Centralized Configuration with Dynamic Distributed Address Management

• US 20150237002A1
• Filed: 04/30/2015
• Published: 08/20/2015
• Est. Priority Date: 10/21/2011
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Original Assignee: Aruba Networks Incorporated (Hewlett-Packard Enterprise Company)
• Inventors: Baniqued, Joseph Garcia, Dwivedi, Deepika, PalChaudhuri, Santashil, Unnimadhavan, Sandeep, Yadav, Brijesh Kumar, Adhya, Tilak Kumar, Manoharan, Rajalakshmi
• Granted Patent: US 9,787,632 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 1/1
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 12/4641 Virtual LANs, VLANs, e.g. virtual private networks [VPN] LAN interconnection over a bridge based backbone H04L12/462; encapsulation techniques H04L12/4633; routing of packets H04L45/00; packet switches H04L49/00; virtual private networks for security H04L63/0272
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 41/0803 Configuration setting
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5007 Internet protocol [IP] addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5014 using dynamic host configuration protocol [DHCP] or bootstrap protocol [BOOTP]
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 61/5061 Pools of addresses
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/164 at the network layer

Abstract

The present disclosure discloses a network device and/or method for centralized configuration with dynamic distributed address management. The disclosed network device receives, at a first network node, a range of sub network addresses and a specified size for a sub network. The disclosed network device then divides the range of sub network addresses into a plurality of sub-ranges of sub network addresses based on the specified size. Further, the network device allocates the plurality of sub-ranges of sub network addresses to a plurality of sub networks, and transmits an allocated sub-range of sub network addresses to a corresponding sub network at a second network node through an established secure communication channel. Moreover, the network device can retrieve a profile template that includes the range of sub network addresses and the specified size of the sub network; and create a profile based on the profile template.

Claims

1. A computer implemented method, comprising:

receiving, at a remote network device connected to a remote network node, a network address for a remote node controller at a central network node;

establishing a secure communication channel between the remote network device and the remote node controller over a public network, wherein establishing includes using the network address for the remote node controller;

receiving a network configuration for the remote network node over the secure communication channel, wherein the network configuration includes a network address allocation for the remote network device and a set of network addresses for dynamically allocating to devices connected to the remote network node, wherein the set of network addresses correspond to central network node routable addresses, wherein the received network configuration facilitates continued functioning of the remote network node when the remote node controller at the central network node is unreachable from the remote network node;

determining a subset of network addresses of the set of network addresses to reserve for a sub-network connected to the remote network node, wherein determining the subset of network addresses includes receiving a specified size and assigning a size for the subset that is a smallest integer power of two that is greater than the specified size; and

transmitting a sub-network profile to the sub-network, wherein the sub-network profile includes the subset of network addresses, and wherein receiving the sub-network profile at a sub-network access point facilitates allocation of one address of the subset of network addresses to the sub-network access point and reservation of remaining addresses of the subset of network addresses for dynamic allocation.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the sub-network profile includes at least a starting address of the subset of network addresses and a number of hosts supported by the subset of network addresses.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the remote network device is a remote access point for wirelessly connecting sub-network access points to the remote network node, and wherein the sub-network access point is a wireless access point for wirelessly connecting client devices to the sub-network.

4. The method of claim 1, further comprising:

transmitting a heartbeat message using the secure communication channel;

receiving a heartbeat response using the secure communication channel;

transmitting a local configuration request using the secure communication channel when the heartbeat response is different from the heartbeat message, wherein the local configuration request includes a request for updated network configuration information for the remote network node; and

receiving a local configuration response using the secure communication channel, wherein the local configuration response includes an updated network configuration for the remote network node.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein network addresses from the set of network addresses continue to be dynamically allocated when the remote node controller at the central network node is unreachable from the remote network node

6. The method of claim 1, wherein network traffic between the remote network node and the central network node is routed through the secure communication channel, and wherein the secure communication channel facilitates creation of a Layer-2 network that extends across the remote network node and the central network node.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein the secure communication channel is a generic routing encapsulation tunnel or an IPSec connection.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein determining the subset of network addresses includes receiving an identifier and a size of the subset and generating a subnet mask using the identifier and the size.

