System and method for deriving future network configuration data from the current and previous network configuration data

Abstract

An apparatus and method allows current network configuration information and future network configuration information to be stored, wherein the future network configuration information reflects the future facilities planning considerations and may be dirived from the current network configuration information. The system includes a directory server on which a current map tree, containing current network configuration information and a temporary map tree are stored. The temporary map tree only contains the information for any components, organized into a tree structure, for which the configuration changes are expected to occur in the future. The system responds to a request for network configuration information that is applicable to any future time from any external resquester, and searches the trees including the directory entries that reside in the current map tree and temporary map tree.

Claims

1. A network configuration data management system comprising:

(a) a directory server including:

(a1) a current map tree for containing information for current network configuration conditions organized into a directory tree format, and

(a2) a temporary map tree for containing differential information for a future network configuration organized into a directory tree structure that represents a difference resulting from any changes made to the current network configuration; and

(b) a network configuration information management apparatus including:

(b1) network configuration data control means that responds to a request from any external application for providing network configuration data management functions by performing operations on map data,

(b2) current map tree access means for accessing said current map tree within said directory server to retrieve appropriate information therefrom, and updating the retrieved information, and

(b3) temporary map tree access means for accessing said temporary map tree within said directory server to perform generating, modifying and deleting operations,

wherein a future network configuration information that represents the information expected to occur at any future time later than the current time may be generated by merging the information in said current map tree together with the information in said temporary map tree;

wherein said network configuration information management apparatus includes a network configuration data store section for storing the directory tree information temporarily;

wherein said network configuration data control means is configured for:

accessing said current map tree containing the current network configuration information through said current map tree access means, and retrieving the information for the component as identified by an entry located under the current map entry from said current map tree;

temporarily storing the information thus retrieved in said network configuration data store section;

accessing said temporary map tree through said temporary map tree access means, and

searching said temporary map tree for any temporary map entry information applicable to the time earlier than the time specified by said external application;

wherein, if it is found that no such temporary map entry is available, meaning that the information retrieved from the current map entry is determined to be a search result, returning the current map entry information to said external application as it remains unchanged, and if it is found that one or more such temporary map entries are available, collects every entry information located under the temporary map entry and specified by said external application that has been retrieved from said temporary map tree through said temporary map tree access means;

wherein said network configuration data control means is further configured for;

merging the entry information under the temporary map entry and collected together with the current map tree previously stored in said network configuration data store means; and

collecting all temporary map entries and merging them to update the entry information under the current map entry and stored in said network configuration data store section, and returning the updated version of the information to said external applications;

wherein said directory server includes a log map tree for storing the log information that occurred in the past for a particular component;

wherein said network configuration information management apparatus includes log map tree access means that allows said apparatus to access the log map tree; and

wherein, if the network configuration information that may be applicable to any past time is requested, said network configuration data control means responds to that request for causing said map tree access means and said log map tree access means to accessing said current map tree and said log map tree within said directory server, respectively, and retrieve the information from the respective map tree, and for obtaining the past network configuration information by merging the information retrieved from the current map tree together with the log map information that has been setup up to said any past time.

2. In a system comprising a network configuration information management apparatus, the network configuration information management apparatus including:

(a) a directory server for storing a current map tree that contains information for current network configuration conditions organized into a directory tree structure and a temporary map tree that contains future configuration information, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from the current network configuration resulting from any changes made to the current network configuration;

(b) network configuration data control means for providing the network configuration data management functions by performing operations on map data in response to a request from any external application;

(c) current map tree access means for accessing the current map tree stored in said directory server to retrieve the information therefrom, and updating the retrieved information; and

(d) a temporary map tree access means for accessing the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, and generating, modifying and updating the information therein, a network configuration data management method comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving, at said network configuration data control means, a request for modifying configuration data from any external application, said network configuration data control means responding to the request to request that the temporary map tree access means generate a temporary map entry as a root for the temporary map tree, and said temporary map tree access means responding to the request from said network configuration data control means to access said directory server for generating the temporary map entry;

(A2) sorting data instructed in the request, termed as "request data", for modifying the configuration data for each entry, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving said sorted data in the request sequentially, and checking them to determine whether what is requested is to add, modify, or delete an entry;

(A4) dividing processing steps into add, modify and delete, based on the results of the checking,

(A5) if it is determined that an entry is to be added, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that any existing entry is to be modified, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that the information for any existing entry is to be deleted, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree;

wherein said directory server further includes a log map tree for storing log information for components that occurred in the past;

wherein said network configuration information management apparatus further includes a log map tree access means through which it has access to said log map tree; and

wherein, in response to the request for the network configuration information that is applicable to any particular time in the past, said network configuration data control means obtains the information in the current map tree stored in said directory server as well as the information in said log map tree, through said current map tree access means and said log map tree access means, respectively, and then produces a new version of the network configuration information as requested by merging the information in said map tree together with the information in said log map tree that has been setup up to said particular past time.

3. The network configuration data management method as defined in claim 2, wherein the step of generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree includes the steps of:

(B1) extracting an appropriate identifier identifying the location of entry in said directory tree from an identifier contained in the retrieved request data;

(B2) based on the extracted identifier, checking whether a parent entry for the entry designated as Add already exists in said temporary map tree;

(B3) if it is determined that the parent entry does not exist, causing said network configuration data control means to access said directory server through said current map tree access means and retrieve a parent entry information that resides in said current map tree stored in said directory server;

(B4) generating a parent entry under the temporary map entry through said temporary map tree access means, wherein as the parent entry exists in said current map tree, requiring no modification, when said temporary map tree is merged together with said current map tree, said temporary map tree access means bypasses the generating step, setting a value for the type of operation that is one attribute of the parent entry in a directory class under the map to "Not Applicable (N/A)"; and

(B5) generating the entry designated as Add in the request, and adding the entry under the parent entry generated through said temporary map tree access means, wherein when said temporary map tree is merged together with said current map tree, the attribute value for the operation type in the directory class under the tree is set to "Add" to indicate that a new entry should be added in said current map tree.

