CENTRALIZED TROUBLESHOOTING TOOL IN DISTRIBUTED VIRTUAL NETWORK

• US 20170063651A1
• Filed: 08/28/2015
• Published: 03/02/2017
• Est. Priority Date: 08/28/2015
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Wang, Yusheng, Naveen, Akhila, Wang, Xin, Shen, Jianjun, Han, Donghai, Wang, Hua, Raman, Chidambareswaran, Koganty, Raju
• Granted Patent: US 10,791,041 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/04 Network management architectures or arrangements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0631 using root cause analysis; using analysis of correlation between notifications, alarms or events based on decision criteria, e.g. hierarchy, tree or time analysis
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/20 Network management software packages
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/34 Signalling channels for network management communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/04 Processing captured monitoring data, e.g. for logfile generation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/10 Active monitoring, e.g. heartbeat, ping or trace-route
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/14 using software, i.e. software packages network security related monitoring H04L63/1408
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/20 the monitoring system or the monitored elements being virtualised, abstracted or software-defined entities, e.g. SDN or NFV

Abstract

A novel centralized troubleshooting tool that enables user to troubleshoot a distributed virtual network with a single consistent user interface is provided. The distributed virtual network being monitored or debugged by the centralized troubleshooting tool includes different types of logical resources (LRs) that placed or distributed across different physical endpoints (PEs). The centralized troubleshooting tool provides functions that allow the user to invoke commands on different physical endpoints in order to collect information about the logical resources running in those physical endpoints. This allows the user to compare and analyze the information from different PEs for a same LR.

Claims

1. A method comprising:

receiving one troubleshooting inquiry for a logical resource (LR) that spans a plurality of physical endpoints (PEs) in a network;

for each PE of the plurality of PEs, transmitting a command to the PE based on the received troubleshooting inquiry and receiving a response from the PE; and

gathering information relevant to the troubleshooting inquiry from the responses of the different PEs and presenting gathered information in one visual arrangement.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the logical resource is a logical router that performs L3 routing in the network, wherein the logical router operate in each of the plurality of PEs as a managed physical routing element (MPRE).

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the logical resource is a logical switch that performs L2 switching in the network, wherein the logical router operate in each of the plurality of PEs as managed physical switching element (MPSE).

4. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of PEs comprises a set of host machines that operate virtualization software for operating virtual machines, wherein the virtualization software of the host machines operate the LR.

5. The method of claim 1 further comprising interpreting the received command by identifying a set of troubleshooting services, wherein the command issued to the PE is issued by one of the identified troubleshooting services.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein the plurality of PEs comprises a set of controllers that controls the LR operating in the set of host machines.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the method is performed by a computing device serving as a network manager for the network, wherein the troubleshooting inquiry is received from a user interface of the network manager.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the network manager is operating a plurality of PE adaptors, each adaptor for handling troubleshooting communication with a set of the PEs, wherein for each PE of the plurality of PEs, the method further comprising identifying a PE adaptor that corresponds to the PE.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the transmitted commands to the PE and the received commands from the PE are in plain text.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein for each PE of the plurality of PEs, the method further comprising identifying a communication protocol understood by the PE and employing the identified protocol for communicating with the PE.

11. A system comprising:

a plurality of physical endpoints (PEs) interconnected by a network, wherein the plurality of PEs are jointly operating a logical resource (LR);

a network manager operating an user interface and a centralized troubleshooting tool, wherein the centralized troubleshooting tool is for;

receiving a troubleshooting inquiry from the user interface;

transmitting a command to each of the plurality of PEs based on the received troubleshooting inquiry;

receiving a response from the PE; and

gathering information relevant to the troubleshooting inquiry from the responses of the different PEs and presenting gathered information in one visual arrangement.

12. The system of claim 11, wherein the user interface comprises a command line interface (CLI).

13. The system of claim 11, wherein the logical resource is a logical router that performs L3 routing in the network, wherein the logical router operate in each of the plurality of PEs as a managed physical routing element (MPRE).

14. The system of claim 11, wherein the logical resource is a logical switch that performs L2 switching in the network, wherein the logical router operate in each of the plurality of PEs as managed physical switching element (MPSE).

15. The system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of PEs comprises a set of host machines that operate virtualization software for operating virtual machines, wherein the virtualization software of the host machines operate the LR.

16. The system of claim 11, wherein the plurality of PEs comprises a set of controllers that controls the LR operating in the set of host machines.

17. The system of claim 11, wherein the method is performed by a computing device serving as a network manager for the network, wherein the troubleshooting inquiry is received from a user interface of the network manager.

18. The system of claim 17, wherein the network manager is operating a plurality of PE adaptors, each adaptor for handling troubleshooting communication with a set of the PEs.

19. The system of claim 11, wherein the transmitted commands to the PE and the received commands from the PE are in plain text.

20. A computing device comprising:

a set of processing units; and

a machine readable medium storing a program for execution by at least one of the processing units, the program comprising sets of instructions for;

receiving one troubleshooting inquiry for a logical resource (LR) that spans a plurality of physical endpoints (PEs) in a network;

for each PE of the plurality of PEs, transmitting a command to the PE based on the received troubleshooting inquiry and receiving a response from the PE; and

gathering information relevant to the troubleshooting inquiry from the responses of the different PEs and presenting gathered information in one visual arrangement.

21. The computing device of claim 20, wherein the program further comprising a set of instructions for interpreting the received command by identifying a set of troubleshooting services, wherein the command issued to the PE is issued by one of the identified troubleshooting services.

22. The computing service of claim 20 is a network manager for the network, wherein the troubleshooting inquiry is received from a user interface of the network manager.

23. The computing service of claim 22, wherein the network manager is operating a plurality of PE adaptors, each adaptor for handling troubleshooting communication with a set of the PEs, wherein for each PE of the plurality of PEs, the program further comprising a set of instructions for identifying a PE adaptor that corresponds to the PE.

24. The computing service of claim 20, wherein the transmitted commands to the PE and the received commands from the PE are in plain text.

25. The computing device of claim 20, wherein for each PE of the plurality of PEs, the program further comprising a set of instructions for identifying a communication protocol understood by the PE and employing the identified protocol for communicating with the PE.