devices have become more complex and are constantly changing. In order to efficiently operate and manage networks, it has become important for network administrators to always have up-to-date information on the connection configurations of communication devices.

[0003] One way to understand the connection configuration of communication devices within a communication network is to obtain connection information from the L2 switch (Layer 2 Switch) to which the communication devices are connected, and then use that information to display the connection configuration of the L2 switch as a graphical tree-style network map.

[0004] Patent Document 1 discloses a method for acquiring connection information of an L2 switch to which a communication device is connected, in which a network monitoring terminal receives management information from the L2 switch it manages, creates a correspondence table (MvP table) between MAC addresses and L2 switch ports from this management information, and detects connection information between L2 switches in a network based on this MvP table. (Note that the inventor and patent holder of Patent Document 1 are the same as the inventor and applicant of this application.)

[0005] Patent Document 2 discloses a method for creating an MvP table using the method disclosed in Patent Document 1 to understand the connection configuration of communication devices within a communication network, and displaying the connection configuration between L2 switches as a tree-type network map. (Note that the inventor and patent holder of Patent Document 2 are the same as the inventor and applicant of this application.) [Prior art documents] [Patent documents]

[0006] [Patent Document 1] Patent No. 4653164 (Patent Application 2007-514811) [Patent Document 2] Patent No. 6926362 (Patent Application 2019-521301) Summary of the Invention [Problem to be solved by the invention]

[0007] As mentioned above, it is important for network administrators to always have the latest information about the connection configuration of communication devices. For example, by displaying the latest connection configuration as a network map, they can perform efficient network operation and management.

[0008] However, in Patent Documents 1 and 2, the MvP table is generated based on information about L2 switches that is registered in advance in a management table, so when a new L2 switch is added to a communication network, the information does not exist in the management table, and an up-to-date MvP table cannot be generated. In other words, Patent Document 2 has a problem in that when a new L2 switch is added to a communication network, an up-to-date network map cannot be displayed.

[0009] In order to solve the above problem, an object of the present invention is to provide a method for detecting an unknown L2 switch when a new L2 switch is added in a communication network. [Means for solving the problem]

[0010] In order to achieve the above object, the invention according to claim 1 comprises: 1. A method for detecting unknown L2 switches in a communication network, comprising: The computer executes A first step in which a network monitoring terminal H requests an L2 switch Sj (j: an integer equal to or greater than 1) registered in a management table to acquire port information of the L2 switch Sj; a second step of searching for terminals between two L2 switches Sx and Sy registered in the management table based on the port information acquired in the first step, and extracting from the terminals the MAC addresses M(Zi) (i: an integer equal to or greater than 1) of terminals other than the L2 switch Sj registered in the management table; a third step of checking whether or not the MAC address of an L2 switch exists among the MAC addresses M(Zi) extracted in the second step; a fourth step of registering the L2 switch Xk in the management table when the MAC address M(Xk) of the L2 switch Xk (k: an integer equal to or greater than 1) is detected among the MAC addresses M(Zi) checked in the third step; The present invention is characterized by having the following.

[0011] The invention according to claim 2 is the L2 switch detection method according to claim 1, The second step is characterized in that, based on port information P(Sx, m) of port number m (m: an integer equal to or greater than 1) at which L2 switch Sx detected the MAC address of L2 switch Sy, and port information P(Sy, n) of port number n (n: an integer equal to or greater than 1) at which L2 switch Sy detected the MAC address of L2 switch Sx, if a MAC address common to both exists, the MAC address is extracted as a terminal existing between L2 switches Sx and Sy, and from among them, a MAC address M(Zi) of a terminal other than L2 switch Sj registered in the management table is extracted.

[0012] The invention according to claim 3 is A program for detecting unknown L2 switches in a communication network, which is installed on a computer a first means for the network monitoring terminal H to request an L2 switch Sj (j: an integer equal to or greater than 1) registered in the management table to acquire port information of the L2 switch Sj; a second means for checking terminals existing between two L2 switches Sx and Sy registered in the management table based on the port information acquired by the first means, and extracting from the terminals the MAC addresses M(Zi) (i: an integer equal to or greater than 1) of terminals other than the L2 switch Sj registered in the management table; a third means for checking whether or not a MAC address of an L2 switch exists among the MAC addresses M(Zi) extracted by the second means; a fourth means for registering an L2 switch Xk (k is an integer equal to or greater than 1) in the management table when a MAC address M(Xk) of an L2 switch Xk (k is an integer equal to or greater than 1) is detected among the MAC addresses M(Zi) checked by the third means; The present invention is characterized in that the following is executed.