4. The network configuration data management method as defined in claim 2, wherein the step of generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree includes the steps of:

(C1) retrieving the appropriate identifier identifying the location of entry in said directory tree from identifiers contained in the retrieved request data;

(C2) based on the retrieved identifier, checking whether the parent entry for the entry designated as Modify already exists in said temporary map tree;

(C3) if it is determined that the parent entry does not exist, causing said network configuration data control means to access said directory server through said current map tree access means and retrieve the parent entry information that resides in said current map tree stored in said directory server;

(C4) generating a parent entry under the temporary map entry through said temporary map tree access means, wherein as the parent entry exists in said current map tree, requiring no modification, at the time when said temporary map tree is merged together with said current map tree, said temporary map tree access means bypasses the generating step, setting a value for the operation type that is one attribute of the parent entry in the directory class under the map to "Not Applicable (N/A)"; and

(C5) generating an entry designated as Modify in the request data, and adding the entry under the parent entry generated through said temporary map tree access means, wherein when said temporary map tree is merged together with said current map tree, the attribute value for the operation type in the directory class under the map tree is set to "Modify" to indicate that said existing entry should be modified in said current map tree.

5. The network configuration data management method as defined in claim 2, wherein the step of generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree includes the steps of:

(D1) retrieving the appropriate identifier identifying the location of entry in said directory tree from the identifiers contained in the retrieved request data;

(D2) based on the retrieved identifier, checking whether the parent entry for the entry designated as Delete already exists in said temporary map tree;

(D3) if it is determined that the parent entry does not exist, causing said network configuration data control means to access said directory server through said current map tree access means and retrieve the parent entry information that resides in said current map tree stored in said directory server;

(D4) generating a parent entry under the temporary map entry through said temporary map tree access means, wherein as the parent entry exists in said current map tree, requiring no modification, at the time when said temporary map tree is merged together with said is current map tree, said temporary map tree access means bypasses the generating step, setting the value for the operation type that is one attribute of the parent entry in the directory class under the map to "Not Applicable (N/A)"; and

(B5) generating the entry designated as Modify as requested, and adding the entry under the parent entry generated through said temporary map tree access means, wherein when said temporary map tree is merged together with said current map tree, the attribute value for the operation class in the directory class under the tree is set to "Delete" to indicate that said existing entry should be deleted in said current map tree.

6. The network configuration data management method as defined in claim 2, further including the step of updating the current map tree stored in said directory server to a new version by merging said current map tree and said temporary map tree, and wherein said network configuration data control means performs the steps of:

(E1) collecting, through said temporary map tree access means, information for those ones of the entries located under temporary map tree being merged, and that are designated as Delete, Modify or Add;

(E2) determining how many entries have been collected, wherein if it is determined that the number of entries collected is equal to zero, the process is ended, and if it is determined that the number of entries collected is equal to one or more,

(E3) deleting, through said current map tree access means, the entry or entries designated as Delete from the current map tree;

(E4) modifying, through said current map tree access means, the entry or entries designated as Modify in said current map tree;

(E5) adding, through said current map tree access means, the entry or entries designated as Add to the current map tree; and

(E6) when the merge processing for all of the entries designated as Delete, Modify and Add under the temporary map tree has been completed, writing the completion time into an appropriate temporary map entry through said temporary map tree access means.

7. In a system comprising a network configuration information management apparatus, the network configuration information management apparatus including:

(a) a directory server for storing a current map tree that contains information for current network configuration conditions organized into a directory tree structure and a temporary map tree that contains future configuration information, organization into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from the current network configuration resulting from any changes made to the current network configuration;

(b) network configuration data control means for providing the network configuration data management functions by performing operations on map data in response to a request from any external application;

(c) current map tree access means for accessing the current map tree stored in said directory server to retrieve the information therefrom, and updating the retrieved information; and

(d) a temporary map tree access means for accessing the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, and generating, modifying and updating the information therein, a network configuration data management method comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving, at said network configuration data control means, a request for modifying configuration data from any external application, said network configuration data control means responding to the request to request that the temporary map tree access means generate a temporary map entry as a root for the temporary map tree, and said temporary map tree access means responding to the request from said network configuration data control means to access said directory server for generating the temporary map entry;

(A2) sorting data instructed in the request, termed as "request data", for modifying the configuration data for each entry, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving said sorted data in the request sequentially, and checking them to determine whether what is requested is to add, modify, or delete an entry;

(A4) dividing processing steps into add, modify and delete, based on the results of the checking,

(A5) if it is determined that an entry is to be added, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that any existing entry is to be modified, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that the information for any existing entry is to be deleted, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree;

wherein said network configuration data management method further including the step of updating the current map tree stored in said directory server to a new version by merging said current map tree said temporary map tree, and wherein said network configuration data control means performs the steps of:

(E1) collecting, through said temporary map tree access means, information for those ones of the entries located under temporary map tree being merged, and that are designated as Delete, Modify or Add;

(E2) determining how many entries have been collected, wherein if it is determined that the number of entries collected is equal to zero, the process is ended, and if it is determined that the number of entries collected is equal to one or more,

(E3) deleting, through said current map tree access means, the entry or entries designated as Delete from the current map tree;

(E4) modifying, through said current map tree access means, the entry or entries designated as Modify in said current map tree;

(E5) adding, through said current map tree access means, the entry or entries designated as Add to the current map tree; and

(E6) when the merge processing for all of the entries designated as Delete, Modify and Add under the temporary map tree has been completed, writing the completion time into an appropriate temporary map entry through said temporary map tree access means; and

wherein when it is determined that one or more entries located under the temporary map tree are to be deleted, the step (E3) further including causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting the identifier for the appropriate entry from the information for the entry designated as Delete under the temporary map tree and collected through said temporary map tree access means;

translating the extracted identifier into an identifier for the corresponding entry designated as Delete under the current map tree;

deleting, through said current map tree access means, the entry under the current map tree by using the translated identifier as a parameter; and

repeating the preceding steps until there are no more entries that are to be deleted.

8. In a system comprising a network configuration information management apparatus, the network configuration information management apparatus including:

(a) a directory server for storing a current map tree that contains information for current network configuration conditions organized into a directory tree structure and a temporary map tree that contains future configuration information, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from the current network configuration resulting from any changes made to the current network configuration;

(b) network configuration data control means for providing the network configuration data management functions by performing operations on map data in response to a request from any external application;

(c) current map tree access means for accessing the current map tree stored in said directory server to retrieve the information therefrom, and updating the retrieved information; and

(d) a temporary map tree access means for accessing the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, and generating, modifying and updating the information therein, a network configuration data management method comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving, at said network configuration data control means, a request for modifying configuration data from any external application, said network configuration data control means responding to the request to request that the temporary map tree access means generate a temporary map entry as a root for the temporary map tree, and said temporary map tree access means responding to the request from said network configuration data control means to access said directory server for generating the temporary map entry;

(A2) sorting data instructed in the request, termed as "request data", for modifying the configuration data for each entry, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving said sorted data in the request sequentially, and checking them to determine whether what is requested is to add, modify, or delete an entry;

