Patent ID: 8893050

Claim:
A method, comprising: determining, using a processor of a computer, which elements of a storage environment or system have been selected for addition to a group, each of the elements being independently associated with a tier; adding the selected elements to the group as elements of the group; determining whether a parent of each of the selected elements has also been selected, the parent of each of the selected elements being in a higher tier than the element; adding the parent to the group as an element of the group when the parent of any of the selected elements has not been selected; determining whether an element associated with one or more of the selected elements which gives context to the one or more of the selected elements has also been selected; adding the element which gives the context as an element of the group when the element that gives the context has not been selected; associating the elements in the group into subgroups; generating a view of at least some of the elements in the group, the view representing: a tier of each of the elements in the view; and the elements spatially organized by subgroup wherein each element associated with one or more of the selected elements which gives context to the one or more of the selected elements is indicated with a visual marker to aide in distinguishing between explicit and implicit members of the group; and outputting the view; wherein the elements include at least one of virtual machines and hypervisors, wherein the view comprises a hybrid map layout combining a hub spoke map with a collapsible grouping showing relationships between each subgroup thereof, and wherein each of the subgroups is collapsible in the map layout.