AUTOMATED NETWORK CONFIGURATION IN A DYNAMIC VIRTUAL ENVIRONMENT

• US 20130034021A1
• Filed: 07/03/2012
• Published: 02/07/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/05/2011
• Status: Abandoned Application

• Current Assignee: Lenovo Enterprise Solutions (Singapore) Pte., Ltd. (Lenovo Group Ltd.)
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Kuroda, Akihiko, Jaiswal, Ritesh K., Prissel, Leon P., Sealy, Carolyne R., Seth, Esha
• Application Number:
  US13/541,467
• Publication Number:
  US 20130034021A1
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 370/255
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/4557 Distribution of virtual machine instances; Migration and load balancing
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• 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 12/467 Arrangements for supporting untagged frames, e.g. port-based VLANs
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0843 based on generic templates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0886 Fully automatic configuration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0895 Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0897 by horizontal or vertical scaling of resources, or by migrating entities, e.g. virtual resources or entities

Abstract

In a computer-implemented method, a port profile is associated with a virtual machine that requires a VLAN connection to an external network through an edge port. The port profile includes a VLAN identification associated with the VLAN connection and an edge port identification associated with the edge port. The method further comprises deploying the virtual machine to a target physical server, wherein both the target physical server is in communication with a network switch comprising the edge port. After deploying the virtual machine to the target physical server, the virtual machine is automatically provided with a VLAN connection to the external network in accordance with the port profile associated with the virtual machine. Similarly, a port profile may be associated with a virtual machine as it is created and deployed to a server, wherein the VLAN connection is configured according to the associated port profile.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method, comprising:

associating a port profile with a virtual machine that requires a VLAN connection to an external network through an edge port, wherein the port profile includes a VLAN identification associated with the VLAN connection and an edge port identification associated with the edge port;

deploying the virtual machine to a target physical server, wherein the target physical server is in communication with a network switch comprising the edge port; and

after deploying the virtual machine to the target physical server, automatically providing the virtual machine with a VLAN connection to the external network in accordance with the port profile associated with the virtual machine.

2. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the virtual machine is deployed to the target physical server during creation of the virtual machine.

3. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein the virtual machine is deployed to the target physical server as a result of migrating the virtual machine from a source physical server.

4. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, wherein both the target physical server and the source physical server are in communication with the same network switch comprising the edge port.

5. The computer-implemented method of claim 3, further comprising:

deconfiguring the VLAN connection to the source physical server.

6. The computer-implemented method of claim 1, wherein automatically providing the virtual machine with a VLAN connection to the external network in accordance with the port profile associated with the virtual machine, includes automatically configuring a virtual switch on the target physical server in accordance with the port profile and automatically configuring ports necessary to provide communication between the virtual switch and the edge port.

7. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

automatically applying a media access controller (MAC) address to the virtual switch.

8. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, wherein the port profile includes a Layer 2 profile.

9. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

providing a list of predefined port attributes that are user-selectable for providing a new virtual machine with a network connection.

10. The computer-implemented method of claim 6, further comprising:

preventing the use of port attributes that are not on the list of predefined port attributes.