(A4) dividing processing steps into add, modify and delete, based on the results of the checking,

(A5) if it is determined that an entry is to be added, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that any existing entry is to be modified, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that the information for any existing entry is to be deleted, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree;

wherein said network configuration data management method further including the step of updating the current map tree stored in said directory server to a new version by merging said current map tree and said temporary map tree, and wherein said network configuration data control means performs the steps of:

(E1) collecting, through said temporary map tree access means, information for those ones of the entries located under temporary map tree being merged, and that are designated as Delete, Modify or Add;

(E2) determining how many entries have been collected wherein if it is determined that the number of entries collected is equal to zero, the process is ended, and if it is determined that the number of entries collected is equal to one or more,

(E3) deleting, through said current map tree access means, the entry or entries designated as Delete from the current map tree;

(E4) modifying, through said current map tree access means, the entry or entries designated as Modify in said current map tree;

(E5) adding, through said current map tree access means, the entry or entries designated as Add to the current map tree; and

(E6) when the merge processing for all of the entries designated as Delete, Modify and Add under the temporary map tree has been completed, writing the completion time into an appropriate temporary map entry through said temporary map tree access means; and

wherein when it is determined that one or more entries located under the temporary map tree are to be modified, the step (E4) further including causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting an identifier for the appropriate entry from the information for the entry designated as Modify under the temporary map tree and collected through said temporary map tree access means;

translating the extracted identifier into an identifier for the corresponding entry designated as Modify under the current map tree;

generating a parameter that specifies that the entry is to be modified;

modifying, through said current map tree access means, the entry located under the current map tree by using the translated identifier as a parameter; and

repeating the preceding steps until there are no more entries that are to be modified.

9. In a system comprising a network configuration information management apparatus, the network configuration information management apparatus including:

(a) a directory server for storing a current map tree that contains information for current network configuration conditions organized into a directory tree structure and a temporary map tree that contains future configuration information, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from the current network configuration resulting from any changes made to the current network configuration;

(b) network configuration data control means for providing the network configuration data management functions by performing operations on map data in response to a request from any external application;

(c) current map tree access means for accessing the current map tree stored in said directory server to retrieve the information therefrom, and updating the retrieved information; and

(d) a temporary map tree access means for accessing the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, and generating, modifying and updating the information therein, a network configuration data management method comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving, at said network configuration data control means, a request for modifying configuration data from any external application, said network configuration data control means responding to the request to request that the temporary map tree access means generate a temporary map entry as a root for the temporary map tree, and said temporary map tree access means responding to the request from said network configuration data control means to access said directory server for generating the temporary map entry;

(A2) sorting data instructed in the request, termed as "request data", for modifying the configuration data for each entry, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving said sorted data in the request sequentially, and checking them to determine whether what is requested is to add, modify, or delete an entry;

(A4) dividing processing steps into add, modify and delete, based on the results of the checking,

(A5) if it is determined that an entry is to be added, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that any existing entry is to be modified, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that the information for any existing entry is to be deleted, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree;

wherein said network configuration data management method further including the step of updating the current map tree stored in said directory server to a new version by merging said current map tree and said temporary map tree, and wherein said network configuration data control means performs the steps of:

(E1) collecting, through said temporary map tree access means, information for those ones of the entries located under temporary map tree being merged, and that are designated as Delete, Modify or Add;

(E2) determining how many entries have been collected wherein if it is determined that the number of entries collected is equal to zero, the process is ended, and if it is determined that the number of entries collected is equal to one or more,

(E3) deleting, through said current map tree access means, the entry or entries designated as Delete from the current map tree;

(E4) modifying, through said current map tree access means, the entry or entries designated as Modify in said current map tree;

(E5) adding, through said current map tree access means, the entry or entries designated as Add to the current map tree; and

(E6) when the merge processing for all of the entries designated as Delete, Modify and Add under the temporary map tree has been completed, writing the completion time into an appropriate temporary map entry through said temporary map tree access means; and

wherein when it is determined that one or more entries located under the temporary map tree are to be added, the step (E5) further including causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting the identifier for the appropriate entry from the information for the entry designated as Add under the temporary map tree and collected through said temporary map tree access means;

translating the extracted identifier into an identifier for a corresponding entry designated as Add under the current map tree;

generating a parameter that specifies that the entry is to be added;

adding, through said current map tree access means, the entry under the current map tree by using the translated identifier as a parameter; and

repeating the preceding steps until there are no more entries that are to be added.

10. The network configuration data management method as defined in claim 2, wherein said network configuration information management apparatus further includes a network configuration data store section for storing the directory tree information temporarily, and wherein the method further includes a step of causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

retrieving, through said current map tree access means, information for a component as specified by the entry under the current map tree and containing the current network configuration information;

storing the retrieved information for said network configuration data store section temporarily;

searching for information for appropriate entries under the current map tree applicable to any particular time earlier than a time specified by said external application;

if it is determined that the number of temporary map entries collected is equal to zero, which means that the information obtained from the entries under the current map tree may be used, returning that information to said external application as it remains unchanged;

if it is determined that the number of temporary map entries collected is equal to one or more, collecting the information for each of the entries under the temporary map tree as specified by said external application and retrieved through said temporary map tree access means;

merging the collected entry information under the temporary map tree together with the current map tree previously stored in said network configuration data store section;

merging all of the temporary map entries collected to update the information under the current map tree stored in the network configuration data store section; and

returning the updated information to said external application.

11. In a system comprising a network configuration information management apparatus, the network configuration information management apparatus including:

(a) a directory server for storing a current map tree that contains information for current network configuration conditions organized into a directory tree structure and a temporary map tree that contains future configuration information, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from the current network configuration resulting from any changes made to the current network configuration;

(b) network configuration data control means for providing the network configuration data management functions by performing operations on map data in response to a request from any external application;

(c) current map tree access means for accessing the current map tree stored in said directory server to retrieve the information therefrom, and updating the retrieved information; and

(d) a temporary map tree access means for accessing the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, and generating, modifying and updating the information therein, a network configuration data management method comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving, at said network configuration data control means, a request for modifying configuration data from any external application, said network configuration data control means responding to the request to request that the temporary map tree access means generate a temporary map entry as a root for the temporary map tree; and said temporary map tree access means responding to the request from said network configuration data control means to access said directory server for generating the temporary map entry;

(A2) sorting data instructed in the request, termed as "request data", for modifying the configuration data for each entry, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving said sorted data in the request sequentially, and checking them to determine whether what is requested is to add, modify, or delete an entry;

