Network provisioning in a distributed network management architecture

• US 20030051049A1
• Filed: 08/13/2002
• Published: 03/13/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/15/2001
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Noy, Ariel, Shkolnisky, Yoel, Stupp, Gideon
• Granted Patent: US 7,765,283 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/238
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 2012/5626 Network management, e.g. Intelligent nets
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/044 comprising hierarchical management structures
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/08 Configuration management of networks or network elements address allocation H04L61/50
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0856 by backing up or archiving configuration information
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0863 by rolling back to previous configuration versions
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0869 Validating the configuration within one network element
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0889 Techniques to speed-up the configuration process
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5022 by giving priorities, e.g. assigning classes of service
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5054 Automatic deployment of services triggered by the service manager, e.g. service implementation by automatic configuration of network components

Abstract

A method for provisioning a service request in a computer network, the method including a) determining a service path within a model of the computer network from a source device component within the model, the source device component corresponding to a first network device, to a destination device component within the model, the destination device component corresponding to a second network device, b) determining for each network device corresponding to device components along the service path the configuration operations required to provision the service request, and c) configuring each of the network devices.

Claims

1. A method for provisioning a service request in a computer network, the method comprising:

a) determining a service path within a model of said computer network from a source device component within said model, said source device component corresponding to a first network device, to a destination device component within said model, said destination device component corresponding to a second network device;

b) determining for each network device corresponding to device components along said service path the configuration operations required to provision the service request; and

c) configuring each of said network devices.

2. A method according to claim 1 wherein said determining and configuring steps are operative where said first and second network devices are the same network device.

3. A method for path discovery in a distributed network management architecture, the method comprising:

a) sending from a device component within a model of a computer network to each of its neighboring device components via outgoing links a path discovery request and a source-to-current-DC cumulative weight;

b) establishing at each device component receiving a path discovery request a parent device component as being the device component that sent the lowest source-to-current-DC cumulative weight to the device component receiving the path discovery request;

c) sending a path termination signal and an identifier list from a device component to a device component from which said path discovery request was received, said identifier list identifying a destination-DC-to-current-DC path from a destination device component to said device component at which said path termination signal is received, and said destination-DC-to-current-DC path having a destination-DC-to-current-DC cumulative weight;

d) establishing at each device component receiving said path termination signal a best-path candidate as being the path identified by said identifier list having the lowest destination-DC-to-current-DC cumulative weight; and

e) establishing at said source device component the best path to said destination device component as the best-path candidate established by said source device component among all identifier lists received by said source device component.

4. A method according to claim 3 wherein said sending step a) comprises sending wherein said source-to-current-DC cumulative weight is the weight of the outgoing link where said device component sending said path discovery request is a source device component.

5. A method according to claim 3 wherein said sending step a) comprises sending wherein said source-to-current-DC cumulative weight is the sum of the lowest weight received by said device component sending said path discovery request and the weight of the outgoing link to the device component receiving said path discovery request where said device component sending said path discovery request is not said source device component.

6. A method according to claim 3 wherein said establishing step b) comprises sending a response signal to said parent device component upon establishing a new parent device component.

7. A method according to claim 3 wherein said establishing step b) comprises sending a response signal to said device component sending said path discovery request where said source-DC-to-current-DC cumulative weight received from said device component sending said path discovery request is not lower than said source-DC-to-current-DC cumulative weight received from said parent device component.

8. A method according to claim 3 wherein said sending step c) comprises sending if said device component sending said path termination signal has received a number of response signals equal to the number of path discovery requests sent by said device component sending said path termination signal, and if said device component sending said path termination signal has established a best-path candidate.

9. A method according to claim 3 wherein said sending step c) comprises sending once said destination device component receives said path discovery request.

10. A method for network device configuration, the method comprising:

sending a prepare_to_commit notification to each of the device components that lie along a path within a model of a computer network, therewith indicating at least one configuration action;

determining if each network device associated with each of said device components is able to carry out said configuration actions;

sending a commit instruction to each of said device components to perform said configuration actions if all of said determinations are affirmative; and

sending a rollback instruction to each of said device components if any of said notifications are negative.

11. A method accordig to claim 10 wherein said sending a rollback instruction step further comprises said device components instructing their associated network devices to revert to their previous state upon receiving said rollback instruction.

12. A method according to claim 10 and further comprising sending a rollback instruction to each of said device components if any of said notifications are not received within a predetermined time from sending said prepare_to_commit notification.

13. A method according to claim 10 wherein said determining step comprises:

any of said device components instructing its associated network device to perform said configuration actions;

saving said network device'"'"'s state prior to performing said configuration actions;

if said configuration succeeds, said network device notifying its associated device component of said success; and

if said configuration does not succeed, said network device notifying its associated device component of said failure and said network device reverting back to its previous state.

14. A method according to claim 13 wherein said saving step comprises saving said state in a memory of said network device.

