DYNAMICALLY MIGRATING COMPUTER NETWORKS

• US 20110022711A1
• Filed: 07/22/2009
• Published: 01/27/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 07/22/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Amazon Technologies, Inc. (Amazon.com, Inc.)
• Inventors: Cohn, Daniel T.
• Granted Patent: US 8,234,377 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/225
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5061 Partitioning or combining of resources
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5083 Techniques for rebalancing the load in a distributed system
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/00 Arrangements for maintenance, administration or management of data switching networks, e.g. of packet switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/04 Network management architectures or arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0813 characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 8/082 for traffic bypassing of mobility servers, e.g. location registers, home PLMNs or home agents

Abstract

Techniques are described for providing capabilities to dynamically migrate computing nodes between two or more computer networks while the computer networks are in use, such as to dynamically and incrementally migrate an entire originating first computer network to a destination second computer network at a remote location. For example, the first computer network may include one or more physically connected computer networks, while the second computer network may be a virtual computer network at a remote geographical location (e.g., under control of a network-accessible service available to remote users). The provided capabilities may further include facilitating the ongoing operations of the originating first computer network while a subset of the first computer network computing nodes have been migrated to the remote destination second computer network, such as by forwarding communications between the first and second computer networks in a manner that is transparent to the various computing nodes.

Claims

1. A method for a computing system to facilitate dynamic migration of networked computing nodes, the method comprising:

managing multiple communications sent to multiple computing nodes of a first computer network while the first computer network is in use, the multiple computing nodes being located at a first geographical location and each being associated with one of multiple distinct network addresses for the first computer network, the multiple communications each indicating at least one destination network address that is one of the multiple network addresses so as to specify at least one of the multiple computing nodes as being an intended destination for the communication, the managing of each of the communications including forwarding the communication over the first computer network to the at least one intended destination computing nodes for the communication based on the at least one destination network addresses indicated by the communication;

after the managing of the multiple communications, and under control of one or more computing devices configured to dynamically and incrementally migrate the first computer network to a remote virtual second computer network at a second geographical location while the first computer network continues to be in use, and for each of the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network;

receiving an indication of migration of the computing node of the first computer network to a distinct replacement computing node at the second geographical location that is part of the remote virtual computer network, such that after the migration, the replacement computing node of the remote virtual computer network replaces the migrated computing node as part of the first computer network and uses the network address of the migrated computing node for ongoing operations of the first computer network; and

automatically associating the network address of the migrated computing node on the first computer network with a gateway device on the first computer network that is configured to represent computing nodes of the remote virtual computer network; and

after the migration of a subset of the multiple computing nodes, automatically managing one or more additional communications sent over the first computer network that each indicate a destination network address used by the replacement computing node for one of the computing nodes of the subset, the managing of each of the additional communications including forwarding the additional communication over the first computer network to the configured gateway device, so that the configured gateway device forwards the additional communication to the remote virtual computer network for delivery to that replacement computing node.

2. The method of claim 1 wherein the first computer network is a physical local area network, wherein the remote virtual computer network is configured to be an extension to the first computer network such that the computing nodes of the remote virtual computer network use network addresses for the first computer network that are distinct from network addresses currently in use by the computing nodes of the first computer network, and wherein the method further comprises:

before the dynamic migrating of the first computer network to the remote virtual computer network,

automatically associating the network addresses of the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network with a second gateway device on the remote virtual computer network that is configured to represent the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network; and

automatically managing one or more other communications sent over the remote virtual computer network that each indicate a destination network address used by one of the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network, the managing of each of the other communications including forwarding the other communication over the remote virtual computer network to the second gateway device, so that the second gateway device forwards the other communication to the first computer network for delivery to the one computing node that uses the destination network address indicated by the other communication;

and wherein, for each of the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network, the automatic associating of the network address of the computing node on the first computer network with the gateway device on the first computer network further includes disassociating the network address of the computing node with the second gateway device on the remote virtual computer network.

