Systems and methods for configuring multiple network interfaces

• US 20080031238A1
• Filed: 08/02/2006
• Published: 02/07/2008
• Est. Priority Date: 08/02/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Emc IP Holding Company LLC (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Original Assignee: EMC Corporation (Dell Technologies Inc.)
• Inventors: Woudenberg, Scott James Van, Harmelin, Shai, Passey, Aaron, Lu, Qichu, Kirsch, Nicholas Montgomery
• Granted Patent: US 8,539,056 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/389
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0843 based on generic templates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]

Abstract

In one embodiment, systems and methods are provided for configuring multiple network interfaces based on a network profile. In one embodiment, a user interface module manages the creation, modification, and deletion of active and inactive profiles, which may be stored to a configuration file accessible to computers with network interfaces belonging to the respective profiles, such as homogeneous or heterogeneous nodes in a clustered network of computers. In one embodiment, a configuration module reads a configuration file with embedded network profiles and builds the appropriate network interfaces according to the interface parameters specified in the network profiles.

Claims

1. A network profile automatically generated based on user inputs and stored in a memory of a computing device, the network profile comprising:

a profile identifier;

a plurality of interface identifiers; and

a set of network addresses, wherein a subset of the set of network addresses is associated with a plurality of network interfaces identified by the plurality of interface identifiers.

2. The network profile of claim 1, wherein the network addresses are Internet Protocol (IP) addresses.

3. The network profile of claim 1, wherein the interface identifiers identify a plurality of network interfaces on the same computer.

4. The network profile of claim 1, wherein the interface identifiers identify a plurality of network interfaces of a networked cluster of computers.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of network interfaces are a plurality of homogenous interfaces of the networked cluster of computers.

6. The method of claim 4, wherein the plurality of network interfaces are a plurality of heterogeneous interfaces of the networked cluster of computers.

7. The network profile of claim 1, wherein the subset of network addresses is automatically mapped to the plurality of interface identifiers.

8. The network profile of claim 1, further comprising at least one interface application criterion, wherein the at least one interface application criterion identifies a criterion for automatically adding an interface to the plurality of interface identifiers and automatically mapping the added interface to an element of the set of network address identifiers.

9. The network profile of claim 8, wherein the at least one interface application criterion specifies at least one of the following:

node type, logical interface type, physical interface type, dynamic load, static load, physical network type, and physical location.

10. The network profile of claim 9, wherein the node type is one of the following:

all, none, accelerator, and storage.

11. The network profile of claim 9, wherein the interface type is one of the following:

Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and Infiniband.

12. A network profile that specifies whether a network interface is automatically a member of the network profile, the network profile comprising:

at least one interface application criterion;

a plurality of interface identifiers; and

a set of network addresses, wherein a subset of the set of network addresses is associated with a plurality of network interfaces identified by the plurality of interface identifiers.

13. The network profile of claim 12, wherein the at least one interface application criterion specifies at least one of the following:

node type, logical interface type, physical interface type, dynamic load, static load, physical network type, and physical location.

14. The network profile of claim 13, wherein the node type is one of the following:

all, none, accelerator, and storage.

15. The network profile of claim 13, wherein the interface type is one of the following:

Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and Infiniband.

16. A method of configuring a plurality of network interfaces based on a network profile, comprising:

receiving at least one interface parameter;

receiving a plurality of network interface identifiers;

creating a network profile based on the at least one interface parameter and the plurality of network interface identifiers, comprising associating the at least one interface parameter with the plurality of network interface identifiers;

storing the network profile in a memory; and

executing a configuration module that configures a plurality of network interfaces based on the network profile, comprising applying the at least one interface parameter to the plurality of network interfaces corresponding to the network interface identifiers.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the at least one interface parameter comprises at least one of the following:

MTU (maximum transmission unit), a range of IP addresses, netmask, gateway, domain name server, and virtual IP, virtual IP binding, and secondary DNS resolver.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein the plurality of network interfaces is a plurality of network interfaces on the same computer.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein the plurality of network interfaces is a plurality of network interfaces on computers in a networked cluster of computers.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the plurality of network interface identifiers identify a plurality of homogenous interfaces of the networked cluster of computers.

21. The method of claim 19, wherein the plurality of network interface identifiers identify a plurality of heterogeneous interfaces of the networked cluster of computers.

