Patent ID: 8891550

Claim:
A method for configuring a network services protocol implementation, the method comprising: configuring a platform independent configuration for a network services protocol implementation; selecting a target node to receive a deployment of the network services protocol implementation; transforming the configured platform independent configuration into a platform specific configuration for the target node; and, deploying the transformed platform specific configuration onto the target node, wherein configuring the platform independent configuration for the network services protocol implementation, comprises: establishing a set of connectivity rules for a host system image; associating each of the connectivity rules with a requirement map; specifying within each of the connectivity rules, local and remote data endpoints; defining the requirement map to specify specific details for Internet protocol (IP) traffic for the network services protocol implementation and security details for the IP network services protocol implementation; and, storing the requirement map in a data store of pre-configured reusable configuration objects for use by other connectivity rules and by other host system images, wherein defining the requirement map to specify specific details for IP traffic for the network services protocol implementation and security details for the IP network services protocol implementation, comprises: defining the requirement map to specify a plurality to traffic descriptors each corresponding to a plurality of security levels; detecting an inherent conflict between two selected security levels for a traffic descriptor; and, posting a warning and guidance for curing the inherent conflict.