Systems and methods for routing VPN traffic around network distribution

• US 8,621,105 B2
• Filed: 04/25/2011
• Issued: 12/31/2013
• Est. Priority Date: 08/03/2006
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Original Assignee: Citrix Systems, Inc. (Cloud Software Group)
• Inventors: Suganthi, Josephine, He, Junxiao, Verzunov, Sergey, Shetty, Anil, Venkatraman, Charu
• Primary Examiner(s): NANO, SARGON N
• Application Number:
  US13/093,703
• Publication Number:
  US 20110222535A1
• Time in Patent Office: 981 Days
• Field of Search: 709/203, 709/225, 709/229, 709/238, 709/239
• US Class Current: 709/239
• CPC Class Codes: H04L 63/0272 Virtual private networks

Abstract

Methods for using a client agent to route client requests among a plurality of appliances using transport layer information include the steps of: establishing, by a client agent executing on a client, a first transport layer connection with a first appliance of a plurality of appliances, the first appliance providing access to one or more servers; establishing, by a client agent executing on the client, a second transport layer connection with a second appliance of a plurality of appliances, the second appliance providing access to one or more servers; intercepting, by the client agent, a packet transmitted by the client; selecting, by the client agent, one of the connections to transmit the intercepted packet based on a characteristic of at least one of: the transport layer connections, the plurality of appliances, or the servers; and transmitting the intercepted packet via the selected connection.

Claims

1. A method for using an agent to route client requests among a plurality of intermediary devices using transport layer information, the method comprising:

(a) establishing, by an agent executing on a client, a transport layer connection with each of a plurality of intermediary devices, the plurality of intermediary devices providing access to one or more services;

(b) identifying, by the agent, a characteristic for each transport layer connection of the plurality of transport layer connections;

(c) intercepting, by the agent, a packet for transmission to a server of one or more servers via an intermediary device of the plurality of intermediary devices;

(d) selecting, by the agent, a first transport layer connection to a first intermediary device based on the characteristic for each transport layer connection; and

(e) transmitting, by the client, the packet via the first transport layer connection to the first intermediary device.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein step (a) further comprises establishing, by the agent, an encrypted transport layer connection with at least one of the plurality of intermediary devices.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein step (c) comprises intercepting, by the agent, a packet transmitted by the client, wherein the interception occurs at one of the following layers of a network stack of the client:

the presentation layer, the session layer, the transport layer, or the network layer.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on a usage of the one or more servers.

5. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on a usage of one or more of the plurality of intermediary devices.

6. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on available bandwidth of each transport layer connection.

7. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on a geometric distance of the one or more servers from the client.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on a geometric distance of one or more of the plurality intermediary devices from the client.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on availability of the one or more servers.

10. A method for using an agent to route client requests among a plurality of intermediary devices, the method comprising:

(a) establishing, by an agent executing on a client, a transport layer connection with each of a plurality of intermediary devices, the plurality of intermediary devices providing access to one or more servers;

(b) identifying, by the agent, a characteristic for each intermediary device of the plurality of intermediary devices;

(c) intercepting, by the agent, a packet for transmission to a server of the one or more servers via_an intermediary device of the plurality of intermediary devices;

(d) selecting, by the agent, a first transport layer connection to a first intermediary device based on the characteristic of the first intermediary device; and

(e) transmitting, by the client, the packet via the first transport layer connection to the first intermediary device.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on a usage of the one or more servers.

12. The method of claim 10, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on a usage of one or more of the plurality of intermediary devices.

13. The method of claim 10, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on available bandwidth of each transport layer connection.

14. The method of claim 10, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on a geometric distance of the one or more servers from the client.

15. The method of claim 10, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on a geometric distance of one or more of the plurality of intermediary devices from the client.

16. The method of claim 10, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on the availability of the one or more servers.

17. A method for using an agent to route client requests among a plurality of intermediary devices, the method comprising:

(a) establishing, by an agent executing on a client, a transport layer connection with each of a plurality of intermediary devices, the plurality of intermediary devices providing access to a service provided by a plurality of servers;

(b) identifying, by the agent, a characteristic for each server of the plurality of servers accessed via the plurality of intermediary devices;

(c) intercepting, by the agent, a packet for transmission to a service via an intermediary device of the plurality of intermediary devices;

(d) selecting, by agent, a first transport layer connection to a first intermediary device based on the characteristic of a server accessed via the first intermediary device; and

(e) transmitting, by the client, the packet via the first transport layer connection to the first intermediary device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on a usage of the plurality of servers.

19. The method of claim 17, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on a usage of one or more of the plurality of intermediary devices.

20. The method of claim 17, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on available bandwidth of each transport layer connection.

21. The method of claim 17, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on a geometric distance of the plurality of servers from the client.

22. The method of claim 17, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on a geometric distance of one or more of the plurality of intermediary devices from the client.

23. The method of claim 17, wherein step (d) comprises selecting by the agent, the first transport layer connection based on availability of plurality of servers.