Patent ID: 8117289

Claim:
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium whose contents configure a computing system to perform a method, the method comprising: under control of the configured computing system, receiving information from a first client for use in configuring a first virtual computer network for the first client, the configuring including specifying interconnections between multiple computing nodes of the first virtual computer network and including providing an indicated type of functionality for handling at least some communications between the multiple computing nodes; and automatically providing the configured first virtual computer network in accordance with the configuring by overlaying the first virtual computer network on a distinct substrate network, the providing of the first virtual computer network including: selecting one or more network devices that are accessible via the substrate network and that are configured to provide the indicated type of functionality; and forwarding multiple communications between the multiple computing nodes in accordance with the configuring, the forwarding including routing at least one of the multiple communications to at least one of the selected devices to enable the at least one selected device to provide the indicated type of functionality for the at least one communication.