Patent ID: 7342893

Claim:
A method of determining the path that a network message would take among network devices in a computer network the method comprising: providing a plurality of device components to model a physical computer network, wherein each of said device components model an aspect of a network device of said physical computer network; simulating sending a network message within said model of said computer network from a source device component modeling one of said network devices of said physical network to a destination device component along a device component path, wherein said simulated message only traverses any of said devices which model said network devices of said physical computer network; and recording the device components traversed by said simulated message within said model of said physical computer network, thereby determining said path that said network message would take among said network devices in said physical computer network as well as the validity of the path; wherein each of said device components are configured to use message passing to independently and directly communicate with any neighboring or adjacent one of said device components, and wherein each of said device components receiving said simulated message is configured to decide to which other of said device components would a real message with the same characteristics as said simulated message be forwarded.