Managing and provisioning virtual routers

• US 7,885,207 B2
• Filed: 12/14/2009
• Issued: 02/08/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 09/13/2000
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: Fortinet Inc.
• Original Assignee: Fortinet Inc.
• Inventors: Sarkar, Manojit, Kumar, Dileep
• Primary Examiner(s): Ton; Dang T
• Assistant Examiner(s): RANDHAWA, MANDISH K
• Application Number:
  US12/637,140
• Publication Number:
  US 20100094980A1
• Time in Patent Office: 421 Days
• Field of Search: 370/389, 370/396, 370/254, 370/255, 709/220, 709/224, 709/221, 709/222
• US Class Current: 370/254
• 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 41/0213 Standardised network management protocols, e.g. simple network management protocol [SNMP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0843 based on generic templates
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0895 Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0897 by horizontal or vertical scaling of resources, or by migrating entities, e.g. virtual resources or entities
• 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 41/40 using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/00 Routing or path finding of packets in data switching networks routing or path finding in wireless networks H04W40/00
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/586 of virtual routers
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/76 Routing in software-defined topologies, e.g. routing between virtual machines
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/65 Re-configuration of fast packet switches
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 49/70 Virtual switches

Abstract

Methods and systems are provided for provisioning and managing network-based virtual private networks (VPNs). According to one embodiment, virtual routers (VRs) distributed among service processing switches are provisioned by a service management system (SMS) to support network-based customer virtual private networks (VPNs) by generating a routing configuration based on (i) site reachability information for the service processing switches and (ii) a global customer routing profile for at least one customer. A custom routing profile is received by the SMS from a customer network management system (CNMS), the custom routing profile identifies one or more routing protocols to be used for one or more segments of a network-based customer VPN. The network-based customer VPN is reconfigured by the SMS generating appropriate routing configurations for VRs partitioned to the customer based on a subset of the site reachability information associated with sites of the customer and the custom routing profile.

Claims

1. A method of simplifying the provisioning and management of network-based virtual private networks (VPNs), the method comprising:

a service management system (SMS) of a service provider provisioning a plurality of virtual routers (VRs) distributed among a plurality of service processing switches of the service provider to support a plurality of network-based customer virtual private networks (VPNs) for a plurality of customers of the service provider by generating a routing configuration for each of the plurality of network-based customer VPNs based on (i) site reachability information for the plurality of service processing switches, each of which are coupled in communication with one or more sites of the plurality of customers and (ii) a global customer routing profile for at least one customer of the plurality of customers;

receiving, at the SMS from a customer network management system (CNMS) associated with a customer of the plurality of customers, a custom routing profile for a network-based customer VPN of the plurality of network-based customer VPNs, the custom routing profile identifying one or more routing protocols to be used for one or more segments of the network-based customer VPN; and

the SMS automatically reconfiguring the network-based customer VPN by programmatically generating appropriate routing configurations for VRs of the plurality of VRs partitioned to the at least one customer based on a subset of the site reachability information associated with sites of the at least one customer and the custom routing profile.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the custom routing profile is based upon the global customer routing profile.

3. The method of claim 1, further comprising disseminating portions of the site reachability information to routers associated with the plurality of network-based customer VPNs.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein said disseminating portions of the site reachability information comprises reading subnets for sites of the plurality of customers and creating static routes for the subnets.

5. The method of claim 3, wherein said disseminating portions of the site reachability information comprises placing the portions of site reachability information in one or more directories and providing access to the one or more directories via Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

6. The method of claim 3, wherein said disseminating portions of the site reachability information comprises use of a static configuration in which the subnets are manually configured into the plurality of network-based customer VPNs.

7. The method of claim 3, wherein said disseminating portions of the site reachability information comprises exchanging the portions via one or more routing protocols.

8. The method of claim 3, wherein said disseminating portions of the site reachability information comprises conveying the portions via Multiprotocol Label Switching Label Distribution Protocol (MPLS LDP).

9. The method of claim 3, wherein the custom routing profile comprises an Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) profile and wherein the OSPF profile includes a route aggregation policy.

10. The method of claim 3, wherein the custom routing profile includes parameters relating to one or more of Internet Protocol Security (IPSec), LT2P, Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), Generic Route Encapsulation (GRE) protocol and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS).

19. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 3, wherein the custom routing profile comprises an Open Shortest Path First (OSPF) profile and wherein the OSPF profile includes a route aggregation policy.

11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium readable by a service management system (SMS) of a service provider, tangibly embodying a program of instructions executable by one or more computer processors of the SMS to perform method steps for simplifying the provisioning and management of network-based virtual private networks (VPNs), said method steps comprising:

provisioning a plurality of virtual routers (VRs) distributed among a plurality of service processing switches of the service provider to support a plurality of network-based customer virtual private networks (VPNs) for a plurality of customers of the service provider by generating a routing configuration for each of the plurality of network-based customer VPNs based on (i) site reachability information for the plurality of service processing switches, each of which are coupled in communication with one or more sites of the plurality of customers and (ii) a global customer routing profile for at least one customer of the plurality of customers;

receiving from a customer network management system (CNMS) associated with a customer of the plurality of customers, a custom routing profile for a network-based customer VPN of the plurality of network-based customer VPNs, the custom routing profile identifying one or more routing protocols to be used for one or more segments of the network-based customer VPN; and

reconfiguring the network-based customer VPN by generating appropriate routing configurations for VRs of the plurality of VRs partitioned to the at least one customer based on a subset of the site reachability information associated with sites of the at least one customer and the custom routing profile.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, wherein the custom routing profile is based upon the global customer routing profile.

13. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 11, the method further comprising disseminating portions of the site reachability information to routers associated with the plurality of network-based customer VPNs.

14. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein said disseminating portions of the site reachability information comprises reading subnets for sites of the plurality of customers and creating static routes for the subnets.

15. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium device of claim 13, wherein said disseminating portions of the site reachability information comprises placing the portions of site reachability information in one or more directories and providing access to the one or more directories via Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP).

16. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein said disseminating portions of the site reachability information comprises use of a static configuration in which the subnets are manually configured into the plurality of network-based customer VPNs.

17. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein said disseminating portions of the site reachability information comprises exchanging the portions via one or more routing protocols.

18. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein said disseminating portions of the site reachability information comprises conveying the portions via Multiprotocol Label Switching Label Distribution Protocol (MPLS LDP).

20. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 13, wherein the custom routing profile includes parameters relating to one or more of Internet Protocol Security (IPSec), LT2P, Point-to-Point Tunneling Protocol (PPTP), Generic Route Encapsulation (GRE) protocol and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS).