Patent ID: 7136907

Claim:
A method for configuring a network that includes one or more network-level partitions and at least one operating system (OS) assigned to each of said one or more network-level partitions, said method comprising the steps of: dynamically determining when a component is connected to a node of said network; and in response to said dynamically determining step, configuring said network to provide support for said component, wherein, when an OS supports only components within a partition among the one or more network-level partitions to which the OS is assigned, said configuring process includes informing the OS assigned to a partition to which said node belongs of the presence of the component and enabling OS and other support for said component; wherein said configuring includes: determining the partition of said network to which said component has been associated; checking for subscribed consumers within the partition, said subscribed consumers including said one or more OS; and notifying said OS of said component only when said OS is assigned to said partition or said OS has subscribed to be notified of new components and has correct access privileges for the partition in which the node exists, wherein each OS is provided predefined access privileges to particular ones of said one or more network-level partitions.