US Patent 7216166 Network management apparatus and network management method

The present invention provides a technique suitable for configuration management of a network for which the number of logical network layers can be set. A network management apparatus 10 receives an address definition information file defining logical hierarchical structure of an IPv6 network 20, from an operator through a definition information reception unit 103. A configuration analysis unit 104 generates management tables defining hierarchical relationships of logical networks, based on the address definition information file and IP addresses collected respectively by an information collection unit 102 from network elements belonging to the IPv6 network 20, and registers the management tables into a management DB unit 101.