Customizable user interface for network navigation and management

A graphical user interface for network management comprising:

• a repository of information pertaining to components which form a computer network and connections to those components;
• means for receiving a user selection of a limited number of two or more of the components, which limited number is less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository;
• means responsive to a user selection for displaying a topological map consisting of only the selected components, connections between the selected components, and an indicator of connections to other, non-selected components;
• and
• means responsive to user designation of one of the displayed components for expanding the topological map by displaying all those previously non-selected components which are connected to the designated component.

A graphical user interface for network management comprising:

• a repository of information pertaining to components which form a computer network and connections to those components;
• means for receiving a user selection of a limited number of the components, which is two or more components but less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository;
• means for receiving a user selection of one protocol that the selected components use to communicate, selected from among a plurality of protocols that the selected components may potentially use to communicate;
• and
• means responsive to a user selection for displaying a topological map comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) only logical connections between the selected components that use the selected protocol, and (c) a marker that is displayed when there are logical connections of each of the selected components to other components of the network that are not displayed in the topological map.

A method for displaying a map of a limited portion of the topology of a computer network, comprising the steps of:

• creating a repository of information pertaining to components which form the computer network and connections to those components;
• receiving a selection of at least two individual components from among all the components, which comprise less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository;
• and
• displaying a topological map comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) logical connections between only the selected components, and (c) an indicator which identifies a relationship between each selected component and non-displayed components which are logically connected to the selected components.

A method for displaying a map of a limited portion of the topology of a computer network, comprising the steps of:

• creating a repository of information pertaining to components which form the computer network and connections to those components;
• receiving a selection of a limited number of the components, which is two or more of the components but less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository;
• receiving a user selection of one protocol that the selected components use to communicate, selected from among a plurality of protocols that the selected components may potentially use to communicate;
• and
• displaying a topological map comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) logical connections between only the selected components that use the selected protocol, and (c) a marker that is displayed when there are logical connections of each of the selected components to other components of the network that are not displayed in the topological map.

A method for displaying a map of the topology of a computer network, comprising the steps of:

• creating a repository of information pertaining to components which form the computer network and connections to those components;
• receiving a selection of a limited number of the components, which is less than all of the components whose information is stored in said repository;
• establishing a first set of network performance criteria for monitoring the status of components which form the network and connections to those components;
• displaying a first topological map comprising (a) only the selected components, (b) logical connections between only the selected components, and (c) an indicator which identifies the relationship between each selected component and non-displayed components which are logically connected to the selected components, in accordance with said first set of criteria;
• designating one of the displayed components;
• displaying a second topological map consisting of only the one designated component and the components in said repository which are directly connected to the designated component;
• establishing a second set of network performance criteria for monitoring the status of components in said second topological map and connections to those components that is different from the first set of criteria;
• and
• displaying indicators which identify the operation status of the components in said second topological map, in accordance with said second set of criteria.