22. A method of configuring a network interface based on a configuration file for configuring multiple network interfaces, comprising:

receiving at least one configuration file, wherein the configuration file comprises at least one interface parameter;

determining whether the at least one interface parameter applies to the network interface;

if the at least one interface parameter applies to the network interface, configuring the network interface based on the at least one interface parameter.

23. The method of claim 22, wherein the at least one interface parameter comprises at least one of the following:

MTU (maximum transmission unit), a range of IP addresses, netmask, gateway, domain name server, and virtual IP, virtual IP binding, and secondary DNS resolver.

24. The method of claim 22, wherein the network interface is a network interface on a computer in a networked cluster of computers.

25. The method of claim 22, wherein determining whether the at least one interface parameter applies to the network interface comprises searching the configuration file for an identifier corresponding to the network interface.

26. The method of claim 22, wherein determining whether the at least one network parameter applies to the network interface comprises determining whether an interface application criterion specified in the configuration file is satisfied.

27. The method of claim 26, wherein the interface application criterion specifies one of the following:

node type, logical interface type, physical interface type, dynamic load, static load, physical network type, and physical location.

28. The method of claim 27, wherein the node type is one of the following:

all, none, accelerator, and storage.

29. The method of claim 27, wherein the interface type is one of the following:

Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and Infiniband.

30. The method of claim 27, wherein configuring the network interface based on the at least one interface parameter causes the network interface to be included in a plurality of network interfaces that satisfy the interface application criterion.

31. The method of claim 27, wherein configuring the network interface based on the at least one interface parameter causes the network interface to be excluded in a plurality of network interfaces that satisfy the interface application criterion.

32. A method for managing network profiles for multiple network interfaces, comprising:

requesting user input to define network profiles, wherein the user input comprises interface parameters to be applied to multiple network interfaces;

organizing the user input into network profiles; and

storing the network profiles to a configuration file formatted as input for a configuration module that configures the multiple network interfaces based on the network profiles.

33. The method of claim 32, wherein the interface parameters comprise at least one of the following:

MTU (maximum transmission unit), a range of IP addresses, netmask, gateway, domain name server, and virtual IP, virtual IP binding, and secondary DNS resolver.

34. The method of claim 32, wherein the network profiles are inactive profiles.

35. The method of claim 32, further comprising permitting user input to modify the network profiles.

36. The method of claim 32, wherein the network profiles comprise auto-join information indicating to the configuration module that a respective network profile applies to an interface based on at least one of the following interface application criteria:

node type, logical interface type, physical interface type, dynamic load, static load, physical network type, and physical location

37. The method of claim 36, wherein the interface type is one of the following:

Gigabit Ethernet, 10 Gigabit Ethernet, and Infiniband.

38. The method of claim 36, wherein the node type is one of the following:

all, storage, and accelerator.

39. A storage medium having a computer program stored thereon for causing a suitably programmed system to process the computer program by performing the method of claim 32 when such computer program is executed on the system.

40. A method of migrating IP addresses for a plurality of network interfaces, comprising:

configuring a plurality of network interfaces based on a network profile, wherein the network profile identifies the IP addresses of the plurality of network interfaces;

modifying the network profile to identify at least one different IP address for at least one of the plurality of network interfaces; and

executing a configuration module that rebuilds at least one of the plurality of network interfaces with the at least one different IP address based on the network profile.

41. A system for configuring multiple network interfaces with a network profile, the system comprising:

a user interface module, the user interface module configured to receive user input comprising interface parameters corresponding to network profiles, and further configured to output configuration parameters corresponding to the network profiles; and

a configuration module, the configuration module adapted to implement a plurality of network interfaces based on the configuration parameters corresponding to the network profiles.

42. A data structure for a network profile, the data structure comprising:

a first field configured to store information relating to an interface parameter;

a second field configured to store information relating to a network interface identifier; and

wherein the first field and the second field are stored in a memory system such that the first field and the second field are associated together.

43. A system for configuring multiple network interfaces with a network profile, the system comprising:

a first module configured to receive at least one interface parameter, the first module further configured to receive a plurality of network interface identifiers, the first module further configured to create a network profile based on the at least one interface parameter and the plurality of network interface identifiers, comprising associating the at least one interface parameter with the plurality of network interface identifiers, and the first module further configured to store the network profile in a memory; and

a second module configured to configure a plurality of network interfaces based on the network profile, comprising applying the at least one interface parameter to the plurality of network interfaces corresponding to the network interface identifiers.