Patent ID: 6842781

Claim:
A method of performing network management on a network device within a network comprising: receiving a request to perform a network management task on a network device, the network device having a software agent previously loaded on the network device, the software agent configured to provide one or more first network parameters associated with the network device in response to one or more first network commands of a network management system (NMS) used to manage the network, the network management task requiring the network device to perform at least one of, sending one or more second network commands to one or more other network devices in the networks, receiving one or more second network parameters from the one or more other network devices in response to the one or more second network commands, or performing a network management analysis based on the received one or more second network parameters; loading a network management application capable of performing the network management task onto the network device in response to the request, the network management application being loaded onto the network device in addition to the software agent, the network management application increasing a network management capability of the network device relative to when only the software agent was loaded on the network device, the network device being configured to any or all of sending one or more second network commands to one or more other network devices in the network, receiving one or more second network parameters from the one or more other network devices in response to the one or more second network commands, and performing a network management analysis based on the received one or more second network parameters; and executing the network management application corresponding to the requested network management task.