METHOD AND SYSTEMS FOR DETERMINING PATH OF A VIRTUAL CONNECTION THROUGH A NETWORK

• US 20120207058A1
• Filed: 04/23/2012
• Published: 08/16/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 08/19/2005
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Riverbed Technology, LLC (Riverbed Technology Incorporated)
• Original Assignee: Riverbed Technology Incorporated
• Inventors: Uppalli, Raghavendra B., SHAW, JAMES MARK
• Granted Patent: US 8,948,049 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/04 Interdomain routing, e.g. hierarchical routing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/10 Routing in connection-oriented networks, e.g. X.25 or ATM

Abstract

Networks and devices may communicate with each other using virtual connections. In one embodiment, a computer-implemented model is generated and includes a representation of the path of a virtual connection. The path of a virtual connection, such as an IP tunnel, is traced between its source and destination. The physical connection corresponding to such IP tunnels are found by tracing through the device configuration and routing tables at routers in the network. The path between the source and destination devices is traced until the path is terminated at the destination device, or at an interface to an external network. If the path ends at an external network, the path is traced from the destination device toward the source device until a corresponding interface to the external network is reached.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method of modeling a network, wherein the network comprises nodes communicably coupled by a virtual connection, said method comprising:

receiving configuration data associated with devices in the network;

identifying a virtual connection in the configuration data through which data is communicated from a first endpoint to a second endpoint;

determining a path of the virtual connection based on a search of one or more layers of information in the configuration data indicating physical connections and logical connections in the configuration data for hops between the first and second endpoints; and

providing a representation of the path of the virtual connection that indicates the hops in a computer-implemented model of the network.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein receiving the configuration data comprises receiving network data.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the virtual connection comprises identifying a private Internet Protocol address for a virtual private network.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the virtual connection comprises identifying an asynchronous transfer mode virtual circuit.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the virtual connection comprises identifying a multi-protocol label switching label switch path.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the path of the virtual connection based on the search of one or more layers of information comprises:

identifying a hop along the path based on a search of link layer information in the configuration data; and

identifying a next hop along the path based on the link layer information.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the path of the virtual connection based on the search of one or more layers of information comprises:

identifying a hop along the path based on a search of link layer information in the configuration data; and

identifying a next hop along the path based on a search of network layer information in the configuration data.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the path of the virtual connection based on the search of one or more layers of information comprises:

identifying a hop along the path based on a search of link layer information in the configuration data; and

identifying a next hop along the path based on a search of virtual LAN data in the configuration data.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the path of the virtual connection based on the search of one or more layers of information comprises:

identifying, from the first endpoint toward the second endpoint, a hop along the path having an interface to an external network; and

identifying, from the second endpoint toward the first endpoint, a next hop along the path having a corresponding interface to the external network.

10. A system configured to model a network, wherein the network comprises nodes communicably coupled by a virtual connection, said system comprising:

an input configured to receive configuration data associated with devices in the network;

a processor configured to identify a virtual connection in the configuration data through which data is communicated from a first endpoint to a second endpoint and determining a path of the virtual connection based on a search of one or more layers of information in the configuration information indicating physical connections and logical connections in the configuration data for hops between the first and second endpoints, and output a representation of the path of the virtual connection that indicates the hops in a computer-implemented model of the network.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the input is configured to receive discovery protocol information.

12. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to determine the path based on a search of one or more layers of information that comprises a first search of link layer configuration data and a contingent second search of network layer configuration data based on the first search.

13. The system of claim 12, wherein the processor is configured to determine the path based on a search of one or more layers of information that comprises a contingent third search of virtual LAN data based on the second search.

14. The system of claim 10, wherein the processor is configured to identify, from the first endpoint toward the second endpoint, a hop along the path having an interface to an external network and identify, from the second endpoint toward the first endpoint, a next hop along the path having a corresponding interface to the external network.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to output a representation of the external network.

16. The system of claim 14, wherein the processor is configured to output a rendering of a physical topology of the virtual connection on a display coupled to the processor.

17. A computer-implemented method of modeling a network, wherein the network comprises nodes communicably coupled by a virtual private network, said method comprising:

receiving configuration data associated with devices in the network;

identifying a tunnel in the configuration data through which encapsulated data is communicated through the network;

determining a physical path of the tunnel based on a search of one or more layers of information indicating physical connections and logical connections in the configuration data for hops along the path and an assumed bi-directional symmetry for the tunnel; and

providing a representation of the path of the tunnel that indicates the hops in a computer-implemented model of the network.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein determining the physical path of the tunnel comprises determining respective interfaces used at endpoints of the tunnel.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein the search of one or more layers of information comprises a sequence of searches comprising:

a first search of link layer data in the configuration data to identify a connection from a first hop to a second hop along the physical path; and

a second search of network layer data in the configuration data when the first search fails to identify the connection from the first hop to the second hop.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein determining the physical path comprises identifying a hop having an interface to an external network and identifying another hop having a corresponding interface to the external network.