(A4) dividing processing steps into add, modify and delete, based on the results of the checking,

(A5) if it is determined that an entry is to be added, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that any existing entry is to be modified, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that the information for any existing entry is to be deleted, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree;

wherein

said directory server further includes a log map tree for storing log information for components that occurred in the past; and

said network configuration information management apparatus further includes a log map tree access means through which it has access to said log, map tree, and wherein

in response to the request for the network configuration information that is applicable to any particular lime in the past, said network configuration data control means obtains the information in the current map tree stored in said directory server as well as the information in said log map tree, through said current map tree access means and said log map tree access means, respectively, and then produces a new version of the network configuration information as requested by merging the information in said map tree together with the information in said log map tree that has been setup up to said particular past time;

and wherein if there are one or more entries under the temporary map tree that are to be deleted at the time when the entries under the current map tree are being deleted, the method further includes the step of causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting an identifier for an appropriate entry from the information for the entry designated as Delete under the temporary map tree and collected through said temporary map tree access means;

translating the retrieved entry identifier into an identifier for the corresponding entry designated as Delete under the current map tree;

generating an entry designated as Added under the log map through said log map tree access means;

deleting the entry under the current map tree through said current map tree access means by using the translated identifier as a parameter; and

repeating the preceding steps until there are no more entries that are to be deleted.

12. In a system comprising a network configuration information management apparatus, the network configuration information management apparatus including:

(a) a directory server for storing a current map tree that contains information for current network configuration conditions organized into a directory tree structure and a temporary map tree that contains future configuration information, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from the current network configuration resulting from any changes made to the current network configuration;

(b) network configuration data control means for providing the network configuration data management functions by performing operations on map data in response to a request from any external application;

(c) current map tree access means for accessing the current map tree stored in said directory server to retrieve the information therefrom, and updating the retrieved information; and

(d) a temporary map tree access means for accessing the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, and generating, modifying and updating the information therein, a network configuration data management method comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving, at said network configuration data control means, a request for modifying configuration data from any external application, said network configuration data control means responding to the request to request that the temporary map tree access means generate a temporary map entry as a root for the temporary map tree; and said temporary map tree access means responding to the request from said network configuration data control means to access said directory server for generating the temporary map entry;

(A2) sorting data instructed in the request, termed as "request data", for modifying the configuration data for each entry in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving said sorted data in the request sequentially, and checking them to determine whether what is requested is to add, modify or delete an entry;

(A4) dividing processing steps into add, modify and delete, based on the requests of the checking,

(A5) if it is determined that an entry is to be added, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that any existing entry is to be modified, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that the information for any existing entry is to be deleted, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree;

wherein

said directory server further includes a log map tree for storing log information for components that occurred in the past; and

said network configuration information management apparatus further includes a log map tree access means through which it has access to said log map tree, and wherein

in response to the request for the network configuration information that is applicable to any particular time in the past, said network configuration data control means obtains the information in the current map tree stored in said directory server as well as the information in said log map tree, through said current map tree access means and said log map tree access means, respectively, and then produces a new version of the network configuration information as requested by merging the information in said map tree together with the information in said log map tree that has been setup up to said particular past time;

wherein if there are one or more entries under the temporary map tree that are to be modified at the time when the entries under the current map tree are being modified, the method further includes a step of causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting an identifier for an appropriate entry from the information for entry designated as Modify under the temporary map tree and collected through said temporary map tree access means;

translating the retrieved entry identifier into an identifier for a corresponding entry designated as Modify under the current map tree;

generating a parameter that specifies that the entry is to be modified;

generating an entry designated as Modify under the log map through said log map tree access means;

modifying the entry under the current map tree through said current map tree access means by using the translated identifier as a parameter; and

repeating the preceding steps until there are no more entries that are to be modified.

13. In a system comprising a network configuration information management apparatus, the network configuration information management apparatus including:

(a) a directory server for storing a current map tree that contains information for current network configuration conditions organized into a directory tree structure and a temporary map tree that contains future configuration information, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from the current network configuration resulting from any changes made to the current network configuration;

(b) network configuration data control means for providing the network configuration data management functions by performing operations on map data in response to a request from any external application;

(c) current map tree access means for accessing the current map tree stored in said directory server to retrieve the information therefrom, and updating the retrieved information; and

(d) a temporary map tree access means for accessing the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, and generating, modifying and updating the information therein, a network configuration data management method comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving, at said network configuration data control means, a request for modifying configuration data from any external application, said network configuration data control means responding to the request to request that the temporary map tree access means generate a temporary map entry as a root for the temporary map tree, and said temporary map tree access means responding to the request from said network configuration data control means to access said directory server for generating the temporary map entry;

(A2) sorting data instructed in the request, termed as "request data", for modifying the configuration data for each entry, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving said sorted data in the request sequentially, and checking them to determine whether what is requested is to add, modify, or delete an entry;

(A4) dividing processing steps into add, modify and delete, based on the results of the checking,

(A5) if it is determined that an entry is to be added, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that any existing entry is to be modified, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that the information for any existing entry is to be deleted, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree;

wherein

said directory server further includes a log map tree for storing log information for components that occurred in the past; and

said network configuration information management apparatus further includes a log map tree access means through which it has access to said log map tree, and wherein

in response to the request for the network configuration information that is applicable to any particular time in the past, said network configuration data control means obtains the information in the current map tree stored in said directory server as well as the information in said log map tree, through said current map tree access means and said log map tree access means, respectively, and then produces a new version of the network configuration information as requested by merging the information in said map tree together with the information in said log map tree that has been setup up to said particular past time;

wherein if there are one or more entries under the temporary map tree that are to be added at the time when the entries under the current map tree are being added, the method further includes the step of causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting the identifier for the appropriate entry from the information for the entry designated as Add under the temporary map tree and collected through said temporary map tree access means;

translating the extracted identifier into an identifier for a corresponding entry designated as Add under the current map tree;

generating a parameter that specifies that the entry is to be added;

generating an entry designated as Add under the log map through said log map tree access means;

modifying the entry under the current map tree through said current map tree access means by using the translated identifier as a parameter; and

repeating the preceding steps until there are no more entries that are to be added.

