Automatic equipment management method

Abstract

An automatic device management method is implemented via a server-side device that connects multiple devices via a signal. The server-side device stores at least one management condition and a current management list, comprising: (A) determining, based on the current management list, whether there is at least one device to be managed among the devices, wherein the device information corresponding to each device to be managed is not any of the at least one managed device information; (B) when it is determined that there is, for each device to be managed, determining whether at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device to be managed meets any of the at least one management condition; (C) for each device to be managed, when it is determined that it meets the condition, adding the device information corresponding to the device to be managed to the current management list.

Description

Technical Field

[0001] This invention relates to a method for managing equipment, and more particularly to an automatic equipment management method that can automatically include eligible equipment into the management list. Prior Technology

[0002] In current technology, enterprises manage information assets primarily through manual registration or existing registration processes when new assets are purchased or introduced into the enterprise environment. If assets are not registered in a timely manner, periodic manual inventory checks are usually required to maintain the completeness and accuracy of the asset inventory.

[0003] However, the above approach has obvious limitations. For example, when a company builds a new office or factory, it often needs to deploy a large number of new devices simultaneously in a short period of time. In this case, if manual registration or inventory is still used, it will not only consume huge amounts of manpower and time, but it is also prone to omissions or delays due to the tediousness of the operation, thus affecting the efficiency and accuracy of asset management.

[0004] In view of this, it is necessary to seek a solution to overcome the problem of excessive consumption of manpower and time costs in the past. Summary of the Invention

[0005] Therefore, the object of the present invention is to provide an automatic device management method that automatically includes eligible devices in the management list.

[0006] Therefore, the automatic device management method of the present invention is implemented by a server device that connects multiple devices with a signal. Each device corresponds to a device information. The server device stores at least one management condition and a current management list. The current management list contains at least one managed device information corresponding to at least one managed device. The automatic device management method includes a step (A), a step (B), and a step (C).

[0007] Step (A) is to use the server device to periodically determine whether there is at least one device to be managed among the devices according to the current management list, and the device information corresponding to each device to be managed is not any of the information of the at least one managed device.

[0008] Step (B) is to determine, when it is determined that at least one device to be managed exists among the devices, for each device to be managed, by means of the server device, whether the at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device to be managed meets any one of the at least one management conditions, so as to determine whether the device to be managed can be one of the devices already managed.

[0009] Step (C) is to add the device information corresponding to the device to be managed to the current management list by means of the server device when it is determined that the at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device to be managed meets any of the at least one management conditions, so as to use the device information corresponding to the device to be managed as one of the managed device information.

[0010] The advantages of this invention are: for each device to be managed, the server device determines whether the at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device to be managed meets any of the at least one management conditions, so as to automatically determine whether the device to be managed can be one of the managed devices. This allows a large number of devices waiting to be managed to be managed in a short time, thereby effectively improving asset management efficiency. Simple Explanation of the Diagram

[0011] Other features and effects of the present invention will be clearly presented in the embodiments with reference to the drawings, wherein: Figure 1 is a block diagram illustrating an automatic control system for performing one embodiment of the automatic control method of the present invention; Figure 2 is a flowchart illustrating an automatic control procedure of this embodiment of the automatic control method for equipment of the present invention; Figure 3 is a flowchart illustrating how the automatic control program adds equipment information corresponding to a device to be controlled to a current control list; and Figure 4 is a flowchart illustrating a deletion procedure of this embodiment of the automatic device management method of the present invention. Implementation

[0012] Before the invention is described in detail, it should be noted that similar elements are represented by the same numbers in the following description.

[0013] Referring to Figure 1, one embodiment of the automatic device management method of the present invention is implemented by an automatic management system 100. The automatic management system 100 includes a server device 1, multiple devices 2 connected to the server device 1 via a communication network 900, and a management device 3 connected to the server device 1 via the communication network 900. Each device 2 corresponds to a device information.

[0014] The server device 1 includes a server communication module 11 that signals between the devices 2 and the management device 3, a server storage module 12, and a server processing module 13 that electrically connects the server communication module 11 and the server storage module 12.

[0015] The server-side storage module 12 stores multiple user accounts corresponding to multiple users, at least one management condition, a current management list, and a historical management list. The at least one management condition includes, but is not limited to, at least one of the following: preset hardware information for filtering devices to be managed, preset environment settings information for filtering devices to be managed, preset normal usage statistics information for filtering devices to be managed, and preset login usage statistics information for filtering devices to be managed. The current management list includes at least one managed device information corresponding to at least one managed device 2A. The historical management list includes at least one recorded managed device information, which includes all device information that has previously corresponded to the managed device 2A.

