Grouping of network devices

A network device, comprising:

• one or more processors;
• and
• a memory having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by the one or more processors, cause the network device to perform operations including:
• receiving, at a network device on a network, capability information associated with one or more capabilities of network devices on a network;
• automatically generating, by the network device, a grouping of network devices, wherein the grouping includes network devices on the network that share one or more common capabilities, wherein devices in a grouping are treated within the network as a single virtual device that perform functions together, and wherein the grouping includes the network device;
• transmitting, by the network device, grouping data to the other network devices in the grouping, wherein the grouping data includes data associated with the grouping of network devices and the network devices included in the grouping of network devices;
• receiving, by the network device, new information associated with capabilities of a new network device that was added to the grouping of network devices;
• determining, by the network device using the new information associated with the capabilities of the new network device, that the new network device includes a capability not shared by the grouping of network devices;
• deactivating, by the network device, the capability of the new network device not shared by the grouping of network devices;
• and
• transmitting, by the network device, updated grouping data to the new network device and other remaining network devices in the grouping, wherein the updated grouping data includes data generated at least in part from the new information and reflects the deactivated capability of the new network device.

A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having instructions stored thereon, which when executed by a computing device, cause the computing device to perform operations including:

• automatically generating, by a network device, a grouping of network devices, wherein the grouping includes network devices on the network that share one or more common capabilities, wherein devices in a grouping are treated within the network as a single virtual device that perform functions together, and wherein the grouping includes the network device;
• transmitting, by the network device, grouping data to the other network devices in the grouping, wherein the grouping data includes data associated with the grouping of network devices and the network devices included in the grouping of network devices;
• receiving, by the network device, new information associated with capabilities of a new network device that was added to the grouping of network devices;
• determining, by the network device using the new information associated with the capabilities of the new network device, that the new network device includes a capability not shared by the grouping of network devices;
• deactivating, by the network device, the capability of the new network device not shared by the grouping of network devices;
• and
• transmitting, by the network device, updated grouping data to the new network device and other remaining network devices in the grouping, wherein the updated grouping data includes data generated at least in part from the new information and reflects the deactivated capability of the new network device.