Selective IP address allocation for probes that do not have assigned IP addresses

摘要

Systems and methods for managing communication in an IP network between a server and a probe that does not maintain an IP address by selectively restricting which IP addresses that are identified as active in the network may be borrowed for the probes. Restriction of IP addresses may include a black list to exclude specific IP addresses, a white list from which IP addresses can be drawn or both. This permits control over which IP addresses may be borrowed by probes, reducing false alarms, alerts or other network concerns caused by unexpected IP traffic on a particular IP address in the network.

主权项

1. A method for managing communication in an Internet Protocol (IP) network between a server and a probe, the probe not maintaining an IP address, the method comprising:
providing a first list for storing IP addresses for borrowing by the probe, wherein the IP addresses of the first list are also in use for communication on the IP network; providing a second list for storing a black sublist of one or more IP addresses and a white sublist of one or more IP addresses, wherein the probe is not permitted to borrow IP addresses from the black sublist for communication with the server, and the probe is permitted to borrow IP addresses from the white sublist for communications with the server regardless of whether the IP addresses from the white sublist are assigned to other network devices in the IP network; identifying, in the IP network, a set of one or more active IP addresses corresponding to one or more network devices disposed downstream of the probe; in response to identifying the set of active IP addresses, updating the first list with the identified set of active IP addresses in accordance with the second list; selecting an IP address from the first list; and assigning the selected IP address to the probe for communication with the server on top of the IP protocol, wherein assigning the selected IP address to the probe includes sending to the probe a command including the selected IP address as a destination IP address to be borrowed by the probe for communication with the server.