3. The method of claim 1 wherein the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network are under control of a first entity, wherein the computing nodes of the remote virtual computer network are under control of a distinct second entity, wherein the second entity provides a fee-based configurable network service that enables customers to purchase access to configured virtual computer networks that are provided by the configurable network service on behalf of the customers using cloud computing techniques, wherein the first entity is one of the customers of the configurable network service, wherein the remote virtual computer network is one of the virtual computer networks provided by the configurable network service, and wherein the remote virtual computer network is further configured by the configurable network service to provide networking capabilities for the migrated first computer network that were provided by one or more physical networking devices of the first computer network before the dynamic migrating of the first computer network to the remote virtual computer network.

4. A computer-implemented method for facilitating dynamic migration of networked computing nodes, the method comprising:

under control of one or more computing devices configured to dynamically migrate a first computer network having multiple computing nodes at a first geographical location to a remote virtual second computer network at a second geographical location while the first computer network is in use, and for each of at least some of the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network;

receiving an indication of a migration of the computing node of the first computer network to a distinct replacement computing node at the second geographical location that is part of the remote virtual computer network, such that after the migration, the replacement computing node of the remote virtual computer network replaces the migrated computing node as part of the first computer network and uses a network address of the first computer network that was previously used by the migrated computing node;

automatically associating the network address used by the replacement computing node with a gateway device on the first computer network that is configured to represent the replacement computing node of the remote virtual computer network; and

after the automatic associating of the network address, automatically managing one or more additional communications sent over the first computer network to the network address used by the replacement computing node, the managing of each of the additional communications including, after the additional communication is forwarded over the first computer network to the gateway device that represents the replacement computing node, forwarding the additional communication to the remote virtual computer network for delivery to the replacement computing node.

5. The method of claim 4 wherein the at least some computing nodes of the first computer network include all of the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network, such that all of the first computer network is incrementally migrated to the remote virtual computer network while the first computer network is in use, and wherein the remote virtual computer network is configured to operate as an extension to the first computer network until the incremental migration of all of the first computer network to the remote virtual computer network is complete.

6. The method of claim 5 further comprising automatically configuring one or more computing devices associated with the remote virtual computer network to provide networking capabilities for the migrated first computer network that were provided by one or more physical networking devices of the first computer network before the incremental migration of the first computer network to the remote virtual computer network.

7. The method of claim 4 further comprising, after the dynamic migrating of the first computer network to the remote virtual computer network, and for each of at least one of the replacement computing nodes of the remote virtual computer network, automatically facilitating a reverse migration of the replacement computing node back to a target computing node that is part of the first computer network, such that the target computing node replaces the replacement computing node in the first computer network after the reverse migration and uses the network address of the first computer network that was previously used by the replacement computing node, the automatic facilitating including disassociating the network address that was previously used by the replacement computing node with the configured gateway device on the first computer network so that subsequent communications directed to that network address are forwarded via the first computer network to the target computing node.

8. The method of claim 4 wherein the at least some computing nodes of the first computer network are selected for migration based on at least one of one or more instructions received from a user associated with the remote virtual computer network and of satisfaction of one or more previously defined criteria for selection of the at least some computing nodes.

9. The method of claim 4 wherein, before migrating one of the at least some computing nodes of the first computer network to the remote virtual computer network, the network address of the one computing node of the first computer network is associated with a second gateway device on the remote virtual computer network that is configured to represent the one computing node of the first computer network by forwarding communications directed to that network address to the first computer network, and wherein the automatic associating with the gateway device on the first computer network of the network address used by the replacement computing node for the one computing node of the first computer network is part of provisioning the remote virtual computer network to support the replacement computing node, the provisioning of the remote virtual computer network further including disassociating the network address used by the replacement computing node with the second gateway device on the remote virtual computer network so that subsequent communications directed to that network address used by the replacement computing node are forwarded via the remote virtual computer network to the replacement computing node.

10. The method of claim 9 wherein the one computing node executes a copy of each of one or more software applications before the migration of the one computing node to the replacement computing node, and the provisioning of the remote virtual computer network to support the replacement computing node further includes initiating execution on the replacement computing node of a copy of each of the one or more software applications.

11. The method of claim 4 wherein the first computer network includes one or more physically interconnected local area computer networks at the first geographical location and is under control of a first entity, wherein the remote virtual computer network is at a second geographical location and is under control of a distinct second entity, wherein the second entity provides a configurable network service that enables clients to configure virtual computer networks provided by the configurable network service on behalf of the clients, wherein the first entity is one of the clients of the configurable network service, and wherein the remote virtual computer network is one of the virtual computer networks provided by the configurable network service.