14. The network configuration data management method as defined in claim 12, further including the step of causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

retrieving, through said current map tree access means, the information or attribute value for the entry designated as Add or Modify from the corresponding entry in said current map tree;

extracting the identifier for the appropriate entry from the retrieved information, and translating the extracted identifier into the corresponding identifier under the log map tree;

checking a value for the type of operation;

if it is determined that the type of operation is "delete", setting the parameter for the entry designated as Add under the log map tree to specify "add" as the type of operation;

if it is determined that the type of operation is "modify", setting the type of operation for the entry being generated under the log map tree to "modify";

generating a parameter that specifies that an entry is to be generated under the log map tree, based on the attribute value collected from the entry under the current map tree; and

generating the entry in said log map tree within said directory server through said log map tree access means.

15. The network configuration data management method as defined in claim 12, further including a step of causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting an identifier from the information obtained from the entry designated as Add under the temporary map tree;

translating the extracted identifier into a corresponding identifier for use in generating an entry designated as Delete under the log map tree;

setting the parameter for the entry being generated under the log map tree to specify "delete" as the type of operation; and

generating an entry designated as Delete under said log map tree through said log map tree access means.

16. A computer program for being executed on a computer including a network configuration information management apparatus that comprises:

a directory server storing:

a current map tree that contains information for the current network condition organized into a directory tree structure, and

a temporary map tree that contains information for the future network configuration, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from a current network configuration resulting from changes made to the current network configuration;

a network configuration data control means responsive to a request received from any external application for performing operations on the map data and providing network configuration data management functions;

a current map tree access means for retrieving and updating the information from the current map tree stored in said directory server; and

a temporary map tree access means for performing the generating, modifying, and deleting operations for the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, the functional and processing features of said network configuration data control means,

said computer program comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving a request for change in the configuration from an external application, and requesting that the temporary map tree access means access said directory server to generate a temporary map entry as a root of the temporary map tree;

(A2) sorting the data instructed in the configuration change request, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving the sorted data in the request sequentially, and determining from the retrieved data that it requests that an entry is to be added, modified, or deleted;

(A4) based on the result determined in step (A3), dividing the processing steps into Add, Modify and Delete, otherwise treating the request as an error;

(A5) if it is determined that Add is requested, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that Modify is requested, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that Delete is requested, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree;

wherein said directory server further includes a log map tree for storing log information for components that occurred in the past;

wherein said network configuration information management apparatus further includes a log map tree access means through which it has access to said log map tree, and

wherein, in response to the request for the network configuration information that is applicable to any particular time in the past, said network configuration data control means obtains the information in the current map tree stored in said directory server and the information in said log map tree through said current map tree access means and said lop map tree access means, respectively, and obtains the network configuration information as requested by merging the information in said map tree together with the information in said log map tree that has been setup up to said particular past time.

17. The computer program as defined in claim 16, wherein

the step of generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree includes the steps of:

(B1) extracting an identifier that indicates the location of entry in said directory tree from the identifier contained in the retrieved data;

(B2) checking the retrieved identifier to determine whether a parent entry for the entry designated as Add in said temporary map tree has already been generated;

(B3) if it is determined that the parent entry has not already been generated, causing said network configuration data control means to retrieve, through said current map tree access means, the parent entry information contained in said current map tree;

(B4) generating a parent entry under the temporary map entry through said temporary map tree access means, wherein as the parent entry already exists in said current map tree, requiring no modification, said temporary map tree access means sets the attribute value for the type of operation for the parent entry in the directory class under the map to "Not Applicable" to indicate that the adding process should be bypassed when said temporary map tree is merged together with said current map tree; and

(B5) generating an additional entry designated as Add and contained in the data in the request, under the parent entry generated through said temporary map tree access means, wherein said temporary map tree access means sets an attribute value for the type of operation in the directory class under the map to "Add" to indicate that an appropriate additional entry is to be added in the current map tree when said temporary map tree as merged together with said current map tree.

18. The computer program as defined in claim 16, wherein

the step of generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree includes the steps of:

(C1) extracting an identifier that indicates the location of entry in said directory tree from identifiers contained in the retrieved request data;

(C2) checking the extracted identifier to determine whether a parent entry for the entry designated as Add in said temporary map tree has already been generated;

(C3) if it is determined that the parent entry has not already been generated, causing said network configuration data control means to retrieve, through said current map tree access means, the parent entry information contained in said current map tree; (C4) generating a parent entry under the temporary map entry through said temporary map tree access means, wherein as the parent entry already exists in said current map tree, requiring no modification, said temporary map tree access means sets an attribute value for the type of operation for the parent entry in the directory class under the map to "Not Applicable" to indicate that the modifying process should be bypassed when said temporary map tree is merged together with said current map tree; and

(C5) generating an entry designated as Modify and contained in the data in the request, under the parent entry generated through said temporary map tree access means, wherein said temporary map tree access means sets the attribute value for the type of operation in the directory class under the map tree to "Modify" to indicate that an appropriate entry located in the current map tree as to be modified when said temporary map tree as merged together with said current map tree.

19. The computer program as defined in claim 16, wherein

the step of generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree includes the steps of:

(D1) extracting an identifier that indicates the location of entry in said directory tree from the identifiers contained in the retrieved request data;

(D2) checking the extracted identifier to determine whether the parent entry for the entry designated as Delete in said temporary map tree has already been generated;

(D3) if it is determined that the parent entry has not already been generated, causing said network configuration data control means to retrieve, through said current map tree access means, the parent entry information contained in said current map tree;

(D4) generating a parent entry under the temporary map entry through said temporary map tree access means, wherein as the parent entry already exists in said current map tree, requiring no modification, said temporary map tree access means sets the attribute value for the type of operation for the parent entry in the directory class under the map to "Not Applicable" to indicate that the deleting process should be bypassed when said temporary map tree as merged together with said current map tree; and

(D5) generating an entry designated as Delete and contained in the data in the request, under the parent entry generated through said temporary map tree access means, wherein said temporary map tree access means sets an attribute value for the type of operation in the directory class under the map to "Delete" to indicate that the appropriate entry located in the current map tree as to be deleted when said temporary map tree as merged with said current map tree.

20. The computer program as defined in claim 16, wherein further including the step of updating the current map tree stored in said directory server to a new version by merging said current map tree and said temporary map tree, and wherein said network configuration data control means performs the steps of:

(E1) collecting, through said temporary map tree access means, information for those ones of the entries located under temporary map tree being merged, and that are designated as Delete, Modify or Add;

(E2) determining how many entries have been collected, wherein if it is determined that the number of entries collected is equal to zero, the process is ended, and if it is determined that the number of entries collected is equal to one or more,

(E3) deleting, through said current map tree access means, the entry designated as Delete from the current map tree;

(E4) modifying, through said current map tree access means, the entry designated as Modify in said current map tree;

(E5) adding, through said current map tree access means, the entry designated as Add to the current map tree; and

(E6) when the merge processing for all of the entries designated as Delete, Modify and Add under the temporary map tree has been completed, writing the completion time into an appropriate temporary map entry through said temporary map tree access means.

