Automated discovery and forwarding of relevant network traffic with respect to newly connected network tools for network tool optimizers
First Claim
1. A method for operating a network tool optimizer (NTO) device having one or more input ports, one or more output ports, one or more filter engines, and a tool processor coupled to the one or more output ports, comprising:
- communicating, with the tool processor, through the one or more output ports with a newly connected network tool device to receive tool information from the newly connected network tool device after it is connected to the one or more output ports for the network tool optimizer (NTO) device;
automatically discovering, with the tool processor, relevant traffic information for the newly connected network tool device based upon the tool information received from the newly connected network tool device;
automatically generating, with the tool processor, packet forwarding rules for the one or more filter engines for the NTO device based upon the relevant traffic information discovered for the newly connected network tool device, the packet forwarding rules being configured to forward relevant network traffic to the newly connected network tool device;
applying the packet forwarding rules to the one or more filter engines;
receiving network input traffic at the one or more input ports for the NTO device; and
forwarding relevant network traffic from the network input traffic to the newly connected network tool device through the one or more output ports using the one or more filter engines.
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Abstract
Network tool optimizers and related methods are disclosed that provide automated discovery and configuration of network tool devices. The disclosed embodiments include tool processors having tool discovery engines and tool configuration engines that provide discovery of tool information and generation of rules for filter engines within the network tool optimizer (NTO) so that relevant network traffic received by the NTO is forwarded to network tool devices connected to the NTO. New network traffic sources connected to the NTO can also be automatically configured to forward relevant traffic to the network tool devices based upon the discovered tool information. Further, a database of tool information can be stored within the NTO and can be used by the NTO in determining relevant traffic for connected tool devices. A variety of different implementations can use the automatic tool discovery and configuration embodiments.
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Citations
30 Claims
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1. A method for operating a network tool optimizer (NTO) device having one or more input ports, one or more output ports, one or more filter engines, and a tool processor coupled to the one or more output ports, comprising:
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communicating, with the tool processor, through the one or more output ports with a newly connected network tool device to receive tool information from the newly connected network tool device after it is connected to the one or more output ports for the network tool optimizer (NTO) device; automatically discovering, with the tool processor, relevant traffic information for the newly connected network tool device based upon the tool information received from the newly connected network tool device; automatically generating, with the tool processor, packet forwarding rules for the one or more filter engines for the NTO device based upon the relevant traffic information discovered for the newly connected network tool device, the packet forwarding rules being configured to forward relevant network traffic to the newly connected network tool device; applying the packet forwarding rules to the one or more filter engines; receiving network input traffic at the one or more input ports for the NTO device; and forwarding relevant network traffic from the network input traffic to the newly connected network tool device through the one or more output ports using the one or more filter engines. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15)
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16. A network tool optimizer (NTO) device, comprising:
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one or more input ports; one or more output ports; packet forwarding circuitry configured to forward network packets from the input ports to the output ports; one or more filter engines configured to control at least in part how the packet forwarding circuitry forwards packets between input ports and output ports; and a tool processor comprising; a tool discovery engine coupled to the output ports and configured to communicate through the one or more output ports with a newly connected network tool device to receive tool information from the newly connected network tool device after it is connected to the one or more output ports, and to automatically discover relevant traffic information for the newly connected network tool device based upon the tool information received from the newly connected network tool device; and a tool configuration engine coupled to the one or more filter engines and configured to automatically generate packet forwarding rules for the one or more filter engines based upon the relevant traffic information discovered for the newly connected network tool device and to apply the packet forwarding rules to the one or more filter engines, the packet forwarding rules being configured to forward relevant network traffic to the newly connected network tool device. - View Dependent Claims (17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30)
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Specification