METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR GENERATING A NETWORK TOPOLOGY

摘要

A method for determining the topology of a computer network includes reading port forwarding data from each device in at least a subset of a computer network. This port forwarding data is then processed and analyzed to derive the topology of at least the subset of the computer network. The reading of the port forwarding data is preferably proceeded by discovering all the switches in the at least subset of the computer network to provide the maximum available port forwarding data for subsequent analysis. The topological analysis uses a recursive function to derive the topology from the derived port forwarding data by placing the discovered switches in a tree structure that permits, the physical interconnections of the switches to be efficiently displayed.