Network device identity authentication

A method of managing a telecommunications network, comprising:

• detecting a request to add a network device having at least two cards to the telecommunications network;
• retrieving an initial set of at least two physical identifiers from the network device, wherein at least one of said initial set of at least two physical identifiers is associated with each of said at least two cards;
• storing the initial set of identifiers in a storage unit accessible by a management system;
• retrieving, through the management system, a current set of at least two physical identifiers from the network device, wherein at least one of said current set of at least two physical identifiers is associated with each of said at least two cards;
• authenticating an identity of the network device using the current set of identifiers;
• and
• updating the stored initial set of identifiers with any of the retrieved current identifiers that do not match the stored initial identifiers;
• wherein said authenticating step comprises;
• comparing the retrieved current set of identifiers with the stored initial set of identifiers;
• and
• authenticating the identity of the network device if at least one of the retrieved current identifiers matches at least one of the stored initial identifiers.

A method of managing a telecommunications network, comprising:

• detecting a request to add a network device having at least two cards to the telecommunications network;
• retrieving an initial set of at least two physical identifiers from the network device, wherein at least one of said initial set of at least two physical identifiers is associated with each of said at least two cards;
• converting the initial set of identifiers into a first composite value;
• storing the first composite value in a storage unit accessible by a management system;
• retrieving, through the management system, a current set of at least two physical identifiers from the network device, wherein at least one of said current set of at least two physical identifiers is associated with each of said at least two cards;
• and
• authenticating an identity of the network device using at least one of said current set of at least two physical identifiers;
• wherein authenticating an identity of the network device using the current set of identifiers comprises, for each retrieved identifier:
• dividing the first composite value by one of the retrieved identifiers to form a division result;
• converting the remaining retrieved identifiers into a second composite value;
• comparing the division result to the second composite value;
• and
• authenticating the identity of the network device if at least one of the division results matches one of the second composite values.

A method of managing a telecommunications network, comprising:

• connecting a management system to a network device having at least two cards using a network address assigned to the network device;
• retrieving a current set of at least two physical identifiers from a network device, wherein at least one of said at least two physical identifiers is associated with each of said at least two cards;
• and
• authenticating an identity of the network device using the current set of at least two physical identifiers.