Patent ID: 7475133

Claim:
A method to monitor selected network elements, the method comprising: a management server automatically discovering one or more network elements on a network; the management server generating a first version of identification data, the first version of identification data identifying each of the one or more network elements that was automatically discovered; the management server transmitting the first version of the identification data to a remote device over the network; upon receiving the first version of identification data at the remote device, the remote device modifying the first version of identification data based upon user input at the remote device to generate a modified version of identification data, the modified version of identification data identifying fewer or more network elements than identified in the first version of identification data; the remote device transmitting the modified version of identification data to the management server over the network; the management server receiving, from the remote device, over the network, the modified version of identification data; and the management server monitoring each network element identified in the modified version of identification data.