Patent ID: 7752024

Claim:
A method for constructing a multi-layer topological model of a computer network, comprising: discovering a plurality of routers in the computer network, wherein discovering the plurality of routers further includes nominating the plurality of routers for placement in a multiple layer topology of the computer network; discovering a Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) confederation topology in the computer network in response to determining that one or more network protocols discovered in the computer network organize the plurality of routers into a plurality of autonomous systems, wherein discovering the BGP confederation topology includes: discovering a first subset of the plurality of routers in the plurality of autonomous systems that have external BGP (EBGP) peers, wherein discovering the first subset of the plurality of routers that have the EBGP peers defines one or more adjacencies between the plurality of autonomous systems; discovering a second subset of the plurality of routers in the plurality of autonomous systems that have internal BGP (IBGP) peers, wherein discovering the second subset of the plurality of routers that have the IBGP peers defines one or more clusters within the plurality of autonomous systems; and determining the BGP confederation topology in response to discovering the first subset of the plurality of routers and the second subset of the plurality of routers, wherein the BGP confederation topology includes the one or more adjacencies between the plurality of autonomous systems and the one or more clusters within the plurality of autonomous systems; determining the multiple layer topology of the computer network, wherein the multiple layer topology includes physical dependencies that represent physical connections between the plurality of routers and logical dependencies that represent the one or more adjacencies and the one or more clusters in the BGP confederation topology; and displaying a model of the multiple layer topology that includes the physical connections between the plurality of routers, the one or more adjacencies between the plurality of autonomous systems, and the one or more clusters within the plurality of autonomous systems, wherein the displayed model of the multiple layer topology represents interdependencies between different layers of the computer network.