Patent ID: 8406121

Claim:
A method for error detection in a packet-based message distribution system, comprising: (a) distributing messages via a plurality of nodes and other system components, wherein each node includes at least two addressable interfaces, wherein message distribution paths are designed with redundancy for the security of the system, and wherein redundancy paths are available in the event of a failure of a link between nodes or a failure of a system component in the message distribution system; (b) providing a topology of the message distribution system to each of the nodes, wherein the topology includes a logical design of a topological structure of the message distribution system; (c) verifying by each node an accessibility of the other nodes via communication tests; (d) interrogating intermediate system components about their connection state with other nodes or system components via available interfaces; and (e) reporting a misconfiguration in the message distribution system in response to the interrogation indicating a misconfiguration; and (f) issuing an alarm report that reports the misconfiquration in the message distribution system to staff operating the message distribution system before a connection failure for a system component.