Patent ID: 7447751

Claim:
In a network environment, a system for automatically deploying a Virtual Private Network (VPN) device, comprising: a utility controller wired only once with a resource pool of one or more VPN devices, said utility controller for receiving a request for said VPN device of said one or more VPN devices to be part of a dynamic data center of VPN devices, and communicating with said VPN device to make configuration changes thereto to enable deployment of said VPN device into said dynamic data center, said communicating performed without requiring individual wiring from said utility controller to each of said one or more VPN devices, wherein said utility controller comprises: a resource abstraction layer (RAL) coupled to said VPN device within said resource pool, for automatically providing said VPN device with a configuration specific to said VPN device through a Command Line Interface (CLI) of said VPN device, and wherein said RAL comprises an interpreter for said CLI; a uniform interface coupled to said RAL, for automatically providing said VPN device with a configuration that is not specific to said VPN device through said CLI; a feature set determiner coupled with said uniform interface, said feature set determiner configured for automatically providing a configuration to said VPN device that is based on feature sets common to said one or more VPN devices, there-by enabling re-use of a feature of said feature sets; and a terminal transfer server coupled with said resource pool, said terminal transfer server for transferring configuration commands from said utility controller to said VPN device within said resource pool, to enable said configuration changes to be made thereto before deployment into said dynamic data center.