Brokering and provisioning in high-speed networks

• US 9,143,580 B2
• Filed: 07/13/2012
• Issued: 09/22/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 07/13/2012
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Original Assignee: International Business Machines Corporation
• Inventors: Freimuth, Douglas M., Pappas, Vasileios, Sathaye, Sumedh W.
• Primary Examiner(s): Yi, David X
• Assistant Examiner(s): Khan, Atta
• Application Number:
  US13/548,442
• Publication Number:
  US 20140330973A1
• Time in Patent Office: 1,166 Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04B 10/27 Arrangements for networking
• CPC Class Codes: H04J 14/0227 Operation, administration, maintenance or provisioning [OAMP] of WDM networks, e.g. media access, routing or wavelength allocation
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/60 Scheduling or organising the servicing of application requests, e.g. requests for application data transmissions using the analysis and optimisation of the required network resources admission control or resource allocation H04L47/70
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 69/10 Streamlined, light-weight or high-speed protocols, e.g. express transfer protocol [XTP] or byte stream

Abstract

Network resources are provisioned within an application broker according to aggregated requests in an optical network. Resource requests are sorted to form sorted resource requests. The sorted resource requests are sorted according to destinations of the resource requests. The sorted resource requests are aggregated to form aggregated resource requests. Resource allocation is requested for each of the aggregated resource requests from a network border controller based on requirements of the set of set of aggregated resource requests. A set of allocated resources is received from the network border controller. The set of allocated resources is based on requirements of the aggregated resource requests. For each of the aggregated resource requests, network transmissions network receptions are executed utilizing associated allocated resources.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method for provisioning network resources within an application broker computer, the computer implemented method comprising:

sorting, by the application broker computer, a set of resource requests from applications executing on a plurality of client devices to destinations via a network to form a set of sorted resource requests, wherein the set of sorted resource requests are sorted according to the destinations of the set of resource requests;

responsive to the application broker computer sorting the set of resource requests to form the set of sorted resource requests, sorting, by the application broker computer, the set of sorted resource requests based on a network priority requirement, a network latency requirement, and a bandwidth requirement for each destination of the set of resource requests;

aggregating, by the application broker computer, the set of sorted resource requests to form a plurality of aggregated resource requests;

requesting, by the application broker computer, allocation of a different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from a network border controller switch that connects the plurality of client devices to the network via the application broker computer based on requirements of each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests, wherein the network border controller switch sets up, controls, and tears down the different sets of virtual network communication links, and wherein traffic sent from the plurality of client devices traverses the network via the different sets of virtual network communication links to the destinations, and wherein the application broker computer specifies the requirements of each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests to the network border controller switch, and wherein the requesting, by the application broker computer, the allocation of the different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch further comprises;

requesting, by the application broker computer, the allocation of the different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch utilizing a private request/response based provisioning protocol;

responsive to the application broker computer requesting the allocation of the different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch, receiving, by the application broker computer, the different set of allocated virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch based on the requirements of each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests; and

executing, by the application broker computer, network traffic transmissions to the destinations and network traffic receptions from the destinations on behalf of the plurality of client devices utilizing an associated one of the different sets of allocated virtual network communication links for an associated one of the plurality of aggregated resource requests.

2. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application broker computer further comprises:

a standalone application broker computer operating at or above a layer-4 of the network.

3. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the receiving, by the application broker computer, the different set of allocated virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch further comprises:

receiving, by the application broker computer, the different set of allocated virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch utilizing the private request/response based provisioning protocol.

4. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application broker computer includes the network border controller switch operating at or above a layer-4 of the network, and wherein the application broker computer operates on behalf of multiple data centers.

5. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application broker computer includes a wide area network router that directs the traffic to the network from an outside network, and wherein the application broker computer including the wide area network router operates at a boundary of a data center, and wherein the application broker computer including the wide area network router communicates with the network border controller switch.

6. The computer implemented method of claim 1, wherein the application broker computer includes an Ethernet switch that joins the plurality of client devices together within one local area network, and wherein the application broker computer including the Ethernet switch translates remote destination Ethernet frames to commands of the network.

7. A computer implemented method for sending traffic over a network, the computer implemented method comprising:

sorting, by an application broker computer, a set of resource requests from applications executing on a plurality of client devices to destinations via the network to form a set of sorted resource requests, wherein the set of sorted resource requests are sorted according to the destinations of the set of resource requests;

responsive to the application broker computer sorting the set of resource requests to form the set of sorted resource requests, sorting, by the application broker computer, the set of sorted resource requests based on a network priority requirement, a network latency requirement, and a bandwidth requirement for each destination of the set of resource requests;

aggregating, by the application broker computer, the set of sorted resource requests to form a plurality of aggregated resource requests;

requesting, by the application broker computer, allocation of a different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from a virtual wide area network connection manager based on requirements of each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests, wherein the virtual wide area network connection manager sets up, controls, and tears down the different sets of virtual network communication links, and wherein the traffic sent from the plurality of client devices traverses the network via the different sets of virtual network communication links to the destinations, and wherein the application broker computer specifies the requirements of each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests to the virtual wide area network connection manager, and wherein the requesting, by the application broker computer, the allocation of the different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the virtual wide area network connection manager further comprises;

requesting, by the application broker computer, the allocation of the different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the virtual wide area network connection manager utilizing a private request/response based provisioning protocol;

responsive to the application broker computer requesting the allocation of the different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the virtual wide area network connection manager, receiving, by the application broker computer, the different set of allocated virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the virtual wide area network connection manager based on the requirements of each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests; and

executing, by the application broker computer, network traffic transmissions to the destinations and network traffic receptions from the destinations on behalf of the plurality of client devices utilizing an associated one of the different sets of allocated virtual network communication links for an associated one of the plurality of aggregated resource requests.

