Patent ID: 8108551

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for monitoring physical paths within a computer network, at least a portion of the method being performed by a host comprising at least one processor, the method comprising: identifying a first logical path that comprises a data structure that identifies a physical path within a computer network; identifying the physical path that corresponds to the first logical path; probing the physical path to determine whether the first logical path is active; identifying at least one additional logical path that is different from the first logical path; determining that a data structure of the at least one additional logical path identifies the same physical path identified by the data structure of the first logical path; using the results of the probe of the physical path to determine whether the at least one additional logical path is active without probing the physical path an additional time; providing at least a portion of the results of the probe of the physical path to an additional host within the computer network to enable the additional host to determine whether at least one additional physical path that is different from the physical path is active without actually probing the at least one additional physical path.