Method and system for consolidating network topology in duplicate IP networks

1. A method of managing a computer network, comprising the steps of:

assigning to at least one collection computer a management domain identifier uniquely associated with a management domain in which each collection computer resides;

receiving, in at least one management computer, information from the at least one collection computer that includes the management domain identifier and a trust flag to indicate a binary setting;

deciding whether the at least one management computer should resolve a hostname being reported by the at least one collection computer based on the binary setting of the trust flag; and

maintaining within the at least one management computer a database of the information accessed using the management domain identifier.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of assigning comprises the step of:

establishing at least one management domain, wherein each management domain includes at least one collection computer.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein the management domain identifier is a domain name of the management domain.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the information is network topology information.

5. The method of claim 1 , wherein the step of receiving comprises the steps of:

receiving first information from a first collection computer, wherein the first information includes a first network address and a first management domain identifier;

receiving second information from a second collection computer, wherein the second information includes a second network address and a second management domain identifier, wherein the second network address is identical to the first network address;

comparing the second network address to the first network address using the second management domain identifier and the first management domain identifier;

assigning a network element associated with the second network address as a primary network element when the second network address belongs to a different management domain than the first network address; and

assigning the network element associated with the second network address as a secondary network element when the second network address belongs to a same management domain as the first network address.

6. The method of claim 5 , wherein the step of maintaining comprises the step of:

using management domain identifiers to consolidate network topology information from collection computers having identical network addresses and belonging to different management domains.

7. The method of claim 1 , comprising the step of:

managing, by each collection computer, at least one network object; and

resolving, by each collection computer, a network address of each network object into a resolved network address included in the information received at the at least one management computer.

8. A system for managing a computer network, comprising:

a plurality of collection computers, wherein each collection computer is assigned a management domain identifier uniquely associated with a management domain in which each collection computer resides;

at least one management computer for receiving information, from the plurality of collection computers, that includes the management domain identifier and a trust flag to indicate a binary setting, the at least one management computer being capable of deciding whether to resolve a hostname in the information being reported by the collection computers based on the binary setting of the trust flag; and

at least one computer database for maintaining within the at least one management computer information accessed using the management domain identifier.