Patent ID: 6704778
Filing Date: 2004-03-09
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
In an information handling network comprising an administrative control server and a plurality of administered servers that are members of said network and are managed by said control server, a method of providing for maintenance of said administered servers for maintaining conformity of configuration of each of said administered servers to a predetermined configuration for all administered servers of said network while permitting evolution of said predetermined configuration from an initial network member configuration to a current network member configuration to which each of said administered servers is to conform, said method comprising:evolving the configuration of each server from its current configuration state to the current network member configuration in the following steps: initiating communication, by an administered server, of identification information to said control server identifying said administered server; verifying, by said control server, whether said administered server is a member of said network managed by said control server; if it is verified that said administered server is managed by the control server, determining, by said control server, whether said administered server configuration requires evolution to said current network member configuration, and; if evolution is required by said administered server, then said control server determining what commands are required to evolve said administered server configuration to the said current network member configuration; said control server communicating said required commands to said administered server, said administered server executing said required commands to evolve its configuration to said current network member configuration; and said administered server communicating results of the execution of said commands to said control server identifying whether its configuration was successfully evolved to said current network member configuration.