Patent ID: 7995498

Claim:
A method of providing dynamic network configuration, comprising: monitoring a data network, by a controller operatively coupled to the data network; detecting a change associated with a configuration of the data network; identifying one or more member groups affected by the detected change, where each of the one or more member groups includes as members a plurality of ports of devices in the data network and each of the one or more member groups is associated with one or more attributes; and modifying, by the controller, the network configuration of a port, or a system that is coupled to the port, that is a member of the one or more member groups in the data network identified as being affected by the detected change, by applying the associated one or more attributes from the one or more member groups to the port or the system that is coupled to the port, wherein the one or more member groups are arranged in a logical hierarchy in the data network, the modifying includes: comparing one or more attributes associated with a higher level member group of the logical hierarchy with a corresponding one or more attributes associated with the one or more member groups of the logical hierarchy, and determining whether a conflict is present for each of the respective one or more attributes, and when it is determined that the conflict is present: discarding the one or more attributes of the higher level member group; and applying the remaining one or more attributes of the higher level member group and the attributes of the one or more member groups to the port, or the system that is coupled to the port, that is a member of the one or more member groups.