Zero trust data packet routing architecture

Abstract

This paper describes a technique for enforcing ZPR Policy Language (ZPL) statements using a Zero Trust Packet Routing (ZPR) architecture. Instead of being limited to perimeter-based security and defining and creating difficult-to-maintain rules, the described technique allows users to create data-centric, intent-based policies using ZPL, which are enforced at different enforcement points within one or more networks using the ZPR architecture. Depending on some configuration, one approach includes: receiving packets at an enforcement point within one or more networks that includes multiple enforcement points; accessing one or more rules associated with a policy specifying how traffic flows through that enforcement point and other enforcement points within the one or more networks, wherein the policy includes one or more Layer 4 rules and one or more Layer 7 rules; and enforcing the one or more rules associated with the policy at the enforcement point.

Description

[0001] Cross-reference to related applications

[0002] This application claims priority to U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 612,943, filed December 20, 2023, entitled “Zero Trust Packet Routing”; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 553,056, filed February 13, 2024, entitled “Zero Trust Packet Routing”; U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 633,585, filed April 12, 2024, entitled “Zero Trust Packet Routing”; and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 63 / 691,390, filed September 6, 2024, entitled “Data Protection Using Data Zones and Signaling”, the entire disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference for all purposes. Technical Field

[0003] This disclosure generally relates to the field of data security, and more specifically to a zero-trust packet routing architecture for enforcing the flow of packets through one or more networks. Background Technology

[0004] Cloud computing environments are large, complex systems comprising many different components and related products / services. Protecting data traveling to / from these cloud environments, as well as data traveling within them, can be challenging. Today, skilled network administrators / technicians create numerous rules and different policies in an attempt to protect their data and networks. Even with all these different rules and policies, a simple configuration error in a network rule / policy can expose a company's sensitive data to the public. Adding to the challenge is that rules and policies must be designed and created to enforce them at every different layer of the network stack. Furthermore, after creating and deploying rules, significant time and money can be spent keeping them up-to-date based on changing network / demands. Summary of the Invention

[0005] This disclosure generally relates to a zero-trust packet routing (ZPR) architecture that enforces ZPR policy language (ZPL) statements. The techniques described herein are not limited to perimeter-based security and defining and creating rules that are difficult to maintain, but rather allow users to use ZPL to create data-centric, intent-based policies that are enforced at different enforcement points within one or more networks using the ZPR architecture. Depending on some configuration, ZPL is used to define policy statements that specify who / what (e.g., users, computing resources) can access data, and where that data is allowed to travel within one or more networks.

[0006] In some examples, the ZPR architecture uses a zero-trust software-defined network operating on top of existing cloud infrastructure, enabling secure and policy-driven communication between clients, services, and other resources. The ZPR architecture implements the zero-trust principle, aiming to ensure authentication, authorization, and encryption of network interactions to enhance security and access control. In some examples, the network can span multiple environments, including public clouds, private data centers, and on-premises locations, providing a flexible and secure network foundation for a variety of applications and services.

[0007] Compared to previous technologies used for network security, the ZPR architecture and the use of ZPL include protections designed to be inviolable by adding new network equipment, misconfiguring data sources, or writing new policies. ZPL policy statements focus on allowing / denying access to other resources (users, compute instances, etc.) from other resources. As an example, policy statements can be as simple as "Allow the 'red' host to read 'blue' data," "Allow the 'biz-analysts' user to use the bucket in the 'Analysis' compartment," "Allow the 'Business-Analyst' user on the 'HR-Apps' host to read 'HR-App-Data' data through the corp-internal network," or "Allow the Business-Analyst user on the HR-Apps host to read any resource tagged with HR-App-Data."

[0008] Depending on the configuration, enforcing policies created using ZPL can prevent penetration of the internet (even from unmarked clients) at the network layer. In some examples, ZPL policies are evaluated first and therefore enforced before other Identity and Access Management (IAM) or networking policies, making ZPL policies unassailable. ZPL also supports denial statements that facilitate delegation of responsibilities. For example, a policy statement using ZPL can deny access, which cannot be overridden by other ZPL, IAM, or other networking policies. Other cybersecurity technologies such as Network Access Protection (NAP) and Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies cannot currently achieve this.

[0009] ZPL provides a concise and easily readable syntax, similar to sentences. Depending on the configuration, the syntax emphasizes basic names (e.g., subject, ...). <hosts> 、 <network>(...) previously had <tag>For example, policy statements created using ZPL can follow the syntax "(allow | deny)". <tag> <subject>with <attribute>on <tag>hosts with <tag>to <verb> <tag> <resource-type>with <attribute>over <tag> <network>with <tag>where<where clause> The "(allow | deny)" option specifies whether to allow or deny access to the resource. <tag>Used to identify data, resources, and users. <subject>The subject making the call (e.g., user, dynamic group, resource subject, etc.). The hosts file is a keyword for the originating device (e.g., compute instance or function) used for the call. <verb>It is a permitted metaverb (e.g., send-receive). <resource-type>It is the resource being accessed (e.g., a storage bucket or a database). <network>It is a keyword used to restrict access to only certain gateways (e.g., Service Gateway (SGW), Internet Gateway (IGW)...).

[0010] As will be discussed in more detail below, policies can be written using ZPL to control data flow by inspecting tags for users, hosts, destinations (e.g., buckets, databases, etc.) and / or networks. In some configurations, attributes can also be specified to further control data flow within one or more networks. These include attributes for data, source, host, user, destination, and network (e.g., whether mTLS is required).

[0011] Generally, any resource can be tagged with one or more tags. Examples include user, user group, computing resource, computing resource group, storage device, storage device group, and data. In some configurations, <attribute>and <subject>and <resource-type>They are used together and evaluated at L7. According to some examples, in addition to using tags to control access to data, ZPL can also be used to control access to untagged data. In this way, even if data is not tagged (e.g., within the lease), it can be protected from access from outside the lease.

[0012] The ZPR architecture does not evaluate policies at a single location, but rather includes enforcement points ("EPs") at different locations along the route between the source and destination associated with the data packets being transmitted. In some configurations, smartNICs and gateways are used as enforcement points. Other devices (physical and / or virtual) can also be used. In some examples, enforcement points are located at / near the source (e.g., checking host tags), at all / part of the network hops (e.g., checking network tags), and at the destination (such as a service / application) (e.g., a comprehensive evaluation of all tags, attributes, and context variables).

[0013] Generally, when data packets are transmitted, the enforcement point associated with the network data plane evaluates the ingress or egress rules associated with the policy. In this way, data packets are not transmitted from the enforcement point until the enforcement point evaluates the rules and determines that the policy authorizes the transmission.

[0014] In some configurations, each EP within the network(s) is associated with a unique "origin ID" that identifies the EP. According to some examples, the Virtual Cloud Network (VCN) Control Plane (DSCP) assigns an origin ID to each VNIC and gateway in the network. The VNICs and gateways tag packets with the origin ID at the first hop to indicate the packet's origin. In some configurations, if a packet traverses a gateway along the path, the gateway tags the packet with a gateway tag to identify the classification of intermediate network hops. If the packet's destination is a service, the origin ID and intermediate hop classification can be forwarded to that service for final access verification.

[0015] Depending on the configuration, the Zero Trust Access (ZTA) service includes a rules engine and a distribution engine. The rules engine is configured to interpret policies created using ZPL and generate rules for enforcement by different Enforcement Points (EPs). In some examples, the rules engine generates a mapping for each enforcement point. When a packet is received at an EP, the EP uses the mapping to determine which rules to apply.

[0016] Depending on some configuration, the distribution engine distributes rules and / or mappings to each EP. At each network hop, the EP executes the rules received from the distribution engine to ensure that packets are forwarded only along permitted paths. Furthermore, unlike existing network security policies, the ZPR architecture allows for the specification of lease-scope policies that can cross network and area boundaries.

[0017] This document describes various embodiments to illustrate various features. These embodiments include various methods, systems, non-transitory computer-readable storage media that store programs, code, or instructions executable by one or more processors, etc.

[0018] At least one embodiment relates to a computer-implemented method. Another embodiment relates to a computing device including one or more processors and instructions that, when executed by the one or more processors, cause the computing device to perform any suitable combination of the methods(one or more) disclosed herein. Yet another embodiment relates to a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer-executable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing cluster, cause the computing cluster to perform any suitable combination of the methods(one or more) disclosed herein.

[0019] The foregoing and other features and embodiments will become more apparent from the following description, claims and drawings. Attached Figure Description

[0020] To facilitate identification of any discussion of a particular element or action, one or more of the highest digits in the reference number refer to the drawing number in which the element was first introduced.

[0021] Figure 1 This is a high-level diagram illustrating a distributed environment of a virtual or overlay cloud network hosted by a cloud service provider infrastructure, according to certain embodiments.

[0022] Figure 2 A simplified architecture diagram of the physical components in the physical network within the CSPI according to certain embodiments is depicted.

[0023] Figure 3 An example arrangement within CSPI according to certain embodiments is shown, in which a host machine is connected to multiple network virtualization devices (NVDs).

[0024] Figure 4 The connectivity between the host machine and the NVD, according to certain embodiments, is described for providing I / O virtualization to support multi-tenancy.

[0025] Figure 5 A simplified block diagram of a physical network provided by CSPI according to certain embodiments is depicted.

[0026] Figure 6 This is a simplified block diagram illustrating an environment in which enforcement points are used to enforce network policies / rules in one or more networks, according to certain embodiments.

[0027] Figure 7 This is a simplified block diagram illustrating an environment in which a Zero Trust Access (ZTA) service interacts with one or more control planes and one or more data planes according to certain embodiments.

[0028] Figure 8 The illustration depicts a zero-trust network according to certain embodiments.

[0029] Figure 9 This is a simplified block diagram illustrating an environment in which rules associated with a ZPR policy are enforced at two enforcement points according to certain embodiments.

[0030] Figure 10 This is a simplified block diagram illustrating an environment that uses a ZPR strategy to access cloud-based services from a virtual network (e.g., a lease) according to certain embodiments.

[0031] Figure 11 This is a simplified block diagram illustrating an environment that uses ZPR to protect data according to certain embodiments.

[0032] Figure 12 This is a simplified block diagram illustrating an environment that uses ZPR to protect data according to certain embodiments.

[0033] Figure 13 This is a simplified block diagram of an environment, according to certain embodiments, including enforcement points for enforcing network policies / rules in one or more networks.

[0034] Figure 14 This is a simplified diagram of the syntax for defining ZPR strategies using ZPL, according to certain embodiments.

[0035] Figure 15 This is a simplified diagram of the syntax for defining ZPR strategies using ZPL, according to certain embodiments.

[0036] Figure 16 This is a simplified diagram illustrating the different components that can be included in a policy statement using ZPL according to certain embodiments.

[0037] Figure 17 The illustration shows example methods for preparing resources for enforcing the ZPR policy, based on various aspects.

[0038] Figure 18 The illustration shows an example method for zero-trust packet routing using ZPL, based on various factors.

[0039] Figure 19 The illustration shows an example method for performing ZPR at the point of sending the EP, based on various factors.

[0040] Figure 20 The illustration shows an example method for performing ZPR at the receiving EP, based on various aspects.

[0041] Figure 21 The illustration shows an example of how to evaluate ZPL policy statements and other policy statements based on various aspects.

[0042] Figure 22 This is a block diagram illustrating an example pattern of an IaaS architecture according to at least one embodiment.

[0043] Figure 23 This is a block diagram illustrating another example pattern of an IaaS architecture according to at least one embodiment.

[0044] Figure 24 This is a block diagram illustrating another example pattern of an IaaS architecture according to at least one embodiment.

[0045] Figure 25 This is a block diagram illustrating another example pattern of an IaaS architecture according to at least one embodiment.

[0046] Figure 26 This is a block diagram illustrating an example computer system according to at least one embodiment. Detailed Implementation

[0047] Previous technologies for controlling data movement over networks typically relied on perimeter-based security architectures to protect their digital assets. However, when the perimeter is breached and unprotected internal systems are accessed, devastating consequences can occur. Furthermore, cloud security controls such as firewalls, IAM processing, network access policies, and network security groups operate independently, which can be difficult to set up and maintain, and a single misconfiguration can expose sensitive data.

[0048] The technology described in this paper is not limited to perimeter-based security and the definition and creation of difficult-to-maintain rules. Instead, it allows users to create data-centric, intent-based policies using ZPL, which are enforced at different enforcement points within one or more networks using the ZPR architecture. Depending on the configuration, ZPL is used to define policy statements that specify who / what (e.g., users, computing resources) can access data, and where that data is allowed to travel within one or more networks.

