Patent ID: 7003562

Claim:
A method, using an analysis platform, for analyzing a network having a plurality of network devices, the method comprising the steps of: receiving a network policy pertaining to said network, wherein the network policy includes a set of required IP traffic associated with at least a first application on a first host application server; receiving a topology of said network devices in said network; receiving configuration data from at least a portion of said network devices; creating a network configuration model for said network based on said topology and said configuration data received; and analyzing a software simulation of the network in response to said network configuration model and said network policy to determine an existence of a violation of said network policy, wherein the software simulation of the network determines a set of simulated IP traffic for all traversable paths in the network configuration model, wherein analyzing the software simulation of said network comprises: determining whether a set of simulated IP traffic to the first application on the first host application server in the network configuration model from the set of simulated IP traffic for all the traversable paths is identical to the set of required IP traffic associated with the first application on the first host application server; and determining the existence of the violation of said network policy when the set of simulated IP traffic to the first application on the first host application server in the network configuration model is not identical to the set of required IP traffic associated with the first application on the first host application server.