Virtual gateway router

• US 8,621,104 B2
• Filed: 06/18/2013
• Issued: 12/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 02/06/2012
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Skytap Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Skytap Incorporated
• Inventors: Holland, Peter, Schick, Bradley M.
• Primary Examiner(s): Maung, Zarni
• Application Number:
  US13/921,024
• Publication Number:
  US 20130283271A1
• Time in Patent Office: 196 Days
• Field of Search: 790203-204, 790233-229, 790238-242, 790/250
• US Class Current: 709/238
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 2009/45595 Network integration; Enabling network access in virtual machine instances
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/455 Emulation; Interpretation; Software simulation, e.g. virtualisation or emulation of application or operating system execution engines
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45533 Hypervisors; Virtual machine monitors
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/45558 Hypervisor-specific management and integration aspects
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/6418 Hybrid transport
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 9/40 Network security protocols

Abstract

A facility for configuring a virtual data center is described. A user such as an administrator uses a management interface to input information specifying a configuration for a virtual data center including virtual network nodes and virtual routers. In response, the facility instantiates each virtual network router needed for the configuration, such as by, for each, instantiating on commodity hardware a virtual machine running a general-purpose operating system used to provide routing services to the virtual network nodes.

Claims

1. One or more hardware networking components collectively conveying a data structure relating to the specification of a virtual data center configuration, the data structure comprising:

information configured to cause the solicitation of information about virtual machines to be instantiated as virtual network nodes in a plurality of virtual networks; and

information configured to cause the solicitation of information about configuration of a virtual machine to be instantiated as a virtual network router for routing traffic in the virtual networks,

such that the information contained in the data structure may be rendered in order to solicit information specifying a virtual data center configuration.

2. One or more hardware networking components collectively conveying a data structure relating to the specification of a virtual data center configuration, the data structure comprising:

information specifying information about virtual machines to be instantiated as virtual network nodes in a plurality of virtual networks; and

information specifying information about configuration of a virtual machine to be instantiated as a virtual network router for routing traffic in the virtual networks,

such that the information contained in the data structure may be used to instantiate a virtual data center.

3. A method in a computing system for specifying a virtual data center configuration, the method comprising:

soliciting first user input specifying virtual machines to be instantiated as virtual network nodes in a plurality of virtual networks; and

soliciting second user input specifying a configuration of a virtual machine to be instantiated as a virtual network router for routing traffic in the virtual networks.

4. The method of claim 3, further comprising instantiating a virtual data center configuration comprising virtual machines constituting virtual network nodes in accordance with the first user input and a virtual machine constituting a virtual network router configured in accordance with the second user input.

5. One or more instances of computer-readable storage device collectively having contents configured to cause a computing system to perform a method for specifying a virtual data center configuration, the method comprising:

soliciting first user input specifying virtual machines to be instantiated as virtual network nodes in a plurality of virtual networks; and

soliciting second user input specifying a configuration of a virtual machine to be instantiated as a virtual network router for routing traffic in the virtual networks.

6. The instances of computer-readable storage device of claim 5, further comprising instantiating a virtual data center configuration comprising virtual machines constituting virtual network nodes in accordance with the first user input and a virtual machine constituting a virtual network router configured in accordance with the second user input.