Auto discovery and auto scaling of services in software-defined network environment
First Claim
1. A method comprising:
- calculating, by a software-defined networking (SDN) controller, border gateway protocol (BGP) routes for a front-end service of a first service chain within a services complex, wherein each of the BGP routes represents one of a plurality of unique tunnels that extends from a gateway network device to one of a plurality of first virtual service instances for the front-end service of the first service chain on one or more physical network devices within the services complex;
advertising, by the SDN controller and to the gateway network device, the BGP routes for the front-end service of the first service chain as load balancing entities to be included in a first load balancing group for the front-end service of the first service chain;
calculating, by the SDN controller, BGP routes for a front-end service of a second service chain within the services complex, wherein the front-end service of the second service chain is different than the front-end service of the first service chain, and wherein each of the BGP routes represents one of a plurality of unique tunnels that extends from the gateway network device to one of a plurality of second virtual service instances for the front-end service of the second service chain on one or more physical network devices within the services complex; and
advertising, by the SDN controller and to the gateway network device, the BGP routes for the front-end service of the second service chain as load balancing entities to be included in a second load balancing group for the front-end service of the second service chain.
0 Assignments
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
Techniques are described for automatic discovery of two or more virtual service instances configured to apply a given service to a packet in a software-defined networking (SDN)/network functions virtualization (NFV) environment. Virtual service instances may be deployed as virtual entities hosted on one or more physical devices to offer individual services or chains of services from a service provider. The use of virtual service instances enables automatic scaling of the services on-demand. The techniques of this disclosure enable automatic discovery by a gateway network device of virtual service instances for a given service as load balancing entities. According to the techniques, the gateway network device automatically updates a load balancing group for the given service to include the discovered virtual service instances on which to load balance traffic for the service. In this way, the disclosed techniques provide auto-scaling and auto-discovery of services in an SDN/NFV environment.
22 Citations
20 Claims
-
1. A method comprising:
-
calculating, by a software-defined networking (SDN) controller, border gateway protocol (BGP) routes for a front-end service of a first service chain within a services complex, wherein each of the BGP routes represents one of a plurality of unique tunnels that extends from a gateway network device to one of a plurality of first virtual service instances for the front-end service of the first service chain on one or more physical network devices within the services complex; advertising, by the SDN controller and to the gateway network device, the BGP routes for the front-end service of the first service chain as load balancing entities to be included in a first load balancing group for the front-end service of the first service chain; calculating, by the SDN controller, BGP routes for a front-end service of a second service chain within the services complex, wherein the front-end service of the second service chain is different than the front-end service of the first service chain, and wherein each of the BGP routes represents one of a plurality of unique tunnels that extends from the gateway network device to one of a plurality of second virtual service instances for the front-end service of the second service chain on one or more physical network devices within the services complex; and advertising, by the SDN controller and to the gateway network device, the BGP routes for the front-end service of the second service chain as load balancing entities to be included in a second load balancing group for the front-end service of the second service chain. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
-
-
6. A method comprising:
-
receiving, by a gateway network device and from a software-defined networking (SDN) controller, advertisements of border gateway protocol (BGP) routes for a front-end service of a first service chain within a services complex as load balancing entities, wherein each of the BGP routes represents one of a plurality of unique tunnels that extends from the gateway network device to one of a plurality of first virtual service instances for the front-end service of the first service chain on one or more physical network devices within the services complex; maintaining, by the gateway network device, a first load balancing group for the front-end service of the first service chain that includes each of the BGP routes for the front-end service of the first service chain; selecting, by the gateway network device and according to a first load balancing algorithm, one of the BGP routes from the first load balancing group used to forward a packet via the one of the unique tunnels to the one of the first virtual service instances for application of the front-end service of the first service chain to the packet; receiving, by the gateway network device and from the SDN controller, advertisements of BGP routes for a front-end service of a second service chain within the services complex as load balancing entities, wherein the front-end service of the second service chain is different than the front-end service of the first service chain, and wherein each of the BGP routes represents one of a plurality of unique tunnels that extends from the gateway network device to one of a plurality of second virtual service instances for the front-end service of the second service chain on one or more physical network devices within the services complex; maintaining, by the gateway network device, a second load balancing group for the front-end service of the second service chain that includes each of the BGP routes for the front-end service of the second service chain; and selecting, by the gateway network device and according to a second load balancing algorithm, one of the BGP routes from the second load balancing group used to forward a packet via the one of the unique tunnels to the one of the second virtual service instances for application of the front-end service of the second service chain to the packet. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10, 11)
-
-
12. A gateway network device comprising:
-
a control unit comprising a processor configured to; receive, from a software-defined networking (SDN) controller, advertisements of border gateway protocol (BGP) routes for a front-end service of a first service chain within a services complex as first load balancing entities, wherein each of the BGP routes represents one of a plurality of unique tunnels that extends from the gateway network device to one of a plurality of first virtual service instances for the front-end service of the first service chain on one or more physical network devices within the services complex, maintain a first load balancing group for the front-end service of the first service chain that includes each of the BGP routes for the front-end service of the first service chain, receive, from the SDN controller, advertisements of BGP routes for a front-end service of a second service chain within the services complex as load balancing entities, wherein the front-end service of the second service chain is different than the front-end service of the first service chain, and wherein each of the BGP routes represents one of a plurality of unique tunnels that extends from the gateway network device to one of a plurality of second virtual service instances for the front-end service of the second service chain on one or more physical network devices within the services complex, and maintain a second load balancing group for the front-end service of the second service chain that includes each of the BGP routes for the front-end service of the second service chain; and a forwarding circuit programmed with forwarding information associated with the BGP routes, the forwarding circuit configured to; select, according to a first load balancing algorithm, one of the BGP routes from the first load balancing group used to forward a packet via the one of the unique tunnels to the one of the first virtual service instances for application of the front-end service of the first service chain to the packet, and select, according to a second load balancing algorithm, one of the BGP routes from the second load balancing group used to forward a packet via the one of the unique tunnels to the one of the second virtual service instances for application of the front-end service of the second service chain to the packet. - View Dependent Claims (13, 14, 15, 16, 17)
-
-
18. A software-defined networking (SDN) controller comprising:
-
a plurality of network interfaces; and a control unit comprising a processor in communication with the plurality of network interfaces, the control unit configured to; calculate border gateway protocol (BGP) routes for a front-end service of a first service chain within a services complex, wherein each of the BGP routes represents one of a plurality of unique tunnels that extends from a gateway network device to one of a plurality of first virtual service instances for the front-end service of the first service chain on one or more physical network devices within the services complex; advertise, via the plurality of network interfaces to the gateway network device, the BGP routes for the front-end service of the first service chain as load balancing entities to be included in a first load balancing group for the front-end service of the first service chain; calculate BGP routes for a front-end service of a second service chain within the services complex, wherein the front-end service of the second service chain is different than the front-end service of the first service chain, and wherein each of the BGP routes represents one of a plurality of unique tunnels that extends from the gateway network device to one of a plurality of second virtual service instances for the front-end service of the second service chain on one or more physical network devices within the services complex; and advertise, via the plurality of network interfaces to the gateway network device, the BGP routes for the front-end service of the second service chain as load balancing entities to be included in a second load balancing group for the front-end service of the second service chain. - View Dependent Claims (19, 20)
-
Specification