Patent ID: 8005945
Filing Date: 2011-08-23
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
1. A method embodied on a network analysis system that includes: collecting, at the network analysis system, configuration data corresponding to a configuration of devices on a network, the configuration data including a plurality of data flow policies that include one or more criteria for enabling each policy; processing, by the network analysis system, the plurality of policies for at least one of the criteria to identify a set of ranges within the criteria, wherein all elements within each range of the criteria are subject to a common set of policies; providing the set of ranges for use by a network analysis tool to facilitate analysis of the policies for each range; and performing an analysis of the network by analyzing at least one element within each non-empty range; wherein each policy includes a defined range of the criteria, and the set of ranges corresponds to a set of: non-null intersections of each defined range and each other defined range, non-null intersections of an inverse of each defined range and each other defined range, and non-null intersections of an inverse of each defined range and an inverse of each other defined range.