Computer system and computer-implemented process for simultaneous configuration and monitoring of a computer network

A computer system for simultaneously configuring parameters of devices in a computer network, comprising:

• means for defining a hierarchy of logical groups of objects corresponding to machines and groups of machines in the computer network;
• means for defining rules associated with the objects, wherein a rule specifies a type of traffic, a communication protocol, and indication of whether the rule is associated with the object acting as a sender or as a receiver of information, wherein each object inherits all rules associated with each group in which it is a member;
• means for processing the defined rules to produce a set of control parameters for machines in the computer network;
• and
• means for applying the control parameters to machines in the computer network.

A method for configuring a computer network, comprising the steps of:

• defining a hierarchy of logical groups of distributed network objects corresponding to machines and groups of machines in the computer network,
• defining configuration rules associated with the network objects,
• processing the defined rules to produce a set of parameters for the machines and groups of machines in the computer network;
• and
• simultaneously applying the parameters to two or more machines in the computer network.

A computer system for configuring a computer network, comprising:

• means for defining a hierarchy of logical groups of distributed network objects corresponding to machines and groups of machines in the computer network,
• means for defining configuration rules associated with the network objects,
• means for processing the defined rules to produce a set of parameters for the machines and groups of machines in the computer network;
• and
• means for simultaneously applying the parameters to two or more machines in the computer network.