Patent ID: 7487500

Claim:
In an optical network having a network element with a plurality of cards of different types, a method for installing and configuring software applications and device drivers in the network element, the method comprising: delivering a software load to a first card of the plurality of cards in the network element; distributing, by the first card, a copy of the software load to at least two other cards of the plurality of cards in the network element, each distributed copy of the software load including a plurality of software applications for different types of cards, a hardware abstraction layer, and a plurality of device drivers for controlling different types of hardware devices; and executing, by each of the at least two other cards in the network element, the copy of the software load distributed to that card, wherein the executing of the copy of the software load by each of the at least two other cards includes: determining, by the hardware abstraction layer of each card, a type of that card; and linking, by the hardware abstraction layer of each card, one of the software applications of the software load to at least one of the device drivers based on the type of that card.