Patent ID: 8397278

Claim:
A method for configuring an interface of a switch, comprising: receiving, at a switch, an access request from an endpoint, the switch comprising a plurality of interfaces and operable to access a plurality of templates, a template of the plurality of templates operable to generate one or more interface commands for an interface of the plurality of interfaces; identifying a template as corresponding to an endpoint type of the endpoint, the template configured to be used to generate an interface command that allows the endpoint to use an interface of the switch; applying, by the switch, the identified template associated with the endpoint type of the endpoint to an interface of the plurality of interfaces; inserting, by the switch, an endpoint device identifier of the endpoint and an interface identifier of the interface into the template in order to generate the command to allow the endpoint to use the interface, the endpoint device identifier comprising an endpoint IP address that uniquely identifies the endpoint, the endpoint device identifier identifying the endpoint type; and applying, by the switch, the identified template to configure the interface according to the instruction.