Patent ID: 9590864
Date: 2017-03-07
CPC Classifications: H04L

Claim:
1. A network management apparatus, comprising: a first storage unit that stores therein communication groups included in the same subnet and information about communication devices belonging to the respective communication groups in association with each other, the information about communication devices including a model name of each communication device and an ID that identifies each communication device; a second storage unit that stores therein a port of each communication device for each of the communication devices connected to a relaying device as a connection destination port; and a controller that allows the relaying devices to perform communication between the connection destination ports on the basis of the first storage unit and the second storage unit to allow communication between the communication devices belonging to the same communication group, and to disallow communication between the communication devices not belonging to the same communication group, wherein when one or more of the communication devices is caused to participate in the communication group, the network management apparatus further comprises: a port searching unit that searches for the connection destination ports controlling communication between the communication devices caused to participate and the communication device belonging to the same communication group as the communication devices caused to participate on the basis of the first storage unit and the second storage unit; and a relaying device control unit that controls the connection destination ports searched by the port searching unit to be active to allow communication only between the communication devices caused to participate and the communication device belonging to the same communication group as the communication devices caused to participate when the model names of the communication devices caused to participate in the communication group can be acquired from the first storage unit.