Method and apparatus for policy-based management of quality of service treatments of network data traffic flows by integrating policies with application programs

• US 6,466,984 B1
• Filed: 07/02/1999
• Issued: 10/15/2002
• Est. Priority Date: 07/02/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: Cisco Technology, Inc. (Cisco Systems, Inc.)
• Inventors: Woo, Steven M., Naveh, Arad, Mohaban, Shai, Parnafes, Itzhak
• Primary Examiner(s): Najjar, Saleh
• Application Number:
  US09/346,967
• Time in Patent Office: 1,201 Days
• Field of Search: 709/220, 709/221, 709/222, 709/226, 709/227, 709/228, 370/229, 370/230, 370/231, 370/235, 370/236
• US Class Current: 709/228
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/10 Flow control; Congestion control
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/20 Traffic policing
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/2408 for supporting different services, e.g. a differentiated services [DiffServ] type of service

Abstract

A method and apparatus for policy-based management of quality of service treatments of network data traffic flows by integrating policies with application programs are described. In one embodiment, a quality of service value is selectively associated with a flow of information generated by an application program and directed to a network device. Mappings representing an abstract policy and associating a pre-determined network quality of service with a traffic flow type of the flow of information and with an application program are created and stored in a repository that is accessible by the application program. The mappings are converted into one or more settings of the network device. The policy is enforced at the network device in response to receiving traffic from the application program that matches the traffic flow type. The settings may be Differentiated Services Code Points or may be RSVP+ messages. Policies may be represented by statements stored in a directory schema. Each policy statement is represented by nodes that represent a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising one of the quality of service treatments. The nodes start at a root node having a distinguished name in the directory.

Claims

1. A method of selectively associating a quality of service with a flow of information generated by an application program and directed to a network device, comprising the steps of:

creating one or more mappings, each mapping representing an abstract policy and associating a pre-determined network quality of service with a traffic flow type of the flow of information and with an application program;

storing the mappings in a repository that is accessible by the application program;

converting the mappings into one or more settings of the network device that may be used by the network device to enforce the policy at the network device in response to receiving traffic from the application program that matches the traffic flow type.

2. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings comprises registering one or more application codepoints, which are associated with traffic flow types, in the repository.

3. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings comprises creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in the repository in association with information identifying the application program.

4. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings comprises creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in a policy store that is coupled to the repository, in association with information identifying the application program.

5. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings comprises creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in a directory.

6. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings comprises creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in a policy server coupled to a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol directory that comprises the repository.

7. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings further comprises creating and storing, in the repository, one or more mappings of application codepoints of the application program to one or more Differential Services Code Points of a protocol associated with the network device.

8. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings further comprises generating one or more messages in a RSVP+ protocol and communicating the messages to the network device.

9. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the abstract policy for each mapping is determined by creating and storing one or more policy statements in a repository, wherein each policy statement associates a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment.

10. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the abstract policy for each mapping is determined by creating and storing one or more policy statements in a repository, wherein each policy statement is represented by a plurality of nodes that represent a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment.

11. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the abstract policy for each mapping is determined by creating and storing one or more policy statements in a directory, wherein each policy statement is represented by a plurality of nodes that represent a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment, and wherein the plurality of nodes is coupled to a root node having a distinguished name in the directory.

12. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein each of the mappings comprises an application codepoint value stored in associated with a differentiated services code point value.

13. A method as recited in claim 1, wherein the abstract policies are enforced by creating and storing messages requesting an operating system function to modify a packet of the traffic flows using a policy element that requests a different operating system function according to the operating system then in use;

and at the network device, in response to receiving traffic from the application program that matches the traffic flow type and in response to the operating system function, modifying the packet to activate a quality of service treatment of the network device.

14. A method of selectively associating a quality of service with a flow of information generated by an application program and directed to a network device, comprising the steps of:

creating one or more mappings, each mapping associating a pre-determined network quality of service with a traffic flow type of the flow of information and with an application program;

storing the mappings in a schema of a directory that is accessible by the application program, the schema including a root node associated with the mappings of each application;

converting the mappings into one or more settings of the network device;

enforcing the quality of service at the network device in response to receiving traffic from the application program that matches the traffic flow type.

15. A computer-readable medium carrying one or more sequences of instructions for selectively associating a quality of service with a flow of information generated by an application program and directed to a network device, wherein execution of the one or more sequences of instructions by one or more processors causes the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

creating one or more mappings, each mapping representing an abstract policy and associating a pre-determined network quality of service with a traffic flow type of the flow of information and with an application program;

storing the mappings in a repository that is accessible by the application program;

converting the mappings into one or more settings of the network device that may be used by the network device to enforce the policy at the network device in response to receiving traffic from the application program that matches the traffic flow type.

16. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings comprises registering one or more application codepoints, which are associated with traffic flow types, in the repository.

17. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings comprises creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in the repository in association with information identifying the application program.

18. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings comprises creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in a policy store that is coupled to the repository, in association with information identifying the application program.

19. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings comprises creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in a directory.

20. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings comprises creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in a policy server coupled to a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol directory that comprises the repository.

21. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings further comprises creating and storing , in the repository, one or more mappings of application codepoints of the application program to one or more Differential Services Code Points of a protocol associated with the network device.

22. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein creating and storing one or more mappings further comprises generating one or more messages in a RSVP+ protocol and communicating the messages to the network device.

23. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the abstract policy for each mapping is determined by creating and storing one or more policy statements in a repository, wherein each policy statement associates a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment.

24. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the abstract policy for each mapping is determined by creating and storing one or more policy statements in a repository, wherein each policy statement is represented by a plurality of nodes that represent a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment.

25. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein the abstract policy for each mapping is determined by creating and storing one or more policy statements in a directory, wherein each policy statement is represented by a plurality of nodes that represent a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment, and wherein the plurality of nodes is coupled to a root node having a distinguished name in the directory.

26. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein each of the mappings comprises an application codepoint value stored in associated with a differentiated services code point value.

27. A computer-readable medium as recited in claim 15, wherein enforcing one of the abstract policies comprises:

requesting an operating system function to modify a packet of the traffic flows using a policy element that requests a different operating system function according to the operating system then in use;

at the network device, in response to receiving traffic from the application program that matches the traffic flow type and in response to the operating system function, modifying the packet to activate a quality of service treatment of the network device.

28. A system for selectively associating a quality of service with a flow of information generated by an application program and directed to a network device, comprising:

a policy manager that creates one or more mappings, each mapping representing an abstract policy and associating a pre-determined network quality of service with a traffic flow type of the flow of information and with an application program, wherein the mappings are stored in a repository that is accessible by the application program;

a local storage element that converts the mappings into one or more settings of the network device that cause the network device to enforce the policy in response to receiving traffic from the application program that matches the traffic flow type.

29. A system as recited in claim 28, the mappings comprise one or more application codepoints that are associated with traffic flow types and registered in the repository.

30. A system as recited in claim 28, wherein the mappings comprise one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, that are stored in the repository in association with information identifying the application program.

31. A system as recited in claim 28, wherein the repository comprises a directory server.

32. A system as recited in claim 28, wherein the mappings comprise one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, stored in a policy server coupled to a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol directory that comprises the repository.

33. A system as recited in claim 28, wherein the mappings comprise one or more mappings, stored in the repository, of application codepoints of the application program to one or more Differential Services Code Points of a protocol associated with the network device.

34. A system as recited in claim 28, further comprising one or more policy statements stored in the repository, wherein each policy statement associates a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment.

35. A system as recited in claim 28, further comprising one or more policy statements stored in the repository, wherein each policy statement is represented by a plurality of nodes that represent a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment.

36. A system as recited in claim 28, further comprising one or more policy statements stored in a directory, wherein each policy statement is represented by a plurality of nodes that represent a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment, and wherein the plurality of nodes is coupled to a root node having a distinguished name in the directory.

37. A system as recited in claim 28, wherein each of the mappings comprises an application codepoint value stored in associated with a differentiated services code point value.

38. A system as recited in claim 28, further comprising an application quality of service policy element configured for requesting an operating system function to modify a packet of the traffic flows using a policy element that requests a different operating system function according to the operating system then in use and, at the network device, in response to receiving traffic from the application program that matches the traffic flow type and in response to the operating system function, modifying the packet to activate a quality of service treatment of the network device.

39. An apparatus for selectively associating a quality of service with a flow of information generated by an application program and directed to a network device, comprising:

means for creating one or more mappings, each mapping representing an abstract policy and associating a pre-determined network quality of service with a traffic flow type of the flow of information and with an application program;

means for storing the mappings in a repository that is accessible by the application program;

means for converting the mappings into one or more settings of the network device that may be used by the network device to enforce the policy at the network device in response to receiving traffic from the application program that matches the traffic flow type.

40. An apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein the means for creating and storing one or more mappings further comprises means for registering one or more application codepoints, which are associated with traffic flow types, in the repository.

41. An apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein the means for creating and storing one or more mappings further comprises means for creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in the repository in association with information identifying the application program.

42. An apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein the means for creating and storing one or more mappings further comprises means for creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in a policy store that is coupled to the repository, in association with information identifying the application program.

43. An apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein the means for creating and storing one or more mappings further comprises means for creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in a directory.

