Hierarchichal sharding of flows from sensors to collectors

• US 10,320,630 B2
• Filed: 06/02/2016
• Issued: 06/11/2019
• Est. Priority Date: 06/05/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Gandham, Shashidhar, Prasad, Rohit Chandra, Singh, Abhishek Ranjan, Yadav, Navindra, Deen, Khawar, Malhotra, Varun Sagar
• Primary Examiner(s): Srivastava, Vivek
• Assistant Examiner(s): McBeth, William C
• Application Number:
  US15/171,855
• Publication Number:
  US 20160359708A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,104 Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/122 using management policies backup systems G06F11/1446; file migration policies for HSM systems G06F16/185
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/137 Hash-based content-based indexing of textual data G06F16/31
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/162 Delete operations erasing in storage systems G06F3/0652
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/17 Details of further file system functions
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/173 Customisation support for file systems, e.g. localisation, multi-language support, personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/174 Redundancy elimination performed by the file system management of the data involved in backup or backup restore using de-duplication of the data G06F11/14
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1744 using compression, e.g. sparse files
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/1748 De-duplication implemented within the file system, e.g. based on file segments de-duplication techniques in storage systems for the management of data blocks G06F3/0641
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2322 using timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/235 Update request formulation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/2365 Ensuring data consistency and integrity
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/24578 using ranking
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/248 Presentation of query results
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/285 Clustering or classification
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/288 Entity relationship models
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• CPC Class Codes: G06F 16/9535 Search customisation based on user profiles and personalisation
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/4557 Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45587 Isolation or security of virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45591 Monitoring or debugging support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 : Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/53 : by executing in a restricted environment, e.g. sandbox or secure virtual machine
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/552 : involving long-term monitoring or reporting
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/556 : involving covert channels, i.e. data leakage between processes inhibiting the analysis of circuitry or operation with measures against power attack G06F21/755
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/566 : Dynamic detection, i.e. detection performed at run-time, e.g. emulation, suspicious activities
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/033 : Test or assess software
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2101 : Auditing as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2105 : Dual mode as a secondary aspect
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2111 : Location-sensitive, e.g. geographical location, GPS
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2115 : Third party
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2221/2145 : Inheriting rights or properties, e.g., propagation of permissions or restrictions within a hierarchy
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/0482 : Interaction with lists of selectable items, e.g. menus
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04842 : Selection of displayed objects or displayed text elements G06F3/0482 takes precedence
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 3/04847 : Interaction techniques to control parameter settings, e.g. interaction with sliders or dials
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 : Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 20/00 : Machine learning
• CPC Class Codes: G06N 99/00 : Subject matter not provided for in other groups of this subclass
• CPC Class Codes: G06T 11/206 : Drawing of charts or graphs
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/0661 : using timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 3/14 : Monitoring arrangements for SDH/SONET rings H04J3/085
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 1/242 : by comparing a transmitted test signal with a locally generated replica
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 : comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0668 : by dynamic selection of recovery network elements, e.g. replacement by the most appropriate element after failure
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 : Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 : for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 : the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 : Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 : Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 : Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/16 : using machine learning or artificial intelligence
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 : comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 : using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/02 : Capturing of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/026 : using flow identification
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/04 : Processing captured monitoring data, e.g. for logfile generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/045 : for graphical visualisation of monitoring data
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/062 : related to network traffic
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/08 : Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0805 : by checking availability
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0811 : by checking connectivity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0829 : Packet loss
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0841 : Round trip packet loss
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0858 : One way delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0864 : Round trip delays
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0876 : Network utilisation, e.g. volume of load or congestion level
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0882 : Utilisation of link capacity
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/0888 : Throughput
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 : Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/106 : using time related information in packets, e.g. by adding timestamps
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/12 : Network monitoring probes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/16 : Threshold monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/20 : the monitoring system or the monitored elements being virtualised, abstracted or software-defined entities, e.g. SDN or NFV
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/306 : Route determination based on the nature of the carried application
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/38 : Flow based routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/46 : Cluster building
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/507 : Label distribution
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/66 : Layer 2 routing, e.g. in Ethernet based MAN's
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/74 : Address processing for routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/11 : Identifying congestion
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 : Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2441 : relying on flow classification, e.g. using integrated services [IntServ]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2483 : involving identification of individual flows
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/28 : in relation to timing considerations
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/31 : by tagging of packets, e.g. using discard eligibility [DE] bits
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/32 : by discarding or delaying data units, e.g. packets or frames
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 : Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0227 : Filtering policies mail message filtering H04L51/212
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0263 : Rule management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/06 : for supporting key management in a packet data network cryptographic mechanisms or cryptographic arrangements for key management H04L9/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0876 : based on the identity of the terminal or configuration, e.g. MAC address, hardware or software configuration or device fingerprint
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1408 : by monitoring network traffic monitoring network traffic per se H04L43/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1416 : Event detection, e.g. attack signature detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1425 : Traffic logging, e.g. anomaly detection
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1433 : Vulnerability analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1441 : Countermeasures against malicious traffic countermeasures against attacks on cryptographic mechanisms H04L9/002
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/145 : the attack involving the propagation of malware through the network, e.g. viruses, trojans or worms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1458 : Denial of Service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/1466 : Active attacks involving interception, injection, modification, spoofing of data unit addresses, e.g. hijacking, packet injection or TCP sequence number attacks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/16 : Implementing security features at a particular protocol layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 : for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/01 : Protocols
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 : in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1001 : for accessing one among a plurality of replicated servers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/12 : specially adapted for proprietary or special-purpose networking environments, e.g. medical networks, sensor networks, networks in vehicles or remote metering networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 : Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/535 : Tracking the activity of the user network monitoring arrangements H04L43/00; recording of computer activity G06F11/34
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/75 : Indicating network or usage conditions on the user display
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/16 : Implementation or adaptation of Internet protocol [IP], of transmission control protocol [TCP] or of user datagram protocol [UDP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/22 : Parsing or analysis of headers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 7/10 : Arrangements for initial synchronisation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/0866 : involving user or device identifiers, e.g. serial number, physical or biometrical information, DNA, hand-signature or measurable physical characteristics
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3239 : involving non-keyed hash functions, e.g. modification detection codes [MDCs], MD5, SHA or RIPEMD
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/3242 : involving keyed hash functions, e.g. message authentication codes [MACs], CBC-MAC or HMAC
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 72/54 : based on quality criteria
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 84/18 : Self-organising networks, e.g. ad-hoc networks or sensor networks

