Patent ID: 7478152

Claim:
An out-of-band management system for devices on a computer network employing data transmission interfaces for the devices to communicate substantive data on the network, the devices also having management systems to communicate management data associated with the device, the management data being different from the substantive data, the system comprising: a plurality of network nodes manageable through a dedicated management interface other than through the data transmission interfaces wherein the plurality of network nodes use at least a plurality of different types of management interfaces that communicate a plurality of different types of the management data over the dedicated management interface and not over the data transmission interfaces; a management module, executing on a computer, that receives the plurality of different types of the management data, converts the different types of management data into a common management data format, and communicates the common management data format to a network management system; wherein the management module further comprises: plural modules with a, corresponding plural computer instructions executed by the computer to communicate with corresponding ones of the devices on corresponding ones of the plurality of network nodes using the plurality of different types of management data, wherein the management module monitors and accesses said devices remotely to restore network connectivity when a network node fails; and the network management system further comprising a web server application, executing on a computer, that generates a graphical user interface based on the common management data format and a web-browser that permits a user to access each of the devices through the same management module.