[0049] In some examples, the ZPR architecture uses a zero-trust software-defined network operating on top of existing cloud infrastructure, enabling secure and policy-driven communication between clients, services, and other resources. The ZPR architecture enforces the zero-trust principle, ensuring authentication, authorization, and encryption of network interactions to enhance security and access control. In some examples, the network can span multiple environments, including public clouds, private data centers, and on-premises locations, providing a flexible and secure network foundation for a variety of applications and services.

[0050] Compared to previous technologies used for network security, the ZPR architecture and the use of ZPL include protections designed to be inviolable by adding new network equipment, misconfiguring data sources, or writing new policies. ZPL policy statements focus on allowing / denying access to other resources (users, compute instances, etc.). As examples, policy statements can be as simple as "Allow the 'Red' host to read 'Blue' data," "Allow the 'biz-analysts' user to use the bucket in the 'Analysis' compartment," and "Allow the 'Business-Analyst' user on the 'HR-Apps' host to read 'HR-App-Data' data via the corp-internal network," allowing the Business-Analyst user on the HR-Apps host to read any resource tagged with HR-App-Data.

[0051] Depending on the configuration, enforcing policies created using ZPL can prevent penetration of the internet (even from unmarked clients) at the network layer. In some examples, ZPL policies are evaluated first and therefore enforced before other Identity and Access Management (IAM) or networking policies, making ZPL policies unassailable. ZPL also supports denial statements that facilitate delegation of responsibilities. For example, a policy statement using ZPL can deny access, which cannot be overridden by other ZPL, IAM, or other networking policies. Other cybersecurity technologies such as Network Access Protection (NAP) and Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies cannot currently achieve this.

[0052] ZPL provides a concise and easily readable syntax, similar to sentences. Depending on the configuration, the syntax emphasizes basic names (e.g., subject, ...). <hosts> 、 <network>(...) previously had <tag>For example, policy statements created using ZPL can follow the syntax "(allow | deny)". <tag> <subject>with <attribute>on <tag>hosts with <tag>to <verb> <tag> <resource-type>with <attribute>over <tag> <network>with <tag>where<where clause> The "(allow | deny)" option specifies whether to allow or deny access to the resource. <tag>Used to identify data, resources, and users. <subject>The subject making the call (e.g., user, dynamic group, resource subject, etc.). The hosts file is a keyword for the originating device (e.g., compute instance or function) used for the call. <verb>It is a permitted metaverb (e.g., send-receive). <resource-type>It is the resource being accessed (e.g., a storage bucket or a database). <network>It is a keyword used to restrict access to only certain gateways (e.g., Service Gateway (SGW), Internet Gateway (IGW)...).

[0053] As will be discussed in more detail below, policies can be written using ZPL to control data flow by inspecting tags for users, hosts, destinations (e.g., buckets, databases, etc.) and / or networks. In some configurations, attributes can also be specified to further control data flow within one or more networks. These include attributes for data, source, host, user, destination, and network (e.g., whether mTLS is required).

[0054] Generally, any resource can be tagged with one or more tags. Examples include user, user group, computing resource, computing resource group, storage device, storage device group, and data. In some configurations, <attribute>and <subject>and <resource-type>They are used together and evaluated at L7. According to some examples, in addition to using tags to control access to data, ZPL can also be used to control access to untagged data. In this way, even if data is not tagged (e.g., within the lease), it can be protected from access from outside the lease.

[0055] The ZPR architecture does not evaluate policies at a single location, but rather includes enforcement points ("EPs") at different locations along the route between the source and destination associated with the packets being transmitted. In some configurations, smartNICs and gateways are used as enforcement points. Other devices (physical and / or virtual) may also be used. Depending on the configuration, some EPs (e.g., smartNICs) are configured to perform L4 processing, and other EPs (e.g., gateways) are configured to perform L4 and / or L7 processing. In other configurations, EPs may be configured to perform processing at other network layers (e.g., L1–L7).

[0056] In some examples, enforcement points are located at / near the source (e.g., checking host tags), at all / part of the network hops (e.g., checking network tags), and at the destination (such as a service / application) (e.g., a comprehensive evaluation of all tags, attributes, and context variables). Generally, when a packet is transmitted, the enforcement point associated with the network data plane evaluates the ingress or egress rules associated with the policy. In this way, packets are not transmitted from the enforcement point until the enforcement point evaluates the rules and determines that the policy authorizes the transmission.

[0057] In some configurations, each EP within the network(s) is associated with a unique "origin ID" that identifies the EP. One or more tags may also be associated with an EP. According to some examples, the Virtual Cloud Network (VCN) Control Plane (DSCP) assigns an origin ID to each VNIC and gateway in the network. The VNICs and gateways tag packets with the origin ID at the first hop to indicate the packet's origin. In some configurations, if a packet traverses a gateway along the path, the gateway tags the packet with a gateway tag to identify the classification of intermediate network hops. If the packet's destination is a service, the origin ID and intermediate hop classification can be forwarded to that service for final access verification.

[0058] Depending on the configuration, the ZTA service includes a rules engine and a distribution engine. The rules engine is configured to interpret ZPLs and generate rules for different EPs to enforce. In some examples, the rules engine can also generate a mapping for each enforcement point, which the enforcement engine can access to determine which rules to apply to different packets. Depending on the configuration, the distribution engine distributes the rules and / or mappings to each EP. When a packet is received at an EP, the EP uses the mapping to determine which rules to apply. At each network hop, the EP executes the rules received from the distribution engine to ensure that packets are forwarded only along permitted paths. Furthermore, unlike existing network security policies, the ZPR architecture allows specifying lease-scope policies that can cross network and area boundaries.

[0059] In some configurations, the syntax and references within a policy can be analyzed to detect errors even before testing / enforcing the policy. According to some examples, individual policy statements include identifiers that allow information to be returned during debugging. These identifiers can be displayed in a user interface (such as a graphical user interface) and / or along with detailed error reports. Furthermore, depending on the configuration, creating policies using ZPL includes robust debugging tools and visualizations. For example, debug mode can be used to log detailed information about which policy statements (e.g., IAM, networking, or ZPR) caused the call to fail, as well as other information about these statements. In some configurations, alert mode can be used to test new policies and / or policy statements within the network environment before enforcing them.

[0060] Example Virtual Networking Architecture

[0061] The term cloud service generally refers to services provided by a cloud service provider (CSP) to users or customers on demand (e.g., via a subscription model) using systems and infrastructure (cloud infrastructure) provided by the CSP. Typically, the servers and systems that make up the CSP's infrastructure are separate from the customer's own on-premises servers and systems. Therefore, customers can utilize cloud services provided by the CSP without having to purchase separate hardware and software resources for the service. Cloud services are designed to provide subscribers with simple, scalable access to applications and computing resources without requiring customers to invest in the infrastructure used to provide the service.

[0062] Several cloud service providers offer various types of cloud services. There are various types or models of cloud services, including Software as a Service (SaaS), Platform as a Service (PaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), etc.

[0063] A customer can subscribe to one or more cloud services provided by a CSP. A customer can be any entity, such as an individual, organization, or enterprise. When a customer subscribes to or registers for a service provided by a CSP, a lease or account is created for that customer. The customer can then access one or more cloud resources associated with that account through the subscription.

[0064] As mentioned above, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a specific type of cloud computing service. In the IaaS model, a CSP provides customers with infrastructure (called Cloud Service Provider Infrastructure or CSPI) that they can use to build their own customizable networks and deploy customer resources. Therefore, the customer's resources and network are hosted in a distributed environment by the infrastructure provided by the CSP. This differs from traditional computing, where the customer's resources and network are hosted by the infrastructure provided by the customer.

[0065] CSPI can include interconnected high-performance computing resources, including various host machines, memory resources, and network resources forming a physical network, also known as the base network or underlying network. Resources in CSPI can be distributed across one or more data centers, which may be geographically distributed across one or more geographic regions. Virtualization software can be executed by these physical resources to provide a virtualized distributed environment. Virtualization creates overlay networks (also known as software-based networks, software-defined networks, or virtual networks) on the physical network. The CSPI physical network provides the underlying foundation for creating one or more overlay or virtual networks on top of the physical network. The physical network (or base network or underlying network) includes physical network devices such as physical switches, routers, computers, and host machines. An overlay network is a logical (or virtual) network that runs on top of the physical base network. A given physical network can support one or more overlay networks. Overlay networks typically use encapsulation techniques to distinguish traffic belonging to different overlay networks. Virtual or overlay networks are also known as Virtual Cloud Networks (VCNs). Virtual networks are created using software virtualization technologies (e.g., hypervisors, virtualization functions implemented by network virtualization devices (NVDs) (e.g., smartNICs), top-of-rack (TOR) switches, intelligent TORs that implement one or more functions performed by NVDs, and other mechanisms) to create a network abstraction layer that can run on top of a physical network. Virtual networks can take many forms, including peer-to-peer networks, IP networks, etc. Virtual networks are typically Layer 3 IP networks or Layer 2 VLANs. This method of virtual or overlay networking is often referred to as virtual or overlay Layer 3 networking. Examples of protocols developed for virtual networks include IP-in-IP (or Generic Routing Encapsulation (GRE)), Virtual Extensible LAN (VXLAN—IETF RFC 7348), Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) (e.g., MPLS Layer 3 Virtual Private Network (RFC 4364)), VMware's NSX, GENEVE (Generic Network Virtualization Encapsulation), etc.

[0066] For IaaS, the infrastructure provided by a CSP (Center for Service Providers) can be configured to offer virtualized computing resources over a public network (e.g., the Internet). In the IaaS model, cloud service providers can host infrastructure components (e.g., servers, storage devices, network nodes (e.g., hardware), deployment software, platform virtualization (e.g., hypervisor layer), etc.). In some cases, IaaS providers can also provision various services accompanying those infrastructure components (e.g., billing, monitoring, logging, security, load balancing, and clustering, etc.). Therefore, since these services can be policy-driven, IaaS users can implement policies to drive load balancing to maintain application availability and performance. CSPI provides infrastructure and a complementary set of cloud services, enabling customers to build and run a wide range of applications and services in a highly available, hosted, distributed environment. CSPI provides high-performance computing resources and capabilities, as well as storage capacity, in a flexible virtual network securely accessible from various networked locations, such as the customer's on-premises network. When a customer subscribes to or enrolls in an IaaS service provided by a CSP, the lease created for that customer is a secure and isolated partition within the CSP, where the customer can create, organize, and manage their cloud resources.

[0067] Customers can build their own virtual networks using the compute, storage, and networking resources provided by CSPI. One or more customer resources or workloads, such as compute instances, can be deployed on these virtual networks. For example, a customer can use resources provided by CSPI to build one or more customizable and private virtual networks, called Virtual Cloud Networks (VCNs). A customer can deploy one or more customer resources, such as compute instances, on a customer VCN. Compute instances can take the form of virtual machines, bare metal instances, etc. Therefore, CSPI provides the infrastructure and a complementary set of cloud services that enable customers to build and run a wide range of applications and services in a highly available, virtually managed environment. Customers do not manage or control the underlying physical resources provided by CSPI, but they have control over the operating system, storage, and deployed applications; and possibly limited control over chosen networking components, such as firewalls.

[0068] The CSP can provide a console that enables customers and network administrators to configure, access, and manage resources deployed in the cloud using CSPI resources. In some embodiments, the console provides a web-based user interface that can be used to access and manage the CSPI. In other embodiments, the console is a web-based application provided by the CSP.

[0069] CSPI can support single-tenant or multi-tenant architectures. In a single-tenant architecture, software (e.g., applications, databases) or hardware components (e.g., host machines or servers) serve a single customer or tenant. In a multi-tenant architecture, the software or hardware components serve multiple customers or tenants. Therefore, in a multi-tenant architecture, CSPI resources are shared among multiple customers or tenants. In a multi-tenant scenario, precautions and safeguards are implemented in CSPI to ensure that each tenant's data is isolated and invisible to other tenants.

[0070] In a physical network, a network endpoint is a computing device or system that connects to and communicates with the physical network. Network endpoints in a physical network can connect to a Local Area Network (LAN), a Wide Area Network (WAN), or other types of physical networks. Examples of traditional endpoints in a physical network include modems, hubs, bridges, switches, routers and other networking devices, physical computers (or host machines), etc. Each physical device in a physical network has a fixed network address that can be used to communicate with the device. This fixed network address can be a Layer 2 address (e.g., a MAC address), a fixed Layer 3 address (e.g., an IP address), etc. In a virtualized environment or virtual network, endpoints can include various virtual endpoints, such as virtual machines hosted by components of the physical network (e.g., hosted by physical host machines). These endpoints in a virtual network are addressed using overlay addresses, such as overlay Layer 2 addresses (e.g., overlay MAC addresses) and overlay Layer 3 addresses (e.g., overlay IP addresses). Network overlays enable flexibility by allowing network administrators to move around the overlay addresses associated with network endpoints using software management (e.g., via software implementing a control plane for virtual networks). Therefore, unlike physical networks, in virtual networks, overlay addresses (e.g., overlay IP addresses) can be moved from one endpoint to another using network management software. Since virtual networks are built on top of physical networks, communication between components within a virtual network involves both the virtual network and the underlying physical network. To facilitate this communication, CSPI components are configured to learn and store mappings that map overlay addresses in the virtual network to actual physical addresses in the base network, and vice versa. These mappings are then used to facilitate communication. Client traffic is encapsulated to facilitate routing within the virtual network.