15. A method according to claim 13 wherein said saving step comprises saving said state in a memory of said device component.

16. A method according to claim 10 and further comprising selecting a central coordinator within said model, and wherein said sending steps are performed by said central coordinator.

17. A method according to claim 16 wherein said determining step comprises notifying said central coordinator of said determination.

18. A method according to claim 11 and further comprising selecting a central coordinator within said model, and wherein said sending steps are performed by said central coordinator.

19. A method according to claim 12 and further comprising selecting a central coordinator within said model, and wherein said sending steps are performed by said central coordinator.

20. A system for provisioning a service request in a computer network, the system comprising:

a) means for determining a service path within a model of said computer network from a source device component within said model, said source device component corresponding to a first network device, to a destination device component within said model, said destination device component corresponding to a second network device;

b) means for determining for each network device corresponding to device components along said service path the configuration operations required to provision the service request; and

c) means for configuring each of said network devices.

21. A system according to claim 20 wherein said determining and configuring means are operative where said first and second network devices are the same network device.

22. A system for path discovery in a distributed network management architecture, the system comprising:

a) means for sending from a device component within a model of a computer network to each of its neighboring device components via outgoing links a path discovery request and a source-to-current-DC cumulative weight;

b) means for establishing at each device component receiving a path discovery request a parent device component as being the device component that sent the lowest source-to-current-DC cumulative weight to the device component receiving the path discovery request;

c) means for sending a path termination signal and an identifier list from a device component to a device component from which said path discovery request was received, said identifier list identifying a destination-DC-to-current-DC path from a destination device component to said device component at which said path termination signal is received, and said destination-DC-to-current-DC path having a destination-DC-to-current-DC cumulative weight;

d) means for establishing at each device component receiving said path termination signal a best-path candidate as being the path identified by said identifier list having the lowest destination-DC-to-current-DC cumulative weight; and

e) means for establishing at said source device component the best path to said destination device component as the best-path candidate established by said source device component among all identifier lists received by said source device component.

23. A system according to claim 22 wherein said sending means a) is operative to send wherein said source-to-current-DC cumulative weight is the weight of the outgoing link where said device component sending said path discovery request is a source device component.

24. A system according to claim 22 wherein said sending means a) is operative to send wherein said source-to-current-DC cumulative weight is the sum of the lowest weight received by said device component sending said path discovery request and the weight of the outgoing link to the device component receiving said path discovery request where said device component sending said path discovery request is not said source device component.

25. A system according to claim 22 wherein said establishing means b) is operative to send a response signal to said parent device component upon establishing a new parent device component.

26. A system according to claim 22 wherein said establishing means b) is operative to send a response signal to said device component sending said path discovery request where said source-DC-to-current-DC cumulative weight received from said device component sending said path discovery request is not lower than said source-DC-to-current-DC cumulative weight received from said parent device component.

27. A system according to claim 22 wherein said sending means c) is operative to send if said device component sending said path termination signal has received a number of response signals equal to the number of path discovery requests sent by said device component sending said path termination signal, and if said device component sending said path termination signal has established a best-path candidate.

28. A system according to claim 22 wherein said sending means c) is operative to send once said destination device component receives said path discovery request.

29. A system for network device configuration, the system comprising:

means for sending a prepare_to_commit notification to each of the device components that lie along a path within a model of a computer network, therewith indicating at least one configuration action;

means for determining if each network device associated with each of said device components is able to carry out said configuration actions;

means for sending a commit instruction to each of said device components to perform said configuration actions if all of said determinations are affirmative; and

means for sending a rollback instruction to each of said device components if any of said notifications are negative.

30. A system according to claim 29 wherein said means for sending a rollback instruction further comprises means for causing said device components to instruct their associated network devices to revert to their previous state upon receiving said rollback instruction.

31. A system according to claim 29 and further comprising means for sending a rollback instruction to each of said device components if any of said notifications are not received within a predetermined time from sending said prepare_to_commit notification.

32. A system according to claim 29 wherein said determining means comprises:

means for causing any of said device components to instruct its associated network device to perform said configuration actions;

means for saving said network device'"'"'s state prior to performing said configuration actions;

means for causing said network device to notify its associated device component of success if said configuration succeeds; and

means for causing said network device to notify its associated device component of said failure and said network device to revert back to its previous state if said configuration does not succeed.

33. A system according to claim 32 wherein said saving means is operative to save said state in a memory of said network device.

34. A system according to claim 32 wherein said saving means is operative to save said state in a memory of said device component.

35. A system according to claim 29 and further comprising a central coordinator within said model, and wherein said central coordinator comprises said sending means.

36. A system according to claim 35 wherein said determining means comprises means for notifying said central coordinator of said determination.

37. A system according to claim 30 and further comprising a central coordinator within said model, and wherein said central coordinator comprises said sending means.

38. A system according to claim 31 and further comprising a central coordinator within said model, and wherein said central coordinator comprises said sending means.