Abstract

Systems, methods, and computer-readable media for hierarchichal sharding of flows from sensors to collectors. A first collector can receive a first portion of a network flow from a first capturing agent and determine that a second portion of the network flow was not received from the first capturing agent. The first collector can then send the first portion of the network flow to a second collector. A third collector can receive the second portion of the network flow from a second capturing agent and determine that the third collector did not receive the first portion of the network flow. The third collector can then send the second portion of the network flow to the second collector. The second collector can then aggregate the first portion and second portion of the network flow to yield the entire portion of the network flow.

Claims

1. A method for managing a plurality of collector devices including at least first, second and third collector devices, the method comprising:

receiving, by the first collector device, a first portion of a network flow from a first capturing agent, the first portion of the network flow being captured by the first capturing agent at a first host associated with the first capturing agent;

determining, by the first collector device, that a second portion of the network flow was not received, to yield a first determination;

based on the first determination, sending, by the first collector device, the first portion of the network flow to the second collector device;

receiving, by the third collector device, the second portion of the network flow from a second capturing agent, the second portion of the network flow being captured by the second capturing agent at a second host associated with the second capturing agent;

determining, by the third collector device, that the first portion of the network flow was not received, to yield a second determination;

based on the second determination, sending, by the third collector device, the second portion of the network flow to the second collector device;

determining, by the second collector device, that the first portion of the network flow and the second portion of the network flow are part of a same network flow; and

aggregating, by the second collector device, the first portion of the network flow and the second portion of the network flow to yield an aggregated network flow.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

assigning a plurality of capturing agents deployed throughout a network to respective shards, each of the plurality of capturing agents being configured to capture network activity associated with a respective host and report the network activity to one or more collector devices in the respective shards, wherein each of the respective shards comprises a number of assigned collector devices from the plurality of collector devices.

3. The method of claim 2, wherein the first portion of the network flow is transmitted by the first capturing agent to a first shard from the respective shards, and the second portion of the network flow is transmitted by the second capturing agent to a second shard from the respective shards, wherein the first collector device is part of the first shard and the third collector device is part of the second shard.

4. The method of claim 2, wherein the second collector device is part of a shard from the respective shards, and wherein the second collector device is assigned a flow key and hash that corresponds to the network flow.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the second collector device is selected to receive the first portion and the second portion of the network flow from a plurality of other collector devices in the shard based on the flow key and hash corresponding to the network flow.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the first collector device and the third collector device are mapped to respective shards from a first layer of shards, each of the respective shards comprising a selected group of collector devices, and wherein the second collector device is mapped to a shard from a second layer of shards.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein the first layer of shards is designated to receive network flow data directly from capturing agents deployed throughout a network, and wherein the second layer of shards is designated to receive different portions of the network flow data directly from different collector devices in the first layer of shards.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein the first capturing agent comprises at least one of a process, a kernel module, or a software driver.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein the first capturing agent resides in one of a hypervisor on the host or a virtual machine on the hypervisor, the network flow being sent or received by the one of the hypervisor or the virtual machine.

