NETWORK AUDIT TOOL

A method for automatically performing a network audit. The network may comprise a number of different types of devices, each with multiple possible configurations. In one embodiment, each device in a network is queried for its configuration. For example, a number of optical routers are queried as to what interface cards each has. All of the data may be collected from a single point in the network. Based on the responses, one or more status queries are issued to each device. Next, the process analyzes the responses according to a set of rules that are tailored for each possible device configuration. Then, one or more network audit tables are displayed. The tables have a similar look and feel regardless of the type of device or the device's configuration. For example, for each type of device configuration there may be tables pertaining to fault analysis, capacity and planning, configuration, and performance.