Patent ID: 6247049
Filing Date: 2001-06-12
Classification: H04L

Abstract:
A method of configuring a computer network having a predetermined topology said method comprising(a) selecting a plurality of symbol objects, each symbol object being an object-based computer representation, having settable attributes, of a physical element in a computer network;(b) defining associations between the selected symbol objects to produce an initial network configuration;(c) applying at least one rule from a predefined set of rules to the selected symbol objects in the initial network configuration, the rules in said set being arranged to alter the settable attributes of symbol objects dependent upon predefined rule conditions, thereby automatically selecting specific hardware for the physical elements and updating the network configuration; and(d) repeating (c) using, at each repetition, the updated network configuration arising from the immediately preceding application of (c) in place of the initial network configuration until the updated network configuration becomes substantially stable from one repetition to the next.