Level 3 Communications, LLC

Jerry Cox

James Ryan

Marcus Hadavi

James C Dwyer

Michael Renner

In one embodiment, a computer-implemented method of managing a virtual local area network (VLAN) domain associated with a network is provided. In this embodiment, the method comprises: defining a VLAN domain comprising a list of a plurality of connectively coupled ports of the network associated with the VLAN domain; and assigning at least one VLAN associated with the plurality of connectively coupled ports. In another embodiment, a system for managing virtual local area networks (VLANs) in a network is provided. In this embodiment, the system comprises a network provisioning module for defining a VLAN domain comprising a list of a plurality of connectively coupled ports of the network associated with the VLAN domain and assigning at least one VLAN associated with the plurality of connectively coupled ports. The system further comprises a a network monitoring system operable to gather actual network element configuration data from a plurality of network elements associated with one or more VLAN domains, wherein the actual network element configuration data identifies one or more VLANs that at least some of the plurality of network elements are actually allocated to; and a VLAN services module operable to correlate the actual network element configuration data with administrative VLAN data. The administrative VLAN data identifies one or more VLANs recognized by a business process. In one particular embodiment, the system is further operable to determine one or more VLANs that are not commonly identified in both the actual network element configuration data and the administrative VLAN data.

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Westminster, CO, United States of America

Jerry Cox