Managing use of alternative intermediate destination computing nodes for provided computer networks
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
- receiving, by one or more programmed computing systems of a configurable network service that provides virtual computer networks to customers, configuration information from a first customer for a first virtual computer network having multiple computing nodes, the configuration information including a specified network topology for the first virtual computer network that includes two or more of the multiple computing nodes being part of a pool of alternative computing nodes for use as intermediate destinations of at least some communications for the first virtual computer network; and
providing, by the one or more programmed computing systems, the first virtual computer network for the first customer in accordance with the received configuration information by overlaying the first virtual computer network on a distinct substrate network without physically implementing the specified network topology for the first virtual computer network, the providing of the first virtual computer network including;
before forwarding a first communication over the substrate network from a source computing node of the first virtual computer network to a destination computing node of the virtual computer network, selecting, based at least in part on the specified network topology, one of the alternative computing nodes of the pool to use as an intermediate destination for the first communication; and
forwarding the first communication over the substrate network from the source computing node to the selected one computing node of the pool, to enable that selected one computing node to manage further forwarding of the first communication to the destination computing node.
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Abstract
Techniques are described for managing communications for a managed computer network by using a defined pool of alternative computing nodes of the managed computer network that are configured to operate as intermediate destinations to handle at least some communications that are sent by and/or directed to one or more other computing nodes of the managed computer network. For example, a manager module associated with a source computing node may select a particular alternative intermediate destination computing node from a defined pool to use for one or more particular communications from the source computing node to an indicated final destination, such as based on a configured logical network topology for the managed computer network and/or on one or more other selection criteria (e.g., to enable load balancing between the alternative computing nodes). The manager module then forwards those communications to the selected intermediate destination computing node for further handling.
41 Citations
31 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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receiving, by one or more programmed computing systems of a configurable network service that provides virtual computer networks to customers, configuration information from a first customer for a first virtual computer network having multiple computing nodes, the configuration information including a specified network topology for the first virtual computer network that includes two or more of the multiple computing nodes being part of a pool of alternative computing nodes for use as intermediate destinations of at least some communications for the first virtual computer network; and providing, by the one or more programmed computing systems, the first virtual computer network for the first customer in accordance with the received configuration information by overlaying the first virtual computer network on a distinct substrate network without physically implementing the specified network topology for the first virtual computer network, the providing of the first virtual computer network including; before forwarding a first communication over the substrate network from a source computing node of the first virtual computer network to a destination computing node of the virtual computer network, selecting, based at least in part on the specified network topology, one of the alternative computing nodes of the pool to use as an intermediate destination for the first communication; and forwarding the first communication over the substrate network from the source computing node to the selected one computing node of the pool, to enable that selected one computing node to manage further forwarding of the first communication to the destination computing node. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10)
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11. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium having stored contents that configure a computing system of a configurable network service to:
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obtain, by the configured computing system, configuration information from a first customer of the configurable network service regarding a first virtual computer network having multiple computing nodes, the configuration information indicating that the first virtual computer network has a network topology including first and second logical subnets and that the multiple computing nodes include a specified group of two or more computing nodes located between the first and second logical subnets; and provide the first virtual computer network for the first customer in accordance with the configuration information, the providing of the first virtual computer network including managing a communication sent by a source computing node of the first logical subnet to a destination computing node of the second logical subnet by; selecting, by the configured computing system, one of the computing nodes of the specified group to use as an intermediate destination for the communication based at least in part on the network topology; and after the selecting of the computing node, forwarding the communication over a substrate network from the source computing node to the selected computing node, to enable the use of the selected computing node as the intermediate destination for the communication before the communication is further forwarded to the destination computing node. - View Dependent Claims (12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24)
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25. A computing system, comprising:
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one or more processors; and one or more modules that are configured to, when executed by at least one of the one or more processors, manage a communication for a first virtual computer network provided by a configurable network service in accordance with network topology information specified by a first customer of the configurable network service, the specified network topology indicating a group of two or more computing nodes for use as alternative intermediate destinations of at least some communications for the first virtual computer network, the managing of the communication including; determining, based at least in part on the specified network topology information, to use one of the computing nodes of the group as an intermediate destination for the communication before the communication is forwarded to an indicated final destination; forwarding the communication from a source computing node of the first virtual computer network to the one computing node of the group, to enable the one computing node to manage further handling of the communication before further forwarding of the communication to the indicated final destination; and after the forwarding of the communication, determining to modify a quantity of the two or more computing nodes in the group based at least in part on configuration information previously specified by the first customer, and initiating a modification to the quantity in response to the determining. - View Dependent Claims (26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31)
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Specification