Method and system for determining network topology of a virtual private network in multi protocol label switching (MPLS) based virtual private networks (VPNs)

• US 8,000,265 B2
• Filed: 06/12/2009
• Issued: 08/16/2011
• Est. Priority Date: 04/29/2009
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P. (HP Inc.)
• Inventors: Suriyanarayanan, Muthukumar, Mandavilli, Swamy Jagannadha, Bhavanam, Kotilingareddy
• Primary Examiner(s): Shah; Chirag
• Assistant Examiner(s): NGUYEN, MINH TRANG T
• Application Number:
  US12/483,268
• Publication Number:
  US 20100278073A1
• Time in Patent Office: 795 Days
• Field of Search: None
• US Class Current: 370/254
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4679 Arrangements for the registration or de-registration of VLAN attribute values, e.g. VLAN identifiers, port VLAN membership
• 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 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 45/50 using label swapping, e.g. multi-protocol label switch [MPLS]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 45/586 of virtual routers

Abstract

Presented is a method and system of determining network topology of a virtual private network in Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based Virtual Private Networks (MPLS/VPNs). The method includes obtaining VPN routing and forwarding (VRF) details of at least one virtual private network, determining any variations in network configuration and determining, from said network configuration variations, network topology of the at least one virtual private network.

Claims

1. A computer-implemented method for determining network topology of a virtual private network in Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based Virtual Private Networks (MPLS/VPNs), the method comprising:

obtaining VPN routing and forwarding (VRF) details of at least one virtual private network in Provider Edges routers;

determining, from said VRF details, any variation in network configuration; and

determining, from said network configuration variation, network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on whether there is a newly created VRF, a modified VRF or a deleted VRF in the VRF details, and wherein determining the network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on the newly created VRF comprises;

obtaining intersecting virtual private network details for the VRF from previously discovered virtual private networks; and

merging all found virtual private networks and adding the newly created VRF to the merged virtual private network, if the newly created VRF intersecting more than one virtual private network from the previously discovered virtual private networks is found.

2. A method according to claim 1, wherein determining network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on the newly created VRF further comprises:

creating a new virtual private network and adding the VRF to the newly created virtual private network, if no virtual private network is found; and

adding VRF to a found virtual private network, if a single virtual private network is found.

3. A method according to claim 2, wherein adding VRF to a found virtual private network if a single virtual private network is found further comprises the step of creating VRF neighbours to other VRFs in the found virtual private network if the virtual private network is a non-full-mesh type.

4. A method according to claim 1, wherein merging all found virtual private networks and adding the VRF to the merged virtual private network if more than one virtual private network is found further comprises the step of creating VRF neighbours to other VRFs in the found virtual private network if the virtual private network is a non-full-mesh type.

5. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions, that when executed by a computer, result in execution of the method of claim 1.

6. A computer-implemented method for determining network topology of a virtual private network in Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based Virtual Private Networks (MPLS/VPNs), the method comprising:

obtaining VPN routing and forwarding (VRF) details of at least one virtual private network in Provider Edges routers;

determining, from said VRF details, any variation in network configuration; and

determining, from said network configuration variation, network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on whether there is a newly created VRF, a modified VRF or a deleted VRF in the VRF details, wherein determining network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on the deleted VRF comprises;

obtaining existing virtual private network for the deleted VRF;

deleting VRF neighbours to other VRFs in the existing VPN if the virtual private network is non-full-mesh type;

deleting virtual private network and VRF if there are no other VRFs in the existing virtual private network; and

splitting the existing virtual private network if there are other VRFs in the existing virtual private network and the deleted VRF is a hub VRF and the virtual private network is a non full mesh type.

7. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium storing computer program comprising code, that when executed by a computer, result in execution of all of the steps of claim 6.

8. A computer-implemented method for determining network topology of a virtual private network in Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based Virtual Private Networks (MPLS/VPNs), the method comprising:

obtaining VPN routing and forwarding (VRF) details of at least one virtual private network in Provider Edges routers;

determining, from said VRF details, any variation in network configuration; and

determining, from said network configuration variation, network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on whether there is a newly created VRF, a modified VRF or a deleted VRF in the VRF details, wherein determining network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on the modified VRF comprises;

obtaining existing virtual private network;

obtaining intersecting virtual private networks for the modified VRF from already discovered virtual private networks, wherein if no virtual private networks are found, the method comprises;

deleting VRF neighbors to other VRFs in previous virtual private network;

creating a new virtual private network;

adding modified VRF to the newly created virtual private network;

deleting the previous virtual private network, if there are no other VRFs in the previous virtual private network; and

splitting the existing virtual private network, if there are other VRFs in the previous virtual private network and the deleted VRF is a hub VRF and the virtual private network is a non full mesh type.