[0071] Therefore, physical addresses (e.g., physical IP addresses) are associated with components in a physical network, and overlay addresses (e.g., overlay IP addresses) are associated with entities in a virtual or overlay network. A physical IP address is an IP address associated with a physical device (e.g., a network device) in the underlying or physical network. For example, each NVD has an associated physical IP address. An overlay IP address is an overlay address associated with an entity in an overlay network, such as an overlay address associated with a compute instance in a customer's Virtual Cloud Network (VCN). Two different customers or tenants (each with its own private VCN) can potentially use the same overlay IP address in their VCNs without knowing about each other. Both physical IP addresses and overlay IP addresses are types of real IP addresses. These addresses are separate from virtual IP addresses. A virtual IP address is typically a single IP address that represents or maps to multiple real IP addresses. A virtual IP address provides a one-to-many mapping between virtual IP addresses and multiple real IP addresses. For example, a load balancer can use a VIP to map or represent multiple servers, each with its own real IP address.

[0072] Cloud infrastructure, or CSPI, is physically hosted in one or more data centers in one or more regions of the world. CSPI may include components in the physical or underlying network and virtualized components (e.g., virtual networks, compute instances, virtual machines, etc.) in virtual networks built on top of the physical network components. In some embodiments, CSPI is organized and hosted in domains, regions, and availability domains. A region is typically a localized geographical area containing one or more data centers. Regions are generally independent of each other and can be geographically distant, for example, spanning countries or even continents. For example, one region might be in Australia, another in Japan, another in India, and so on. CSPI resources are partitioned between regions, such that each region has its own independent subset of CSPI resources. Each region can provide a set of core infrastructure services and resources, such as compute resources (e.g., bare metal servers, virtual machines, containers, and related infrastructure); storage resources (e.g., block volume storage, file storage, object storage, archive storage); networking resources (e.g., virtual cloud networks (VCNs), load balancing resources, connections to on-premises networks), database resources; edge networking resources (e.g., DNS); and access management and monitoring resources, etc. Each region typically has multiple paths connecting it to other regions within the domain.

[0073] Generally, applications are deployed in the areas where they are used most frequently (i.e., on the infrastructure associated with that area) because using nearby resources is faster than using resources far away. Applications may also be deployed in different areas for various reasons, such as redundancy to mitigate the risk of events within a region (such as large weather systems or earthquakes), or to meet different requirements such as legal jurisdiction, tax domain, and other business or social standards.

[0074] Data centers within a region can be further organized and subdivided into Availability Domains (ADs). An Availability Domain can correspond to one or more data centers located within the region. A region can consist of one or more Availability Domains. In this distributed environment, CSPI resources are either region-specific, such as Virtual Cloud Networks (VCNs), or Availability Domain-specific, such as compute instances.

[0075] Availability Zones (ADs) within a region are isolated from each other, fault-tolerant, and configured to make simultaneous failures highly unlikely. This is achieved by ensuring that ADs do not share critical infrastructure resources (such as networking, physical cabling, cable paths, cable entry points, etc.), making a failure at one AD within a region unlikely to affect the availability of other ADs in the same region. ADs within the same region can be interconnected via low-latency, high-bandwidth networks, enabling highly available connectivity to other networks (e.g., the internet, customer on-premises networks, etc.) and allowing for replication systems across multiple ADs to achieve both high availability and disaster recovery. Cloud services use multiple ADs to ensure high availability and prevent resource failures. As the infrastructure provided by the IaaS provider grows, more regions and ADs, along with additional capacity, can be added. Traffic between availability domains is typically encrypted.

[0076] In some embodiments, regions are grouped into domains. A domain is a logical collection of regions. Domains are isolated from each other and do not share any data. Regions within the same domain can communicate with each other, but regions in different domains cannot. A customer's lease or account with the CSP resides in a single domain and can be distributed across one or more regions belonging to that domain. Typically, when a customer subscribes to an IaaS service, a lease or account is created for that customer in a region within the domain that the customer designates (called the "primary" region). A customer can extend their lease to one or more other regions within the domain. A customer cannot access regions that are not within the domain where their lease resides.

[0077] IaaS providers can offer multiple domains, each catering to the needs of a specific set of customers or users. For example, a business domain can be offered for business customers. As another example, a domain can be offered for customers within a specific country. Yet another example, a government domain can be offered for governments, and so on. For instance, a government domain can meet the needs of a specific government and may offer a higher level of security than a business domain. For example, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) currently offers domains for its business region and two domains for its government cloud region (e.g., FedRAMP licensed and IL5 licensed).

[0078] In some embodiments, an Active Directory (AD) can be subdivided into one or more fault domains. A fault domain is a grouping of infrastructure resources within an AD to provide anti-affinity. Fault domains allow for the distribution of compute instances such that these instances do not reside on the same physical hardware within a single AD. This is known as anti-affinity. A fault domain refers to a group of hardware components (computers, switches, etc.) that share a single point of failure. Compute pools are logically divided into fault domains. Therefore, a hardware failure or compute hardware maintenance event affecting one fault domain does not affect instances in other fault domains. Depending on the embodiment, the number of fault domains per AD can vary. For example, in some embodiments, each AD contains three fault domains. Fault domains act as logical data centers within the AD.

[0079] When a customer subscribes to IaaS services, resources from CSPI are provisioned to the customer and associated with the customer's lease. Customers can use these provisioned resources to build private networks and deploy resources on these networks. Customer networks hosted in the cloud by CSPI are called Virtual Cloud Networks (VCNs). Customers can use the CSPI resources allocated to them to establish one or more VCNs. A VCN is a virtual or software-defined private network. Customer resources deployed in a customer's VCN can include compute instances (e.g., virtual machines, bare metal instances) and other resources. These compute instances can represent various customer workloads, such as applications, load balancers, databases, etc. Compute instances deployed on a VCN can communicate with publicly accessible endpoints ("public endpoints") via public networks (such as the Internet), with other instances in the same VCN or other VCNs (e.g., other VCNs belonging to the customer or VCNs not belonging to the customer), with the customer's on-premises data center or network, and with service endpoints and other types of endpoints.

[0080] CSPs can use CSPIs to provide various services. In some cases, CSPI clients can act as service providers themselves and use CSPI resources to provide services. Service providers can expose service endpoints characterized by identification information such as IP addresses, DNS names, and ports. Client resources (e.g., compute instances) can access a specific service by visiting the service endpoints exposed by the service for that specific service. These service endpoints are generally publicly accessible to users via public communication networks such as the Internet using the public IP addresses associated with the endpoints. Publicly accessible network endpoints are sometimes also called public endpoints.

[0081] In some embodiments, a service provider may expose the service via an endpoint used for the service (sometimes referred to as a service endpoint). Customers of the service can then use this service endpoint to access the service. In some implementations, the service endpoint provided for the service can be accessed by multiple customers intending to consume the service. In other implementations, a dedicated service endpoint can be provided to a customer, so that only that customer can use that dedicated service endpoint to access the service.

[0082] In some embodiments, when a VCN is created, it is associated with a Private Overlay Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) address space, which is a set of private overlay IP addresses (e.g., 10.0 / 16) assigned to the VCN. The VCN includes associated subnets, routing tables, and gateways. A VCN resides within a single area but can span one or more of the availability domains within that area. A gateway is a virtual interface configured for the VCN and enables traffic to and from the VCN to one or more endpoints outside the VCN. One or more different types of gateways can be configured for the VCN to enable communication to and from different types of endpoints.

[0083] A VCN can be subdivided into one or more subnets, such as one or more subnets. Therefore, a subnet is a configurable unit or subdivision that can be created within a VCN. A VCN can have one or more subnets. Each subnet within a VCN is associated with a contiguous range of overlay IP addresses (e.g., 10.0.0.0 / 24 and 10.0.1.0 / 24), which do not overlap with other subnets within that VCN and represent a subset of the VCN's address space.

[0084] Each compute instance is associated with a Virtual Network Interface Card (VNIC), which enables the compute instance to participate in subnets within a VCN. A VNIC is the logical representation of a physical network interface card (NIC). Generally, a VNIC is the interface between an entity (e.g., a compute instance, a service) and a virtual network. A VNIC exists within a subnet and has one or more associated IP addresses, along with associated security rules or policies. A VNIC is equivalent to a Layer 2 port on a switch. A VNIC is attached to both the compute instance and the subnet within the VCN. The VNIC associated with a compute instance enables the compute instance to be part of a VCN's subnet and allows the compute instance to communicate (e.g., send and receive packets) with endpoints on the same subnet as the compute instance, with endpoints in different subnets within the VCN, or with endpoints outside the VCN. Therefore, the VNIC associated with a compute instance determines how the compute instance connects to endpoints inside and outside the VCN. When a compute instance is created and added to a subnet within a VCN, a VNIC is created for the compute instance and associated with that compute instance. For a subnet that includes a set of compute instances, the subnet contains a VNIC corresponding to that set of compute instances, and each VNIC is attached to a compute instance within that set of compute instances.

[0085] A private overlay IP address is assigned to each compute instance via the VNIC associated with it. This private overlay network IP address is assigned to the VNIC associated with the compute instance when the compute instance is created and is used to route traffic to and from the compute instance. All VNICs within a given subnet use the same routing table, security list, and DHCP options. As described above, each subnet within a VCN is associated with a contiguous range of overlay IP addresses (e.g., 10.0.0.0 / 24 and 10.0.1.0 / 24) that do not overlap with other subnets within that VCN and represent a subset of the address space within the VCN's address space. For a VNIC on a specific subnet of a VCN, the private overlay IP address assigned to that VNIC is an address derived from the contiguous range of overlay IP addresses allocated to the subnet.

[0086] In some embodiments, in addition to a private overlay IP address, a compute instance may optionally be assigned additional overlay IP addresses, such as one or more public IP addresses, for example, if in a public subnet. These multiple addresses are assigned either on the same VNIC or on multiple VNICs associated with the compute instance. However, each instance has a primary VNIC, which is created during instance startup and associated with the overlay private IP address assigned to that instance—this primary VNIC cannot be deleted. Additional VNICs, called secondary VNICs, can be added to an existing instance in the same availability domain as the primary VNIC. All VNICs are in the same availability domain as the instance. The secondary VNIC can be located in a subnet within the same VCN as the primary VNIC, or in a different subnet within the same VCN or different VCNs.

[0087] If a compute instance is in a public subnet, it can optionally be assigned a public IP address. When creating a subnet, it can be specified as either a public or private subnet. A private subnet means that resources within the subnet (such as compute instances) and associated VNICs cannot have public overriding IP addresses. A public subnet means that resources within the subnet and associated VNICs can have public IP addresses. Customers can specify that a subnet exists within a single availability domain or across multiple availability domains in a region or domain.

[0088] As described above, a VCN can be subdivided into one or more subnets. In some embodiments, a virtual router (VR) configured for a VCN (referred to as a VCN VR or simply VR) enables communication between the subnets of the VCN. For a subnet within a VCN, the VR represents a logical gateway for that subnet, enabling that subnet (i.e., compute instances on that subnet) to communicate with endpoints on other subnets within the VCN as well as with other endpoints outside the VCN. The VCN VR is a logical entity configured to route traffic between the VNIC within the VCN and the virtual gateway ("gateway") associated with the VCN. The following section discusses... Figure 1 Further description of the gateway. A VCN VR is a Layer 3 / IP layer concept. In one embodiment, there exists a VCN VR for a VCN, where the VCN VR potentially has an unlimited number of ports addressable via IP addresses, one port for each subnet of the VCN. In this way, the VCN VR has a different IP address for each subnet within the VCN to which the VCN VR is attached. The VR also connects to various gateways configured for the VCN. In some embodiments, a specific overlay IP address within the overlay IP address range for a subnet is reserved for the port of the VCN VR for that subnet. For example, consider a VCN with two subnets, associated with address ranges 10.0 / 16 and 10.1 / 16. For the first subnet in the VCN with an address range of 10.0 / 16, addresses within this range are reserved for the port of the VCN VR for that subnet. In some cases, the first IP address within the range can be reserved for the VCN VR. For example, for a subnet covering the IP address range of 10.0 / 16, the IP address 10.0.0.1 could be reserved for the port of the VCN VR for that subnet. For a second subnet within the same VCN with an address range of 10.1 / 16, the VCN VR can have a port with IP address 10.1.0.1 for the second subnet. The VCN VR has a different IP address for each subnet within the VCN.

