NETWORK FIELD UNIT FOR A CLOUD-BASED SERVICES EXCHANGE

• US 20160337179A1
• Filed: 01/20/2016
• Published: 11/17/2016
• Est. Priority Date: 05/12/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Equinix Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Equinix Incorporated
• Inventors: Rao, Ravindra JN
• Granted Patent: US 10,291,726 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4633 Interconnection of networks using encapsulation techniques, e.g. tunneling
• 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 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0813 characterised by the conditions triggering a change of settings
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/20 Network management software packages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5025 by proactively reacting to service quality change, e.g. by reconfiguration after service quality degradation or upgrade
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5051 Service on demand, e.g. definition and deployment of services in real time
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/5096 wherein the managed service relates to distributed or central networked applications
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/586 of virtual routers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/64 using an overlay routing layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/10 characterised by the switching fabric construction
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/25 Routing or path finding in a switch fabric
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1097 for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/142 Managing session states for stateless protocols; Signalling session states; State transitions; Keeping-state mechanisms
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/51 Discovery or management thereof, e.g. service location protocol [SLP] or web services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/53 using third party service providers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/566 : Grouping or aggregating service requests, e.g. for unified processing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/63 : Routing a service request depending on the request content or context
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/18 : Multiprotocol handlers, e.g. single devices capable of handling multiple protocols

Abstract

In some examples, a method includes receiving, by at least one network field unit, a service definition that specifies one or more service requirements to implement a service within a portion of an edge network of one or more network data centers, wherein the service definition is usable by the at least one network field unit to configure the portion of the edge network to provide the service, wherein the portion of the edge network within one or more network data centers connect through one or more switching fabrics of the one or more network data centers; determining, by the network field unit and based on the service definition, one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network that are usable to provide the service; and configuring, by the network field unit, the one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network to provide the service.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving, by at least one network field unit, a network service definition that specifies one or more service requirements to implement a network service within a portion of an edge network of one or more network data centers, wherein the network service definition is usable by the at least one network field unit to configure the portion of the edge network to provide the network service, wherein the portion of the edge network within one or more network data centers connect through one or more switching fabrics of the one or more network data centers;

determining, by the network field unit and based on the network service definition, one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network that are usable to provide the service; and

configuring, by the network field unit, the one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network to provide the network service.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring the one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network further comprises:

sending, by the network field unit, and to at least one of a Software-Defined Network (SDN) controller or a hardware configurator, one or more instructions that are usable by the least one of the SDN controller or the hardware configurator to configure the one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network to provide the network service.

3. The method of claim 1,

wherein the one or more network data centers are geographically dispersed, and

wherein a plurality of network field units that includes the network field unit are geographically dispersed, respectively, with the one or more geographically dispersed network data centers, each of the plurality of network field units controlling respective portion of the edge network.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

monitoring, by the network field unit, performance data for the network service that is received from at least one of an SDN controller, a hardware configurator, or an infrastructure data collector;

comparing, by the network field unit, the performance data with at least one of performance conditions or network telemetry and analytics data stored by the CNC system to determine whether the service requirements for the network service are satisfied by performance of the portion of the edge network;

responsive to determining that the service requirements for the network service are not satisfied, determining, by the network field unit, at least one remedial action to satisfy the service requirements for the network service; and

executing, by the CNC system, the at least one remedial action.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein executing the at least one remedial action comprises reconfiguring at least the portion of the edge network or a different portion of the edge network.

6. The method of claim 4, further comprising:

responsive to determining that the service requirements for the network service are not satisfied, sending, by the network field unit, information that indicates that the service requirements for the network service are not satisfied to a CNC system.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network to provide the network service further comprises:

configuring a plurality of provider edge routers included in the portion of the edge network to define one or more virtual private network routing and forwarding instances (VRFs) for the network service.