[0013] The invention according to claim 4 is the L2 switch detection program according to claim 3, The second means is characterized in that, based on port information P(Sx, m) of port number m (m: an integer equal to or greater than 1) at which L2 switch Sx detected the MAC address of L2 switch Sy, and port information P(Sy, n) of port number n (n: an integer equal to or greater than 1) at which L2 switch Sy detected the MAC address of L2 switch Sx, if a MAC address common to both exists, the second means extracts the MAC address as a terminal existing between L2 switches Sx and Sy, and extracts from among them the MAC address M(Zi) of a terminal other than L2 switch Sj registered in the management table. [Effects of the Invention]

[0014] When a new L2 switch is added to a communication network, it becomes possible to easily detect the unknown L2 switch. This makes it possible to display the latest network map using the technology of Patent Document 2, enabling efficient network operation management. [Brief explanation of the drawings]

[0015] [Figure 1] 1 is a schematic diagram showing an example of a network configuration diagram for explaining an L2 switch detection method according to a first embodiment of the present invention; [Figure 2] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for executing an L2 switch detection method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. [Figure 3] FIG. 2 is a flowchart illustrating an example of a process for executing an L2 switch detection method according to the first embodiment of the present invention. DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0016] DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Preferred embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the accompanying drawings. However, the present invention is not limited to the following embodiments.

[0017] 1. First embodiment An L2 switch detection method according to a first embodiment of the present invention will be described with reference to the network configuration diagram shown in FIG.

[0018] 1, the L2 switch S1 has a network monitoring terminal H connected to port 10, an L2 switch X1 connected to port 13, and a communication terminal X2 connected to port 14. The L2 switch X1 has an L2 switch S1 connected to port 1 and an L2 switch S2 connected to port 5. The L2 switch S2 has an L2 switch X1 connected to port 2.

[0019] The network monitoring terminal H holds an L2 switch management table, in which information about the L2 switches present in the communication network is registered. Using this management table, the technology of Patent Document 2 can display the connection configuration between the L2 switches as a tree-style network map.

[0020] In the past, when a new L2 switch was added to a communication network, the network administrator would update the management table, which meant that the latest network map could not be displayed unless the management table was updated.

[0021] For example, in Figure 1, L2 switches S1 and S2 are registered in the management table held by network monitoring terminal H. Here, L2 switch X1 is a newly added switch and has not yet been registered in the management table. Therefore, at this point, it is not possible to display the latest network map.

[0022] The present invention provides a method for automatically detecting an unknown L2 switch when a new L2 switch is added to a communication network.

[0023] Next, a processing procedure for detecting an unknown L2 switch (L2 switch X1 in FIG. 1) that is not registered in the management table will be described with reference to the flowchart shown in FIG.

[0024] In step S10, the network monitoring terminal H makes a request to an L2 switch Sj (j: an integer equal to or greater than 1) registered in the management table to receive port information of the L2 switch Sj.

[0025] In an L2 switch, by dynamically learning and memorizing the MAC addresses of devices connected via LAN cables, it maintains a correspondence table (MAC address table) indicating which device with which MAC address is connected to the destination of which port. Then, it determines the transfer destination port from the destination MAC address of the received Ethernet frame and the MAC address table, and controls the transfer of the Ethernet frame. Also, when the destination MAC address does not exist in the MAC address table, it controls the transfer of the Ethernet frame to all ports other than the received port. Therefore, in the network monitoring terminal H, the information of the MAC address table (port information of the L2 switch Sj) can be obtained by executing a request to the L2 switch Sj.

[0026] In the example of FIG. 1, the network monitoring terminal H requests the L2 switch S1 and the L2 switch S2 registered in the management table, and obtains the MAC information detected at the ports of the L2 switches S1 and S2 as port information. <Port information of L2 switch S1> · MAC address detected at port P(S1,10): M(H) · MAC addresses detected at port P(S1,13): M(X1), M(S2) · MAC address detected at port P(S1,14): M(X2) <Port information of L2 switch S2> · MAC addresses detected at port P(S2,2): M(X1), M(X2), M(S1), M(H)

[0027] Next, in step S20, based on the port information acquired in step S10, the terminals existing between the two L2 switches Sx and Sy registered in the management table are checked, and from among them, the MAC address M(Zi) (i: an integer of 1 or more) of a terminal other than the L2 switch Sj registered in the management table is extracted. Here, if the MAC address M(Zi) does not exist, that is, there is a case where there is no terminal other than the L2 switch Sj registered in the management table among the terminals existing between the L2 switches Sx and Sy, in which case the flow does not proceed to the next step and ends.

[0028] The procedure of step S20 will be explained using the flowchart shown in Fig. 3. In step S21, port information P(Sx, m) of port number m (m: an integer equal to or greater than 1) at which the MAC address of L2 switch Sy was detected by L2 switch Sx, and port information P(Sy, n) of port number n (n: an integer equal to or greater than 1) at which the MAC address of L2 switch Sx was detected by L2 switch Sy are extracted.

[0029] In the example of Figure 1, port information P(S1,13) for port number 13, where the MAC address of L2 switch S2 was detected by L2 switch S1, and port information P(S2,2) for port number 2, where the MAC address of L2 switch S1 was detected by L2 switch S2, are extracted. ·Port information P(S1,13)={M(X1), M(S2)} ·Port information P(S2,2)={M(X1), M(X2), M(S1), M(H)}

[0030] Next, in step S22, if a MAC address common to both the port information P(Sx,m) and the port information P(Sy,n) exists, the MAC address is extracted as a terminal existing between the L2 switches Sx and Sy, and from among them, the MAC address M(Zi) of a terminal other than the L2 switch Sj registered in the management table is extracted.

