Certification Gap Analyzer for Network Management Migration
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
The process of migrating from one network management system to another is inefficient and time-consuming due to the difficulty in analyzing coverage gaps between different systems, especially when they use different certification formats and collect varying performance metrics.
Innovation Solution
A certification gap analyzer tool that identifies and analyzes differences in coverage between network management systems without deploying both systems, by leveraging naming patterns and MIB translation files to correlate unique attributes and OIDs, generating a coverage report that highlights gaps in coverage.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If a test deployment of both network management systems is performed to analyze coverage gaps, then the accuracy of coverage analysis is improved, but the time and resources required for migration increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the second network management system's certification file and managed objects in memory, allowing analysis of coverage gaps between systems without actually deploying both systems simultaneously. The second network management system is represented as a data structure containing its certification file and managed objects, enabling comparative analysis while avoiding the time cost of full deployment.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent performs coverage gap analysis before the actual migration occurs by comparing certification files and managed objects from both systems in advance. This preliminary analysis identifies coverage gaps, missing attributes, and data mapping requirements before migration begins, allowing for better planning and reducing overall migration time.
2Quantity of substance
If network management systems collect vast amounts of utilization data from managed objects to ensure comprehensive coverage, then the completeness of device information is improved, but the complexity of analyzing coverage gaps increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts only the essential information needed for coverage gap analysis from the certification files and managed objects, specifically focusing on device identifiers, attribute names, and data types. By extracting only these key elements rather than processing all utilization data, the system maintains information completeness for coverage analysis while significantly reducing analysis complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the coverage gap analysis into distinct steps: parsing certification files, extracting managed object definitions, comparing attribute sets, and identifying gaps. This segmentation allows the system to handle large amounts of device information systematically in manageable portions, reducing overall analysis complexity while maintaining completeness.
3Adaptability or versatility
If different certification formats are used by network management systems to accommodate various performance metrics, then the versatility of the systems is improved, but the difficulty of analyzing coverage gaps between systems increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a standardized intermediate representation format that both network management systems can export their certification data in. This intermediate format serves as a common language that bridges different certification formats, allowing the system to compare attributes from systems using different formats without requiring direct compatibility between them.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a universal parser and comparator that can handle multiple certification formats by translating them into a common internal representation. This universal approach allows the system to analyze coverage gaps between systems with different certification formats using the same analysis mechanism, reducing analysis difficulty while maintaining format flexibility.
Data Source
AI summary
A tool can be designed that identifies differences or gaps in coverage between network management systems without deploying both network management systems (i.e., an already deployed network management system and a comparison network management system). This “certification gap analyzer” can analyze the coverage of the current network management system in comparison with the certification of the comparison network management system and identify gaps in coverage between devices and device components (collectively referred to hereinafter as “managed objects”) certified in the different network management systems. The certification gap analyzer can present a comparison of coverage of managed objects by leveraging naming patterns of managed objects.