8. A computer program product for provisioning network resources within an application broker computer, the computer program product comprising:

a computer readable storage device having computer readable program code embodied therewith, the computer readable program code comprising;

computer readable program code configured to sort, by the application broker computer, a set of resource requests from applications executing on a plurality of client devices to destinations via a network to form a set of sorted resource requests, wherein the set of sorted resource requests are sorted according to the destinations of the set of resource requests;

computer readable program code, responsive to the application broker computer sorting the set of resource requests to form the set of sorted resource requests, configured to sort, by the application broker computer, the set of sorted resource requests based on a network priority requirement, a network latency requirement, and a bandwidth requirement for each destination of the set of resource requests;

computer readable program code configured to aggregate, by the application broker computer, the set of sorted resource requests to form a plurality of aggregated resource requests;

computer readable program code configured to request, by the application broker computer, allocation of a different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from a network border controller switch that connects the plurality of client devices to the network via the application broker computer based on requirements of each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests, wherein the network border controller switch sets up, controls, and tears down the different sets of virtual network communication links, and wherein traffic sent from the plurality of client devices traverses the network via the different sets of virtual network communication links to the destinations, and wherein the application broker computer specifies the requirements of each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests to the network border controller switch, and wherein the computer readable program code configured to request, by the application broker computer, the allocation of the different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the virtual wide area network connection manager further comprises;

computer readable program code configured to request, by the application broker computer, the allocation of the different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the virtual wide area network connection manager utilizing a private request/response based provisioning protocol;

computer readable program code, responsive to the application broker computer requesting the allocation of the different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch, configured to receive, by the application broker computer, the different set of allocated virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch based on the requirements of each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests; and

computer readable program code configured to execute, by the application broker computer, network traffic transmissions to the destinations and network traffic receptions from the destinations on behalf of the plurality of client devices utilizing an associated one of the different sets of allocated virtual network communication links for an associated one of the plurality of aggregated resource requests.

9. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the application broker computer further comprises:

a standalone application broker computer operating at or above a layer-4 of the network.

10. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the computer readable program code configured to receive, by the application broker computer, the different set of allocated virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch further comprises:

computer readable program code configured to receive, by the application broker computer, the different set of allocated virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch utilizing the private request/response based provisioning protocol.

11. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the application broker computer includes the network border controller switch operating at or above a layer-4 of the network, and wherein the application broker computer operates on behalf of multiple data centers.

12. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the application broker computer includes a wide area network router that directs the traffic to the network from an outside network, and wherein the application broker computer including the wide area network router operates at a boundary of a data center, and wherein the application broker computer including the wide area network router communicates with the network border controller switch.

13. The computer program product of claim 8, wherein the application broker computer includes an Ethernet switch that joins the plurality of client devices together within one local area network, and wherein the application broker computer including the Ethernet switch translates remote destination Ethernet frames to commands of the network.

14. An application broker computer comprising:

a memory having computer usable program code embodied therewith for provisioning network resources within the application broker; and

a bus connecting the memory to a processor, wherein the processor executes the computer usable program code;

to sort a set of resource requests from applications executing on a plurality of client devices to destinations via a network to form a set of sorted resource requests, wherein the set of sorted resource requests are sorted according to the destinations of the set of resource requests;

responsive to sorting the set of resource requests to form the set of sorted resource requests, to sort the set of sorted resource requests based on a network priority requirement, a network latency requirement, and a bandwidth requirement for each destination of the set of resource requests;

to aggregate the set of sorted resource requests to form a plurality of aggregated resource requests;

to request, by the application broker computer, allocation of a different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from a network border controller switch that connects the plurality of client devices to the network via the application broker computer based on requirements of each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests, wherein the network border controller switch sets up, controls, and tears down the different sets of virtual network communication links, and wherein traffic sent from the plurality of client devices traverses the network via the different sets of virtual network communication links to the destinations, and wherein the application broker computer specifies the requirements of each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests to the network border controller switch, and wherein the processor executing the computer usable program code to request the allocation of the different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch further comprises the processor executing the computer usable program code to request the allocation of the different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch utilizing a private request/response based provisioning protocol;

responsive to requesting the allocation of the different set of virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch, to receive the different set of allocated virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch based on the requirements of each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests; and

to execute network traffic transmissions to the destinations and network traffic receptions from the destinations on behalf of the plurality of client devices utilizing an associated one of the different sets of allocated virtual network communication links for an associated one of the plurality of aggregated resource requests.

15. The application broker computer of claim 14, wherein the application broker computer further comprises:

a standalone application broker computer operating at or above a layer-4 of the network.

16. The application broker computer of claim 14, wherein the processor executing the computer usable program code to receive the different set of allocated virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch further comprises the processor executing the computer usable program code:

to receive the different set of allocated virtual network communication links for each of the plurality of aggregated resource requests from the network border controller switch utilizing the private request/response based provisioning protocol.

17. The application broker computer of claim 14, wherein the application broker computer includes the network border controller switch operating at or above a layer-4 of the network, and wherein the application broker computer operates on behalf of multiple data centers.

18. The application broker computer of claim 14, wherein the application broker computer includes a wide area network router that directs the traffic to the network from an outside network, and wherein the application broker computer including the wide area network router operates at a boundary of a data center, and wherein the application broker computer including the wide area network router communicates with the network border controller switch.