An index that defines the relative ordering of the discovery time of ports captured for a particular lsPortControlEntry. This index shall be between 1 and N, where N is the value of the associated lsPortControlTableSize. The ordering of the indexes is based on the order of each entry's insertion into the table, in which entries added earlier have a lower index value than entries added later. It is important to note that the order for a particular entry may change as an (earlier) entry is deleted from the table. Because this order may change, management stations should make use of the lsPortControlLastDeleteTime variable in the lsPortControlEntry associated with the relevant portion of the lsPortTable. By observing this variable, the management station may detect the circumstances where a previous association between a value of lsPortCreationOrder and a lsPortEntry may no longer hold.