[0089] In some other embodiments, each subnet within a VCN may have its own associated VR, which can be addressed by the subnet using a reserved or default IP address associated with the VR. For example, the reserved or default IP address may be the first IP address in the range of IP addresses associated with the subnet. The VNIC in the subnet can use this default or reserved IP address to communicate with the VR associated with the subnet (e.g., send and receive data packets). In this embodiment, the VR is the ingress / egress point of the subnet. The VR associated with a subnet within the VCN can communicate with other VRs associated with other subnets within the VCN. The VR can also communicate with the gateway associated with the VCN. The VR functionality of the subnet runs on or is performed by one or more NVDs that perform the VNIC functionality of the VNICs in the subnet.

[0090] You can configure routing tables, security rules, and DHCP options for a VCN. A routing table is a virtual routing table used by the VCN and contains rules that route traffic from subnets within the VCN to destinations outside the VCN via gateways or specially configured instances. You can customize the VCN's routing table to control how packets are forwarded / routed to and from the VCN. DHCP options refer to configuration information automatically provided to the instance when it starts up.

[0091] Security rules configured for a VCN represent overlay firewall rules used by the VCN. Security rules can include ingress and egress rules, specifying the types of traffic allowed to enter and exit instances within the VCN (e.g., based on protocol and port). Clients can choose whether a given rule is stateful or stateless. For example, a client can allow incoming SSH traffic from anywhere to a set of instances by setting a stateful ingress rule with source CIDR 0.0.0.0 / 0 and destination TCP port 22. Security rules can be implemented using network security groups or security lists. A network security group consists of a set of security rules that apply only to resources within that group. A security list, on the other hand, includes rules applicable to all resources in any subnet using that security list. A default security list with default security rules can be provided to the VCN. DHCP options configured for the VCN provide configuration information that is automatically provided to instances within the VCN when the instance starts.

[0092] In some embodiments, configuration information for a VCN is determined and stored by the VCN control plane. For example, configuration information for a VCN may include information about: the address range associated with the VCN, subnets and associated information within the VCN, one or more VRs associated with the VCN, compute instances and associated VNICs within the VCN, NVDs (e.g., VNICs, VRs, gateways) that perform various virtualization network functions associated with the VCN, status information for the VCN, and other VCN-related information. In some embodiments, a VCN distribution service publishes the configuration information or portions thereof stored by the VCN control plane to the NVD. The distributed information can be used to update information stored by the NVD and used to forward data packets to and from compute instances within the VCN (e.g., forwarding tables, routing tables, etc.).

[0093] In some embodiments, the creation of VCNs and subnets is handled by the VCN control plane (CP), and the initiation of compute instances is handled by the compute control plane. The compute control plane is responsible for allocating physical resources to the compute instances and then invoking the VCN control plane to create VNICs and attach them to the compute instances. The VCN CP also sends VCN data maps to the VCN data plane, which is configured to perform packet forwarding and routing functions. In some embodiments, the VCN CP provides a distribution service responsible for providing updates to the VCN data plane. Examples of VCN control planes are also available in... Figure 22 , Figure 23 , Figure 24 and Figure 25 (See reference numerals 2216, 2316, 2416 and 2516) which depict it and describe it below.

[0094] Customers can create one or more VCNs using resources hosted by CSPI. Compute instances deployed on a customer's VCN can communicate with different endpoints. These endpoints can include endpoints hosted by CSPI and endpoints outside of CSPI.

[0095] Various architectures are used to implement cloud-based services using CSPI. Figure 1 , Figure 2 , Figure 3 , Figure 4 , Figure 5 It is depicted in the text and described below. Figure 1 This is a high-level diagram of a distributed environment 100, illustrating an overlay or client VCN hosted by CSPI according to certain embodiments. Figure 1 The distributed environment described includes multiple components in the overlay network. Figure 1 The distributed environment 100 depicted herein is merely an example and is not intended to unduly limit the scope of the claimed embodiments. Many variations, alternatives, and modifications are possible. For example, in some implementations, Figure 1 The distributed environment described in the text can have more than Figure 1 The more or fewer systems or components shown may be combined into two or more systems, or may have different system configurations or arrangements.

[0096] like Figure 1 As illustrated in the example, distributed environment 100 includes a CSPI 101 that provides services and resources that customers can subscribe to and use to build their Virtual Cloud Network (VCN). In some embodiments, CSPI 101 provides IaaS services to subscribing customers. Data centers within CSPI 101 can be organized into one or more regions. Figure 1 The example shown is a region "Region US" 102. The customer has already configured customer VCN 104 for region 102. The customer can deploy various compute instances on VCN 104, which can include virtual machines or bare metal instances. Examples of instances include applications, databases, load balancers, etc.

[0097] exist Figure 1 In the embodiment depicted, customer VCN 104 includes two subnets, namely "subnet-1" and "subnet-2", each with its own CIDR IP address range. Figure 1 In this configuration, subnet-1 covers the IP address range of 10.0 / 16, and subnet-2 covers the address range of 10.1 / 16. VCN Virtual Router 105 represents a logical gateway for the VCN, enabling communication between subnets within VCN 104 and with other endpoints outside the VCN. VCN VR 105 is configured to route traffic between the VNICs within VCN 104 and the gateway associated with VCN 104. VCN VR 105 provides a port for each subnet of VCN 104. For example, VR 105 could provide a port with IP address 10.0.0.1 for subnet-1 and a port with IP address 10.1.0.1 for subnet-2.

[0098] Multiple compute instances can be deployed on each subnet, where compute instances can be virtual machine instances and / or bare metal instances. Compute instances within a subnet can be hosted by one or more host machines within CSPI 101. Compute instances participate in the subnet via a VNIC associated with the compute instance. For example, as... Figure 1 As shown, compute instance C1 becomes part of subnet-1 via the VNIC associated with it. Similarly, compute instance C2 becomes part of subnet-1 via the VNIC associated with it. In a similar manner, multiple compute instances (which can be virtual machine instances or bare metal instances) can be part of subnet-1. Each compute instance is assigned a private overlay IP address and MAC address via its associated VNIC. For example, in... Figure 1 In this context, compute instance C1 has an overlay IP address of 10.0.0.2 and a MAC address of M1, while compute instance C2 has a private overlay IP address of 10.0.0.3 and a MAC address of M2. Each compute instance in subnet-1 (including compute instances C1 and C2) has a default route to VCN VR 105 using IP address 10.0.0.1, which is the IP address of the port used by VCN VR 105 in subnet-1.

[0099] Multiple compute instances, including virtual machine instances and / or bare metal instances, can be deployed on subnet-2. For example, such as Figure 1 As shown, compute instances D1 and D2 become part of subnet-2 via the VNIC associated with the respective compute instance. Figure 1 In the illustrated embodiment, compute instance D1 has an overlay IP address of 10.1.0.2 and a MAC address of MM1, while compute instance D2 has a private overlay IP address of 10.1.0.3 and a MAC address of MM2. Each compute instance in subnet-2 (including compute instances D1 and D2) has a default route to VCN VR 105 using IP address 10.1.0.1, which is the IP address of the port of VCN VR105 in subnet-2.

[0100] VCN A 104 may also include one or more load balancers. For example, a load balancer can be provided for a subnet, and the load balancer can be configured to load balance traffic across multiple compute instances on the subnet. Load balancers can also be provided to load balance traffic across subnets within a VCN.

[0101] A specific compute instance deployed on VCN 104 can communicate with a variety of different endpoints. These endpoints can include endpoints hosted by CSPI 200 and endpoints outside of CSPI 200. Endpoints hosted by CSPI 101 can include: endpoints on the same subnet as the specific compute instance (e.g., communication between two compute instances in subnet-1); endpoints on different subnets but within the same VCN (e.g., communication between a compute instance in subnet-1 and a compute instance in subnet-2); endpoints in different VCNs within the same region (e.g., communication between a compute instance in subnet-1 and endpoints in VCNs in the same region 106 or 110, or communication between a compute instance in subnet-1 and endpoints in service network 110 within the same region); or endpoints in VCNs in different regions (e.g., communication between a compute instance in subnet-1 and endpoints in VCNs in different regions 108). Compute instances in subnets hosted by CSPI 101 can also communicate with endpoints not hosted by CSPI 101 (i.e., outside of CSPI 101). These external endpoints include endpoints in the customer’s on-premises network 116, endpoints in other remote cloud-hosted networks 118, public endpoints 114 that are accessible via public networks such as the Internet, and other endpoints.

[0102] VNICs associated with source and destination compute instances facilitate communication between compute instances on the same subnet. For example, compute instance C1 in subnet-1 might want to send a packet to compute instance C2 in subnet-1. For a packet originating from the source compute instance and destined for another compute instance in the same subnet, the packet is first processed by the VNIC associated with the source compute instance. The processing performed by the VNIC associated with the source compute instance may include determining the packet's destination information from the packet header, identifying any policies (e.g., security lists) configured for the VNIC associated with the source compute instance, determining the packet's next hop, performing any packet encapsulation / decapsulation functions as needed, and then forwarding / routing the packet to the next hop to facilitate communication to its intended destination. When the destination compute instance is in the same subnet as the source compute instance, the VNIC associated with the source compute instance is configured to identify the VNIC associated with the destination compute instance and forward the packet to that VNIC for processing. The VNIC associated with the destination compute instance then performs the forwarding and forwarding of the packet to the destination compute instance.

[0103] For data packets to be transmitted from a compute instance in a subnet to an endpoint in a different subnet within the same VCN, communication is facilitated by the VNIC associated with the source and destination compute instances, as well as the VCN VR. For example, if Figure 1 If compute instance C1 in subnet-1 wants to send a data packet to compute instance D1 in subnet-2, the packet is first processed by the VNIC associated with compute instance C1. The VNIC associated with compute instance C1 is configured to route the packet to VCN VR 105 using the default route or port 10.0.0.1 of the VCN VR. VCN VR 105 is configured to route the packet to subnet-2 using port 10.1.0.1. Then, the VNIC associated with D1 receives and processes the packet and forwards it to compute instance D1.

[0104] For data packets to be transmitted from a compute instance in VCN 104 to an endpoint outside VCN 104, communication is facilitated by the VNIC associated with the source compute instance, VCN VR 105, and the gateway associated with VCN 104. One or more types of gateways can be associated with VCN 104. A gateway is an interface between a VCN and another endpoint located outside the VCN. A gateway is a Layer 3 / IP concept and enables a VCN to communicate with endpoints outside the VCN. Therefore, a gateway facilitates traffic flow between a VCN and other VCNs or networks. Various different types of gateways can be configured for a VCN to facilitate different types of communication with different types of endpoints. Depending on the gateway, communication can be conducted over a public network (e.g., the Internet) or over a private network. Various communication protocols can be used for these communications.

[0105] For example, compute instance C1 might want to communicate with an endpoint outside of VCN 104. The data packet can first be processed by the VNIC associated with the source compute instance C1. The VNIC processing determines that the packet's destination is outside C1's subnet-1. The VNIC associated with C1 can then forward the packet to VCN VR 105 for VCN 104. VCN VR 105 then processes the packet and, as part of the processing, determines the specific gateway associated with VCN 104 as the next hop for the packet based on its destination. VCN VR 105 can then forward the packet to the identified specific gateway. For example, if the destination is an endpoint within a customer's on-premises network, the packet can be forwarded by VCN VR 105 to the Dynamic Routing Gateway (DRG) gateway 122 configured for VCN 104. The packet can then be forwarded from the gateway to the next hop to facilitate delivery to its final intended destination.