21. A computer program for being executed on a computer including a network configuration information management apparatus that comprises:

a directory server storing:

a current map tree that contains information for the current network condition organized into a directory tree structure, and

a temporary map tree that contains information for the future network configuration, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from a current network configuration resulting from changes made to the current network configuration;

a network configuration data control means responsive to a request received from any external application for performing operations on the map data and providing network configuration data management functions;

a current map tree access means for retrieving and updating the information from the current map tree stored in said directory server; and

a temporary map tree access means for performing the generating, modifying, and deleting operations for the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, the functional and processing features of said network configuration data control means,

said computer program comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving a request for change in the configuration from an external application, and requesting that the temporary map tree access means access said directory server to generate a temporary map entry as a root of the temporary map tree;

(A2) sorting the data instructed in the configuration change request, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving the sorted data in the request sequentially, and determining from the retrieved data that it requests that an entry is to be added, modified, or deleted;

(A4) based on the result determined in step (A3), dividing the processing steps into Add, Modify and Delete, otherwise treating the request as an error;

(A5) if it is determined that Add is requested, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that Modify is requested, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that Delete is requested, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree; wherein when it is determined that there are one or more entries located under the temporary map tree that are to be deleted, the step (E3) further including causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting the identifier for the appropriate entry from the information for the entry designated as Delete under the temporary map tree and collected through said temporary map tree access means;

translating the extracted identifier into an identifier for the corresponding entry designated as Delete under the current map tree;

deleting, through said current map tree access means, the entry under the current map tree by using the translated identifier as a parameter; and

repeating the preceding steps until there are no more entries that are to be deleted.

22. A computer program for being executed on a computer including a network configuration information management apparatus that comprises:

a directory server storing:

a current map tree that contains information for the current network condition organized into a directory tree structure, and

a temporary map tree that contains information for the future network configuration, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from a current network configuration resulting from chances made to the current network configuration;

a network configuration data control means responsive to a request received from any external application for performing operations on the map data and providing network configuration data management functions;

a current map tree access means for retrieving and updating the information from the current map tree stored in said directory server; and

a temporary map tree access means for performing the generating, modifying, and deleting operations for the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, the functional and processing features of said network configuration data control means,

said computer program comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving a request for change in the configuration from an external application, and requesting that the temporary map tree access means access said directory server to generate a temporary map entry as a root of the temporary map tree;

(A2) sorting the data instructed in the configuration change request, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving the sorted data in the request sequentially, and determining from the retrieved data that it requests that an entry is to be added, modified, or deleted;

(A4) based on the result determined in step (A3), dividing the processing steps into Add, Modify and Delete, otherwise treating the request as an error;

(A5) if it is determined that Add is requested, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that Modify is requested, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that Delete is requested, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree;

wherein when it is determined that there are one or more entries located under the temporary map tree that are to be modified, the step (E4) further including causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting an identifier for the appropriate entry from the information for the entry designated as Modify under the temporary map tree and collected through said temporary map tree access means;

translating the retrieved identifier into an identifier for the corresponding entry designated as Modify under the current map tree;

generating a parameter that specifies that the entry is to be modified;

modifying, through said current map tree access means, the entry under the current map tree by using the translated identifier as a parameter; and

repeating the preceding steps until there are no more entries that are to be modified.

23. A computer program for being executed on a computer including a network configuration information management apparatus that comprises:

a directory server storing:

a current map tree that contains information for the current network condition organized into a directory tree structure, and

a temporary map tree that contains information for the future network configuration, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from a current network configuration resulting from changes made to the current network configuration;

a network configuration data control means responsive to a request received from any external application for performing operations on the map data and providing network configuration data management functions;

a current map tree access means for retrieving and updating the information from the current map tree stored in said directory server; and

a temporary map tree access means for performing the generating, modifying, and deleting operations for the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, the functional and processing features of said network configuration data control means,

said computer program comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving a request for change in the configuration from an external application, and requesting that the temporary map tree access means access said directory server to generate a temporary map entry as a root of the temporary map tree;

(A2) sorting the data instructed in the configuration change request, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving the sorted data in the request sequentially, and determining from the retrieved data that it requests that an entry is to be added, modified, or deleted;

(A4) based on the result determined in step (A3), dividing the processing steps into Add, Modify and Delete, otherwise treating the request as an error;

(A5) if it is determined that Add is requested, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that Modify is requested, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that Delete is requested, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree; wherein when it is determined that one or more entries located under the temporary map tree that are to be added, the step (E5) further including causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting the identifier for the appropriate entry from the information for the entry designated as Add under the temporary map tree and collected through said temporary map tree access means;

translating the extracted identifier into an identifier for a corresponding entry designated as Add under the current map tree;

generating a parameter that specifies that the entry is to be added;

modifying, through said current map tree access means, the entry under the current map tree by using the translated identifier as a parameter; and

repeating the preceding steps until there are no more entries that are to be added.

24. The computer program as defined in claim 16, wherein said network configuration information management apparatus further includes a network configuration data store section for storing the directory tree information temporarily, and wherein the computer program further includes a step of causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

retrieving, through said current map tree access means, information for a component as specified by the entry under the current map entry and containing the current network configuration information;

storing the retrieved information in said network configuration data store section temporarily;

searching for information for appropriate temporary map entries that is applicable to any particular time earlier than a time specified by said external application;

if it is determined that the number of temporary map entries collected is equal to zero, which means that the information under the current map entry that has been obtained may be returned to the external application, returning that information to said external application;

if it is determined that the number of temporary map entries collected is equal to one or more, collecting the information for each of the entries under the temporary map entry as specified by said external application and obtained through said temporary map tree access means;

merging the collected entry information under the temporary map entry together with the current map tree previously stored in said network configuration;

merging all of the temporary map entries collected to update the information under the current map entries stored in the network configuration data store section; and

returning the updated information to said external application.

