Checking and repairing a network configuration

A method for performing proactive configuration checking of a network, comprising:

• receiving a hypothetical network scenario, wherein said hypothetical network scenario represents a new network configuration that a system administrator wants to create;
• generating at least one transaction based on said hypothetical network scenario, wherein said transaction includes one of connecting components in said hypothetical network scenario, adding components to said hypothetical network scenario, updating components in said hypothetical network scenario, and rezoning components in said hypothetical network scenario;
• populating a network data store with configuration data for said transaction, wherein said configuration data includes configuration data for components in said hypothetical network scenario described by said transaction;
• generating at least one event for said transaction using a mapping of events to transactions;
• and
• using configuration data associated with said event to determine whether a configuration policy has been violated.

A method for performing reactive configuration checking of a network, comprising:

• receiving a request to perform configuration checking on an existing network configuration;
• scanning a network data store for at least one transaction, wherein said transaction includes one of connecting components in said network, adding components to said network, updating components in said network, and rezoning components in said network;
• generating at least one event for said transaction using a mapping of events to transactions;
• and
• using configuration data associated with said event to determine whether a configuration policy has been violated by determining whether the at least one transaction results in incompatibilities, performance issues, and availability issues, wherein said incompatibilities are conflicts between components in the network, said performance issues relate to whether a desired performance level is met, and said availability issues relate to whether there is a single point of failure in the network.