[0106] Various types of gateways can be configured for a VCN. Examples of gateways that can be configured for a VCN are available in [link to example]. Figure 1 It is depicted in the diagram and described below. An example of a gateway associated with a VCN is also included. Figure 22 , Figure 23 , Figure 24 and Figure 25 The gateways described herein (e.g., those referenced by reference numerals 2234, 2236, 2238, 2334, 2336, 2338, 2434, 2436, 2438, 2534, 2536, and 2538) are described below. Figure 1 As illustrated in the embodiments depicted, a Dynamic Routing Gateway (DRG) 122 can be added to or associated with a customer VCN 104 and provides a path for private network traffic communication between the customer VCN 104 and another endpoint, which can be the customer's on-premises network 116, a VCN 108 in a different region of CSPI 101, or another remote cloud network 118 not hosted by CSPI 101. The customer's on-premises network 116 can be a customer network or customer data center built using the customer's resources. Access to the customer's on-premises network 116 is generally very restricted. For customers who have both an on-premises network 116 and one or more VCNs 104 deployed or hosted in the cloud by CSPI 101, the customer may want their on-premises network 116 and their cloud-based VCN 104 to be able to communicate with each other. This allows customers to build extended hybrid environments encompassing the customer's VCN 104 hosted by CSPI 101 and their on-premises network 116. DRG 122 enables this communication. To enable this type of communication, a communication channel 124 is established, with one endpoint located in the customer's on-premises network 116 and the other endpoint located in CSPI 101 and connected to the customer's VCN 104. Communication channel 124 can be transmitted over public or private communication networks. Various communication protocols can be used, such as IPsec VPN technology over public networks (such as the Internet), Oracle's FastConnect technology using a private network instead of a public network, etc. The device or equipment forming one endpoint of communication channel 124 in the customer's on-premises network 116 is referred to as customer premises equipment (CPE), such as... Figure 1 The CPE 126 is depicted in the diagram. On the CSPI 101 side, the endpoint can be the host machine executing DRG 122.

[0107] In some embodiments, a remote peering connection (RPC) can be added to the DRG, which allows a customer to peer one VCN with another VCN in a different region. Using such an RPC, customer VCN 104 can use DRG 122 to connect to VCN 108 in another region. DRG 122 can also be used to communicate with other remote cloud networks 118 not hosted by CSPI 101, such as Microsoft Azure Cloud, Amazon AWS Cloud, etc.

[0108] like Figure 1 As shown, an Internet Gateway (IGW) 120 can be configured for customer VCN 104, enabling compute instances on VCN 104 to communicate with a public endpoint 114 accessible via a public network, such as the Internet. IGW 120 is a gateway connecting the VCN to a public network, such as the Internet. IGW 120 enables public subnets within the VCN (such as VCN 104), where resources have publicly overridden IP addresses, to directly access a public endpoint 112 on the public network 114 (such as the Internet). Using IGW 120, connections can be initiated from subnets within VCN 104 or from the Internet.

[0109] Network Address Translation (NAT) gateway 128 can be configured for a customer's VCN 104, enabling cloud resources within the customer's VCN that do not have dedicated public overlay IP addresses to access the Internet, and it does so without exposing those resources to directly incoming Internet connections (e.g., L4-L7 connections). This allows private subnets within the VCN (such as private subnet-1 in VCN 104) to privately access public endpoints on the Internet. In a NAT gateway, connections can only be initiated from a private subnet to the public Internet, and not from the Internet to a private subnet.

[0110] In some embodiments, a Service Gateway (SGW) 126 may be configured for a customer's VCN 104 and provide a path for private network traffic between VCN 104 and service endpoints supported in Service Network 110. In some embodiments, Service Network 110 may be provided by a CSP and may offer a variety of services. An example of such a service network is Oracle's service network, which provides a variety of services available to customers. For example, compute instances (e.g., database systems) in a private subnet of customer VCN 104 may back up data to service endpoints (e.g., object storage) without requiring a public IP address or access to the Internet. In some embodiments, a VCN may have only one SGW, and connections may only originate from subnets within the VCN, not from Service Network 110. If a VCN is peered to another, resources in the other VCN typically cannot access the SGW. Resources in an on-premises network connected to a VCN using FastConnect or VPN Connect may also use the Service Gateway configured for that VCN.

[0111] In some implementations, the SGW 126 uses the concept of a Service Classless Inter-Domain Routing (CIDR) label, which is a string representing the range of all regional public IP addresses used for the service or group of services of interest. Customers use the Service CIDR label when configuring the SGW and associated routing rules to control traffic to the service. Customers can optionally use it when configuring security rules without needing to adjust the security rules if the public IP addresses of the service change in the future.

[0112] Local peering gateway (LPG) 132 is a gateway that can be added to customer VCN 104 and enable VCN 104 to peer with another VCN in the same area. Peering refers to VCNs communicating using private IP addresses without traffic traversing public networks (such as the Internet) or routing traffic through the customer's on-premises network 116. In a preferred embodiment, a VCN has a separate LPG for each peering it establishes. Local peering, or VCN peering, is a common practice for establishing network connectivity between different applications or infrastructure management functions.

[0113] Service providers (such as service providers in service network 110) can offer access to services using different access models. Under the public access model, a service can be exposed as a public endpoint accessible to compute instances within a customer's VCN via a public network (such as the Internet), and / or privately accessible via SGW 126. Under a specific private access model, a service can be accessed as a private IP endpoint within a private subnet of the customer's VCN. This is called Private Endpoint (PE) access and enables service providers to expose their services as instances within the customer's private network. A private endpoint resource represents a service within the customer's VCN. Each PE is represented as a VNIC (called a PE-VNIC, with one or more private IPs) within the customer's VCN in a subnet chosen by the customer. Thus, the PE provides a way to present services within a private customer VCN subnet using the VNIC. Because the endpoint is exposed as a VNIC, all features associated with the VNIC (such as routing rules, security lists, etc.) are now available to the PE VNIC.

[0114] Service providers can register their services to enable access via a Virtual Private Server (PE). Providers can associate policies with services, which restricts the visibility of services to customer leases. Providers can register multiple services under a single Virtual IP address (VIP), especially for multi-tenant services. Multiple such private endpoints (across multiple VCNs) can represent the same service.

[0115] Compute instances in a private subnet can then access the service using the private IP address or service DNS name of the PE VNIC. Compute instances in a customer VCN can access the service by sending traffic to the private IP address of the PE in the customer VCN. A Private Access Gateway (PAGW) 130 is a gateway resource that can be attached to a service provider VCN (e.g., a VCN in service network 110), which acts as the ingress / egress point for all traffic originating from / to the private endpoint of the customer subnet. PAGW 130 enables providers to scale the number of PE connections without utilizing their internal IP address resources. Providers only need to configure one PAGW for any number of services registered in a single VCN. Providers can represent services as private endpoints in multiple VCNs of one or more customers. From the customer's perspective, the PE VNIC is not an instance attached to the customer, but rather appears to be attached to the service that the customer wishes to interact with. Traffic to the private endpoint is routed to the service via PAGW 130. These are referred to as customer-to-service private connections (C2S connections).

[0116] The PE concept can also be used to extend private access to services to the customer's on-premises network and data center by allowing traffic to flow through FastConnect / IPsec links and private endpoints within the customer's VCN. Private access to services can also be extended to the customer's peering VCN by allowing traffic to flow between the LPG 132 and the PE within the customer's VCN.

[0117] Customers can control routing within a VCN at the subnet level, allowing them to specify which subnets within a customer's VCN (such as VCN104) use each gateway. The VCN's routing table is used to determine whether traffic is allowed to leave the VCN via a specific gateway. For example, in a given instance, the routing table for public subnets within customer VCN 104 might send non-local traffic via IGW 120. The routing table for private subnets within the same customer VCN 104 might send traffic destined for CSP services via SGW 126. All remaining traffic might be sent via NAT gateway 128. The routing table only controls traffic leaving the VCN.

[0118] Security lists associated with a VCN are used to control traffic entering the VCN via a gateway through inbound connections. All resources within a subnet use the same routing tables and security lists. Security lists can be used to control specific types of traffic allowed to enter or leave instances within a subnet of the VCN. Security list rules can include inbound and outbound rules. For example, inbound rules can specify allowed source address ranges, while outbound rules can specify allowed destination address ranges. Security rules can specify specific protocols (e.g., TCP, ICMP), specific ports (e.g., port 22 for SSH, port 3389 for Windows RDP), etc. In some implementations, the instance's operating system can enforce its own firewall rules that conform to the security list rules. Rules can be stateful (e.g., tracking connections and automatically allowing responses without explicit security list rules for response traffic) or stateless.

[0119] Access from a customer's VCN (i.e., through resources or compute instances deployed on VCN 104) can be categorized as public access, private access, or dedicated access. Public access refers to an access model that uses a public IP address or NAT to access a public endpoint. Private access enables customer workloads (e.g., resources in a private subnet) with private IP addresses within VCN 104 to access services without traversing a public network such as the Internet. In some embodiments, CSPI 101 enables customer VCN workloads with private IP addresses to access the public endpoint of a service (a service) using a service gateway. Thus, the service gateway provides a private access model by establishing a virtual link between the customer's VCN and the public endpoint of a service residing outside the customer's private network.

[0120] Furthermore, CSPI can provide private public access using technologies such as FastConnect public peering, where on-premises instances can access one or more services within a customer's VCN using FastConnect connections without traversing public networks such as the internet. CSPI can also provide private private access using FastConnect private peering, where on-premises instances with private IP addresses can access a customer's VCN workloads using FastConnect connections. FastConnect is a network connectivity alternative to using the public internet to connect a customer's on-premises network to CSPI and its services. Compared to internet-based connections, FastConnect offers a simple, flexible, and cost-effective way to create private and private connections with higher bandwidth options and a more reliable and consistent network experience.

[0121] Figure 1 The accompanying description above describes the various virtualized components in the example virtual network. As mentioned above, the virtual network is built on the underlying physical or base network. Figure 2 A simplified architecture diagram of the physical components within the physical network of the CSPI 200, which provides the underlying layer for virtual networks according to certain embodiments, is depicted. As shown, the CSPI 200 provides a distributed environment including components and resources (e.g., compute, memory, and networking resources) provided by a CSP. These components and resources are used to provide cloud services (e.g., IaaS services) to subscribed customers (i.e., customers who have subscribed to one or more services provided by a cloud service provider (CSP)). Based on the services subscribed to by the customer, a subset of the resources of the CSPI 200 (e.g., compute, memory, and networking resources) is provisioned to the customer. The customer can then use the physical compute, memory, and networking resources provided by the CSPI 200 to build their own cloud-based (i.e., CSPI-hosted) customizable and private virtual networks. As indicated above, these customer networks are referred to as Virtual Cloud Networks (VCNs). Customers can deploy one or more customer resources, such as compute instances, on these customer VCNs. Compute instances can take the form of virtual machines, bare metal instances, etc. The CSPI 200 provides infrastructure and a complementary set of cloud services that enable customers to build and run a wide range of applications and services in a highly available managed environment.

[0122] exist Figure 2 In the example embodiment depicted, the physical components of CSPI 200 include one or more physical host machines or physical servers (e.g., 202, 206, 208), network virtualization devices (NVDs) (e.g., 210, 212), top-of-rack (TOR) switches (e.g., 214, 216), and a physical network (e.g., 218), as well as switches within physical network 218. The physical host machines or servers can host and execute various compute instances participating in one or more subnets of the VCN. Compute instances can include virtual machine instances and bare metal instances. For example, Figure 1 The various computational examples described in the text can be derived from... Figure 2 The physical host machine described in the diagram is used for hosting virtual machine compute instances. Virtual machine compute instances in a VCN can be executed by one host machine or multiple different host machines. Physical host machines can also host virtual host machines, container-based hosts, or functions, etc. Figure 1 The VNIC and VCN VR described in the text can be generated by Figure 2 The NVD execution described in the text. Figure 1 The gateway described herein can be a host machine and / or a... Figure 2 The NVD execution described in [the document / document].

[0123] A host machine or server can execute a hypervisor (also known as a virtual machine monitor or VMM) that creates and enables virtualized environments on the host machine. Virtualized or virtualized environments facilitate cloud-based computing. One or more compute instances can be created, executed, and managed on the host machine by a hypervisor on that host machine. The hypervisor on the host machine enables the host machine's physical computing resources (e.g., compute, storage, and networking resources) to be shared among various compute instances executed by the host machine.

[0124] For example, such as Figure 2 As depicted, host machines 202 and 208 execute hypervisors 260 and 266, respectively. These hypervisors can be implemented using software, firmware, or hardware, or a combination thereof. Typically, a hypervisor is a processing or software layer located above the host machine's operating system (OS), which in turn executes on the host machine's hardware processor. Hypervisors provide a virtualized environment by enabling the host machine's physical computing resources (e.g., processing resources such as processors / cores, memory resources, networking resources) to be shared among various virtual machine computing instances executed by the host machine. For example, in... Figure 2 In this configuration, the hypervisor 260 can reside on top of the operating system of the host machine 202 and enable the computing resources (e.g., processing, memory, and networking resources) of the host machine 202 to be shared among computing instances (e.g., virtual machines) executed by the host machine 202. A virtual machine can have its own operating system (called a guest operating system), which may be the same as or different from the host machine's operating system. The operating system of a virtual machine executed by the host machine can be the same as or different from the operating system of another virtual machine executed by the same host machine. Therefore, the hypervisor enables multiple operating systems to be executed simultaneously, sharing the same computing resources of the host machine. Figure 2 The host machines described in the text may have the same or different types of management programs.