12. The method of claim 11 wherein the one or more configured computing devices are operated under control of the configurable network service, wherein the configurable network service provides a plurality of computing nodes for use in the virtual computer networks provided by the configurable network service, wherein the at least some computing nodes of the first computer network include two or more of the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network, and wherein, for each of the at least some computing nodes, the replacement computing node for the computing node of the first computer network is a distinct one of the plurality of computing nodes that is selected by the configurable network service and dynamically added to the remote virtual computer network on behalf of the first entity, such that the remote virtual computer network includes two or more dynamically added computing nodes after the dynamic migrating of the first computer network to the remote virtual computer network.

13. The method of claim 12 wherein the replacement computing nodes for the at least some computing nodes are each a virtual machine hosted on one of multiple physical computing systems of the configurable network service, and wherein the dynamic adding of the two or more replacement computing nodes to the remote virtual computer network includes configuring one or more virtual machine manager modules that execute on one or more of the physical computing systems to manage communications for the hosted virtual machines so that the hosted virtual machines are included as part of the remote virtual computer network.

14. The method of claim 4 wherein, for each of one or more of the at least some computing nodes of the first computer network that are migrated to the remote virtual computer network, the migration of the computing node to the remote virtual computer network is performed in a manner transparent to other computing nodes of the first computer network, such that the other computing nodes continue to send other communications over the first computer network to destination computing nodes of the first computer network during the migration of the computing node, and such that the destination computing node for at least one of the other communications is the computing node being migrated.

15. The method of claim 4 wherein the one or more configured computing devices include the configured gateway device, and wherein the network addresses of each of the at least some computing nodes of the first computer network are Internet Protocol (“

IP”

) addresses.

16. A computer-readable medium whose contents configure one or more computing devices to facilitate dynamic migration of networked computing nodes, by performing a method comprising:

under control of the one or more configured computing devices, and while a first computer network is in use with multiple computing nodes that each has a distinct network address for the first computer network, facilitating dynamic migration of one or more of the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network to a distinct virtual computer network by, for each of the one or more computing nodes of the first computer network;

receiving an indication of a migration of the computing node of the first computer network to a distinct computing node of the virtual computer network, such that after the migration, the distinct computing node of the virtual computer network uses the network address of the migrated computing node for ongoing operations of the first computer network; and

automatically associating the network address of the migrated computing node on the first computer network with a gateway device on the first computer network that is configured to interact with the virtual computer network such that, for each of one or more communications sent over the first computer network to that network address of the migrated computing node after the automatic associating, the communication will be forwarded to the configured gateway device for further forwarding to the distinct computing node of the virtual computer network.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network are at one or more first geographical locations, wherein the virtual computer network is remote from the first computer network and includes multiple other computing nodes at a second geographical location remote from the one or more first geographical locations, wherein the remote virtual computer network is configured to operate as an extension to the first computer network, and wherein, for each of the one or more computing nodes of the first computer network, the distinct computing node of the remote virtual computer network to which the computing node of the first computer network is migrated is one of the other computing nodes and operates as a replacement of the computing node of the first computer network on the remote virtual computer network.

18. The computer-readable medium of claim 17 wherein the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network are under control of a first entity, wherein the computing nodes of the remote virtual computer network are under control of a distinct second entity, wherein the second entity provides a network-accessible service that enables clients to configure virtual computer networks provided by the network-accessible service on behalf of the clients, wherein the first entity is one of the clients of the network-accessible service, and wherein the remote virtual computer network is one of the virtual computer networks provided by the network-accessible service.

19. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the facilitating of the dynamic migration is performed for each of the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network so as to incrementally migrate the first computer network to the distinct virtual computer network while the first computer network is in use.

20. The computer-readable medium of claim 16 wherein the computer-readable medium is at least one of a memory of one of the one or more configured devices that stores the contents and a data transmission medium that includes a generated stored data signal containing the contents, and wherein the contents are instructions that when executed cause the one or more configured devices to perform the method.

