SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR EXTENDING CLOUD SERVICES INTO THE CUSTOMER PREMISE

• US 20120179802A1
• Filed: 01/10/2012
• Published: 07/12/2012
• Est. Priority Date: 01/10/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Snowflake, Inc.
• Original Assignee: Fiberlink Communications Corporation (International Business Machines Corporation)
• Inventors: NARASIMHAN, Vineeth, Herchek, Thomas, Jain, Rahul, Lambert, Joshua, Hope, Ryan Elliot, Jha, Nitish, Singh, Sumeet
• Granted Patent: US 9,172,766 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 709/223
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/06 using stored programs, i.e. using an internal store of processing equipment to receive or retain programs
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 9/5088 involving task migration
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/046 comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0806 for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0816 the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 43/00 Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 47/825 Involving tunnels, e.g. MPLS
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/046 Interoperability with other network applications or services
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 51/58 Message adaptation for wireless communication
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/029 Firewall traversal, e.g. tunnelling or, creating pinholes
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/168 above the transport layer
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/20 for managing network security; network security policies in general filtering policies H04L63/0227
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/02 based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/10 in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/1014 based on the content of a request
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/125 involving control of end-device applications over a network
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 67/56 Provisioning of proxy services store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54
• CPC Class Codes: H04W 4/50 Service provisioning or reconfiguring

Abstract

A cloud extension agent can be provided on a customer premise for interfacing, via an outbound secure connection, cloud based services. The cloud extension agent can reach the cloud based services through existing firewall infrastructure, thereby providing simple, secure deployment. Furthermore, the secure connection can enable substantially real-time communication with a cloud service to provide web-based, substantially real time control or management of resources on the customer premises via the cloud extension agent.

Claims

1. A method for providing network management services comprising:

providing a cloud extension agent for execution on hardware that is part of a first local network, which is separated from the Internet by at least one firewall,

wherein the cloud extension agent is configured to initiate a first connection to at least one external server over the Internet using a standard internet protocol and receive, via the first connection, a first set of instructions for management of a first set of mobile devices that are managed by one or more local servers on the first local network, and

wherein the cloud extension agent is further configured to make changes to the configuration of the one or more local servers in response to the first set of instructions.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

providing a web-based portal that allows a user to configure the first set of mobile devices; and

in response to configuration changes initiated via the web-based portal, creating the first set of instructions to be sent to the agent via the first connection.

3. The method of claim 2, further comprising sending the first set of instructions to the cloud extension agent in substantially real time.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the step of sending the first set of instructions further comprises sending the instructions using an XMPP protocol over the first connection.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein the cloud extension agent is further configured to collect status information pertaining to the first set of devices and report the status information to at least one cloud-based service.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a web-based portal that allows a user to manage the first set of mobile devices via the Internet.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a web-based portal that allows a user to remotely diagnose problems with one of the cloud extension agent and the one or more local servers, via the Internet.

8. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a web-based portal that allows a user to remotely upgrade the cloud extension agent via the Internet.

9. The method of claim 1, further comprising providing a web-based portal that allows a user to publish network policies to the cloud extension agent via the Internet.

10. A method for extending cloud services into the customer premise comprising:

providing a cloud extension agent for execution on hardware that is part of a first local network, which is separated from the Internet by at least one firewall,

wherein the cloud extension agent is configured to initiate a first connection to a remote data-center over the Internet, through the at least one firewall, using a standard internet protocol and receive, via the first connection, a first set of instructions for configuration of one or more local resources on the first local network, and

wherein the cloud extension agent is further configured to make changes to the configuration of the one or more local resources in response to the first set of instructions.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising:

providing a web-based portal that allows a user to configure the one or more local resources; and

in response to configuration changes initiated via the web-based portal, creating the first set of instructions to be sent to the cloud extension agent via the first connection.

12. The method of claim 11, further comprising sending the first set of instructions to the cloud extension agent in substantially real time.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the step of sending the first set of instructions comprises sending the instructions using an XMPP protocol over the first connection.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein the cloud extension agent is further configured to collect status information pertaining to the one or more local resources and report the status information to at least one cloud-based service.

15. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing a web-based portal that allows a user to manage the one or more local resources via the Internet.

16. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing a web-based portal that allows a user to remotely diagnose problems with one of the cloud extension agent and the one or more local resources, via the Internet.

17. The method of claim 10, further comprising providing a web-based portal that allows a user to publish network policies to the cloud extension agent via the Internet.

18. A method for providing cloud-based management of mobile devices comprising:

providing, at one or more remote data centers, a web-based interface for management of policies for a first set of mobile devices that are associated with a first corporate network;

maintaining, in a first database associated with the one or more remote data centers, policy and configuration information related to the first set of mobile devices;

receiving, over the Internet, a first secure connection initiated by a first cloud extension agent using a standard internet protocol; and

in response to policy changes initiated through the web-based interface, sending control instructions over the first secure connection to the first cloud extension agent;

wherein the cloud extension agent is configurable to configure resources on the corporate network based on the control instructions.

19. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving status information from the cloud extension agent reflecting the status of one or more mobile devices in the first set of mobile devices; and

selectively presenting the status information to an administrator using web-based interface.

20. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving, over the first secure connection, status information pertaining to the first set of mobile devices from the cloud extension agent.

21. The method of claim 18, further comprising:

receiving, over the Internet, a first secure connection initiated by a second cloud extension agent using the standard internet protocol, wherein the second cloud extension agent is available in the event of failure of the first cloud extension agent.