[0031] In the example of Figure 1, it is found that a MAC address M(X1) exists in common in both port information P(S1,13) and port information P(S2,2), and this MAC address is extracted as a terminal existing between L2 switches S1 and S2, and this MAC address is extracted as the MAC address M(Zi) of a terminal other than L2 switch Sj registered in the management table. {M(Zi)}={M(X1)}

[0032] Next, in step S30, it is checked whether or not the MAC address of the L2 switch is present among the MAC addresses M(Zi) extracted in step S20.

[0033] For example, the network monitoring terminal H is By using the Network Management Protocol (NMP) function to execute request control to the SNMP agent from the SNMP manager (network monitoring terminal H), it is possible to obtain MIB (Management Information Base) information from the SNMP agent, and by examining that MIB information, it is possible to determine whether the MAC address of the L2 switch exists among the above MAC addresses M(Zi).

[0034] In the example shown in Figure 1, by executing the above procedure, it is detected that M(X1) is the MAC address of an L2 switch. There may also be cases where there is no L2 switch in the MAC address M(Zi), in which case the flow ends without proceeding to the next step.

[0035] Next, in step S40, if the MAC address M(Xk) of L2 switch Xk (k: integer equal to or greater than 1) is detected among the MAC addresses M(Zi) checked in step S30, the L2 switch Xk is registered in the management table.

[0036] In the example of FIG. 1, since it was detected in step S30 that M(X1) is the MAC address of the L2 switch, information about the L2 switch X1 and its MAC address M(X1) is registered in the management table.

[0037] As a result, the latest L2 switch information is registered in the management table held by the network monitoring terminal H, and by using this management table, the connection configuration between L2 switches can be displayed as a tree-style network map using the technology of Patent Document 2.

[0038] The processing procedures described above may be implemented as a method executed by a computer, or may be implemented as a program to be executed by a computer. [Explanation of symbols]

[0039] H Network monitoring terminal S1 L2 Switch S2 L2 Switch X1 L2 Switch X2 communication terminal

Claims

1. 1. A computer-implemented method for detecting unknown L2 switches in a communications network, comprising: a first step in which the network monitoring terminal H makes a request to an L2 switch Sj (j: an integer equal to or greater than 1) registered in a management table to acquire port information of the L2 switch Sj; a second step of checking the terminals existing between the two L2 switches Sx and Sy registered in the management table based on the port information acquired in the first step, and extracting from the terminals the MAC addresses M(Zi) (i: an integer equal to or greater than 1) of the terminals other than the L2 switch Sj registered in the management table; a third step of checking whether or not the MAC address of an L2 switch is present among the MAC addresses M(Zi) extracted in the second step; a fourth step of registering the L2 switch Xk in the management table when the MAC address M(Xk) of the L2 switch Xk (k: an integer equal to or greater than 1) is detected among the MAC addresses M(Zi) checked in the third step; 1. A method for detecting an L2 switch, comprising:

2. The second step is characterized in that, based on port information P(Sx, m) of port number m (m: an integer greater than or equal to 1) at which the MAC address of L2 switch Sy was detected by L2 switch Sx and port information P(Sy, n) of port number n (n: an integer greater than or equal to 1) at which the MAC address of L2 switch Sx was detected by L2 switch Sy, if a MAC address common to both is present, the MAC address is extracted as a terminal present between L2 switches Sx and Sy, and from among them, a MAC address M(Zi) of a terminal other than L2 switch Sj registered in the management table is extracted.

3. A program for detecting an unknown L2 switch in a communication network, the program comprising: a first means for the network monitoring terminal H to request an L2 switch Sj (j: an integer equal to or greater than 1) registered in the management table to acquire port information of the L2 switch Sj; a second means for examining terminals existing between two L2 switches Sx and Sy registered in the management table based on the port information acquired by the first means, and extracting from the terminals the MAC addresses M(Zi) (i: an integer equal to or greater than 1) of terminals other than the L2 switch Sj registered in the management table; a third means for checking whether or not the MAC address of an L2 switch is present among the MAC addresses M(Zi) extracted by the second means; a fourth means for registering an L2 switch Xk (k is an integer equal to or greater than 1) in the management table when a MAC address M(Xk) of an L2 switch Xk (k is an integer equal to or greater than 1) is detected among the MAC addresses M(Zi) checked by the third means; 2. An L2 switch detection program that executes the above steps.

4. The second means, based on port information P(Sx, m) of port number m (m: an integer greater than or equal to 1) at which the MAC address of L2 switch Sy was detected in L2 switch Sx and port information P(Sy, n) of port number n (n: an integer greater than or equal to 1) at which the MAC address of L2 switch Sx was detected in L2 switch Sy, extracts, if a MAC address common to both is present, the MAC address as a terminal present between L2 switches Sx and Sy, and extracts from among them the MAC address M(Zi) of a terminal other than L2 switch Sj registered in the management table.

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