21. A computing device configured to facilitate dynamic migration of networked computing nodes, comprising:

one or more processors; and

a migration manager module that is configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, facilitate dynamic migration of one or more computing nodes between distinct first and second local area computer networks while the first and second computer networks are in use, the facilitating of the dynamic migration including, for each of the one or more computing nodes;

receiving an indication of a migration of the computing node from an originating computer network to a destination computer network, the originating computer network being one of the first and second computer networks and the destination computer network being the other of the first and second computer networks, the migrated computing node using an address as part of operations of the originating computer network before the migration and being replaced by a distinct replacement computing node of the destination computer network that uses that address after the migration, such that after the migration, the replacement computing node replaces operations of the originating computer network that were previously performed by the migrated computing node; and

automatically associating the address of the migrated computing node on the originating computer network with a gateway device on the originating computer network that is configured to interact with the destination computer network such that, for each of one or more communications sent over the originating computer network to that address after the migration, the communication is forwarded to the configured gateway device to be forwarded to the replacement computing node of the destination computer network.

22. The computing device of claim 21 wherein the first computer network includes one or more physical computer networks with multiple computing nodes at one or more first geographical locations, and wherein the second computer network is a virtual computer network that includes multiple other computing nodes at a second geographical location remote from the one or more first geographical locations.

23. The computing device of claim 22 wherein the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network are under control of a first entity, wherein the other computing nodes of the second computer network are under control of a distinct second entity, wherein the second entity provides a network-accessible service that enables clients to configure virtual computer networks provided by the network-accessible service on behalf of the clients, wherein the first entity is one of the clients of the network-accessible service, and wherein the second computer network is one of the virtual computer networks provided by the network-accessible service, the second computer network being configured to operate as an extension to the first computer network.

24. The computing device of claim 21 wherein the first computer network includes one or more physical computer networks with multiple computing nodes at one or more first geographical locations, and wherein the second computer network includes one or more other physical computer networks with multiple other computing nodes at one or more other second geographical locations that are remote from the one or more first geographical locations.

25. The computing device of claim 21 wherein the originating computer network for each of the one or more computing nodes is the first computer network and the destination computer network for each of the one or more computing nodes is the second computer network, and wherein the facilitating of the dynamic migration is performed for each of the multiple computing nodes of the first computer network so as to incrementally migrate the first computer network to the second computer network while the first computer network is in use.

26. The computing device of claim 25 wherein the addresses used by the one or more computing nodes that are migrated are hardware addresses, and wherein the automatic associating of the hardware addresses of the one or more migrated computing nodes on the originating computer network with the gateway device on the originating computer network includes the gateway device on the originating computer network acting to spoof the hardware addresses of the one or more migrated computing nodes so as to cause communications that are sent over the originating computer network to the hardware addresses of the one or more migrated computing nodes to be directed to the gateway device on the originating computer network.

27. The computing device of claim 25 wherein the addresses used by the one or more computing nodes that are migrated are network addresses, and wherein the automatic associating of the network addresses of the one or more migrated computing nodes on the originating computer network with the gateway device on the originating computer network includes initiating one or more announcements by the gateway device on the originating computer network to cause communications that are sent over the originating computer network to the network addresses of the one or more migrated computing nodes to be directed to the gateway device on the originating computer network.

28. The computing device of claim 21 wherein the migration manager module includes software instructions for execution by the computing device.

29. The computing device of claim 21 wherein the migration manager module consists of a means for facilitating dynamic migration of one or more computing nodes between distinct first and second local area computer networks while the first and second computer networks are in use, the facilitating of the dynamic migration including, for each of the one or more computing nodes:

receiving an indication of a migration of the computing node from an originating computer network to a destination computer network, the originating computer network being one of the first and second computer networks and the destination computer network being the other of the first and second computer networks, the migrated computing node using an address as part of operations of the originating computer network before the migration and being replaced by a distinct replacement computing node of the destination computer network that uses that address after the migration, such that after the migration, the replacement computing node replaces operations of the originating computer network that were previously performed by the migrated computing node; and

automatically associating the address of the migrated computing node on the originating computer network with a gateway device on the originating computer network that is configured to interact with the destination computer network such that, for each of one or more communications sent over the originating computer network to that address after the migration, the communication is forwarded to the configured gateway device to be forwarded to the replacement computing node of the destination computer network.