9. A method according to claim 8, wherein if a single virtual private network is found, the method comprises:

deleting VRF from the existing virtual private network, deleting VRF neighbours to other VRFs in previous virtual private network and adding the modified VRF to the found single virtual private network, if the found single virtual private network is not identical to the previous virtual private network;

splitting the previous virtual private network, if the modified VRF is a hub VRF and the previous virtual private network is non full mesh type; and

creating VRF neighbours to other VRF neighbours in the found single virtual private network, if the found single virtual private network is a non full mesh type.

10. A method according to claim 8, wherein if more than one virtual private network is found, the method comprises:

merging all found virtual private networks into a merged virtual private network;

deleting VRF from previous virtual private network, if the merged virtual private network contains no previous virtual private network;

deleting VRF neighbours to other VRFs in the previous virtual private networks, if the previous virtual private network is non full mesh type; and

modifying neighbours to other VRFs in the merged virtual private network, if the merged virtual private network is a non full mesh type.

11. A method according to claim 8, wherein if more than one virtual private network is found, the method comprises:

merging all found virtual private networks into a merged virtual private network; and

modifying neighbours to other VRFs in the merged virtual private network, if the merged virtual private network contains previous virtual private network and is a non full mesh type.

12. A non-transitory computer readable storage medium having instructions, that when executed by a computer, result in execution of the method of claim 8.

13. A system for determining network topology of a virtual private network in Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based Virtual Private Networks (MPLS/VPNs), the system comprising:

means for obtaining VPN routing and forwarding (VRF) details of at least one virtual private network;

means for determining, from said VRF details, any variation in network configuration; and

means for determining, from said network configuration variation, network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on whether there is a newly created VRF, a modified VRF or a deleted VRF from the VRF details, wherein means for determining network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on the deleted VRF comprises;

means for obtaining existing virtual private network for the deleted VRF;

means for deleting VRF neighbours to other VRFs in the existing VPN if the virtual private network is non-full-mesh type;

means for deleting virtual private network and VRF if there are no other VRFs in the existing virtual private network; and

means for splitting the existing virtual private network if there are other VRFs in the existing virtual private network and the deleted VRF is a hub VRF and the virtual private network is a non full mesh type.

14. A system for determining network topology of a virtual private network in Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based Virtual Private Networks (MPLS/VPNs), the system comprising:

means for obtaining VPN routing and forwarding (VRF) details of at least one virtual private network;

means for determining, from said VRF details, any variation in network configuration; and

means for determining, from said network configuration variation, network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on whether there is a newly created VRF, a modified VRF or a deleted VRF from the VRF details, wherein means for determining network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on the modified VRF comprises;

means for obtaining existing virtual private network;

means for obtaining intersecting virtual private networks for the modified VRF from already discovered virtual private networks, wherein if no virtual private networks are found, the system comprises;

means for deleting VRF neighbors to other VRFs in previous virtual private network;

means for creating a new virtual private network;

means for adding modified VRF to the newly created virtual private network;

means for deleting the previous virtual private network, if there are no other VRFs in the previous virtual private network; and

means for splitting the existing virtual private network, if there are other VRFs in the previous virtual private network and the deleted VRF is a hub VRF and the virtual private network is a non full mesh type.

15. A system for determining network topology of a virtual private network in Multi Protocol Label Switching (MPLS) based Virtual Private Networks (MPLS/VPNs), the system comprising:

means for obtaining VPN routing and forwarding (VRF) details of at least one virtual private network;

means for determining, from said VRF details, any variation in network configuration; and

means for determining, from said network configuration variation, network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on whether there is a newly created VRF, a modified VRF or a deleted VRF from the VRF details, and wherein means for determining the network topology of the at least one virtual private network based on the newly created VRF comprises;

means for obtaining intersecting virtual private network details for the VRF from previously discovered virtual private networks; and

means for merging all found virtual private networks and adding the newly created VRF to the merged virtual private network, if the newly created VRF intersecting more than one virtual private network from the previously discovered virtual private networks is found.