FRAMEWORK FOR NETWORKING AND SECURITY SERVICES IN VIRTUAL NETWORKS

• US 20140059544A1
• Filed: 03/15/2013
• Published: 02/27/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: VMware, Inc. (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: SU, Chi-Hsiang, KOGANTY, Raju, NHU, Alex
• Granted Patent: US 10,203,972 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 718/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5077 Logical partitioning of resources; Management or configuration of virtualized resources specific details on emulation or internal functioning of virtual machines G06F9/455

Abstract

Methods, computer-readable storage medium, and systems described herein facilitate registering and consuming network services on a virtual network. A virtual machine management server (VMMS) is configured to receive a service definition associated with a network service. The VMMS creates one or more service profiles based on the service definition. The VMMS configures a plurality of hosts based on the one or more service profiles such that the network service is usable, via a virtual network, by one or more virtual machines within the plurality of hosts.

Claims

1. A virtual infrastructure comprising:

a plurality of hosts each having a virtual switch in a virtual network; and

a virtual machine management server (VMMS) configured to;

receive a service definition associated with a network service;

create one or more service profiles based on the service definition; and

configure said plurality of hosts based on the one or more service profiles such that the network service is usable, via the virtual network, by one or more virtual machines within said plurality of hosts.

2. The virtual infrastructure of claim 1, wherein said VMMS is further configured to add the one or more service profiles to a directory of network services.

3. The virtual infrastructure of claim 1, wherein the service definition includes a reference to an insertion point.

4. The virtual infrastructure of claim 3, wherein the insertion point is the virtual switch of each of the plurality of hosts.

5. The virtual infrastructure of claim 3, wherein the insertion point is on the virtual network.

6. The virtual infrastructure of claim 3, wherein the insertion point is external to the virtual network.

7. The virtual infrastructure of claim 1, wherein the service definition includes one or more service levels.

8. The virtual infrastructure of claim 1, wherein configuring said plurality of hosts includes configuring each virtual switch on the plurality of hosts.

9. At least one computer-readable storage medium having computer-executable instructions embodied thereon, wherein, when executed by at least one processor, the computer-executable instructions cause the at least one processor to:

receive a service definition associated with a network service;

create one or more service profiles based on the service definition; and

configure a plurality of hosts based on the one or more service profiles such that the network service is usable, via a virtual network, by one or more virtual machines within the plurality of hosts, wherein the plurality of hosts each have a virtual switch in the virtual network.

10. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the computer-executable instructions further cause the at least one processor to add the one or more service profiles to a directory of network services.

11. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the service definition includes a reference to an insertion point.

12. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the insertion point is the virtual switch of each of the plurality of hosts.

13. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the insertion point is on the virtual network.

14. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the insertion point is external to the virtual network.

15. The at least one computer-readable storage medium of claim 9, wherein the computer-executable instructions to configure a plurality of hosts further cause the at least one processor to configure each virtual switch on the plurality of hosts.

16. A method of registering a network service on a virtual network, the method comprising:

receiving a service definition associated with a network service;

creating one or more service profiles based on the service definition; and

configuring a plurality of hosts based on the one or more service profiles such that the network service is usable, via a virtual network, by one or more virtual machines within the plurality of hosts, wherein the plurality of hosts each have a virtual switch in the virtual network.

17. The method of claim 16, further comprising adding the one or more service profiles to a directory of network services.

18. The method of claim 16, wherein receiving a service definition comprises receiving a service definition that includes a reference to an insertion point.

19. The method of claim 16, wherein configuring a plurality of hosts comprises configuring each virtual switch on the plurality of hosts.

20. The method of claim 16, further comprising sending an enablement command to at least one of the plurality of hosts.