Patent ID: 7929552

Claim:
A method of automatically allocating, modifying, and deleting IP pools on network equipment, the method comprising: repeatedly, periodically, or continuously monitoring the network equipment to detect IP pool utilization; and if the monitoring indicates an increase in the IP pool utilization above a first predetermined threshold, forecasting a quantity of required IP pools, removing the forecasted quantity of required IP pools from an inventory of available IP pools, and automatically assigning the forecasted quantity of required IP pools to the network equipment; the monitoring including monitoring the network equipment for the IP pool utilization above each of a plurality of predetermined thresholds including at least a major threshold and a critical threshold, wherein the major threshold specifies a first percentage of IP pool utilization on the network equipment and the critical threshold specifies a second percentage of IP pool utilization on the network equipment, and the first percentage is less than the second percentage, wherein IP pool utilization above the major threshold initiates the assigning the forecasted quantity of required IP pools to the network equipment.