The present invention displays a graphical representation of a multi-layer network having a front end layer and a back end layer. A plurality of front end units of the front end layer and a plurality of back end units of the back end layer are represented as a plurality of front end graphical objects and a plurality of back end graphical objects. A user selects a front end graphical object representing a selected front end unit and a back end graphical object representing a selected back end unit to form a logical connection between the front end unit and the back end unit. The logical connection grants the selected front end unit access to the selected back end unit.