[0125] A compute instance can be a virtual machine instance or a bare metal instance. Figure 2 In the diagram, compute instance 268 on host machine 202 and compute instance 274 on host machine 208 are examples of virtual machine instances. Host machine 206 is an example of a bare metal instance provided to a customer.

[0126] In some cases, an entire host machine can be provisioned to a single customer, and one or more compute instances (or virtual machines or bare metal instances) hosted by that host machine all belong to the same customer. In other cases, the host machine can be shared among multiple customers (i.e., multiple tenants). In this multi-tenancy scenario, the host machine can host virtual machine compute instances belonging to different customers. These compute instances can be members of different VCNs for different customers. In some embodiments, bare metal compute instances are hosted by bare metal servers without a hypervisor. When provisioning a bare metal compute instance, a single customer or tenant maintains control over the physical CPU, memory, and network interfaces of the host machine hosting that bare metal instance, and the host machine is not shared with other customers or tenants.

[0127] As previously described, each compute instance, as part of a VCN, is associated with a VNIC that enables that compute instance to become a member of a subnet of the VCN. The VNIC associated with a compute instance facilitates communication of packets or frames to and from the compute instance. The VNIC is associated with the compute instance when it is created. In some embodiments, for compute instances executed by a host machine, the VNIC associated with that compute instance is executed by an NVD connected to the host machine. For example, in Figure 2 In this example, host machine 202 executes a virtual machine compute instance 268 associated with VNIC 276, and VNIC 276 is executed by NVD 210 connected to host machine 202. As another example, a bare metal instance 272 hosted by host machine 206 is associated with VNIC 280 executed by NVD 212 connected to host machine 206. As yet another example, VNIC 284 is associated with compute instance 274 executed by host machine 208, and VNIC 284 is executed by NVD 212 connected to host machine 208.

[0128] For compute instances hosted by a host machine, NVDs connected to that host machine also execute VCN VR corresponding to the VCN where the compute instance is a member. For example, in Figure 2 In the embodiment depicted, NVD 210 executes VCN VR 277 corresponding to the VCN of compute instance 268, which is a member of NVD 212. NVD 212 may also execute one or more VCN VR 283 corresponding to the VCNs of compute instances hosted by host machines 206 and 208.

[0129] The host machine may include one or more network interface cards (NICs) that enable the host machine to connect to other devices. The NIC on the host machine may provide one or more ports (or interfaces) that allow the host machine to communicatively connect to another device. For example, the host machine may connect to the NVD using one or more ports (or interfaces) provided on the host machine and the NVD. The host machine may also connect to other devices, such as another host machine.

[0130] For example, in Figure 2 In this configuration, host machine 202 is connected to NVD 210 via link 220, which extends between port 234 provided by NIC 232 of host machine 202 and port 236 of NVD 210. Host machine 206 is connected to NVD 212 via link 224, which extends between port 246 provided by NIC 244 of host machine 206 and port 248 of NVD 212. Host machine 208 is connected to NVD 212 via link 226, which extends between port 252 provided by NIC 250 of host machine 208 and port 254 of NVD 212.

[0131] The NVD is then connected to top-of-rack (TOR) switches via communication links, which are connected to physical network 218 (also known as a switch architecture). In some embodiments, the links between the host machine and the NVD, and between the NVD and the TOR switches, are Ethernet links. For example, in Figure 2 In this configuration, NVDs 210 and 212 are connected to TOR switches 214 and 216 via links 228 and 230, respectively. In some embodiments, links 220, 224, 226, 228, and 230 are Ethernet links. The collection of host machines and NVDs connected to the TOR is sometimes referred to as a rack.

[0132] Physical network 218 provides a communication architecture that enables TOR switches to communicate with each other. Physical network 218 can be a multi-layer network. In some implementations, physical network 218 is a multi-layer Clos network of switches, where TOR switches 214 and 216 represent leaf-level nodes of the multi-layer and multi-node physical switching network 218. Different Clos network configurations are possible, including but not limited to Layer 2 networks, Layer 3 networks, Layer 4 networks, Layer 5 networks, and general "n"-layer networks. Examples of Clos networks are provided in... Figure 5 It is depicted in the middle and described below.

[0133] Various connection configurations can exist between the host machine and the NVD, such as one-to-one, many-to-one, and one-to-many configurations. In a one-to-one configuration, each host machine connects to its own individual NVD. For example, in... Figure 2 In this configuration, host machine 202 connects to NVD 210 via its NIC 232. In a many-to-one configuration, multiple host machines connect to a single NVD. For example, in... Figure 2 In this configuration, host machines 206 and 208 are connected to the same NVD 212 via NICs 244 and 250, respectively.

[0134] In a one-to-many configuration, a host machine connects to multiple NVDs. Figure 3 An example within the CSPI 300 is shown, where a host machine is connected to multiple NVDs. (Example follows) Figure 3 As shown, host machine 302 includes a network interface card (NIC) 304, which includes multiple ports 306 and 308. Host machine 300 is connected to a first NVD 310 via port 306 and link 320, and to a second NVD 312 via port 308 and link 322. Ports 306 and 308 can be Ethernet ports, and links 320 and 322 between host machine 302 and NVDs 310 and 312 can be Ethernet links. NVD 310 is further connected to a first TOR switch 314, and NVD 312 is connected to a second TOR switch 316. Links between NVDs 310 and 312 and TOR switches 314 and 316 can be Ethernet links. TOR switches 314 and 316 represent Layer 0 switching devices in a multi-layer physical network 318.

[0135] Figure 3 The layout depicted provides two separate physical network paths from physical switch network 318 to host machine 302: the first path goes through TOR switch 314 to NVD 310 and then to host machine 302, and the second path goes through TOR switch 316 to NVD 312 and then to host machine 302. These separate paths provide enhanced availability (referred to as high availability) for host machine 302. If one of the paths (e.g., a link in one of the paths breaks) or a device (e.g., a particular NVD is not running) experiences a problem, the other path can be used for communication to / from host machine 302.

[0136] exist Figure 3 In the configuration depicted, the host machine connects to two different NVDs using two different ports provided by the host machine's NIC. In other embodiments, the host machine may include multiple NICs that enable the host machine to connect to multiple NVDs.

[0137] Return to reference Figure 2 An NVD is a physical device or component that performs one or more network and / or storage virtualization functions. An NVD can be any device with one or more processing units (e.g., CPU, Network Processing Unit (NPU), FPGA, packet processing pipeline, etc.), cached memory, and ports. Various virtualization functions can be executed by software / firmware performed by one or more processing units of the NVD.

[0138] NVDs can be implemented in various different forms. For example, in some embodiments, an NVD is implemented as an interface card called a smartNIC or a smart NIC with an onboard embedded processor. A smartNIC is a device separate from the NIC on the host machine. Figure 2 In this context, NVD 210 and 212 can be implemented as smartNICs connected to host machine 202 and host machines 206 and 208, respectively.

[0139] However, smartNIC is just one example of an NVD implementation. Various other implementations are possible. For example, in some other implementations, NVD, or one or more functions performed by NVD, may be integrated into or performed by one or more host machines, one or more TOR switches, and other components of the CSPI 200. For instance, NVD may be implemented within a host machine, where the functions performed by NVD are performed by the host machine. As another example, NVD may be part of a TOR switch, or the TOR switch may be configured to perform functions performed by NVD, enabling the TOR switch to perform various complex packet transformations for public clouds. A TOR performing the functions of NVD is sometimes referred to as a smart TOR. In other implementations that serve virtual machine (VM) instances rather than bare metal (BM) instances to customers, the functions performed by NVD may be implemented within the hypervisor of the host machine. In some other implementations, some of the functions of NVD may be offloaded to a centralized service running on a cluster of host machines.

[0140] In some embodiments, such as when implemented as Figure 2 As shown in the smartNIC diagram, the NVD can include multiple physical ports that enable it to connect to one or more host machines and one or more TOR switches. Ports on the NVD can be classified as host-facing ports (also known as "south ports") or network-facing or TOR-facing ports (also known as "north ports"). The host-facing ports of the NVD are those used to connect the NVD to the host machine. Figure 2 Examples of host-facing ports include port 236 on the NVD 210 and ports 248 and 254 on the NVD 212. Network-facing ports on the NVD are used to connect the NVD to a TOR switch. Figure 2 Examples of network-facing ports include port 256 on the NVD 210 and port 258 on the NVD 212. Figure 2 As shown, NVD 210 is connected to TOR switch 214 via link 228, which extends from port 256 of NVD 210 to TOR switch 214. Similarly, NVD 212 is connected to TOR switch 216 via link 230, which extends from port 258 of NVD 212 to TOR switch 216.

[0141] The NVD receives packets and frames from the host machine (e.g., packets and frames generated by compute instances hosted on the host machine) via its host-facing port, and after performing the necessary packet processing, can forward the packets and frames to the TOR switch via its network-facing port. The NVD can also receive packets and frames from the TOR switch via its network-facing port, and after performing the necessary packet processing, can forward the packets and frames to the host machine via its host-facing port.

[0142] In some embodiments, there can be multiple ports and associated links between the NVD and TOR switches. These ports and links can be aggregated to form a link aggregation group (called a LAG) of multiple ports or links. Link aggregation allows multiple physical links between two endpoints (e.g., between the NVD and TOR switches) to be treated as a single logical link. All physical links in a given LAG can operate at the same speed in full-duplex mode. LAGs help increase the bandwidth and reliability of the connection between two endpoints. If one of the physical links in the LAG fails, traffic is dynamically and transparently reassigned to one of the other physical links in the LAG. Aggregated physical links deliver higher bandwidth than each individual link. Multiple ports associated with an LAG are treated as a single logical port. Traffic can be load balanced across multiple physical links in the LAG. One or more LAGs can be configured between two endpoints. These endpoints can be located between the NVD and TOR switches, between a host machine and the NVD, etc.

[0143] The NVD implements or performs network virtualization functions. These functions are performed by software / firmware executed by the NVD. Examples of network virtualization functions include, but are not limited to: packet encapsulation and decapsulation functions; functions for creating VCN networks; functions for implementing network policies, such as VCN security list (firewall) functionality; functions for facilitating the routing and forwarding of packets to and from compute instances in the VCN; and so on. In some embodiments, upon receiving a packet, the NVD is configured to execute a packet processing pipeline for processing the packet and determining how to forward or route the packet. As part of this packet processing pipeline, the NVD may perform one or more virtual functions associated with the overlay network, such as executing VNICs associated with compute instances in the VCN, executing virtual routers (VRs) associated with the VCN, packet encapsulation and decapsulation to facilitate forwarding or routing in the virtual network, execution of certain gateways (e.g., local peer gateways), implementation of security lists, network security groups, Network Address Translation (NAT) functionality (e.g., host-by-host translation of public IPs to private IPs), throttling functions, and other functions.

[0144] In some embodiments, the packet processing data path in the NVD may include multiple packet pipelines, each consisting of a series of packet transformation stages. In some implementations, upon receiving a packet, the packet is parsed and classified into a single pipeline. The packet is then processed linearly, stage by stage, until the packet is dropped or sent out through the NVD's interface. These stages provide basic functional packet processing building blocks (e.g., header verification, throttling, insertion of new Layer 2 headers, L4 firewall enforcement, VCN encapsulation / decapsulation, etc.) so that new pipelines can be built by combining existing stages, and new functionality can be added by creating new stages and inserting them into existing pipelines.

[0145] NVD can perform both the control plane and data plane functions corresponding to those of VCN. An example of the VCN control plane is also available in... Figure 22 , Figure 23 , Figure 24 and Figure 25 The VCN data plane is depicted in (see reference numerals 2216, 2316, 2416, and 2516) and described below. An example of the VCN data plane is... Figure 22 , Figure 23 , Figure 24 and Figure 25 The following describes the control plane functionality (see reference numerals 2218, 2318, 2418, and 2518) and its features. Control plane functionality includes features for configuring how control data is forwarded on the network (e.g., setting routes and routing tables, configuring VNICs, etc.). In some embodiments, a VCN control plane is provided that centrally computes all overlay mappings to the base layer and publishes them to the NVD and virtual network edge devices (such as various gateways, such as DRGs, SGWs, IGWs, etc.). Firewall rules can also be published using the same mechanism. In some embodiments, the NVD only receives mappings associated with that NVD. Data plane functionality includes the ability to actually route / forward packets based on the configuration established using the control plane. The VCN data plane is implemented by encapsulating client network packets before they traverse the base network. Encapsulation / decapsulation functionality is implemented on the NVD. In some embodiments, the NVD is configured to intercept all network packets entering and leaving the host machine and perform network virtualization functions.

