Network evaluation grid techniques

• US 8,484,321 B2
• Filed: 03/30/2012
• Issued: 07/09/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 06/29/2007
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Original Assignee: Apple Inc.
• Inventors: Carter, Stephen R.
• Primary Examiner(s): STRANGE, AARON N
• Application Number:
  US13/435,570
• Publication Number:
  US 20120191852A1
• Time in Patent Office: 466 Days
• Field of Search: 709/202, 709/208, 709/220, 709/223, 709/224, 709/226
• US Class Current: 709/220
• 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 41/5058 Service discovery by the service manager

Abstract

Network evaluation grid techniques are presented. Local specifications for traffic patterns are evaluated for local traffic on local grids of a grid computing environment and reported out. The local traffic reported out is then evaluated in response to global traffic pattern specifications and a global traffic policy in order to identify one or more remedial actions to take or to recommend in response to that evaluation.

Claims

1. A method implemented and residing in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, comprising:

identifying grid services that are distributed over a network for processing on a plurality of devices, wherein the plurality of devices combine to form a grid computing environment and selective collections of the devices combine to form a particular grid of the grid computing environment, each grid service listens for data packets on its grid; and

configuring and distributing a watch grid service with each grid of the grid computing environment, and when initiated on a particular device of the particular grid, a particular watch grid service listens for and reports on traffic in response to enforcement of particular ones of traffic pattern specifications, and when the particular watch grid service is loaded and cannot capture all the traffic another watch grid service cooperates to capture packets associated with the traffic that was missed.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying further includes obtaining the traffic pattern specifications for the following:

a particular one of the grid services, selective groupings of the grid services, the particular grid, selective groupings of the grids, and the grid computing environment as a whole.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring and distributing further includes configuring and distributing with each watch grid service traffic pattern policies, wherein the particular watch grid service enforces particular ones of the traffic pattern policies to correlate multiple traffic pattern specifications with one another.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring and distributing further includes determining traffic pattern policies for one or more of the following:

selective groupings of the traffic pattern specifications and the grid computing environment as a whole.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein configuring and distributing further includes using each traffic pattern specification to identify a particular grid member and that grid member'"'"'s subnet permitting traffic emanating from that grid member to be monitored independent of resources producing that traffic.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying further includes configuring each grid as its own independent local area network (LAN) for the grid computing environment as a whole.

7. The method of claim 6, wherein identifying further includes configuring each grid service to monitor the data packets by listening from the data packets on network interface cards of the LAN.

8. A method implemented and residing in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium for executing on a processing device, comprising:

receiving, by the processing device, messages from multiple watch grid services, wherein each watch grid service reports network traffic occurring on grid members associated with a grid computing environment in response to local traffic pattern specifications and local traffic pattern policies, and wherein receiving includes passing control to another watch grid service to pick up any missed traffic when a particular watch grid service cannot handle all the traffic;

using, by the processing device, global traffic patterns to detect selective traffic being reported, each of the global traffic patterns identifies a particular grid member and a subnet for traffic emanating from that particular grid member to be monitored independent of resources producing that traffic;

enforcing, by the processing device, a global traffic policy to correlate the selective traffic; and

identifying, by the processing device, actions to take in response to enforcement of the global traffic policy.

9. The method of claim 8, wherein receiving further includes processing each watch grid service to monitor packets emanating from network interface cards associated with devices that that watch grid service monitors.

10. The method of claim 8, wherein using further includes using the global traffic pattern specifications to tie the messages on the network traffic occurring from the grid members together.

11. The method of claim 8 further comprising, generating, by the processing device, events for selective traffic and raising those events to selective processing environments to trigger other services and other actions.

12. The method of claim 11, wherein generating further includes signing one or more of the events.

13. The method of claim 8 further comprising, signing, by the processing device, each message.

14. A system, comprising:

a global grid manager service implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and to process on a machine within a network;

watch grid services implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium, each grid service processes on a different machine of the network; and

an evaluation grid service implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and to process on a machine different from those machines used by the watch grid services,

wherein the global grid manager service is to configure each of the watch grid services with local traffic pattern specifications and local traffic pattern policies for detecting local traffic on local machines or local processing environments of the watch grid services, each watch grid service is to report all the detected traffic to the evaluation grid service that emanates from a network interface card of local machines associated with that watch grid service, wherein the evaluation grid service is to use global traffic pattern specifications and enforce a global traffic pattern policy to correlate the detected traffic and take one or more actions in response to the correlated traffic, and wherein, when a particular watch grid service is unable to handle all the traffic, another watch grid service cooperates to capture any missed traffic.

15. The system of claim 14, wherein each global traffic pattern specification identifies a particular grid member and that grid member'"'"'s subnet permitting traffic emanating from that grid member to be monitored independent of resources producing that traffic.

16. The system of claim 14 further comprising, a remediation manager service implemented in a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium and to process on a machine of the network, wherein the actions taken by the evaluation grid service alerts the remediation manager service to take measures on the network to deal with a threat situation or to improve traffic throughput processing.

17. The system of claim 14, wherein the watch grid services report to the evaluation grid service via encrypted messages.

18. The system of claim 14, wherein at least two of the watch grid services are configured to coordinate traffic watching with one another.