System including management system to determine configuration for inter-networking device based on physical layer information of a network

A system comprising:

• a switch used to implement a network;
• a central function configured to receive physical layer information related to the network, the physical layer information including information associating media access control (MAC) addresses of devices on the network with ports of the switch;
• wherein the central function is configured to determine a spanning tree for the network;
• and
• wherein the central function is configured to communicate information about the spanning tree to the switch;
• wherein the switch is configured to use the information about the spanning tree determined by the central function to configure the switch to carry out a switching function performed by the switch;
• wherein the central function is configured to receive at least some of the physical layer information about the network from an aggregation point;
• wherein the aggregation point obtains physical layer information about patching equipment in the network and cables in the network;
• and
• wherein the central function is configured to use at least some of the physical layer information about patching equipment in the network and cables in the network in associating MAC addresses of devices on the network with the ports of the switch.

A system comprising:

• an internetworking device used to implement a network, the internetworking device comprising a plurality of ports;
• patching equipment used to implement the network;
• a management system configured to receive physical layer information related to the network, the physical layer information including information associating media access control (MAC) addresses of devices on the network with the ports of the internetworking device;
• wherein the management system is configured to determine a configuration for the internetworking device;
• and
• wherein the management system is configured to communicate information about the configuration to the internetworking device;
• wherein the internetworking device is configured to use the configuration determined by the management system to configure the internetworking device to carry out a switching function performed by the internetworking device;
• wherein the management system is configured to receive at least some of the physical layer information from at least one aggregation point;
• wherein the at least one aggregation point obtains physical layer information about the patching equipment in the network and cables in the network;
• and
• wherein the management system is configured to use at least some of the physical layer information about the patching equipment in the network and the cables in the network in associating MAC addresses of devices on the network with the ports of the internetworking devices.