[0146] As indicated above, NVD performs various virtualization functions, including VNIC and VCN VR. NVD can execute VNICs associated with compute instances hosted on one or more host machines connected to the VNIC. For example, as... Figure 2 As depicted, NVD 210 performs the functionality of VNIC 276 associated with compute instance 268 hosted by host machine 202 connected to NVD 210. As another example, NVD 212 performs VNIC 280 associated with bare-metal compute instance 272 hosted by host machine 206, and VNIC 284 associated with compute instance 274 hosted by host machine 208. Host machines can host compute instances belonging to different VCNs (which belong to different customers), and NVDs connected to host machines can perform VNICs corresponding to compute instances (i.e., perform VNIC-related functionality).

[0147] NVD also executes a VCN virtual router corresponding to the VCN of the compute instance. For example, in Figure 2 In the embodiments depicted, NVD 210 executes VCN VR 277 corresponding to the VCN to which compute instance 268 belongs. NVD 212 executes one or more VCN VR 283 corresponding to one or more VCNs to which compute instances hosted by host machines 206 and 208 belong. In some embodiments, the VCN VR corresponding to a VCN is executed by all NVDs connected to host machines hosting at least one compute instance belonging to that VCN. If a host machine hosts compute instances belonging to different VCNs, then NVDs connected to that host machine can execute VCN VR corresponding to those different VCNs.

[0148] In addition to VNIC and VCN VR, NVD can execute various software (e.g., daemons) and includes one or more hardware components that facilitate various network virtualization functions performed by NVD. For simplicity, these various components are grouped together as... Figure 2 The "packet processing component" is shown in the diagram. For example, NVD 210 includes packet processing component 286 and NVD 212 includes packet processing component 288. For example, a packet processing component for an NVD may include a packet processor configured to interact with the NVD's ports and hardware interface to monitor all packets received by and transmitted using the NVD and to store network information. Network information may include, for example, network flow information identifying different network flows handled by the NVD and per-flow information (e.g., per-flow statistics). In some embodiments, network flow information may be stored on a per-VNIC basis. The packet processor may perform per-packet manipulation and implement stateful NAT and L4 firewall (FW). As another example, a packet processing component may include a replication agent configured to copy information stored by the NVD to one or more different replication target repositories. As yet another example, a packet processing component may include a logging agent configured to perform logging functions of the NVD. The packet processing component may also include software for monitoring the performance and health of the NVD and may also monitor the status and health of other components connected to the NVD.

[0149] Figure 1 The components of an example virtual or overlay network are shown, including a VCN, subnets within the VCN, compute instances deployed on the subnets, VNICs associated with the compute instances, a VR for the VCN, and a set of gateways configured for the VCN. Figure 1 The overlay component described in the text can be made by Figure 2 One or more executions or hosts are described in the physical components. For example, a compute instance in a VCN can be executed or managed by... Figure 2 The VNIC described herein is executed or hosted by one or more host machines. For a compute instance hosted by a host machine, the VNIC associated with that compute instance is typically executed by an NVD connected to that host machine (i.e., VNIC functionality is provided by an NVD connected to that host machine). The VCN VR functionality for a VCN is executed by all NVDs connected to the host machine hosting or executing a compute instance as part of that VCN. The gateway associated with a VCN can be executed by one or more different types of NVDs. For example, some gateways can be executed by smartNICs, while others can be executed by one or more host machines or other implementations of NVDs.

[0150] As described above, compute instances in a client VCN can communicate with various endpoints, which may be in the same subnet as the source compute instance, in a different subnet but within the same VCN as the source compute instance, or outside the source compute instance's VCN. These communications are facilitated using VNICs, VCN VRs, and gateways associated with the VCNs.

[0151] For communication between two compute instances on the same subnet within a VCN, a VNIC associated with both the source and destination compute instances facilitates the communication. The source and destination compute instances can be hosted by the same host machine or different host machines. Packets originating from the source compute instance can be forwarded from the host machine hosting the source compute instance to an NVD connected to that host machine. On the NVD, packets are processed using a packet processing pipeline, which may include the execution of the VNIC associated with the source compute instance. Because the destination endpoint of the packet is within the same subnet, the execution of the VNIC associated with the source compute instance results in the packet being forwarded to the NVD executing the VNIC associated with the destination compute instance, which then processes the packet and forwards it to the destination compute instance. The VNIC associated with the source and destination compute instances can execute on the same NVD (e.g., when the source and destination compute instances are hosted by the same host machine) or on different NVDs (e.g., when the source and destination compute instances are hosted by different host machines connected to different NVDs). The VNIC can use a routing / forwarding table stored by the NVD to determine the next hop for the packet.

[0152] For packets destined for endpoints in different subnets within the same VCN, the packets originating from the source compute instance are routed from the host machine hosting the source compute instance to an NVD connected to that host machine. On the NVD, the packets are processed using a packet processing pipeline, which may include the execution of one or more VNICs and the VR associated with the VCN. For example, as part of the packet processing pipeline, the NVD executes or invokes functionality corresponding to the VNIC associated with the source compute instance (also known as executing the VNIC). Functionality executed by the VNIC may include viewing VLAN tags on the packets. Since the packet's destination is outside the subnet, the VCN VR functionality is then invoked and executed by the NVD. The VCN VR then routes the packets to the NVD executing the VNIC associated with the destination compute instance. The VNIC associated with the destination compute instance then processes the packets and forwards them to the destination compute instance. The VNICs associated with the source and destination compute instances may execute on the same NVD (e.g., when the source and destination compute instances are hosted by the same host machine) or on different NVDs (e.g., when the source and destination compute instances are hosted by different host machines connected to different NVDs).

[0153] If the destination of a data packet is outside the VCN of the source compute instance, the packet originating from the source compute instance is transmitted from the host machine hosting the source compute instance to the NVD connected to that host machine. The NVD executes the VNIC associated with the source compute instance. Since the destination endpoint of the packet is outside the VCN, the packet is subsequently processed by the VCN VR used by that VCN. The NVD invokes the VCN VR functionality, which may result in the packet being forwarded to the NVD executing the appropriate gateway associated with the VCN. For example, if the destination is an endpoint within a customer's on-premises network, the packet may be forwarded by the VCN VR to the NVD executing the DRG gateway configured for the VCN. The VCN VR may execute on the same NVD as the NVD executing the VNIC associated with the source compute instance, or it may be executed by a different NVD. The gateway may be executed by the NVD, which may be a smartNIC, a host machine, or another NVD implementation. The packet is then processed by the gateway and forwarded to the next hop, which facilitates the delivery of the packet to its intended destination endpoint. For example, in Figure 2 In the embodiment depicted, data packets originating from compute instance 268 can be transmitted from host machine 202 to NVD 210 via link 220 (using NIC 232). On NVD 210, VNIC 276 is invoked because it is the VNIC associated with the source compute instance 268. VNIC 276 is configured to examine the information encapsulated in the data packets and determine the next hop for forwarding the data packets, with the aim of facilitating the transmission of the data packets to their intended destination endpoint, and then forwarding the data packets to the determined next hop.

[0154] Compute instances deployed on a VCN can communicate with a variety of endpoints. These endpoints can include endpoints hosted by CSPI 200 and endpoints outside of CSPI 200. Endpoints hosted by CSPI 200 can include instances within the same VCN or other VCNs, which can be the customer's VCN or a VCN not belonging to the customer. Communication between endpoints hosted by CSPI 200 can be performed via physical network 218. Compute instances can also communicate with endpoints not hosted by CSPI 200 or outside of CSPI 200. Examples of these endpoints include endpoints within the customer's on-premises network or data center, or public endpoints accessible via public networks such as the Internet. Communication with endpoints outside of CSPI 200 can use various communication protocols over public networks (e.g., the Internet). Figure 2 (not shown in the image) or a dedicated network ( Figure 2 (Not shown in the image) to execute.

[0155] Figure 2 The architecture of the CSPI 200 depicted herein is merely an example and is not intended to be limiting. Variations, alternatives, and modifications are possible in alternative embodiments. For example, in some implementations, the CSPI 200 may have more advanced features than... Figure 2 The systems or components shown may include more or fewer systems or components, may combine two or more systems, or may have different system configurations or arrangements. Figure 2 The systems, subsystems, and other components described herein may be implemented using software (e.g., code, instructions, programs), hardware, or a combination thereof, executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processors, cores) of the respective systems. The software may be stored on a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., a memory device).

[0156] Figure 4 The connectivity between the host machine and the NVD, according to certain embodiments, is described for providing I / O virtualization to support multi-tenancy. For example... Figure 4 As depicted, host machine 402 executes a hypervisor 404 that provides a virtualized environment. Host machine 402 executes two virtual machine instances, VM1 406 belonging to customer / tenant #1 and VM2 408 belonging to customer / tenant #2. Host machine 402 includes a physical NIC 410 connected to NVD 412 via link 414. Each compute instance is attached to a VNIC executed by NVD 412. Figure 4 In one embodiment, VM1 406 is attached to VNIC-VM1 420 and VM2 408 is attached to VNIC-VM2 422.

[0157] like Figure 4 As shown, NIC 410 includes two logical NICs, logical NIC A 416 and logical NIC B 418. Each virtual machine is attached to its own logical NIC and configured to work with its own logical NIC. For example, VM1 406 is attached to logical NIC A 416, and VM2 408 is attached to logical NIC B 418. Although host machine 402 includes only one physical NIC 410 shared by multiple tenants, each tenant's virtual machines believe they have their own host machine and NIC due to the logical NICs.

[0158] In some embodiments, each logical NIC is assigned its own VLAN ID. Thus, a specific VLAN ID is assigned to logical NIC A 416 for tenant #1, and a different VLAN ID is assigned to logical NIC B 418 for tenant #2. When a packet is transmitted from VM1 406, the hypervisor appends a tag assigned to tenant #1 to the packet, and the packet is then transmitted from host machine 402 to NVD 412 via link 414. Similarly, when a packet is transmitted from VM2 408, the hypervisor appends a tag assigned to tenant #2 to the packet, and the packet is then transmitted from host machine 402 to NVD 412 via link 414. Therefore, the packet 424 transmitted from host machine 402 to NVD 412 has an associated tag 426 identifying the specific tenant and the associated VM. On the NVD, for a data packet 424 received from the host machine 402, the tag 426 associated with the data packet is used to determine whether the data packet is processed by VNIC-VM1 420 or VNIC-VM2 422. The data packet is then processed by the corresponding VNIC. Figure 4 The configuration described in the document allows each tenant's compute instance to believe that it owns its own host machine and NIC. Figure 4 The setup described in the document provides I / O virtualization to support multi-tenancy.

[0159] Figure 5 A simplified block diagram of a physical network 500 according to certain embodiments is depicted. Figure 5 The embodiments depicted are structured as Clos networks. Clos networks are a specific type of network topology designed to provide connectivity redundancy while maintaining high bandwidth and maximum resource utilization. Clos networks are non-blocking, multi-stage or multi-layer switching networks, where the number of stages or layers can be two, three, four, five, etc. Figure 5 The embodiment depicted is a Layer 3 network, including Layer 1, Layer 2, and Layer 3. TOR switch 504 represents a Layer 0 switch in a Clos network. One or more NVDs are connected to the TOR switch. Layer 0 switches are also referred to as edge devices of the physical network. Layer 0 switches are connected to Layer 1 switches, also known as leaf switches. Figure 5 In the embodiments depicted, a group of "n" Layer 0 TOR switches are connected to a group of "n" Layer 1 switches, forming a pod. Each Layer 0 switch in the pod is interconnected to all Layer 1 switches in that pod, but there is no switch connectivity between pods. In some implementations, two pods are referred to as blocks. Each block is served by or connected to a group of "n" Layer 2 switches (sometimes called backbone switches). There can be several blocks in the physical network topology. The Layer 2 switches are then connected to "n" Layer 3 switches (sometimes called super backbone switches). Communication of packets on the physical network 500 is typically performed using one or more Layer 3 communication protocols. Typically, all layers of the physical network (except the TOR layer) are n-way redundant, thus allowing for high availability. Policies can be specified for pods and blocks to control the visibility of switches to each other in the physical network, thereby enabling scaling of the physical network.

