Patent ID: 7660891

Claim:
A method of managing enumeration traffic by a selected enumerator in a computer network, the method to be performed on a computing system, the computing system comprising a processing unit coupled to a memory, the method comprising: using the processing unit to detect enumeration requests from one or more enumerators in the computer network; computing a stealth condition based on detection of the enumeration requests from the one or more enumerators, wherein the stealth condition is a condition in which the selected enumerator determines whether or not the selected enumerator can obtain needed enumeration responses without issuing enumeration requests and acknowledgements, wherein the computing operation comprises: computing an acknowledgement load attributable to the one or more enumerators in the computer network; computing a response load attributable to responders responding to the enumeration requests of the one or more enumerators in the computer network, wherein the stealth condition determines whether the acknowledgment load exceeds the response load; transmitting enumeration requests from the selected enumerator in the computer network, if the stealth condition is not satisfied since the acknowledgement load does not exceed the response load and the selected enumerator determined that the selected enumerator cannot obtain needed enumeration responses without issuing enumeration requests and acknowledgements; and refraining from transmission of enumeration requests from the selected enumerator, if the stealth condition is satisfied since the acknowledgement load exceeds the response load and the selected enumerator determined that the selected enumerator can obtain needed enumeration responses without issuing enumeration requests and acknowledgments.