Abstract: A method of displaying information relating to performance of a computer resource over a preselected period of time, wherein the computer resource is connected to a communication network and the method includes the steps of: from a location on the network that is remote from the computer resource, periodically sampling data relating to performance of the resource so as to generate stored values for a preselected performance variable for that resource, wherein the periodic sampling takes place over a preselected period of time and the preselected performance variable takes on values within a specified range of possible values; dividing the specified range of possible values for the preselected performance variable into a plurality of subranges; for each subrange, determining for what proportion of the preselected period, the values of the preselected performance variable fall within that subrange; and for each subrange, displaying in graphical form the proportion of the preselected period of time that the valu

Abstract: The invention features methods of, and systems for generating a report that depends on data stored in a plurality of remote workstations. The methods and systems involve at least some of the following steps: sending a request from a master workstation to the remote workstations specifying a group name and a named function; identifying data stored within each of the remote workstations belonging to a group specified by the group name; operating on the identified data within each of the remote workstations according to an algorithm specified by the named function to generate an output for each remote workstation; returning the output from each remote workstation to the master workstation; and consolidating the outputs at the master workstations to generate the report.

Abstract: Monitoring is done of communications which occur in a network of nodes, each communication being effected by a transmission of one or more packets among two or more communicating nodes, each communication complying with a predefined communication protocol selected from among protocols available in the network. The contents of packets are detected passively and in real time, communication information associated with multiple protocols is derived from the packet contents.

Abstract: A method of processing data from a plurality of probes which monitor traffic over a network, which includes a plurality of segments to which are connected a plurality of nodes, the method including the steps of polling the probes for monitoring data; receiving polled data from the plurality of probes; storing the polled data in a plurality of records, each of the records identifying at least a probe, a source node, a destination node, and a measure of traffic between the identified source node and destination node in that record; for a selected source-destination node pair, determining which of the plurality of probes produced a most complete report of traffic associated with that selected source-destination node pair; identifying those records among the plurality of records that designate both the probe which produced the most complete report of traffic and the selected source-destination node pair; and distinguishing within the plurality of records the identified records from the other records.

Abstract: A method of displaying information relating to performance of a computer resource over a preselected period of time, wherein the computer resource is connected to a communication network and the method includes the steps of: from a location on the network that is remote from the computer resource, periodically sampling data relating to performance of the resource so as to generate stored values for a preselected performance variable for that resource, wherein the periodic sampling takes place over a preselected period of time and the preselected performance variable takes on values within a specified range of possible values; dividing the specified range of possible values for the preselected performance variable into a plurality of subranges; for each subrange, determining for what proportion of the preselected period, the values of the preselected performance variable fall within that subrange; and for each subrange, displaying in graphical form the proportion of the preselected period of time that the valu

Abstract: An access controller for peer-to-peer communication networks which monitors the data packets transmitted between stations, determines when an access that needs to be controlled is being made, and then either destroys the packet or transmits one or more packets which appear as legitimate message packets to the stations but which, in fact, terminates or alters the communication path between the two stations. Since the invention is free of any particular protocol restrictions, it can be implemented with any type of protocol and at any layer of that protocol. And since the access control mechanism is neither part of the physical communication path nor part of the communication primitives, the stations cannot detect, in any direct sense, that their access is being controlled, and they do not need to be programmed to follow any special control protocols, or to use encryption.