Virtual links for network appliances
First Claim
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1. A method comprising:
- provisioning a first network appliance to perform a first network service, wherein the first network appliance is provisioned on a first device;
associating an inner interface of the first network appliance with a first Internet Protocol (IP) address;
associating an outer interface of the first network appliance with a second IP address;
receiving a data packet on the inner interface from the first network appliance, the received data packet including a first header using a first communication protocol;
encapsulating the received data packet by adding a tunnel header to the received data packet to generate an encapsulated packet, the tunnel header using a second communication protocol independent of the first communication protocol and including the second IP address as a source address for the encapsulated packet;
transmitting the encapsulated packet via the outer interface using a virtue link to a second network appliance; and
migrating the first network appliance to a second device, wherein the virtual link is maintained between the first network appliance and the second network appliance after the migration.
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Abstract
Creating virtual links including: determining a first network appliance to configure to communicate with a second network appliance using a virtual link, wherein the virtual link comprises a layer three overlay point-to-point data link; and determining the second network appliance to configure to communicate with the first network appliance using the virtual link.
21 Citations
18 Claims
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1. A method comprising:
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provisioning a first network appliance to perform a first network service, wherein the first network appliance is provisioned on a first device; associating an inner interface of the first network appliance with a first Internet Protocol (IP) address; associating an outer interface of the first network appliance with a second IP address; receiving a data packet on the inner interface from the first network appliance, the received data packet including a first header using a first communication protocol; encapsulating the received data packet by adding a tunnel header to the received data packet to generate an encapsulated packet, the tunnel header using a second communication protocol independent of the first communication protocol and including the second IP address as a source address for the encapsulated packet; transmitting the encapsulated packet via the outer interface using a virtue link to a second network appliance; and migrating the first network appliance to a second device, wherein the virtual link is maintained between the first network appliance and the second network appliance after the migration. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5, 6)
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7. A system comprising:
a processor configured to; provision a first network appliance to perform a first network service, wherein the first network appliance is provisioned on a first device; associate an inner interface of the first network appliance with a first Internet Protocol (IP) address; associate an outer interface of the first network appliance with a second IP address; obtain a data packet received on the inner interface from the first network appliance, the received data packet including a first header using a first communication protocol; encapsulate the received data by adding a tunnel header to the received data packet to generate an encapsulated packet, the tunnel header using a second communication protocol independent of the first communication protocol and including the second IP address as a source address for the encapsulated packet; transmit the encapsulated packet via the outer interface using a virtue link to a second network appliance; and migrate the first network appliance to a second device, wherein the virtual link is maintained between the first network appliance and the second network appliance after the migration. - View Dependent Claims (8, 9, 10, 11, 12)
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13. A computer program product, the computer program product being embodied in a non-transitory computer readable storage medium and comprising computer instructions for:
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provisioning a first network appliance to perform a first network service, wherein the first network appliance is provisioned on a first device; associating an inner interface of the first network appliance with a first Internet Protocol (IP) address; associating an outer interface of the first network appliance with a second IP address; receiving a data packet on the inner interface from the first network appliance, the received data packet including a first header using a first communication protocol; encapsulating the received data packet by adding a tunnel header to the received data packet to generate an encapsulated packet, the tunnel header using a second communication protocol independent of the first communication protocol and including the second IP address as a source address for the encapsulated packet; transmitting the encapsulated packet via the outer interface using a virtue link to a second network appliance; and migrating the first network appliance to a second device, wherein the virtual link is maintained between the first network appliance and the second network appliance after the migration. - View Dependent Claims (14, 15, 16, 17, 18)
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Specification