Patent ID: 7383357

Claim:
A system for managing a plurality of computer networks mapped to a plurality of domains, each domain comprising a plurality of network elements that are each assigned a unique IP address within the domain at a given time, and at least one of the plurality of network elements within each of at least two of the plurality of domains is assigned an identical IP address, the system comprising: a management station comprising: a plurality of interfaces established at the management station, each of the plurality of interfaces being one of a virtual interface, a physical interface or combinations thereof, each of said interfaces being assigned a different IP address; and a management application for communicating with the plurality of interfaces; wherein the management application is configured to (a) associate a first of the plurality of domains with a first of the plurality of interfaces, (b) associate a second of the plurality of domains with a second of the plurality of interfaces, and (c) transmit first data to a particular one of the first and second domains by transmitting the first data to a particular one of the first and second interfaces that is associated with the particular one of the first and second domains to which the first data is to be transmitted, wherein the management station is configured to insert in the first data a source IP address, that is specified by the management station, which is the assigned IP address of the particular one of the first and second interfaces such that no address translation is required; and a router comprising routing information to route the first data to the particular one of the first and second domains based on the source IP address in the first data, said router being in communication with the management station.