[0016] The management terminal device 3 includes a management terminal communication module 31, a management terminal input module 32, and a management terminal display module 33 that are signal-connected to the server terminal device 1, and a management terminal processing module 34 that is electrically connected to the management terminal communication module 31, the management terminal input module 32, and the management terminal display module 33.

[0017] The server device 1 can be a server or a human computer, but is not limited thereto. It is worth noting that in this embodiment, the server device 1 is a server with Active Directory service software developed by Microsoft installed, but is still not limited thereto.

[0018] Each device 2 may be a server, a computer, a tablet, a laptop, a smartphone, or a personal computer, but is not limited thereto.

[0019] The management device 3 can be a computer, a tablet computer, a laptop computer, a smartphone, or a personal computer, but is not limited to these.

[0020] The following will describe the operational details of each component in the automatic device management system 100 in conjunction with this embodiment of the automatic device management method of the present invention. This embodiment of the automatic device management method includes an automatic management program and a deletion management program.

[0021] Referring to Figures 2 and 3, the automatic management procedure includes steps 51 to 55.

[0022] In step 51, the server-side processing module 13 periodically determines whether there is at least one device 2B to be managed among the devices 2 based on the current management list. When the server-side processing module 13 determines that there is no device 2B to be managed among the devices 2, no action is performed; when the server-side processing module 13 determines that there is at least one device 2B to be managed among the devices 2, step 52 is performed. The device information corresponding to each device 2B to be managed is not any of the information of the at least one already managed device.

[0023] In step 52, for each device 2B to be managed, the server-side processing module 13 determines whether at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device 2B meets any one of the at least one management conditions, so as to determine whether the device 2B to be managed can be one of the managed devices 2A. When the server-side processing module 13 determines that the at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device 2B does not meet any one of the at least one management conditions, so as to determine that the device 2B to be managed cannot be one of the managed devices 2A, process step 53 is performed; when the server-side processing module 13 determines that the at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device 2B meets any one of the at least one management conditions, so as to determine that the device 2B to be managed can be one of the managed devices 2A, process step 55 is performed. The at least one piece of information to be analyzed includes, but is not limited to, at least one piece of hardware information to be analyzed regarding the hardware of the device 2B to be managed, at least one piece of environment setting information to be analyzed regarding the device setting parameters of the device 2B to be managed, at least one piece of normal usage statistics information regarding the usage duration or number of times the device 2B to be managed has been used in a past time interval, and at least one piece of login usage statistics information regarding the usage duration or number of times the device 2B to be managed has been used under any user account login in a past time interval.

[0024] Specifically, if the at least one piece of information to be analyzed contains the hardware information to be analyzed, then it is determined whether the hardware information to be analyzed corresponding to the device 2B to be managed conforms to the preset hardware information, so as to determine whether the device 2B to be managed can be one of the devices 2A already managed; if the at least one piece of information to be analyzed contains the environment setting information to be analyzed, then it is determined whether the environment setting information to be analyzed corresponding to the device 2B to be managed conforms to the preset environment setting ... conforms to the preset environment setting information, so as to determine whether the device If the analysis information includes the normal usage statistics to be analyzed, then it is determined whether the normal usage statistics corresponding to the device to be managed 2B conforms to the preset normal usage statistics, so as to determine whether the device to be managed 2B can be one of the devices already managed 2A; if the at least one piece of analysis information includes the login usage statistics to be analyzed, then it is determined whether the login usage statistics corresponding to the device to be managed 2B conforms to the preset login usage statistics, so as to determine whether the device to be managed 2B can be one of the devices already managed 2A.

[0025] For example, the hardware information to be analyzed can be the MAC address of the device 2B to be managed. When the MAC address of the device 2B to be managed is within the address range indicated by the preset hardware information, it is determined that the hardware information to be analyzed corresponding to the device 2B to be managed conforms to the preset hardware information. As another example, the environment setting information to be analyzed can be the network domain set for the device 2B to be managed. When the network domain set for the device 2B to be managed belongs to the network domain indicated by the environment setting information to be analyzed, it is determined that the hardware information to be analyzed corresponding to the device 2B to be managed conforms to the preset hardware information. As yet another example, the environment setting information to be analyzed can be the normal usage statistics indicating the usage duration (e.g., 30 hours in the past week) or usage frequency (e.g., 5 times in the past week) of the device 2B to be managed within the past time interval. If the normal usage statistics of device 2B to be analyzed are greater than the preset usage duration or preset number of uses indicated by the preset normal usage statistics, then it is determined that the normal usage statistics of device 2B to be analyzed conforms to the preset normal usage statistics. For example, the environment setting information to be analyzed may be the login usage statistics of device 2B to be analyzed, which indicates the usage duration (e.g., 30 hours of account usage in the past week) or the number of times (e.g., 5 times of account usage in the past week) of any user account login in the past other time interval. When the login usage statistics of device 2B to be analyzed are greater than the preset login usage duration or preset number of login usage indicated by the preset login usage statistics, then it is determined that the login usage statistics of device 2B to be analyzed conforms to the preset login usage statistics, but this is not limited to the above examples.