25. A computer program for being executed on a computer including a network configuration information management apparatus that comprises:

a directory server storing:

a current map tree that contains information for the current network condition organized into a directory tree structure, and

a temporary map tree that contains information for the future network configuration, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from a current network configuration resulting from changes made to the current network configuration;

a network configuration data control means responsive to a request received from any external application for performing operations on the map data and providing network configuration data management functions;

a current map tree access means for retrieving and updating the information from the current map tree stored in said directory server; and

a temporary map tree access means for performing the generating, modifying, and deleting operations for the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, the functional and processing features of said network configuration data control means,

said computer program comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving a request for change in the configuration from an external application, and requesting that the temporary map tree access means access said directory server to generate a temporary map entry as a root of the temporary map tree;

(A2) sorting the data instructed in the configuration change request, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving the sorted data in the request sequentially, and determining from the retrieved data that it requests that an entry is to be added, modified, or deleted;

(A4) based on the result determined in step (A3), dividing the processing steps into Add, Modify and Delete, otherwise treating the request as an error;

(A5) if it is determined that Add is requested, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that Modify is requested, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that Delete is requested, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree; wherein if there are one or more entries under the temporary map tree that are to be deleted at the time when the entries under the current map entry are being deleted, the computer program further includes a step of causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting an identifier for an appropriate entry from the information for the entry designated as Delete under the temporary map tree and collected through said temporary map tree access means;

translating the extracted identifier into an identifier for the corresponding entry designated as Delete under the current map tree;

generating an entry designated as Add under the log map through said log map tree access means;

deleting the entry under the current map entry through said current map tree access means by using the translated identifier as a parameter; and

repeating the preceding steps until there are no more entries that are to be deleted.

26. A computer program for being executed on a computer including a network configuration information management apparatus that comprises:

a directory server storing:

a current map tree that contains information for the current network condition organized into a directory tree structure, and

a temporary map tree that contains information for the future network configuration, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from a current network configuration resulting from changes made to the current network configuration;

a network configuration data control means responsive to a request received from any external application for performing operations on the map data and providing network configuration data management functions;

a current map tree access means for retrieving and updating the information from the current map tree stored in said directory server; and

a temporary map tree access means for performing the generating, modifying, and deleting operations for the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, the functional and processing features of said network configuration data control means,

said computer program comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving a request for change in the configuration from an external application, and requesting that the temporary map tree access means access said directory server to generate a temporary map entry as a root of the temporary map tree;

(A2) sorting the data instructed in the configuration change request, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving the sorted data in the request sequentially, and determining from the retrieved data that it requests that an entry is to be added, modified, or deleted;

(A4) based on the result determined in step (A3), dividing the processing steps into Add, Modify and Delete, otherwise treating the request as an error;

(A5) if it is determined that Add is requested, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that Modify is requested, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that Delete is requested, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree; wherein if there are one or more entries under the temporary map tree that are to be modified at the time when the entries under the current map tree are being modified, the computer program further includes the step of causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting the identifier for the appropriate entry from the information for the entry designated as Modify under the temporary map tree and collected through said temporary map tree access means;

translating the extracted identifier into an identifier for the corresponding entry designated as Modify under the current map tree;

generating a parameter that specifies that the entry is to be modified;

generating an entry designated as Modify under the log map through said log map tree access means;

modifying the entry under the current map entry through said current map tree access means by using the translated identifier as a parameter; and

repeating the preceding steps until there are no more entries that are to be modified.

27. A computer program for being executed on a computer including a network configuration information management apparatus that comprises:

a directory server storing;

a current map tree that contains information for the current network condition organized into a directory tree structure, and

a temporary map tree that contains information for the future network configuration, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from a current network configuration resulting from changes made to the current network configuration;

a network configuration data control means responsive to a request received from any external application for performing operations on the map data and providing network configuration data management functions;

a current map tree access means for retrieving and updating the information from the current map tree stored in said directory server; and

a temporary map tree access means for performing the generating, modifying, and deleting operations for the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, the functional and processing features of said network configuration data control means,

said computer program comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving a request for change in the configuration from an external application, and requesting that the temporary map tree access means access said directory server to generate a temporary map entry as a root of the temporary map tree;

(A2) sorting the data instructed in the configuration change request, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving the sorted data in the request sequentially, and determining from the retrieved data that it requests that an entry is to be added, modified, or deleted;

(A4) based on the result determined in step (A3), dividing the processing steps into Add, Modify and Delete, otherwise treating the request as an error;

(A5) if it is determined that Add is requested, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that Modify is requested, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that Delete is requested, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree; wherein if there are one or more entries under the temporary map tree that are to be added at the time when the entries under the current map tree are being added, the computer program further includes a step of causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting an identifier for an appropriate entry from the information for the entry designated as Add under the temporary map tree and collected through said temporary map tree access means;

translating the extracted identifier into an identifier for the corresponding entry designated as Add under the current map tree;

generating a parameter that specifies that the entry is to be added;

generating an entry designated as Delete under the log map through said log map tree access means;

adding the entry under the current map tree through said current map tree access means by using the translated identifier as a parameter; and

repeating the preceding steps until there are no more entries that are to be added.

28. A computer program for being executed on a computer including a network configuration information management apparatus that comprises:

a directory server storing:

a current map tree that contains information for the current network condition organized into a directory tree structure, and

a temporary map tree that contains information for the future network configuration, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from a current network configuration resulting from changes made to the current network configuration;

a network configuration data control means responsive to a request received from any external application for performing operations on the map data and providing network configuration data management functions;

a current map tree access means for retrieving and updating the information from the current map tree stored in said directory server; and

a temporary map tree access means for performing the generating, modifying, and deleting operations for the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, the functional and processing features of said network configuration data control means,

said computer program comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving a request for change in the configuration from an external application, and requesting that the temporary map tree access means access said directory server to generate a temporary map entry as a root of the temporary map tree;

(A2) sorting the data instructed in the configuration change request, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving the sorted data in the request sequentially, and determining from the retrieved data that it requests that an entry is to be added, modified, or deleted;

(A4) based on the result determined in step (A3), dividing the processing steps into Add, Modify and Delete, otherwise treating the request as an error;

(A5) if it is determined that Add is requested, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that Modify is requested, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that Delete is requested, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree;

causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

retrieving the information or attribute value for the entry designated as Add or Modify from the corresponding entry in said current map tree through said current map tree access means;

extracting an identifier for an appropriate entry from the retrieved information, and translating the extracted identifier into a corresponding identifier under the log map tree;

checking the value for the type of operation;

if it is determined that the type of operation is "delete", setting a parameter for the entry designated as Add under the log map tree to specify "add" as the type of operation;

if it is determined that the type of operation is "modify", setting the type of operation for the entry being generated under the log map tree to the value "modify";

generating a parameter for the entry being generated under the log map tree, based on an attribute value collected from the entry under the current map tree; and

generating an entry in said log map tree within said directory server through said log map tree access means.

