Patent ID: 7330907

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of changing a status of a portion of network address space from free to another status, comprising: receiving a request of a block size to allocate for a current network with a new status, the request identifying a specified range to allocate from; detecting within a definitional listing for the network address space, a block with free status of sufficient size to cover the block size to allocate; assigning, for the current network, the new status to the detected block within the definitional listing; detecting whether a block of the requested size exists within the network address space assigned to the current network; lending a block from a second network that aggregates with the current network when a block of the requested size does not exist within the network address space assigned to the current network; and returning a fail indication and not lending a block from a second network that aggregates with the current network when a block of the requested size does not exist within the specified range but does exist within the current network, and wherein lending a block from a second network comprises detecting whether a block of at least the requested size exists within a specified range of the network address space assigned to the second network, when a block of at least the requested size exists within a specified range of the network address space assigned to the second network, splitting the block until it is the requested size and moving a resulting block from the second network to the current network as represented within the definitional listing, and when a block of the requested size does not exist within the specified range, lending a block from a third network that aggregates with the second network.