Pre-validation of network configuration

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11323326-B2
Application number	US-202016745282-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Jan 16, 2020
Priority date	Jan 16, 2020
Publication date	May 3, 2022
Grant date	May 3, 2022

Abstract

Example methods and systems for pre-validation of network configuration are disclosed. One example may comprise: detecting a request for network configuration to be implemented in a physical network environment; and identifying a set of physical network elements associated with the network configuration. The method may further comprise emulating the set of physical network elements to determine a physical network behaviour caused by the network configuration; and assessing validity of the network configuration based on the physical network behaviour. The set of physical network elements may be emulated using (a) multiple first physical network element emulators and (b) a second physical network element emulator that aggregates the multiple first physical network element emulators.

First claim

We claim:

1. A method for a computer system to perform pre-validation of network configuration, the method comprising:
detecting a request for network configuration to be implemented in a physical network environment;
identifying a set of physical network elements associated with the network configuration, wherein the set of physical network elements comprises a plurality of hosts arranged on a particular rack, leaf switches that provide connections to the hosts in the particular rack, and spine switches that provide connections between the leaf switches of the particular rack and leaf switches of other racks;
emulating the set of physical network elements to identify a physical network behavior associated with the network configuration, wherein the set of physical network elements is emulated using (a) multiple first physical network element emulators and (b) second physical network element emulators that each include multiple first physical network element emulators, wherein the second physical network element emulators include leaf switch emulators that emulate the leaf switches and spine switch emulators that emulate the spine switches, and wherein the first physical network element emulators include:
physical port emulators of the leaf switch emulators to support testing of protocol communication with emulated hosts; and
physical port emulators of the spine switch emulators to support testing of protocol communication between the emulated leaf switches;

based on the physical network behavior identified from the emulating, assessing validity of the network configuration to determine whether to implement the network configuration; and
in response to assessment that the network configuration is invalid, specifying a remediation action to avoid or ameliorate the physical network behavior, wherein the remediation action includes some other network configuration to be implemented in the physical network environment.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein emulating the set of physical network elements further comprises:
emulating multiple physical host ports in the physical network environment using respective multiple physical host port emulators, included amongst the multiple first physical network element emulators; and
emulating the particular host in the physical network environment using a physical host emulator, included amongst the second physical network element emulators, that aggregates the multiple physical host port emulators.

3. The method of claim 1 , wherein emulating the set of physical network elements further comprises:
emulating, using a protocol emulator, protocol implementation on at least one of (a) a particular first physical network element emulator and (b) a particular second physical network element emulator.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein assessing validity of the network configuration comprises:
assessing the network configuration to be invalid based on one or more physical network behaviors, caused by the network configuration, that include: layer-2 loop, loss of connectivity, link aggregation issue, virtual port channel (VPC) issue, fragmented layer-2 domains, switching issue, and routing issue.

5. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
in response to the assessment that the network configuration is invalid and after specifying the remediation action to avoid or ameliorate the physical network behavior, testing the other network configuration.

6. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
generating and sending a response to an orchestration system from which the request is detected, wherein the response specifies whether the network configuration is (a) valid to cause the orchestration system to implement the network configuration or (b) invalid to cause the orchestration system to disregard the request for network configuration.

7. A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium that includes a set of instructions which, in response to execution by a processor of a computer system, cause the processor to perform a method of pre-validation of network configuration, wherein the method comprises:
detecting a request for network configuration to be implemented in a physical network environment;
identifying a set of physical network elements associated with the network configuration, wherein the set of physical network elements comprises a plurality of hosts arranged on a particular rack, leaf switches that provide connections to the hosts in the particular rack, and spine switches that provide connections between the leaf switches of the particular rack and leaf switches of other racks;
emulating the set of physical network elements to identify a physical network behavior associated with the network configuration, wherein the set of physical network elements is emulated using (a) multiple first physical network element emulators and (b) second physical network element emulators that each include multiple first physical network element emulators, wherein the second physical network element emulators include leaf switch emulators that emulate the leaf switches and spine switch emulators that emulate the spine switches, and wherein the first physical network element emulators include:
physical port emulators of the leaf switch emulators to support testing of protocol communication with emulated hosts; and
physical port emulators of the spine switch emulators to support testing of protocol communication between the emulated leaf switches;

based on the physical network behavior identified from the emulating, assessing validity of the network configuration to determine whether to implement the network configuration; and
in response to assessment that the network configuration is invalid, specifying a remediation action to avoid or ameliorate the physical network behavior, wherein the remediation action includes some other network configuration to be implemented in the physical network environment.

8. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein emulating the set of physical network elements further comprises:
emulating multiple physical host ports in the physical network environment using respective multiple physical host port emulators, included amongst the multiple first physical network element emulators; and
emulating the particular host in the physical network environment using a physical host emulator, included amongst the second physical network element emulators, that aggregates the multiple physical host port emulators.

9. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein emulating the set of physical network elements further comprises:
emulating, using a protocol emulator, protocol implementation on at least one of (a) a particular first physical network element emulator and (b) a particular second physical network element emulator.

10. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein assessing validity of the network configuration comprises:
assessing the network configuration to be invalid based on one or more physical network behaviors, caused by the network configuration, that include: laye-2 loop, loss of connectivity, link aggregation issue, virtual port channel (VPC) issue, fragmented layer-2 domains, switching issue, and routing issue.

11. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the method further comprises:
in response to the assessment that the network configuration is invalid and after specifying the remediation action to avoid or ameliorate the physical network behavior, testing the other network configuration.

12. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium of claim 7 , wherein the

Assignees

• Vmware Inc

Inventors

• Kommula Raja
• Sridhar Thayumanavan

Classifications

• H04L43/20

  the monitoring system or the monitored elements being virtualised, abstracted or software-defined entities, e.g. SDN or NFV · CPC title

• H04L41/12

  Discovery or management of network topologies · CPC title

• H04L41/0895

  Configuration of virtualised networks or elements, e.g. virtualised network function or OpenFlow elements · CPC title

• H04L41/40

  using virtualisation of network functions or resources, e.g. SDN or NFV entities · CPC title

• H04L41/0869 Primary

  Validating the configuration within one network element · CPC title