Method and apparatus for automatic verification of a network access control construct for a network switch

An apparatus for performing automatic verification of a network access control construct for a network switch, the apparatus comprising:

• a processor;
• an actual network access control construct accessor for accessing an actual network access control construct associated with a port on a network switching device, said actual network access control construct for defining whether a device is currently authorized by said network switching device to access said network switching device;
• a machine-readable map accessor for accessing a machine-readable map showing devices coupled with said network switch, said machine-readable map providing a pre-determined network access control construct defining whether the device should be authorized to access said network switching device;
• an automated verification protocol for verifying whether to modify the actual network access control construct to provide the device with authorization to access the network switching device and for verifying whether to modify the actual network access control construct to prevent the device from accessing the network switching device if the device is not authorized by comparing the actual network access control construct with the pre-determined network access control construct defined by said machine-readable map;
• and
• providing the authorization to access the network switch and preventing unauthorized access of the network switch by automatically correcting the actual network access control construct based on differences between the actual network access control construct and the pre-determined network access control construct that were determined by the comparing, wherein said actual network access control construct comprises an identifier for said actual network access control construct, a port number on the network switching device port to which said actual network access control construct is coupled, and a world-wide name (WWN) of a computing device authorized to be connected to said network switching device port.

A non-transitory computer-usable medium having computer-readable program code stored thereon for causing a method for automatic verification of a network access control construct for a network switch, the method comprising:

• accessing an actual network access control construct associated with a port on a network switching device, said actual network access control construct for defining whether a device is currently authorized by said network switching device to access said network switching device;
• accessing a machine-readable network map of a network that said network switching device is associated with, said map providing a pre-determined network access control construct defining whether the device should be authorized to access said network switching device;
• automatically verifying whether to modify the actual network access control construct to provide the device with authorization to access the network switching device and for verifying whether to modify the actual network access control construct to prevent the device from accessing the network switching device if the device is not authorized by comparing the actual network access control construct with the pre-determined network access control construct defined by said machine-readable map, wherein said machine-readable network map includes a plurality of network access control constructs and for each of said network access control constructs in the network map the automatically verifying further comprises verifying that a corresponding actual network access control construct has been defined in the network's fabric, and that each of said actual network access control construct is based on a particular port of a particular network switching device and determining whether each World Wide Names (WWNs) defined in each of the actual network access control construct correspond to at least one WWN defined in at least one pre-defined network access control construct associated with the machine-readable network map;
• and
• providing the authorization to access the network switch and preventing unauthorized access of the network switch by automatically correcting the actual network access control construct based on differences between the actual network access control construct and the pre-determined network access control construct that were determined by the comparing.

A data center comprising:

• a plurality of devices;
• with each device represented in a machine-readable map, said map further providing a pre-determined network access control construct defining the device which should be coupled with a port of a network switch;
• wherein at least one of said plurality of devices comprises:
• an actual network access control construct accessor for accessing the actual network access control construct coupled with a port of a network switch, said actual network access control construct for defining whether a device is currently authorized to access said port of said network switch;
• wherein one of said plurality of devices further comprises:
• a verification protocol for verifying whether to modify the actual network access control construct on said port of said network switch to enable said one of said plurality of devices to access said network switch and verifying whether to modify the actual network access control construct on said port of said network switch to prevent said one of said plurality of devices from accessing said network switch if said one of said plurality of devices is not authorized based on whether said actual network access control construct correlates with said pre-determined network access control construct defined by said machine-readable map;
• and
• the verification protocol for providing the authorization to access the network switch and preventing unauthorized access of the network switch by automatically correcting the actual network access control construct based on differences between the actual network access control construct and the pre-determined network access control construct that were determined by the correlation, wherein said actual network access control construct comprises an identifier for said actual network access control construct, a port number on the network switching device port to which said actual network access control construct is coupled, and a world-wide name (WWN) of a computing device authorized to be connected to said network switching device port.