Method and apparatus for performing network identification verification

A non-transitory machine-readable medium comprising executable instructions that, when executed by a processing system including a processor, implement operations, the operations comprising:

• receiving an input data set in a second spreadsheet comprising a plurality of input data records, wherein the input data set is associated with a cloud infrastructure, and wherein each of the input data records comprises a network name associated with one of a plurality of networks that is being considered for configuration within the cloud infrastructure and a corresponding Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) identifier for the one of the plurality of networks that is being considered for configuration within the cloud infrastructure;
• identifying, via analysis of a plurality of reference data records of a reference data set and the input data records, a set of one or more discrepancies, wherein the reference data set is in a first spreadsheet, wherein the reference data set is associated with the cloud infrastructure, wherein each of the reference data records comprises a reference network name associated with one of a plurality of reference networks that is configured within the cloud infrastructure and a corresponding reference VLAN identifier for the one of the plurality of reference networks that is configured within the cloud infrastructure, and wherein each discrepancy is characterized by presence in the input data set of a record having a network name that is not identical to any reference network name in the reference data set;
• tagging one or more records in the input data set with each corresponding occurrence of each discrepancy;
• and
• utilizing a revised version of the input data set, in which each discrepancy has been addressed, to instantiate a new instance of the cloud infrastructure, wherein each discrepancy is addressed by changing an input data record in the input data set to conform to a corresponding reference data record in the reference data set.

A method, comprising:

• obtaining, by a processing system including a processor, an input data file comprising a plurality of input data records, wherein the input data file is associated with a cloud infrastructure, and wherein each of the input data records comprises a network service model name associated with one of a plurality of networks that is being considered for configuration within the cloud infrastructure and a corresponding Virtual Local Area Network (VLAN) identifier for the one of the plurality of networks that is being considered for configuration within the cloud infrastructure;
• analyzing a plurality of reference data records of a reference set of one or more reference data files and the input data records in order to identify a set of one or more errors, wherein the reference set of the one or more reference data files is associated with a cloud infrastructure, wherein each of the reference data records comprises a reference network service model name associated with one of a plurality of reference networks that is configured within the cloud infrastructure and a corresponding reference VLAN identifier for the one of the plurality of reference networks that is configured within the cloud infrastructure, and wherein each error is characterized by:
• presence in the input data file of more than one record having a same network service model name;
• presence in the input data file of more than one record having a same VLAN identifier;
• presence in the input data file of a record having a first network service model name associated with a first VLAN identifier, the first network service model name matching a first reference network service model name in the reference data records, and the first reference network service model name associated with a first reference VLAN identifier that does not match the first VLAN identifier;
• or
• any combination thereof;
• analyzing the plurality of reference data records and the input data records in order to identify a set of one or more warnings, wherein each warning is characterized by presence in the input data file of a record having a network service model name that is not identical to any reference network service model name in the reference data set;
• tagging one or more records in the input data file with each corresponding occurrence of each error;
• tagging one or more records in the input data file with each corresponding occurrence of each warning;
• and
• utilizing a revised version of the input data file, in which each error and warning has been addressed, to instantiate a new instance of the cloud infrastructure, wherein each error is addressed by changing an input data record in the input data file to conform to a corresponding reference data record in the reference data file, and wherein each warning is addressed by updating an input data record in the input data file with information that is not present in the reference data file.