Patent ID: 8046694

Claim:
A computer-implemented method for specifying a multi-layered system configuration of a set of virtual servers through a graphical user interface (GUI), the method comprising: providing a set of user interface (UI) control elements for specifying the set of virtual servers for the multi-layered system configuration; providing a first display area for displaying the multi-layered system configuration in a plurality of tier regions, wherein different tier regions are for displaying different subsets of the set of virtual servers that are in different layers of the multi-layered system configuration; providing a first set of graphical items for representing a first subset of virtual servers that are web servers of the multi-layered system configuration in a first tier region of the plurality of tier regions; providing a second set of graphical items for representing a second subset of virtual servers that are database servers of the multi-layered system configuration in a second tier region of the plurality of tier regions, the second tier region parallel to the first tier region; providing a third set of graphical items for representing a third subset of virtual servers that are load balancers of the multi-layered system configuration in a third tier region of the plurality of tier regions, the third tier region parallel to the first and second tier regions; receiving a selection of a graphical item that represents a particular virtual server in the set of virtual servers; providing a UI control element for displaying a second display area that displays a virtual Internet Protocol (IP) address associated with the particular virtual server and a set of real IP addresses associated with the virtual IP address; receiving a selection of the UI control element; upon receiving the selection of the UI control element, providing the second display area; providing the set of real IP addresses for display within the second display area, wherein a selection of a real IP address from the set of real IP addresses removes the real IP address from the set of real IP addresses that are associated with the virtual IP address; and providing a selectable item that, when selected, starts an automated process that causes the set of virtual servers to be deployed onto a set of physical computers without human intervention.