Abstract: A network packet switch provides access to a network-based computer system. The network packet switch has a public access port and a private access port, and includes a computer-readable medium containing a computer program product for producing management objects that configure the network packet switch. The switch stores a set of management objects, determines attributes of an organization associated with one or more of the management objects, and defines a subset of management objects associated with the organization based on the attributes of the organization. The switch provides the user with the same access to a set of functions defined by the subset of management objects regardless of whether the user accesses the network packet switch by the public access port or the private access port.

Abstract: An attribute inheritance schema for nodes in a database stored on a computer system includes a plurality of database entries organized in a hierarchical structure. The database entries include a plurality of group entries having sets of configuration attributes with a portion of said group entries being parent entries for others of said plurality of group entries and a plurality of person entries having sets of configuration attributes, arranged at sublevels of the hierarchical structure, with a portion of said person entries being parent entries for others of said person entries. The schema permits each attribute of a first one of the plurality of person entries to be specifically set in the first one of the plurality of person entries or be inherited from at least a second entry of the plurality of group entries that precedes the first one of the plurality of person entries in the hierarchical structure.

Abstract: A network packet switch provides access to a network-based computer system. The switch has a computer-readable medium containing a computer program product to produce management objects used to configure the switch. The switch accepts an interface request from a user, determines attributes associated with the user, establishes a request processor comprising variables that are based on attributes of the user. The request processor parses data files, based on the attributes associated with the user, to construct a set of management objects.

Abstract: Method and apparatus facilitating the processing of a request from a client application for a service, or for access to a resource, in a distributed computing environment. A shared repository is organized in such a manner that binding information, defining how a server is accessed, can be stored in the repository and accessed by multiple clients without their having knowledge of more than the common name for the requested service, or the common name of a specific resource for performing the service. The binding information for each server is stored in a server entry sub-hierarchy of the namespace in the shared repository, and the full names of server entries are stored in a service entry sub-hierarchy of the namespace and a resource entry sub-hierarchy of the namespace.