10. A system for managing a plurality of collector devices including at least first, second and third collector devices, the system comprising:

one or more processors; and

one or more computer-readable storage devices having stored therein instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising;

receiving, by the first collector device, a first portion of a network flow from a first capturing agent, the first portion of the network flow being captured by the first capturing agent at a first host associated with the first capturing agent;

determining, by the first collector device, that a second portion of the network flow was not received, to yield a first determination;

based on the first determination, sending, by the first collector device, the first portion of the network flow to the second collector device;

receiving, by the third collector device, the second portion of the network flow from a second capturing agent, the second portion of the network flow being captured by the second capturing agent at a second host associated with the second capturing agent;

determining, by the third collector device, that the first portion of the network flow was not received, to yield a second determination;

based on the second determination, sending, by the third collector device, the second portion of the network flow to the second collector device;

determining, by the second collector device, that the first portion of the network flow and the second portion of the network flow are part of a same network flow; and

aggregating, by the second collector device, the first portion of the network flow and the second portion of the network flow to yield an aggregated network flow.

11. The system of claim 10, the one or more computer-readable storage devices storing additional instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform operations comprising:

assigning a plurality of capturing agents deployed throughout a network to respective shards, each of the plurality of capturing agents being configured to capture network activity associated with a respective host and report the network activity to one or more collector devices in the respective shards, wherein each of the respective shards comprises a number of assigned collector devices from the plurality of collector devices.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the first portion of the network flow is transmitted by the first capturing agent to a first shard from the respective shards, and the second portion of the network flow is transmitted by the second capturing agent to a second shard from the respective shards, wherein the first collector device is part of the first shard and the third collector device is part of the second shard.

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the second collector device is part of a shard from the respective shards, and wherein the second collector device is assigned a flow key and hash that corresponds to the network flow.

14. The system of claim 13, wherein the second collector device is selected to receive the first portion and the second portion of the network flow from a plurality of other collector devices in the shard based on the flow key and hash corresponding to the network flow.

15. A non-transitory computer-readable storage device storing instructions for managing a plurality of collector devices including at least first, second and third collector devices, which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

receiving, by the first collector device, a first portion of a network flow from a first capturing agent, the first portion of the network flow being captured by the first capturing agent at a first host associated with the first capturing agent;

determining, by the first collector device, that a second portion of the network flow was not received, to yield a first determination;

based on the first determination, sending, by the first collector device, the first portion of the network flow to the second collector device;

receiving, by the third collector device, the second portion of the network flow from a second capturing agent, the second portion of the network flow being captured by the second capturing agent at a second host associated with the second capturing agent;

determining, by the third collector device, that the first portion of the network flow was not received, to yield a second determination;

based on the second determination, sending, by the third collector device, the second portion of the network flow to the second collector device;

determining, by the second collector device, that the first portion of the network flow and the second portion of the network flow are part of a same network flow; and

aggregating, by the second collector device, the first portion of the network flow and the second portion of the network flow to yield an aggregated network flow.

16. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, storing additional instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to perform operations comprising:

assigning a plurality of capturing agents deployed throughout a network to respective shards, each of the plurality of capturing agents being configured to capture network activity associated with a respective host and report the network activity to one or more collector devices in the respective shards, wherein each of the respective shards comprises a number of assigned collector devices from the plurality of collector devices.

17. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein the first portion of the network flow is transmitted by the first capturing agent to a first shard from the respective shards, and the second portion of the network flow is transmitted by the second capturing agent to a second shard from the respective shards, wherein the first collector device is part of the first shard and the third collector device is part of the second shard.

18. The computer-readable storage device of claim 16, wherein:

the second collector device is part of a shard from the respective shards;

the second collector device is assigned a flow key and hash that corresponds to the network flow; and

the second collector device is selected to receive the first portion and the second portion of the network flow from a plurality of other collector devices in the shard based on the flow key and hash corresponding to the network flow.

19. The computer-readable storage device of claim 15, wherein:

the first collector device and the third collector device are mapped to respective shards from a first layer of shards, each of the respective shards comprising a selected group of collector devices, and wherein the second collector device is mapped to a shard from a second layer of shards; and

the first layer of shards is designated to receive network flow data directly from capturing agents deployed throughout a network, and wherein the second layer of shards is designated to receive different portions of the network flow data directly from different collector devices in the first layer of shards.