44. An apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein the means for creating and storing one or more mappings further comprises means for creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in a policy server coupled to a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol directory that comprises the repository.

45. An apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein the means for creating and storing one or more mappings further comprises means for creating and storing, in the repository, one or more mappings of application codepoints of the application program to one or more Differential Services Code Points of a protocol associated with the network device.

46. An apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein the means for creating and storing one or more mappings further comprises means for generating one or more messages in a RSVP+ protocol and communicating the messages to the network device.

47. An apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein the abstract policy for each mapping is determined by means for creating and storing one or more policy statements in a repository, wherein each policy statement associates a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment.

48. An apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein the abstract policy for each mapping is determined by means for creating and storing one or more policy statements in a repository, wherein each policy statement is represented by a plurality of nodes that represent a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment.

49. An apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein the abstract policy for each mapping is determined by means for creating and storing one or more policy statements in a directory, wherein each policy statement is represented by a plurality of nodes that represent a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment, and wherein the plurality of nodes is coupled to a root node having a distinguished name in the directory.

50. An apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein each of the mappings comprises an application codepoint value stored in associated with a differentiated services code point value.

51. An apparatus as recited in claim 39, wherein the abstract policies are enforced by:

means for creating and storing messages requesting an operating system function to modify a packet of the traffic flows using a policy element that requests a different operating system function according to the operating system then in use; and

at the network device, in response to receiving traffic from the application program that matches the traffic flow type and in response to the operating system function, means for modifying the packet to activate a quality of service treatment of the network device.

52. An apparatus for selectively associating a quality of service with a flow of information generated by an application program and directed to a network device, comprising:

a network interface;

a processor coupled to the network interface and receiving information from the network interface;

a computer-readable medium accessible by the processor and comprising one or more sequences of instructions which, when executed by the processor, cause the processor to carry out the steps of;

creating one or more mappings, each mapping representing an abstract policy and associating a pre-determined network quality of service with a traffic flow type of the flow of information and with an application program;

storing the mappings in a repository that is accessible by the application program;

converting the mappings into one or more settings of the network device that may be used by the network device to enforce the policy at the network device in response to receiving traffic from the application program that matches the traffic flow type.

53. An apparatus as recited in claim 52, wherein the step of creating and storing one or more mappings includes the step of registering one or more application codepoints, which are associated with traffic flow types, in the repository.

54. An apparatus as recited in claim 52, wherein the step of creating and storing one or more mappings includes the step of creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in the repository in association with information identifying the application program.

55. An apparatus as recited in claim 52, wherein the step of creating and storing one or more mappings includes the step of creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in a policy store that is coupled to the repository, in association with information identifying the application program.

56. An apparatus as recited in claim 52, wherein the step of creating and storing one or more mappings includes the step of creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in a directory.

57. An apparatus as recited in claim 52, wherein the step of creating and storing one or more mappings includes the step of creating and storing one or more policies, concerning network processing of traffic flows generated by the application program, in a policy server coupled to a Lightweight Directory Access Protocol directory that comprises the repository.

58. An apparatus as recited in claim 52, wherein the step of creating and storing one or more mappings includes the step of creating and storing, in the repository, one or more mappings of application codepoints of the application program to one or more Differential Services Code Points of a protocol associated with the network device.

59. An apparatus as recited in claim 52, wherein the step of creating and storing one or more mappings includes the steps of:

generating one or more messages in a RSVP+ protocol; and

communicating the messages to the network device.

60. An apparatus as recited in claim 52, further comprising instructions for determining the abstract policy for each mapping by performing the step of creating and storing one or more policy statements in a repository, wherein each policy statement associates a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment.

61. An apparatus as recited in claim 52, further comprising instructions for determining the abstract policy for each mapping by performing the step of creating and storing one or more policy statements in a repository, wherein each policy statement is represented by a plurality of nodes that represent a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment.

62. An apparatus as recited in claim 52, further comprising instructions for determining the abstract policy for each mapping by performing the step of creating and storing one or more policy statements in a directory, wherein each policy statement is represented by a plurality of nodes that represent a condition of one of the traffic flows, an operator, an operand, and an action comprising a quality of service treatment, and wherein the plurality of nodes is coupled to a root node having a distinguished name in the directory.

63. An apparatus as recited in claim 52, wherein each of the mappings comprises an application codepoint value stored in associated with a differentiated services code point value.

64. An apparatus as recited in claim 52, further comprising instructions for enforcing the abstract policies by performing the steps of:

creating and storing messages requesting an operating system function to modify a packet of the traffic flows using a policy element that requests a different operating system function according to the operating system then in use; and

at the network device, in response to receiving traffic from the application program that matches the traffic flow type and in response to the operating system function, modifying the packet to activate a quality of service treatment of the network device.