Patent ID: 7779123

Claim:
A method for building a network model of a network for a network management application, the method comprising: selecting a connection between a router and a peer, wherein the network model comprises the router, wherein the connection is made pursuant to a routing protocol of the network; subsequent to said selecting, adding, to the network model, a first subnet comprising the router and a second subnet; subsequent to said adding, specifying, in the network model, a local address of the router that identifies the router in the connection, and a local interface of the router that indicates a local termination point of the connection used with the local address; subsequent to said specifying, inserting, in the network model, the peer and a remote address of the peer that identifies the peer in the connection, and a remote interface of the peer that indicates a remote termination point of the connection used with the remote address; subsequent to said inserting, confirming that the second subnet comprises the peer in the network model; subsequent to said confirming, appending a new connection between the local interface and the remote interface to the network model; and subsequent to said appending, transmitting the network model to an output device of a computer system, wherein said selecting, said adding, said specifying, said inserting, said confirming, said appending, and said transmitting are performed by the network management application running on the computer system.