Network management system with traffic engineering for a software defined network

A system for managing one or more class levels of service to a communication network comprising a plurality of network devices, the system comprising:

• an infrastructure layer comprising a network infrastructure;
• a control layer comprising a network data collector, a network controller, a network data storage, and a network data adapter;
• and
• an application layer comprising modeling and planning components, network monitoring components, and visualization components.

A method for managing one or more class levels of service to a communication network comprising a plurality of network devices, said method comprising:

• retrieving, by a network management apparatus, network information of the plurality of network devices in the communication network;
• generating a customizable traffic engineering database based on the retrieved network information;
• receiving a user input of path computation parameters;
• generating a network path list comprising a list of all possible paths for the plural network devices;
• tailoring the network path list by selecting certain paths from the list of all possible paths in accordance with the network model and business rules;
• generating path configuration information based on the tailored network path list;
• transmitting the path configuration information to one or more of the plurality of network devices in the communication network, the one or more network devices applying the path configuration information,
• generating an external service model comprising a plurality of exit points for connecting to points of presence of the communication network corresponding to the path configuration information;
• and
• interconnecting the communication network with one or more other communication networks on the one or more class levels of services through the plurality of exit points.