Patent ID: 8260916

Claim:
A method of discovering that a particular network node has been connected to a computer network, wherein the network includes (a) plural nodes, one of which is the particular node, and (b) a server arrangement including a network portion and a discovery portion, the method comprising: responding to an establishment of a connection of the particular network node to the network, the network portion of the server arrangement receiving an access request from the particular network node, wherein the particular network node has an assigned address assigned by a device in the network; in response to receiving the access request, the network portion authenticating the particular network node; the network portion sending a discovery request and the assigned address of the particular network node to the discovery portion of the server arrangement after the network portion has successfully authenticated the particular network node; the discovery portion storing the assigned address of the particular network node and initiating a discovery program that performs a discovery procedure for that particular network node; the discovery procedure for the particular network node, initiated by the discovery request from the network portion, including polling other nodes in the network to determine a network topology, the polled network topology including at least some of the other nodes to which the particular network node is connected, and to determine the configuration of the particular network node.