9. A system comprising:

one or more processors; and

a non-transitory computer readable medium coupled to the one or more processors, the non-transitory computer readable medium including instructions that are executed by the one or more processors to perform operations including;

receiving a network address for a remote node controller at a central network node;

establishing a secure communication channel between a remote network device connected to a remote network node and the remote node controller over a public network, wherein establishing includes using the network address for the remote node controller;

receiving a network configuration for the remote network node over the secure communication channel, wherein the network configuration includes a network address allocation for the remote network device and a set of network addresses for dynamically allocating to devices connected to the remote network node, wherein the set of network addresses correspond to central network node routable addresses, wherein the received network configuration facilitates continued functioning of the remote network node when the remote node controller at the central network node is unreachable from the remote network node, and wherein network addresses from the set of network addresses are dynamically allocated when the remote node controller at the central network node is unreachable from the remote network node;

determining a subset of network addresses of the set of network addresses to reserve for a sub-network connected to the remote network node, wherein determining the subset of network addresses includes receiving a specified size and assigning a size for the subset that is a smallest integer power of two that is greater than the specified size; and

transmitting a sub-network profile to the sub-network, wherein the sub-network profile includes the subset of network addresses, and wherein receiving the sub-network profile at a sub-network access point facilitates allocation of one address of the subset of network addresses to the sub-network access point and reservation of remaining addresses of the subset of network addresses for dynamic allocation.

10. The system of claim 9, wherein the sub-network profile includes at least a starting address of the subset of network addresses and a number of hosts supported by the subset of network addresses.

11. The system of claim 9, wherein the remote network device is a remote access point for wirelessly connecting sub-network access points to the remote network node, and wherein the sub-network access point is a wireless access point for wirelessly connecting client devices to the sub-network.

12. The system of claim 9, wherein the operations further include:

transmitting a heartbeat message using the secure communication channel;

receiving a heartbeat response using the secure communication channel;

transmitting a local configuration request using the secure communication channel when the heartbeat response is different from the heartbeat message, wherein the local configuration request includes a request for updated network configuration information for the remote network node; and

receiving a local configuration response using the secure communication channel, wherein the local configuration response includes an updated network configuration for the remote network node.

13. The system of claim 9, wherein network addresses from the set of network addresses continue to be dynamically allocated when the remote node controller at the central network node is unreachable from the remote network node

14. The system of claim 9, wherein network traffic between the remote network node and the central network node is routed through the secure communication channel, and wherein the secure communication channel facilitates creation of a Layer-2 network that extends across the remote network node and the central network node.

15. The system of claim 9, wherein the secure communication channel is a generic routing encapsulation tunnel or an IPSec connection.

16. The system of claim 9, wherein determining the subset of network addresses includes receiving an identifier and a size of the subset and generating a subnet mask using the identifier and the size.

17. A non-transitory computer readable medium comprising instructions that are executed by one or more processors to perform operations including:

receiving a network address for a remote node controller at a central network node;

establishing a secure communication channel between a remote network device connected to a remote network node and the remote node controller over a public network, wherein establishing includes using the network address for the remote node controller;

receiving a network configuration for the remote network node over the secure communication channel, wherein the network configuration includes a network address allocation for the remote network device and a set of network addresses for dynamically allocating to devices connected to the remote network node, wherein the set of network addresses correspond to central network node routable addresses, wherein the received network configuration facilitates continued functioning of the remote network node when the remote node controller at the central network node is unreachable from the remote network node, and wherein network addresses from the set of network addresses are dynamically allocated when the remote node controller at the central network node is unreachable from the remote network node;

determining a subset of network addresses of the set of network addresses to reserve for a sub-network connected to the remote network node, wherein determining the subset of network addresses includes receiving a specified size and assigning a size for the subset that is a smallest integer power of two that is greater than the specified size; and

transmitting a sub-network profile to the sub-network, wherein the sub-network profile includes the subset of network addresses, and wherein receiving the sub-network profile at a sub-network access point facilitates allocation of one address of the subset of network addresses to the sub-network access point and reservation of remaining addresses of the subset of network addresses for dynamic allocation.

18. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein the sub-network profile includes at least a starting address of the subset of network addresses and a number of hosts supported by the subset of network addresses.

19. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, further comprising instructions that are executed by one or more processors to perform operations including:

transmitting a heartbeat message using the secure communication channel;

receiving a heartbeat response using the secure communication channel;

transmitting a local configuration request using the secure communication channel when the heartbeat response is different from the heartbeat message, wherein the local configuration request includes a request for updated network configuration information for the remote network node; and

receiving a local configuration response using the secure communication channel, wherein the local configuration response includes an updated network configuration for the remote network node.

20. The non-transitory computer readable medium of claim 17, wherein network addresses from the set of network addresses continue to be dynamically allocated when the remote node controller at the central network node is unreachable from the remote network node.