Patent ID: 8799437

Claim:
A method comprising: predicting, with a management device, an initial value for a repetition parameter of a bulk data retrieval command to specify a first number of repetitions for a managed network device to internally query a set of columns of a table of the managed device when processing the bulk data retrieval command, and wherein predicting the initial value is based on a number of rows included in a different table of the managed network device; issuing, with the management device, the bulk data retrieval command to direct the managed network device to retrieve configuration variables stored within the set of columns of the table, wherein the repetition parameter is set to the predicted initial value; receiving, with the management device, a response from the managed network device in response to the managed network device querying the table the first number of repetitions; analyzing, with the management device, the response; and updating an estimate of a number of variables expected to be received from the managed network device in a single response based on the analysis of the response by the management device.