Patent ID: 8719394

Claim:
A method of facilitating communication network system management in which a virtual network management architecture comprises a virtual reality of modules representing physical network nodes and physical network links of a physical communications network system under management, wherein organization of said virtual modules and information contained in said virtual modules are based on a network management schema representing the physical communications network, the method comprising: managing said physical network nodes and said physical network links of the physical communications network by accessing and manipulating said virtual modules; providing an interface through which said network management schema is modified, wherein said interface comprises a storage function containing created locationMaps and schemaMaps, and wherein a locationMap comprises a unique map identifier, a location indicated by a distinguished name of a managed object instance (MOI) representing a module in a management information base (MIB) and schema comprising class definitions corresponding to the distinguished name, and wherein a schemaMap comprises a unique map identifier and schema comprising class definitions corresponding to the distinguished name, and wherein said interface supports asking for a list of locationMaps and schemaMaps, or creating a new locationMap or schemaMap; modifying said network management schema by reducing the amount of information in said virtual modules; and using said modified network management schema to manage said physical communication network system.