29. A computer program for being executed on a computer including a network configuration information management apparatus that comprises:

a directory server storing:

a current map tree that contains information for the current network condition organized into a directory tree structure, and

a temporary map tree that contains information for the future network configuration, organized into a directory tree structure, that represents a difference from a current network configuration resulting from changes made to the current network configuration;

a network configuration data control means responsive to a request received from any external application for performing operations on the map data and providing network configuration data management functions;

a current map tree access means for retrieving and updating the information from the current map tree stored in said directory server; and

a temporary map tree access means for performing the generating, modifying, and deleting operations for the temporary map tree stored in said directory server, the functional and processing features of said network configuration data control means,

said computer program comprising the steps of:

(A1) receiving a request for chance in the configuration from an external application, and requesting that the temporary map tree access means access said directory server to generate a temporary map entry as a root of the temporary map tree;

(A2) sorting the data instructed in the configuration chance request, in the order of the directory tree hierarchy beginning with a top level toward a bottom level;

(A3) retrieving the sorted data in the request sequentially, and determining from the retrieved data that it requests that an entry is to be added, modified, or deleted;

(A4) based on the result determined in step (A3), dividing the processing steps into Add, Modify and Delete, otherwise treating the request as an error;

(A5) if it is determined that Add is requested, generating an entry designated as Add in the temporary map tree;

(A6) if it is determined that Modify is requested, generating an entry designated as Modify in the temporary map tree; and

(A7) if it is determined that Delete is requested, generating an entry designated as Delete in the temporary map tree;

causing said network configuration data control means to perform the steps of:

extracting an identifier for an appropriate entry from the information obtained from the entry designated as Add under the temporary map tree;

translating the extracted identifier into a corresponding identifier for use in generating an entry designated as Delete under the log map tree;

setting the parameter for the entry being generated under the log map tree to specify "delete" as the type of operation; and

generating an entry designated as Delete under said log map through said log map tree access means.

Description

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to the network management technology, and more particularly to a system and method for managing the network configuration data, as well as a computer program for same.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Generally, the network configuration data management system provides the facilities for managing the network information for network components composing the network, such as physical or logical devices and links interconnecting the devices.

The configuration data that is managed by the network configuration data management system may be referenced when additional network facilities are installed to meet the needs of users utilizing the network or the existing routes through the network are changed.

In order to respond to the demands for various network services from the users, it is desirable that network service providers should plan for the network operation in order to accommodate any network components such as devices that are expected to be added, and to allow the optimum routes to be established.

One example of the conventional network configuration management system is described in Japanese Patent Kokai Publication JP-A-H3 (1991)-204067, for example, which proposes a network configuration management method implemented by a computer program that allows the physical relationships among the adjacent devices and routes configured in the network to be mapped onto the main memory, thereby allowing the network configuration information to be referenced and updated by using the logical address calculation.

In the conventional network configuration management method mentioned above, the physical relationships among the network components, such as the network devices, the routes between the stations or nodes and the connections between the devices, cables and power supplies, that are included in the current network configuration, as well as the logical relationships among the communication lines connecting the terminals, may be recorded on the memory in a mapping table format.

SUMMARY OF THE DISCLOSURE

It should be noted, however, that the conventional network management system has several problems that are described below.

The first problem is that it only allows the current configuration information to be stored. That is, it does not accommodate any additional network devices that may be included in the future network configuration. Thus, the information for such devices and the information for links that represent the connections among such devices cannot be pre-stored previously.

The reason is that the configuration information is stored in the flat data storage structure in the table form, which is not designed to keep track of the current network configuration.

The second problem is that more resources such as storage medium may be consumed if any possible future network configuration information as well is to be stored.

The reason is that a copy of the current network configuration information is made, and is then edited to reflect all possible future network configuration information. Then, the copy is stored on the storage medium separately from the original (current) network configuration information.

The present invention is based on the recognition of the problems described above, and it is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system for managing the network components, such as devices including routers and switches, and more specifically to provide a system and method in such system that can accommodate not only the current network configuration information, but also the future network configuration information for those network components that will be considered in the future facilities installation planning. The future network configuration information is based on the current configuration information. The present invention also provides computer programs for performing such functions, that may be stored, e.g., on a recording medium.

It is another object of the present invention to provide a system and method wherein any possible changes in the network configuration that are expected to occur at any future time later than the current time may be stored and retrieved, and to provide computer programs for performing such functions, that may be stored, e.g., on a storage medium.

It is a further object of the present invention to provide a system and method wherein any past configuration information now stored can be retrieved by tracing it back to a particular time in the past, beginning with the current configuration information, and any errors in setting the values can be restored to the original values, and is to provide computer programs for performing such functions. Other aspects, objects, advantages, and features of the present invention will readily become apparent to any person skilled in the relevant art by reading the description of the embodiments thereof that follows.

According to a first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a network configuration data management system comprising; storage means for storing a current map that represents the current network configuration information organized into a hierarchical structure and a temporary map that contains the information for components for which the configuration changes are expected to occur in the future and/or occurred in the past, and means for generating the network configuration information that is applicable to any particular time later than the current time and/or to any particular time earlier than the current time, by merging the information in the current map together with the information in the temporary map. It may be understood from the following description of the embodiments that the features of the present invention may also be implemented as claimed in the appended claims.

Specifically, there is provided a network configuration data management system comprising:

storage means for providing storage management facilities, the storage means storing: a current map for containing information represented as a current network configuration information, and a temporary map for containing information for the network components for which the configuration changes are expected to occur at any future time and/or information for network components for which the configuration changes occurred at any past time; and

means for generating network configuration information that is applicable to any time relative to a particular time later than the current time and/or relative to a particular time earlier than the current time, based on the information in said current map and the information in the temporary map.

According to a second aspect, there is provided a network configuration data management system comprising:

(a) a directory server storing: a current map tree for containing current network configuration information organised into a tree structure, and a temporary map tree for only containing information for network components organised into a tree structure and for which configuration changes are expected to occur at any future time;

(b) means responsive to a request for a network configuration information applicable to any future time from an external requester, for issuing a request to access the current map tree and the temporary map tree stored in the directory server in order to search for appropriate trees containing directory entries, and obtaining the appropriate configuration information as requested by the requester; and

(c) means for merging the configuration information obtained from the current map tree together with the configuration information obtained from the temporary tree, generating a network configuration information applicable to the time specified by the requester, and returning the generated network configuration information to the requester.

According to a third aspect, there is provided a network configuration data management system comprising:

(a) a directory server including: