Integrated service management system

• US 20020174211A1
• Filed: 09/25/2001
• Published: 11/21/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 04/24/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Original Assignee: Hitachi, Ltd.
• Inventors: Ishizaki, Takeshi, Miyake, Shigeru
• Granted Patent: US 7,379,987 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4675 Dynamic sharing of VLAN information amongst network nodes configuration of the network or of network elements H04L41/08
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/082 the condition being updates or upgrades of network functionality
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5061 characterised by the interaction between service providers and their network customers, e.g. customer relationship management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/091 Measuring contribution of individual network components to actual service level

Abstract

The present invention provides techniques for creation, operation, management, and access control of network-based storage services. Specific embodiments provide improved efficiency of the service management tasks used for designing, operating and accounting the robust and profitable network services, for example. In representative embodiments, techniques for constructing integrated network and storage services are provided. In a specific embodiment, the service comprises of three major service components: virtual private networks (VPN), application servers and storage area networks (SAN). Each of these service components has its own customer identification information, such as VPN identifier for VPN services, process identifier for application servers and logical unit number (LUN) for storage devices.

Claims

1. A system, comprising:

a connection to a virtual private network;

a router, connected to said virtual private network, wherein said router maintains at least one virtual router for a client;

at least one server, said server having at least one logical partition;

a virtual LAN switch, connected to said router, said virtual LAN switch providing selectable forwarding for information from said router to said at least one logical partition of said at least one server;

at least one volume;

an FC switch, wherein said FC switch provides selectable interconnection between said at least one logical partition of said at least one server and said at least one volume, so that information received from a plurality of sources via said virtual private network is directed to a particular virtual router for each of said sources by said router, and wherein said information is then directed to a particular one of said at least one logical partition of said server for each of said sources by said virtual LAN switch, and wherein said information is then directed to a particular volume for each of said sources by said FC switch.

2. The system of claim 1, further comprising a virtual private network management system that controls operation of said router.

3. The system of claim 2, said virtual private network management system further comprising:

a network interface module that receives commands from an integrated service management system, a service order processing module that analyzes and executes the commands, updates a table of virtual private network information, and sends new configuration information to said router through a control module.

4. The system of claim 2, said virtual service management system further comprising a virtual private network table, said virtual private network table having a VPN ID that identifies a specific VPN, an Address 1 and an Address 2 that hold IP addresses of two end points of said specific VPN, a Protocol that specifies a VPN protocol that is used on said specific VPN, an Internet that indicates whether access to public Internet is permitted, and a VLAN ID that is assigned to packets received over said specific VPN.

5. The system of claim 1, further comprising a server management system that controls operation of said virtual LAN switch.

6. The system of claim 1, further comprising a storage management system that controls operation of said FC switch.

7. The system of claim 1, further comprising an integrated service management system that controls operations.

8. The system of claim 7, said integrated service management system further comprising:

a network interface module that receives requests to change configuration, a service order processing module that analyzes and executes requests to change configuration received by said network interface module, updates related table cache in a service management database, and sends new configuration information using said network interface module.

9. The system of claim 8, further comprising an operator console application that sends a request command to change service configuration to said integrated management system.

10. The system of claim 8, further comprising a customer portal application that sends a request command to change service configuration to said integrated management system.

11. The system of claim 8, said integrated service management system further comprising a service configuration table, said service configuration table having destination information.

12. The system of claim 8, said integrated service management system further comprising a server table, said server table having a server identification, an address, a physical server identifier, a virtual LAN identification, a logical partition (LPAR) identification, a host bus adaptor (HBA) identification, an application identification, an operating system identifier, and a CPU information.

13. The system of claim 8, said integrated service management system further comprising a storage table, said storage table having a volume identifier, a port identifier, an allowed host bus adapter(s) (HBAs) identifier, a capacity identifier, and an access information.

14. The system of claim 8, said integrated service management system further comprising a service mapping table, said service mapping table having a customer identifier, a virtual private network identifier, a server identifier, and a volume identifier.

15. The system of claim 8, said integrated service management system further comprising a service status table, said service status table having a customer identifier, a virtual private network status, a server status, and a volume status.

16. A method for managing storage, comprising:

receiving a request to change a configuration of an integrated storage and networking system;

analyzing said request to determine a new configuration;

updating configuration tables to reflect said new configuration, said configuration tables comprising a mapping between a logical partition and at least one of a plurality of HBAs attached thereto; and

sending new configuration information to at least one of a plurality of subsystem managers.

17. A method for managing a configuration for a virtual private network, comprising:

receiving at a subsystem manager a request to change to a new configuration for a virtual private network of an integrated storage and networking system;

analyzing said request to determine a new configuration for said virtual private network of said integrated storage and networking system;

updating configuration tables to reflect said new configuration, said configuration tables comprising a mapping between a logical partition and at least one of a plurality of HBAs attached thereto; and

sending commands to a virtual private network router to implement said new configuration.

18. A method for managing a configuration for at least one of a plurality of servers, comprising:

receiving at a subsystem manager a request to change to a new configuration for at least one of a plurality of servers in an integrated storage and networking system;

analyzing said request to determine a new configuration for said at least one of a plurality of servers in said integrated storage and networking system;

updating configuration tables to reflect said new configuration, said configuration tables comprising a mapping between a logical partition and at least one of a plurality of HBAs attached thereto; and

sending commands to a virtual LAN switch to implement said new configuration.

19. A method for managing a configuration for at least one of a plurality of storage devices, comprising:

receiving at a subsystem manager a request to change to a new configuration for at least one of a plurality of storage devices of an integrated storage and networking system;

analyzing said request to determine a new configuration for said at least one of a plurality of storage devices of said integrated storage and networking system;

updating configuration tables to reflect said new configuration, said configuration tables comprising a mapping between a logical partition and at least one of a plurality of HBAs attached thereto; and

sending commands to a fibre channel switch to implement said new configuration.

20. An apparatus, comprising:

a connection to a virtual private network;

a router, connected to said virtual private network, wherein said router maintains at least one virtual router for a client;

at least one server, said server having at least one logical partition;

a virtual LAN switch, connected to said router, said virtual LAN switch providing selectable forwarding for information from said router to said at least one logical partition of said at least one server;

at least one volume;

an FC switch, wherein said FC switch provides selectable interconnection between said at least one logical partition of said at least one server and said at least one volume, so that information received from a plurality of sources via said virtual private network is directed to a particular virtual router for each of said sources by said router, and wherein said information is then directed to a particular one of said at least one logical partition of said server for each of said sources by said virtual LAN switch, and wherein said information is then directed to a particular volume for each of said sources by said FC switch.