[0026] In step 53, for each device 2B to be managed that has been determined to not meet any of the at least one listed conditions for the corresponding at least one piece of information to be analyzed, the server-side processing module 13 generates a first warning message containing the device information corresponding to the device 2B to be managed and indicating that the device 2B to be managed does not belong to any of the listed devices 2A, and transmits the first warning message to the management terminal device 3 through the server-side communication module 11.

[0027] In step 54, after receiving the first warning message through the management terminal communication module 31, the management terminal processing module 34 displays the first warning message on the management terminal display module 33.

[0028] In step 55, for each device 2B to be managed that has been determined to meet any of the at least one management conditions, the server-side processing module 13 adds the device information corresponding to the device 2B to the current management list, so as to regard the device information corresponding to the device 2B as one of the managed device information.

[0029] Referring to Figure 3, step 55 also includes steps 55A to 55D.

[0030] In step 55A, for each device 2B to be managed that has been determined to meet any of the at least one management conditions, the server-side processing module 13 determines whether the device information corresponding to the device 2B is one of the at least one recorded managed device information in the historical management list. When the server-side processing module 13 determines that the device information corresponding to the device 2B is one of the at least one recorded managed device information in the historical management list, process step 55B is performed; when the server-side processing module 13 determines that the device information corresponding to the device 2B is not one of the at least one recorded managed device information in the historical management list, process step 55D is performed.

[0031] In step 55B, the server-side processing module 13 generates a second warning message containing the device information corresponding to the device to be managed 2B and indicating that the device to be managed 2B cannot be used as one of the devices already managed 2A again, and transmits the second warning message to the management terminal device 3 through the server-side communication module 11.

[0032] In step 55C, after receiving the second warning message through the management terminal communication module 31, the management terminal processing module 34 displays the second warning message on the management terminal display module 33.

[0033] In step 55D, the server-side processing module 13 adds the device information corresponding to the device to be managed 2B to the current management list and the historical management list, so as to use the device information corresponding to the device to be managed 2B as one of the managed device information.

[0034] Referring to Figure 4, the deletion procedure includes steps 61 to 63.

[0035] In step 61, the management terminal processing module 34 responds to the input signal generated by the management terminal input module 32 through the manager's input operation, generates a device deletion command containing information about a device to be deleted, and transmits the device deletion command to the server device 1 through the management terminal communication module 31.

[0036] In step 62, after receiving the device deletion command through the server communication module 11, the server processing module 13 determines whether the device information to be deleted is one of the at least one managed device information in the current management list. If the server processing module 13 determines that the device information to be deleted is not one of the at least one managed device information in the current management list, no action is performed; if the server processing module 13 determines that the device information to be deleted is one of the at least one managed device information in the current management list, step 63 is performed.

[0037] In step 63, the server-side processing module 13 deletes the information of the device to be deleted from the current list of managed devices.

[0038] In summary, the automatic device management method of the present invention, for each device 2B to be managed, uses the server device 1 to determine whether the at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device 2B meets any of the at least one management condition, and whether it has been managed and deleted before, so as to automatically determine whether the device 2B to be managed can be managed, thereby greatly reducing manpower and time costs, effectively improving asset management efficiency, and thus truly achieving the purpose of the present invention.

[0039] However, the above description is merely an embodiment of the present invention and should not be construed as limiting the scope of the present invention. Any simple equivalent changes and modifications made in accordance with the scope of the patent application and the contents of the patent specification of the present invention shall still fall within the scope of the patent of the present invention.

[0040] 900: Communication Network 100: Automatic Management System 1: Servo device 11: Servo-end communication module 12: Server-side storage module 13: Servo-side processing module 2: Equipment 2A: Equipment already under management 2B: Equipment to be listed 3: Management terminal device 31: Management Communication Module 32: Management Input Module 33: Management Terminal Display Module 34: Management Terminal Processing Module Steps 51-55 55A~55D: Steps Steps 61-63

Claims

1. An automatic device management method, implemented via a server-side device connected to multiple devices via a signal, each device corresponding to device information, the server-side device storing at least one management condition and a current management list, the current management list containing at least one list of managed device information corresponding to at least one already managed device, the automatic device management method comprising the following steps: (A) using the server-side device, based on the current management list, periodically determining whether there is at least one device to be managed among the devices, wherein the device information corresponding to each device to be managed is not any of the at least one list of managed device information; (B) when it is determined that there is at least one device to be managed among the devices, for each device to be managed, using the server-side device, determining whether the at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device to be managed meets any of the at least one management condition, i.e., the device to be managed can be considered as one of the already managed devices; and (C) For each device to be managed, when it is determined that the at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device to be managed meets any of the at least one management conditions, the device information corresponding to the device to be managed is added to the current management list by the server device, so that the device information corresponding to the device to be managed is one of the managed device information.

