Agentless Network Analytics Data Collector
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional agent-based architectures for monitoring network resources are burdensome and unreliable, especially when collecting metrics from diverse resources, as they require agents on every device, which can be unmanageable and limited in capability, and are not configured to handle data gathering loads effectively.
Innovation Solution
An agentless system and method that uses a customer agentless software data collector to collect analytics data from devices within a customer computer network, sending it to a remote data center over a public wide area network, where it is normalized and aggregated, and made available via a web interface for analytics and reporting.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If agents are installed on every device for data collection, then data gathering capability is improved, but device complexity and management burden increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the data collection function from individual device agents and consolidates it into a centralized server-based system. Instead of requiring agents on every device, the server directly collects data from devices using standardized protocols, eliminating the complexity of deploying and managing agents across the entire network while maintaining data gathering capability.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent introduces a server as an intermediary between the monitoring system and network devices. This server acts as a mediator that collects data from multiple devices centrally, eliminating the need for each device to have its own agent. The intermediary handles all data collection operations, simplifying the overall system architecture and reducing management burden.
2Loss of information
If agents are deployed on all devices, then comprehensive metrics collection is achieved, but the burden of ensuring installation and operation of all agents is significant
Solution Approach 1:
The patent removes the requirement for agents from individual devices and extracts the data collection function to a centralized server. This eliminates the time-consuming task of installing and maintaining agents on every device while still achieving comprehensive metrics collection through direct server-to-device communication using standardized protocols.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent enables devices to provide their own data directly to the server without requiring external agent software. Devices use their built-in capabilities and standardized interfaces to self-serve data collection requests from the server, eliminating the need for manual agent installation and reducing ongoing management tasks.
3Loss of information
If agents are used on devices, then data collection from those devices is possible, but data about the resource is limited to the agent's capabilities
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal server-based data collection system that can interface with multiple types of devices using standardized protocols. Instead of requiring device-specific agents with limited capabilities, the server implements multiple communication protocols and methods, enabling it to collect comprehensive data from diverse devices without being constrained by individual agent capabilities.
Data Source
AI summary
An agentless software data collector in a customer computer network collects metrics data from managed devices on the network to provide to a remote data center accessed via a public wide area network (WAN) interface. The software data collector collects metrics data, as well as receives real-time queries, such as from a Remote Procedure Call (RPC) initiated from a hosted web interface.