Patent ID: 8260588

Claim:
A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising software instructions for creating a network model on a host, wherein the software instructions comprise functionality to: gather first component properties associated with a first physical network device of a plurality of network devices, wherein a target network comprises the plurality of physical network devices and a plurality of physical network links wherein at least one virtual network device is executing on at least one of the plurality of physical network devices, and wherein the host is operatively connected to the target network; create, on the host, a first container, wherein the first container is configured using at least a portion of the first component properties, and wherein the first container is configured to simulate operation of the first physical network device in the network model; making a first determination that a second physical network device the plurality of physical network devices is operatively connected to the first physical network device over a Wide Area Network (WAN); gather, in response to the first determination, second component properties associated with the physical network link; create, on the host, a second container, wherein the second container is configured using at least a portion of the second component properties and wherein the second container simulates operation of the WAN in the network model; make a second determination that at least one virtual network device is executing on the second physical network device; gather, in response to the second determination, third component properties associated with the at least one virtual network device; create, on the host, a third container, wherein the third container is configured using at least a portion of the third component properties, and wherein the third container is configured to simulate the at least one virtual network device in the network model; apply a change to the network model to obtain a modified network model; simulate network communications on the modified network model; and deploy the change to the target network after simulating the network communication on the modified network model.