Interconnection platform for real-time configuration and management of a cloud-based services exchange

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-10116499-B2
Application number	US-201815887165-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 2, 2018
Priority date	Oct 30, 2014
Publication date	Oct 30, 2018
Grant date	Oct 30, 2018

Abstract

In one example, a cloud-based services exchange comprises a plurality of interconnection assets configured to connect a customer of the cloud-based services exchange to one or more cloud service providers, the plurality of interconnection assets including a virtual circuit by which the customer accesses a cloud service from the one or more cloud service providers; and an orchestration engine configured to modify the plurality of interconnection assets.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. A method comprising:
by an interconnection platform for a cloud exchange comprising a plurality of interconnection assets located within a data center, receiving a request from an application,
wherein the data center includes respective ports of a switching fabric to which a plurality of networks connect, each of the networks comprising computing resources co-located within the data center,
wherein a first network of the networks is associated with a cloud service provider and provides at least one cloud service,
wherein a plurality of interconnection assets within the data center are configured to connect, using a first virtual circuit that comprises a path through the switching fabric of the data center, a second network of the networks with the first network associated with the cloud service provider to enable access by the second network to the at least one cloud service, and
wherein the plurality of interconnection assets are configured to connect, using a second virtual circuit that comprises a path through the switching fabric of the data center, a third network of the networks with the first network associated with the cloud service provider to enable access by the third network to the at least one cloud service; and
accessing, by the interconnection platform, a plurality of interconnection assets of the data center to satisfy the request.

2. A cloud exchange comprising:
a data center that includes respective ports of a switching fabric to which a plurality of networks connect, each of the networks comprising computing resources co-located within the data center,
wherein a first network of the networks is associated with a cloud service provider and provides at least one cloud service;
a plurality of interconnection assets within the data center,
wherein the plurality of interconnection assets are configured to connect, using a first virtual circuit that comprises a path through the switching fabric of the data center, a second network of the networks with the first network associated with the cloud service provider to enable access by the second network to the at least one cloud service, and
wherein the plurality of interconnection assets are configured to connect, using a second virtual circuit that comprises a path through the switching fabric of the data center, a third network of the networks with the first network associated with the cloud service provider to enable access by the third network to the at least one cloud service; and
an interconnection platform configured for execution by one or more computing devices and presenting a software interface configured to, in response to receipt of a request from an application, access the plurality of interconnection assets to satisfy the request.

3. The cloud exchange of claim 2 ,
wherein the interconnection assets are configured to forward the service traffic for the at least one cloud service via the port of the switching fabric to which the first network connects, and
wherein the port of the switching fabric to which the first network connects is a single port.

4. The cloud exchange of claim 2 , wherein each network of the plurality of networks has a different network address space.

5. The cloud exchange of claim 2 , wherein the software interface is configured to, in response to receipt of the request from the application, return a description of one or more of the plurality of interconnection assets.

6. The cloud exchange of claim 2 , wherein the software interface is configured to, in response to receipt of the request from the application, provision one of the first virtual circuit and the second virtual circuit, validate one of the first virtual circuit and the second virtual circuit, and confirm deletion of one of the first virtual circuit and the second virtual circuit.

7. The cloud exchange of claim 2 , wherein the software interface comprises a Representational State Transfer (RESTful) interface, and
wherein the request comprises application data that specifies an interface method and a resource identifier for an interconnection asset of the plurality of interconnection assets.

8. The cloud exchange of claim 2 , wherein the plurality of the interconnection assets include at least one of the port to which the first network connects, a location, a cloud service of the at least one cloud service, a bandwidth of the first virtual circuit, a bandwidth of the second virtual circuit, the first virtual circuit, and the second virtual circuit.

9. The cloud exchange of claim 2 , wherein the interconnection platform comprises:
a plurality of microservices configured to execute cloud exchange services; and
an orchestration engine configured to orchestrate the plurality of microservices to execute the cloud exchange services according to a workflow to satisfy the request.

10. The cloud exchange of claim 2 , wherein to access the plurality of interconnection assets to satisfy the request, the interconnection platform is configured to provision one of the first virtual circuit and the second virtual circuit.

11. The cloud exchange of claim 2 , further comprising:
a layer three (L3) autonomous system located within the data center and comprising the switching fabric,
wherein the L3 autonomous system is configured to receive, from the first network, service traffic for the at least one cloud service and for distribution to the second network and the third network;
first one or more attachment circuits configured to connect, within the data center, the first network to the L3 autonomous system;
second one or more attachment circuits configured to connect, within the data center, the second network to the L3 autonomous system; and
third one or more attachment circuits configured to connect, within the data center, the third network to the L3 autonomous system,
wherein the L3 autonomous system is configured to connect the second network with the first network by establishing a first end-to-end L3 path for the first virtual circuit between the second network with the first network, the first end-to-end L3 path including one of the first one or more attachment circuits and also including one of the second one or more attachment circuits,
wherein the L3 autonomous system is configured to connect the third network with the first network by establishing a second end-to-end L3 path for the second virtual circuit between the third network with the first network, the second end-to-end L3 path including one of the first one or more attachment circuits and also including one of the third one or more attachment circuits, and
wherein the L3 autonomous system is configured to forward the service traffic, received via the first one or more attachment circuits, along the first end-to-end L3 path and the second end-to-end L3 path, to the second one or more attachment circuits and the third one or more attachment circuits.

12. A cloud exchange comprising:
a data center that includes respective ports of a switching fabric to which a plurality of networks connect, each of the networks comprising computing resources co-located within the data center,
wherein a first network of the networks is associated with a cloud service provider and provides at least one cloud service;
a plurality of interconnection assets within the data center,
wherein the plurality of interconnection assets are configured to connect, using a first virtual circuit that comprises a path through the switching fabric of the data center, a second network of the networks with the first network associated with the cloud service provider to enable access by the second network to the at least one cloud service,
wherein the plur

Assignees

• Equinix Inc

Inventors

• Kumar Parveen
• Maheshwari Gagan
• Jeyapaul Jaganathan
• Lillie Brian J

Classifications

• H04L67/1097 Primary

  for distributed storage of data in networks, e.g. transport arrangements for network file system [NFS], storage area networks [SAN] or network attached storage [NAS] · CPC title

• G06F9/5072

  Grid computing · CPC title

• H04L67/10

  in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46) · CPC title

• H04L41/20

  Network management software packages · CPC title

• G06F8/70

  Software maintenance or management · CPC title