APPLICATION/CONTEXT-BASED MANAGEMENT OF VIRTUAL NETWORKS USING CUSTOMIZABLE WORKFLOWS

• US 20180295036A1
• Filed: 04/07/2017
• Published: 10/11/2018
• Est. Priority Date: 04/07/2017
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Nicira Incorporated (Broadcom, Inc.)
• Inventors: Krishnamurthy, Rajiv, Gunda, Laxmikant
• Granted Patent: US 10,698,714 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/30 Monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3006 where the computing system is distributed, e.g. networked systems, clusters, multiprocessor systems multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46; allocation of resources G06F9/50
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/301 where the computing system is a virtual computing platform, e.g. logically partitioned systems virtual machines G06F9/45533; logical partitioning of resources G06F9/5077
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3433 for load management allocation of a server based on load conditions G06F9/505; load rebalancing G06F9/5083; redistributing the load in a network by a load balancer H04L67/1029
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 11/3466 Performance evaluation by tracing or monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45587 Isolation or security of virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45591 Monitoring or debugging support
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2201/86 Event-based monitoring
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0893 Assignment of logical groups to network elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0894 Policy-based network configuration management
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0895 Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/12 Discovery or management of network topologies
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/122 of virtualised topologies, e.g. software-defined networks [SDN] or network function virtualisation [NFV]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/22 comprising specially adapted graphical user interfaces [GUI]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/026 using flow identification
• 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
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 : for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• 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

Abstract

Methods and apparatus for application and/or context-based management of virtual networks using customizable workflows are disclosed. An example apparatus includes a context engine to monitor data traffic from a virtual machine in a data plane of a virtual network to capture context information to identify an application executing on the virtual machine; and a policy manager to receive the context information to instantiate an application entity corresponding to the application in a policy plane of the virtual network and to generate a policy associated with the application entity in the policy plane of the virtual network, the policy and the application entity enabling monitoring and management of the application via the policy plane.

Claims

1. An apparatus comprising:

a context engine to monitor data traffic from a virtual machine in a data plane of a virtual network to capture context information to identify an application executing on the virtual machine; and

a policy manager to receive the context information to instantiate an application entity corresponding to the application in a policy plane of the virtual network and to generate a policy associated with the application entity in the policy plane of the virtual network, the policy and the application entity enabling monitoring and management of the application via the policy plane.

2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the application is a first application, and the context engine is to monitor flow between applications in the data plane to identify virtual machines and applications, including the first application, executing on the virtual machines.

3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the application executes on a plurality of virtual machines.

4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the context engine is to identify a user login from the context information.

5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the context engine receives information regarding the data traffic on the virtual machine from an agent running on the virtual machine.

6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the context engine includes a first portion in the management plane and a second portion in the data plane.

7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the policy plane is at least one of a) included in a management plane of the virtual network or b) organized above the management plane of the virtual network.

8. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein the policy manager is to regulate network access based on the policy associated with the application entity.

9. The apparatus of claim 1, further including an interface generator to generate a graphical user interface to visualize the application entity and the context information for the virtual network.

10. The apparatus of claim 9, wherein the interface generator is to facilitate generation of a template based on a network configuration visualized via the graphical user interface.

11. A tangible computer readable storage medium comprising instructions which, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to at least:

monitor data traffic from a virtual machine in a data plane of a virtual network to capture context information to identify an application executing on the virtual machine; and

process the context information to instantiate an application entity corresponding to the application in a policy plane of the virtual network and to generate a policy associated with the application entity in the policy plane of the virtual network, the policy and the application entity enabling monitoring and management of the application via the policy plane.

12. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the application is a first application, and the instructions further cause the processor to monitor flow between applications in the data plane to identify virtual machines and applications, including the first application, executing on the virtual machines.

13. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the application executes on a plurality of virtual machines.

14. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to identify a user login from the context information.

15. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to receive information regarding the data traffic on the virtual machine from an agent running on the virtual machine.

16. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the policy plane is at least one of a) included in a management plane of the virtual network or b) organized above the management plane of the virtual network.

17. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to regulate network access based on the policy associated with the application entity.

18. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to generate a graphical user interface to visualize the application entity and the context information for the virtual network.

19. The storage medium of claim 11, wherein the instructions further cause the processor to facilitate generation of a template based on a network configuration visualized via the graphical user interface.

20. A method comprising:

monitoring, with a context engine, data traffic from a virtual machine in a data plane of a virtual network to capture context information to identify an application executing on the virtual machine;

providing, by executing an instruction with a processor, the context information to a policy manager operating in a policy plane of the virtual network;

instantiating, in the policy plane, an application entity corresponding to the context information; and

generating, by executing an instruction with the processor, a policy associated with the application entity in the policy plane of the virtual network, the policy and the application entity enabling monitoring and management of the application via the policy plane.

21-29. -29. (canceled)