Patent ID: 7315985

Claim:
A method for visualizing elements of a network within a network topology view on a display of a computerized device, the method comprising the steps of: displaying a host element in a host display area of the network topology view on the display of the computerized device; displaying a storage element in a storage display area of the network topology view on the display of the computerized device; displaying a connectivity element in a network display area of the network topology view on the display of the computerized device, the network display area displayed in between the host display area and the storage display area on the display of the computerized device; determining a coupling condition of the connectivity element in relation to at least one of the host element and the storage element; and displaying the coupling condition as a link on the display of the computerized device between the connectivity element and the at least one of the host element and the storage element to which that coupling condition relates in order to visually convey the coupling condition to a user viewing the network topology view on the display of the computerized device; maintaining a database containing at least one respective element definition for each device within a storage area network; detecting an occurrence of a connection condition between at least two devices corresponding to elements in the network topology view, the connection condition reflecting at least one of an existence of a new connection between the at least two devices and removal of an existing connection between the at least two devices; and in response to detecting occurrence of the connection condition, dynamically altering the network topology view to correspond to the occurrence of a connection condition such that if the connection condition reflects the existence of the new connection between the at least two devices, a coupling condition is displayed as a link in the network topology view between the elements corresponding to the at least two devices, and such that if the connection condition reflects the removal of an existing connection between the at least two devices, a coupling condition is removed as a link in the network topology view between the elements corresponding to the at least two devices, such that a user viewing the network topology view sees the dynamically altered network topology view in response to the connection change between the at least two devices.