Patent application number | Description | Published |
20080235141 | License manager and schema - A license management system may have an adapter or interface that enables any type of licensed software or service to be managed through a common administrative view. The adapters may use a common schema that includes various parameters about a license as well as information that may enable a license management system to interact with a license vendor or license provider. The licenses may include locally operating software, software operating over a local area network, and various services that may be provided over a network including the Internet. The license management system may support many types of licenses and may be able to consolidate license management of many different devices and types of devices. The license management system may display the various licenses, as well as provide some other functions including alerting, usage monitoring, and managing licenses. | 09-25-2008 |
20080239961 | Packet routing based on application source - A traffic manager may monitor network performance, detect that the network performance has changed, and may prioritize network traffic based on which application or function is associated with the traffic. Each packet of network traffic may be analyzed to determine a source application or source function and allowed or disallowed along the network based on a set of predetermined priorities. Several sets of priorities may be established for various network performance conditions. In some embodiments, traffic may be routed along different paths using the sets of priorities and the source application or function. The traffic manager is adaptable for web-based services, applications, or other functions provided over a network connection. | 10-02-2008 |
20080243699 | License optimization and automated management - A license management system may include a license analyzer that is capable of evaluating different licensing strategies for software products or services on a single device or a group of devices. Rules for licensing options are coupled with actual usage data and forecasts to determine various licensing options. The options may be implemented by an automated system for renewing licenses or changing licenses and installing updated licenses. | 10-02-2008 |
20080243827 | Query generation using enviroment configuration - A query for a help system includes data about a user system and a task that the user is attempting. The query may be used by a search engine to generate relevant results to aid the user. The user system data may include configuration data about hardware and software. The task data may be derived from the current state of a device, or from operational history that may be developed from a single user or a group of users. The query may have a mechanism to weight various keywords or components of the query and a feedback system may adjust the weights for future queries. | 10-02-2008 |
20080244514 | Scriptable object model for network based services - A scripting model may include links to web based services by including an interface associated with each web based service. The interface may perform various functions used to exchange information with a web based service, such as discovery, addressing, connection, configuration, authentication, and other functions. The web based service may be used in a similar manner as a local service within the scripting model, including automatic memory management, bounds checking, data translation, and other features of scripting. | 10-02-2008 |
20080244565 | Dynamic software installation and configuration - A setup workflow may be defined in a complex workflow manner that may have branching, error compensation, and relationships defined between a software product to be installed and previously installed or future products that may be installed. As a setup workflow operates, a remote device may be contacted for an updated setup step that may also include relationship definitions between the new setup step and other steps or installed components. The new step may be for a remotely provided service that may be used in lieu of a locally installed product. The setup workflow may include dependencies and coordinate setup workflows across multiple devices. | 10-02-2008 |
20080244691 | Dynamic threat vector update - A security manager aggregates various security components into a unified user interface. For each security component, the security manager may obtain an updated policy description that defines specific groups of settings for the component in terms of several threat conditions. Using the groups of settings, the security manager may classify a current state of a security component into a category. Some embodiments may use a standardized schema for an interface between a security component and the security manager. The schema may be implemented with an adapter that translates the specific settings of a security component into data for the security manager. In some embodiments, the adapter may also receive updated policy descriptions and perform a classification of the current settings. | 10-02-2008 |
20090187648 | Security Adapter Discovery for Extensible Management Console - An extensible management console may use a discovery mechanism to detect and identify security services across a network. After identification, the console may download and install an adapter so that the security service may be monitored and controlled using the extensible management console. A catalog of security services may be obtained from a catalog server and used to scan various devices, registries, file systems, and active services to detect and identify security services that may be added to the extensible management console. | 07-23-2009 |
20100017843 | Scenario Based Security - A security management system uses several security scenarios that have rules defining the configuration of system and security components in order to meet a specific security scenario. The rules may include an evaluation of multiple components to give a summary statistic or evaluation, as well as rules that may be used to configure the various components to achieve a desired level of security. A management console may aggregate multiple security scenarios together for administration. | 01-21-2010 |
20100325139 | Service Provider Management Console - A service provider management system may consolidate multiple functions and multiple service providers for those functions using a user interface system with a common schema. Each service provider may comply with a function specific schema, and some service providers may include extensions to the schema. The user interface system may present a list of service providers. When a specific service provider is selected, a list of available tasks along with current data about the service provider may be presented. The service provider management may integrate with local databases for populating information used by a service provider. One embodiment may be used to manage services across a network of computer devices, such as managing multiple computing devices and multiple users within a local area network. | 12-23-2010 |
20110185166 | Slider Control for Security Grouping and Enforcement - A group of security functions may be configured and managed by organizing the security functions and their features into a ranked list and made available through an administrative console. The ranked list may represent various levels of security from which a user may select. Once selected, the security functions may be configured according to the selected level. The console may determine a current security level by analyzing the configuration or status of each of the security functions and presenting a single status level from the ranked list determined by the least secure setting of the various security functions. | 07-28-2011 |