Patent attributes
A data center network can include numerous switches, routers and servers to deliver services to customers. The network devices in the data center may be automatically discovered through various discovery workflows. Once discovered, hardware configuration information for the network devices may be stored in a database. Additionally, an administrator may assign roles to the network devices. The hardware configuration information may be matched with features provided by software images. A server may select a software image from a variety of candidate software images by matching the features provided by the software images and the hardware supported by the software images to the hardware configurations and roles of the network devices. Thus, new network devices may be deployed and provisioned to data center in a standardized and automated way. Further, existing network devices may be upgraded or reconfigured in a standardized and automated way.