8. A network field unit comprising:

one or more computer processors; and

a memory comprising instructions that when executed by the one or more computer processors cause the one or more computer processors to;

receive a network service definition that specifies one or more service requirements to implement a network service within a portion of an edge network of one or more network data centers, wherein the network service definition is usable by the at least one network field unit to configure the portion of the edge network to provide the network service, wherein the portion of the edge network within one or more network data centers connect through one or more switching fabrics of the one or more network data centers;

determine, based on the network service definition, one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network that are usable to provide the service; and

configure the one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network to provide the network service.

9. The network field unit of claim 8, wherein the memory comprises instructions that when executed by the one or more computer processors cause the one or more computer processors to:

send, to at least one of a Software-Defined Network (SDN) controller or a hardware configurator, one or more instructions that are usable by the least one of the SDN controller or the hardware configurator to configure the one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network to provide the network service

10. The network field unit of claim 8,

wherein the one or more network data centers are geographically dispersed, and

wherein a plurality of network field units that includes the network field unit are geographically dispersed, respectively, with the one or more geographically dispersed network data centers, each of the plurality of network field units controlling respective portion of the edge network.

11. The network field unit of claim 8, wherein the memory comprises instructions that when executed by the one or more computer processors cause the one or more computer processors to:

monitor performance data for the network service that is received from at least one of an SDN controller, a hardware configurator, or an infrastructure data collector;

compare the performance data with at least one of performance conditions or network telemetry and analytics data stored by the CNC system to determine whether the service requirements for the network service are satisfied by performance of the portion of the edge network;

responsive to determining that the service requirements for the network service are not satisfied, determine at least one remedial action to satisfy the service requirements for the network service; and

execute the at least one remedial action.

12. The network field unit of claim 8, wherein executing the at least one remedial action comprises reconfiguring at least the portion of the edge network or a different portion of the edge network.

13. The network field unit of claim 8, wherein the memory comprises instructions that when executed by the one or more computer processors cause the one or more computer processors to:

responsive to determining that the service requirements for the network service are not satisfied, send information that indicates that the service requirements for the network service are not satisfied to a CNC system.

14. The network field unit of claim 8, wherein the memory comprises instructions that when executed by the one or more computer processors cause the one or more computer processors to:

configure a plurality of provider edge routers included in the portion of the edge network to define one or more virtual private network routing and forwarding instances (VRFs) for the network service.

15. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that, when executed, cause at least one programmable processor of a network field unit to perform operations comprising:

receiving a network service definition that specifies one or more service requirements to implement a network service within a portion of an edge network of one or more network data centers, wherein the network service definition is usable by the at least one network field unit to configure the portion of the edge network to provide the network service, wherein the portion of the edge network within one or more network data centers connect through one or more switching fabrics of the one or more network data centers;

determining, based on the network service definition, one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network that are usable to provide the service; and

configuring the one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network to provide the network service.

16. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one programmable processor of the network field unit to perform operations comprising:

sending to at least one of a Software-Defined Network (SDN) controller or a hardware configurator, one or more instructions that are usable by the least one of the SDN controller or the hardware configurator to configure the one or more particular, physical devices of the edge network to provide the network service.

17. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15,

wherein the one or more network data centers are geographically dispersed, and

wherein a plurality of network field units that includes the network field unit are geographically dispersed, respectively, with the one or more geographically dispersed network data centers, each of the plurality of network field units controlling respective portion of the edge network.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one programmable processor of the network field unit to perform operations comprising:

monitoring performance data for the network service that is received from at least one of an SDN controller, a hardware configurator, or an infrastructure data collector;

comparing the performance data with at least one of performance conditions or network telemetry and analytics data stored by the CNC system to determine whether the service requirements for the network service are satisfied by performance of the portion of the edge network;

responsive to determining that the service requirements for the network service are not satisfied, determining at least one remedial action to satisfy the service requirements for the network service; and

executing the at least one remedial action.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15, wherein executing the at least one remedial action comprises reconfiguring at least the portion of the edge network or a different portion of the edge network.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 15 comprising instructions that, when executed, cause the at least one programmable processor of the network field unit to perform operations comprising:

responsive to determining that the service requirements for the network service are not satisfied, sending information that indicates that the service requirements for the network service are not satisfied to a CNC system.