Patent ID: 7024476

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 of the plurality of network devices on the network by using a first communication protocol; obtaining, by using the first communication protocol, from the detected network device, information related to the corresponding network device; formatting the obtained information into a directory entry; sending the directory entry to a directory server by using a second communication protocol; 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 the second communication protocol; extracting updated data from the updated directory entry; and sending the updated data to the network device which corresponds to the updated directory entry for placement into the information of 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, wherein the source-flag in each directory entry is utilized by a directory plug-in module which interfaces with the directory server and which monitors the directory server for detecting when a directory entry is updated, wherein, in the case that an updated directory entry is detected and the corresponding source-flag of the updated directory entry is set to a low state, the directory plug-in module sends a multicast message over the network which indicates that an updated directory entry has been detected, wherein, in the case that an updated directory entry is detected and the corresponding source-flag of the updated directory entry is set to a high state, the directory plug-in module resets the source-flag of the updated directory entry to the low state, wherein the network includes an embedded-LDAP network device which contains an LDAP client, wherein the embedded-LDAP network device utilizes LDAP to send a directory entry to the directory server, the directory entry including a source-flag which is set to a high state, and wherein, in the case that an updated directory entry corresponding to the embedded-LDAP network device is detected by the directory plug-in module and the corresponding source-flag of the updated directory entry is set to a low state, the directory plug-in module sends a unicast message over the network to the embedded-LDAP network device to indicate that an updated directory entry has been detected.