Automatically determining sensor location in a virtualized computing environment
First Claim
1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
- in a virtualized computing system in which a plurality of software sensors are deployed and in which there are one or more traffic flows, receiving captured network data from the plurality of sensors, the captured network data from a given sensor of the plurality of sensors including a sensor identity of the given sensor and flow identifiers indicating one or more traffic flows detected by the given sensor;
analyzing the received captured network data to identify a first group of sensors, a second group of sensors, and a third group of sensors, wherein all traffic flows observed by the first group of sensors are also observed by the second group of sensors, but only a subset of traffic flows observed by the second group of sensors are also observed by the first group of sensors, and wherein all traffic flows observed by the second group of sensors are also observed by the third group of sensors, but only a subset of the traffic flows observed by the third group of sensors are also observed by the second group of sensors; and
determining, for each respective sensor, a location of the respective sensor relative to one or more other sensors within the virtualized computing system based upon which group of sensors, among the first group of sensors, the second group of sensors, or the third group of sensors, the respective sensor belongs,wherein if the respective sensor belongs to the first group of sensors, determining that the respective sensor is within a virtual machine,wherein if the respective sensor belongs to the second group of sensors, determining that the respective sensor is within a hypervisor, andwherein if the respective sensor belongs to the third group of sensors, determining that the respective sensor is within a network device.
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Abstract
A virtualized computing system including software sensors captures network data from one or more traffic flows the sensors. The captured network data from a given sensor indicates one or more traffic flows detected by the given sensor. The received captured network data is analyzed to identify, for each respective sensor, a first group of sensors, a second group of sensors, and a third group of sensors. All traffic flows observed by the first group of sensors are also observed by the second group of sensors. All traffic flows observed by the second group of sensors are also observed by the third group of sensors. A location of each respective sensor relative to other sensors within the virtualized computing system is determined based upon whether the respective sensor belongs to the first group of sensors, the second group of sensors, or the third group of sensors.
126 Citations
17 Claims
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1. A computer-implemented method comprising:
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in a virtualized computing system in which a plurality of software sensors are deployed and in which there are one or more traffic flows, receiving captured network data from the plurality of sensors, the captured network data from a given sensor of the plurality of sensors including a sensor identity of the given sensor and flow identifiers indicating one or more traffic flows detected by the given sensor; analyzing the received captured network data to identify a first group of sensors, a second group of sensors, and a third group of sensors, wherein all traffic flows observed by the first group of sensors are also observed by the second group of sensors, but only a subset of traffic flows observed by the second group of sensors are also observed by the first group of sensors, and wherein all traffic flows observed by the second group of sensors are also observed by the third group of sensors, but only a subset of the traffic flows observed by the third group of sensors are also observed by the second group of sensors; and determining, for each respective sensor, a location of the respective sensor relative to one or more other sensors within the virtualized computing system based upon which group of sensors, among the first group of sensors, the second group of sensors, or the third group of sensors, the respective sensor belongs, wherein if the respective sensor belongs to the first group of sensors, determining that the respective sensor is within a virtual machine, wherein if the respective sensor belongs to the second group of sensors, determining that the respective sensor is within a hypervisor, and wherein if the respective sensor belongs to the third group of sensors, determining that the respective sensor is within a network device. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. An apparatus comprising:
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a network interface unit configured to enable network communications; a memory; and a processor coupled to the network interface unit and configured to; receive, in a virtualized computing system in which a plurality of software sensors are deployed and in which there are one or more traffic flows, captured network data from the plurality of sensors, the captured network data from a given sensor of the plurality of sensors including a sensor identity of the given sensor and flow identifiers indicating one or more traffic flows detected by the given sensor; analyze the received captured network data to identify a first group of sensors, a second group of sensors, and a third group of sensors, wherein all traffic flows observed by the first group of sensors are also observed by the second group of sensors, but only a subset of traffic flows observed by the second group of sensors are observed by the first group of sensors, and wherein all traffic flows observed by the second group of sensors are also observed by the third group of sensors, but only a subset of traffic flows observed by the third group of sensors are also observed by the second group of sensors; and determine, for each respective sensor, a location of the respective sensor relative to one or more other sensors within the virtualized computing system based upon which group of sensors, among the first group of sensors, the second group of sensors, or the third group of sensors, the respective sensor belongs, wherein if the respective sensor belongs to the first group of sensors, the processor is configured to determine that the respective sensor is within a virtual machine, wherein if the respective sensor belongs to the second group of sensors, the processor is configured to determine that the respective sensor is within a hypervisor, and wherein if the respective sensor belongs to the third group of sensors, the processor is configured to determine that the respective sensor is within a network device. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A non-transitory computer readable storage media encoded with instructions that, when executed by a processor of a computing device, cause the processor to:
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receive, in a virtualized computing system in which a plurality of software sensors are deployed and in which there are one or more traffic flows, captured network data from the plurality of sensors, the captured network data from a given sensor of the plurality of sensors including a sensor identity of the given sensor and flow identifiers indicating one or more traffic flows detected by the given sensor; analyze the received captured network data to identify a first group of sensors, a second group of sensors, and a third group of sensors, wherein all traffic flows observed by the first group of sensors are also observed by the second group of sensors, but only a subset of traffic flows observed by the second group of sensors are observed by the first group of sensors, and wherein all traffic flows observed by the second group of sensors are also observed by the third group of sensors, but only a subset of traffic flows observed by the third group of sensors are also observed by the second group of sensors; and determine, for each respective sensor, a location of the respective sensor relative to one or more other sensors within the virtualized computing system based upon which group of sensors, among the first group of sensors, the second group of sensors, or the third group of sensors, the respective sensor belongs, wherein if the respective sensor belongs to the first group of sensors, the instructions cause the processor to determine that the respective sensor is within a virtual machine, wherein if the respective sensor belongs to the second group of sensors, the instructions cause the processor to determine that the respective sensor is within a hypervisor, and wherein if the respective sensor belongs to the third group of sensors, the instructions cause the processor to determine that the respective sensor is within a network device. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17)
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Specification