Patent ID: 7519698

Claim:
A method of storing information configured to be used for a plurality of communication protocols to extract status information related to a monitored device among distinct devices communicatively coupled to a network, comprising: retrieving, from a first digital storage unit, support information containing parameters for extracting the status information using the plurality of communication protocols and relative priority data associated with the status information, wherein the relative priority data indicates, for each of the plurality of communication protocols, a relative level of detail of the status information to be extracted from the monitored device; storing, in a second digital storage unit, the information obtained from the first digital storage unit for accessing the device using the plurality of communication protocols; selecting a communication protocol among the plurality of communication protocols; determining that the relative priority data corresponding to the selected communication protocol and the status information is higher than another relative priority data corresponding to another communication protocol and the status information; accessing the device using the selected communication protocol; receiving data from the monitored device; and using the information stored in the second digital storage unit to extract the status information from the received data, wherein the second digital storage unit has a data structure with the parameters.