Patent ID: 8588225

Claim:
A method, comprising: deploying a template representing a virtual network within one of a plurality of virtual contexts such that the template is mapped to a physical network, the virtual network including a plurality of virtual entities and connections among the plurality of virtual entities, wherein deploying is performed such that each of the plurality of virtual entities is mapped to one or more of a plurality of resources that have been allocated to the one of the plurality of virtual contexts; automatically obtaining data during operation of the physical network; providing a representation of the virtual network and the data obtained during operation of the physical network via a graphical user interface; allocating the plurality of resources to the one of the plurality of virtual contexts; identifying a subset of the plurality of resources, wherein the subset of the plurality of resources are mapped to the plurality of virtual entities and are in use by the corresponding physical network; and indicating an identity of the subset of the plurality of resources via the graphical user interface; wherein each of the plurality of virtual contexts represents a different administrative domain accessible to a corresponding group of users.