A method for modelling properties of a network to deterministically predict the behavior of the network, the method comprising: obtaining, by an assurance appliance, from one or more controllers in a software-defined network, one or more logical models including configurations stored at the one or more controllers; generating, by the assurance appliance, a network-wide logical model of the software-defined network from the one or more logical models, the network-wide logical model containing a plurality of objects configured for the software-defined network from a hierarchical management information tree associated with the software-defined network and representing configurations of the plurality of objects, the hierarchical management information tree defining manageable objects and object properties for the software- defined network, the plurality of objects corresponding to at least some of the manageable objects; obtaining, by the assurance appliance, a topological model of a fabric associated with the software-defined network; based on the topological model, polling, by the assurance appliance, nodes in the fabric for respective configuration information at the nodes; and based on the respective configuration information, generating (426, 446), by the assurance appliance, a respective node-specific representation of the network-wide logical model, the respective node-specific representation projecting the network-wide logical model to each respective node, wherein the respective node-specific representation of the network-wide logical model comprises at least a portion of the network-wide logical model from a perspective of the node and respective configuration information in the network-wide logical model pertaining to the node. obtaining, by an assurance appliance, from one or more controllers in a software-defined network, one or more logical models including configurations stored at the one or more controllers; generating, by the assurance appliance, a network-wide logical model of the software-defined network from the one or more logical models, the network-wide logical model containing a plurality of objects configured for the software-defined network from a hierarchical management information tree associated with the software-defined network and representing configurations of the plurality of objects, the hierarchical management information tree defining manageable objects and object properties for the software- defined network, the plurality of objects corresponding to at least some of the manageable objects; obtaining, by the assurance appliance, a topological model of a fabric associated with the software-defined network; based on the topological model, polling, by the assurance appliance, nodes in the fabric for respective configuration information at the nodes; and based on the respective configuration information, generating (426, 446), by the assurance appliance, a respective node-specific representation of the network-wide logical model, the respective node-specific representation projecting the network-wide logical model to each respective node, wherein the respective node-specific representation of the network-wide logical model comprises at least a portion of the network-wide logical model from a perspective of the node and respective configuration information in the network-wide logical model pertaining to the node.