2. The automatic device management method as described in claim 1, wherein the server-side device is further signal-connected to a management-side device, wherein, After step (C), the following steps are also included: (D) For each device to be managed, when it is determined that the at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device to be managed does not meet any of the at least one management conditions, the server device generates and transmits a first warning message containing the device information corresponding to the device to be managed and indicating that the device to be managed does not belong to any of the managed devices to the management device.

3. The automatic device management method as described in claim 1, wherein the server device further stores a historical management list, the historical management list containing at least one recorded managed device information, and the at least one recorded managed device information containing all device information that has previously been associated with the managed device, wherein, Step (C) further includes the following steps: (C-1) For each device to be managed, when it is determined that the at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device to be managed meets any one of the at least one management conditions, the server device determines that the device information corresponding to the device to be managed is one of the at least one recorded managed device information in the historical management list; and (C-2) For each device to be managed, when it is determined that the at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device to be managed meets any one of the at least one management conditions and the device information corresponding to the device to be managed is not one of the at least one recorded managed device information in the historical management list, the server device adds the device information corresponding to the device to be managed to the current management list and the historical management list, so as to regard the device information corresponding to the device to be managed as one of the managed device information.

4. The automatic device management method as described in claim 3, wherein the server-side device is further signal-connected to a management-side device, wherein, Step (C) further includes the following steps: (C-3) For each device to be managed, when it is determined that the at least one piece of information to be analyzed corresponding to the device to be managed meets any of the at least one management conditions and the device information corresponding to the device to be managed is one of the at least one recorded managed device information in the historical management list, the server device generates and transmits a second warning message to the management device, which includes the device information corresponding to the device to be managed and indicates that the device to be managed cannot be one of the managed devices again.

5. The automatic device management method as described in claim 1, wherein the server-side device is further signal-connected to a management-side device, wherein, Following step (C), the following steps are also included: (E) Upon receiving a device deletion instruction from the management device containing device information to be deleted, the server device determines that the device information to be deleted is one of the at least one managed device information in the current management list; and (F) When it is determined that the device information to be deleted is one of the at least one managed device information in the current management list, the server device deletes the device information to be deleted from the current management list.

6. The automatic device management method as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one management condition includes preset hardware information for filtering out devices to be managed, wherein, In step (B), the at least one piece of information to be analyzed includes hardware information to be analyzed about the hardware of the device to be managed. For each device to be managed, the server device determines that the hardware information to be analyzed corresponding to the device to be managed conforms to the preset hardware information, that is, the device to be managed can be one of the devices already managed.

7. The automatic device management method as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one management condition includes preset environmental setting information for filtering out devices to be managed, wherein, In step (B), the at least one piece of information to be analyzed includes an environment setting information to be analyzed regarding the device setting parameters of the device to be managed. For each device to be managed, the server device determines whether the environment setting information to be analyzed corresponding to the device to be managed conforms to the preset environment setting information, that is, the device to be managed can be one of the devices already managed.

8. The automatic device management method as described in claim 1, wherein the at least one management condition includes preset normal usage statistics for filtering out the devices to be managed, wherein, In step (B), the at least one piece of information to be analyzed includes statistical information on the usage duration of the device to be managed within a past time interval. For each device to be managed, the server device determines whether the statistical information on the usage duration to be analyzed for the device to be managed conforms to the preset statistical information on the usage duration. That is, it is determined that the device to be managed can be one of the devices already managed. When the statistical information on the usage duration to be analyzed for the device to be managed is greater than the preset usage duration or preset number of uses indicated by the preset statistical information on the usage duration, the statistical information on the usage duration to be analyzed for the device to be managed conforms to the preset statistical information on the usage duration.

9. The automatic device management method as described in claim 1, wherein the server device further stores multiple user accounts corresponding to multiple users, and the at least one management condition includes preset login and usage statistics information for filtering out the devices to be managed, wherein, In step (B), the at least one piece of information to be analyzed includes login usage statistics about the usage time of the device to be managed under any user account login in the past time interval. For each device to be managed, the server device determines that the login usage statistics corresponding to the device to be managed are consistent with the preset login usage statistics, that is, the device to be managed can be one of the managed devices.

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