SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR PROVIDING VIRTUAL PRIVATE NETWORKS

1 . A computerized method for automatically determining customized configurations for each of a plurality of endpoints of at least one virtual private network (VPN) and deploying the configurations to the endpoints, comprising:

accepting, using at least one user interface, parameters required for building the configurations from at least one user, the configurations enabling the endpoints to process a mixture of time sensitive and non-time sensitive data, and the parameters comprising: endpoint IP addressing scheme information and network design information;

automatically generating, using at least one configuration engine, complete customized endpoint configurations for the parameters, and instantiating the configurations based on endpoint hardware-specific information, with no further input required from the user; and

deploying, using at least one scheduler, the configurations to the endpoints of the VPN.

2 . The method of claim 1 , further comprising:

validating the parameters utilizing the at least one configuration engine.

3 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the deploying is distributed into reasonable time slots so that resource starvation and connection bottlenecks are avoided.

4 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the computerized method prevents misconfigurations.

5 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the computerized method prevents overlapping IP address spaces.

6 . The method of claim 4 , wherein the computerized method automatically queries each endpoint to verify that the hardware-specific information is consistent with the customized endpoint specific configuration for the endpoint.

7 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a consistent network addressing plan is utilized.

8 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the computerized method automatically assigns the endpoint IP addressing.

9 . The method of claim 8 , wherein the computerized method automatically selects an unused IP Subnet from the Master IP Subnet.

10 . The method of claim 9 , wherein the computerized method automatically determines the unused IP Subnet from the Master IP Subnet using IP Subnetting.

11 . The method of claim 1 , wherein all hardware platforms with all possible combinations of field upgradable parts are managed.

12 . The method of claim 1 , wherein a contemporaneous inventory is maintained of all VPN hardware to which configurations are automatically deployed.

13 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameters further comprise network resiliency information.

14 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameters further comprise endpoint authentication information.

15 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameters further comprise: security rules, routing policies, or licensing information, or any combination thereof.

16 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the parameters can be used to create endpoint specific settings and hardware-specific configuration settings.

17 . The method of claim 1 , wherein at least one orchestrator generates a proper endpoint configuration code.

18 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the endpoint addressing scheme information comprises at least one mGRE IP subnet prefix.

19 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the network design information comprises at least one network ID.

20 . The method of claim 1 , wherein the VPN is an mGRE VPN using NHRP protocol.