Patent ID: 8438273

Claim:
A method of extracting information from a network device, comprising: retrieving, by a management device, first device information from the network device using a first communication protocol; attempting, by the management device, to determine a parameter value of interest based on the first device information; and when the step of attempting to determine the parameter value of interest based on the first device information is unsuccessful, retrieving second device information from the network device using a second communication protocol, attempting, by the management device, to determine the parameter value of interest based on both the first device information and the second device information, and when the step of attempting to determine the parameter value of interest based on both the first device information and the second device information is successful, determining whether necessary device information to determine the parameter value of interest can be extracted using the first communication protocol, and storing in a memory, extraction information for the network device including a method of extracting the necessary device information to determine the parameter value of interest from the network device based on the determination by the step of determining, and information on how to determine the parameter value of interest from the extracted necessary device information.