Patent ID: 7478153

Claim:
A method for managing a plurality of network devices on a network, said method comprising the steps of: detecting the presence of at least one network device of the plurality of network devices by using a first communication protocol sent over a network communication protocol, wherein said first communication protocol is a protocol that corresponds to a layer higher than that of said network communication protocol, and is adapted for obtaining information related to a device from the device and for sending data to be set in the device to the device; obtaining information related to said one network device from said one network device, wherein the information is obtained from said one network device by using said first communication protocol sent over said network communication protocol; formatting the obtained information into a directory entry; sending the directory entry to a directory server by using a second communication protocol sent over said network communication protocol, wherein said second communication protocol is a protocol that corresponds to a layer higher than that of said network communication protocol, and is adapted for sending a directory entry to a directory server and for obtaining a directory entry from the directory server; monitoring for issuance of an update message from the directory server indicating that a directory entry has been updated in the directory server; obtaining, in the case that an update message is issued, the updated directory entry from the directory server by using said second communication protocol sent over said network communication protocol; extracting updated data from the updated directory entry; and sending the updated data to a network device which corresponds to the updated directory entry by using said first communication protocol sent over said network communication protocol, wherein the updated data is set in the corresponding network device, wherein the directory entry is formatted according to a standardized schema, and wherein the standardized schema of the directory entry includes a source-flag to indicate the source of the directory entry.