[0160] A key characteristic of Clos networks is that the maximum number of hops from one Layer 0 switch to another (or from an NVD connected to a Layer 0 switch to another NVD connected to a Layer 0 switch) is fixed. For example, in a Layer 3 Clos network, a packet takes a maximum of seven hops to reach another NVD, where the source and destination NVDs are connected to the leaf layers of the Clos network. Similarly, in a Layer 4 Clos network, a packet takes a maximum of nine hops to reach another NVD, where the source and destination NVDs are connected to the leaf layers of the Clos network. Therefore, the Clos network architecture maintains consistent latency throughout the network, which is important for communication within and between data centers. Clos topologies are horizontally scalable and cost-effective. Network bandwidth / throughput capacity can be easily increased by adding more switches at each layer (e.g., more leaf switches and backbone switches) and by increasing the number of links between switches in adjacent layers.

[0161] In some implementations, each resource within CSPI is assigned a unique identifier called a Cloud Identifier (CID). This identifier is included as part of the resource's information and can be used to manage the resource, for example, via a console or API. An example syntax for a CID is: ocid1.<RESOURCE TYPE> . <realm>[REGION][FUTURE USE].<UNIQUE ID> in, ocid1: A text string indicating the version of the CID; resource type: The type of resource (e.g., instance, volume, VCN, subnet, user, group, etc.); realm: The realm where the resource resides. Example values ​​are "c1" for the business realm, "c2" for the government cloud realm, or "c3" for the federal government cloud realm, etc. Each realm can have its own domain name; region: The region where the resource is located. This section may be empty if the region is not applicable to the resource. future use: to be reserved for future use.

[0162] Unique ID: The unique part of the ID. The format may vary depending on the type of resource or service.

[0163] ZPR architecture, ZPL, and zero-trust packet routing

[0164] Figure 6 This is a simplified block diagram illustrating an environment 600 that enforces network policies / rules in one or more networks using an enforcement point 610 according to certain embodiments. Environment 600 includes multiple systems that are communicatively coupled to each other. Figure 6 The system includes Zero Trust Access (ZTA) service 602, enforcement points 610 (e.g., EP 610A1-610AN, EP 610B1-610BN, gateway 630), computing device 620, gateway 630, lease 640A and lease 640B.

[0165] ZTA service 602 includes a distribution engine 604, a rules engine 606, and a data repository 608. While distribution engine 604, rules engine 606, and data repository 608 are illustrated as part of ZTA service 602, one or more of these components may be external to ZTA service 602. Computing device 620, which may be referred to herein as "server 620" or "server computing device 620," may include a hypervisor (HV) (not shown) capable of hosting virtual machines (VMs).

[0166] Figure 6 The environment 600 depicted herein is merely an example and is not intended to unduly limit the scope of the claimed embodiments. Many variations, substitutions, and modifications are possible. For example, in some embodiments, environment 600 may have a greater... Figure 6 The system may display more or fewer systems or components, may combine two or more systems, or may have different system configurations or arrangements. Figure 6 The systems, subsystems, and other components described herein may be implemented using software (e.g., code, instructions, programs), hardware, or a combination thereof, executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processors, cores) of the respective systems. The software may be stored on a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., a memory device).

[0167] exist Figure 6 The embodiments described herein illustrate novel techniques for defining policies using ZPL and performing zero-trust packet routing over one or more networks using a ZPR architecture. As briefly discussed above, after a policy is created using ZPL, it is enforced in one or more networks by EPs (such as EP 610 and gateway 630) located at different network points across the network(s). In some examples, the user does not need to specify which devices / components are used to enforce the policy, or where these devices are located. Instead, ZTA service 602 or some other component can deploy and / or instruct different EPs 610 already located within the network to enforce the policy. In some examples, EP functionality 610 can be deployed with all or some of the network devices involved in transmitting data within one or more networks. For example, EP 610 can be deployed with gateway 630, smart network interface cards (smart NICs), gateway 630, and other types of network devices / components.

[0168] In some configurations, the ZTA service 602 communicates with different enforcement points 610 within the network. According to some examples, the ZTA service 602 provides rules 612 to different EPs 610, indicating which policies / rules to enforce. Individual EPs 610 can also communicate with the ZTA service 602 to request policies from policies / rules 608B, store data in recorded data 608A, provide resource data (e.g., CPU, storage, etc.), etc. In some configurations, different EPs 610 can enforce different rules / evaluations. For example, tags and attributes (e.g., name) can be evaluated by the smartNIC EP at Layer 4, and L7 attributes (including but not limited to: path, request cookies, request headers, URL queries, request methods, country / region, source IP address, destination IP address) can be evaluated at the target service or egress proxy (e.g., gateway).

[0169] As discussed herein, virtual networks are implemented using software virtualization technologies (e.g., hypervisors, virtualization functions implemented by network virtualization devices (NVDs) (e.g., smartNICs), top-of-rack (TOR) switches, smart TORs that implement one or more functions performed by the NVD, and other mechanisms) to create a network abstraction layer that can run on top of the physical network. For example, in some embodiments, the NVD is implemented as an interface card referred to as a smartNIC or an intelligent NIC with an onboard embedded processor. A smartNIC is a device that is independent of the NIC on the host machine (such as computing device 620) hosting the instance. Depending on some configurations, a smartNIC within the network includes functions that function as EP 610. Other NVDs may also include EP 610. For example, in some other embodiments, the NVD or one or more functions performed by the NVD may be incorporated into or performed by one or more computing devices 620, one or more TOR switches, and other components of the CSPI. For example, in cases where virtual machine (VM) instances are supplied to customers but not bare metal (BM) instances, the functions performed by the NVD may be implemented within the hypervisor of the host machine. In some other implementations, some of the NVD's functionality can be offloaded to a centralized service running on a set of host machines.

[0170] In some examples, upon receiving a data packet, the EP 610 can be configured to execute a packet processing pipeline to process the packet and determine how to process it. As part of this packet processing pipeline, the EP 610 can perform one or more virtual functions, such as packet encapsulation and decapsulation (see...). Figure 9 This includes features such as origin ID identification to facilitate processing policies / rules and other functions. In some configurations, the packet processing data path in devices including the EP 610 may include multiple packet pipelines, each consisting of a series of packet transformation stages. According to some examples, after a packet is received, it can be processed in a linear fashion, stage by stage, until the packet is either discarded or sent out through the interface associated with the EP 610.

[0171] Figure 6 The gateway 630 shown can be any type of gateway, such as, but not limited to, Dynamic Routing Gateway (DRG), Internet Gateway (IGW), Network Address Translation (NAT) gateway, Local Peer Gateway (LPG), Service Gateway (SGW), etc. A DRG acts as a virtual router, providing a path for traffic between the on-premises network and the VCN, and can also be used to route traffic between VCNs. An IGW enables compute instances on a VCN to communicate with public endpoints accessible via public networks, such as the Internet. A NAT gateway can be configured for a customer's VCN, enabling cloud resources within the customer's VCN that do not have dedicated public overlay IP addresses to access the Internet without exposing these resources to direct inbound Internet connections (e.g., L4-L7 connections). An LPG is a gateway that can be added to a VCN, enabling the VCN to peer with another VCN in the same area. An SGW can be configured for a VCN, providing a path for private network traffic between the VCN and supported service endpoints in the service network.

[0172] exist Figure 6 In the embodiments depicted, ZTA service 602 is configured to supervise, configure, monitor, and maintain a zero-trust network infrastructure. In some examples, the zero-trust network is an existing cloud infrastructure (see [link to documentation] for further details). Figures 1-5 and Figures 22-25 Software-defined networking (ZTA) operates on top of other technologies, enabling secure and policy-driven communication between network resources (e.g., clients, services). According to some examples, ZTA Service 602 implements the Zero Trust principle to help ensure that network interactions are authenticated, authorized, and encrypted, thereby enhancing security and access control. Zero Trust networks can span multiple environments, including public clouds, private data centers, and on-premises locations, providing a flexible and secure network foundation for a wide range of applications and services.

[0173] Depending on some configurations, policy enforcement is facilitated through enhanced handling of virtual node packets. In some examples, an "origin ID" indicating the packet's source is added to the packet before transmission (e.g., added by the first EP sending the packet in the network path). Depending on some configurations, the ZTA service 602 collaborates with the Data Security Control Plane (DSCP) to assign an origin ID to each EP 610 in the network. The ZTA service 602 can also provide origin IDs to other resources (e.g., gateways and identity data planes) to enable them to evaluate ZPR policies.

[0174] As a data packet travels through the network, the origin ID is carried along with it until it reaches its destination. Depending on some configurations, each enforcement point 610 uses the origin ID to determine the rule 612 to be applied to the packet before transmitting it to the next hop in the network path to the destination. According to some examples, during evaluation, ZPL integrates with existing policy languages ​​(IAM, NSG, NAP, etc.) by conforming to existing IAM and NSG policy statements. In some configurations, ZPL may conform to existing networking policies (Web Application Firewall (WAF), Network Security Group (NSG), and Firewall (FW) rules).

[0175] Depending on the configuration, rule engine 606 determines the rules (e.g., L4, L7 rules) to be enforced at enforcement point 610 and gateway 630 based on policy 608B. As briefly discussed above, ZPL policy statements focus on allowing tagged resources (users, compute instances, etc.) to access similarly tagged data. In some examples, rule engine 606 determines the origin IDs of different EPs 610 and which EPs are authorized to send / receive data from different EPs 610 within one or more networks. After determining rule 612, distribution engine 604 provides the rules associated with the policy to enforcement point 610 within the network. Unlike existing network security policies, ZPR allows specifying lease-scoped policies that can cross network and area boundaries. In some examples, ZTA service 602 provides origin IDs within one network to other networks, which can be used to enforce the policy.

[0176] Depending on the configuration, rule 612 is stored in a Binary Decision Graph (BDD) by ZTA service 602. In some examples, the VCN data plane (not shown) creates a new BDD instance to store the data security rule. When a packet is received at an enforcement point, the BDD can be consulted to determine whether to allow / deny the packet. As briefly discussed, when in audit mode, a denial in the BDD may still allow the packet to be transmitted with additional logging and metrics. The BDD can have several termination possibilities. A miss in the BDD means the packet is rejected. A hit of a denial rule in the BDD results in the packet being rejected. In other examples, a hit of an override rule results in the packet being accepted regardless of other decisions.

[0177] In some examples, the EP 610 (such as a smartNIC) may have limited information about the data packets. For instance, the EP 610 might only know information about the immediate next hop. Depending on some configurations, packets are allowed to pass through gateways that are permitted as the next hop to any resource. In some examples, additional rules are generated by the rule engine 606 that mask the destination group for each rule that includes a list of intermediate hops. For example, a rule specifying "Allow red to send-receive to blue over network green" will cause the rule engine 606 to generate an additional rule "Allow red to send-receive to blue over network green". <any>Send-receive (Allow red to send-receive to) <any>(over network green). Packets with the next hop to gateway 630 will be processed using the destination group that is zeroed in the lookup key. On the ingress path, gateway 630 can add the packet's origin ID and network origin ID to populate the complete lookup key.

[0178] Depending on the configuration, EP 610 determines whether a data packet is authorized for transmission / reception based on the origin ID associated with the sender / receiver and one or more values ​​of the tagged resource. As briefly discussed above, resources and / or data can be tagged manually and / or automatically. For example, resources can be tagged using key:value pairs.

[0179] Based on some examples, automated tagging can be performed to discover and label data, such as sensitive data. Sensitive data needs to be protected and comply with compliance frameworks such as PCI DSS (Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard), HIPAA (Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act), and GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation). In many cases, organizations initially know where sensitive data is located when creating new greenfield applications, projects, etc. However, over time, this sensitive data may move for legitimate purposes (e.g., business analytics, software migration, and new development projects), making it difficult to protect this data using previous technologies.

[0180] In some examples, default tags can be applied to resources within a specified boundary (e.g., within a lease), preventing any tagged data from leaving that boundary unless permitted by a policy. For instance, "Allow users on the host to access untagged data across all networks" is an L4 policy statement that allows any user (whose group has zero or more ZPR tags) to access (permissions granted by the IAM policy) untagged data, regardless of the host's location, only through any network gateway (e.g., IGW, NATGW, ...). Because tags can be confined to the boundary (unless explicitly shared), this prevents data from leaking from within the boundary to other boundaries and the internet.

[0181] exist Figure 6 In the example, the policy can be expressed using ZPL as "Allow network participant blue to communicate with network participant blue through green". The rule (blue) -> (red), indicated by rule 612A determined from rule engine 606, allows network participants marked "blue" (e.g., instances, hosts, ...) to send / receive packets to endpoints marked "red". In this example, enforcement point 610A1 performs an egress check to determine if EP 610B1 is "red" and whether traffic is allowed to flow through "green". In this case, EP 610A1 determines that the rule is satisfied and transmits packet 624A to DRG 630A. EP 610A1 can also inject the origin ID: A into packet 624A to identify its origin. DRG630A is the gateway EP, which determines whether the sender of packet 624A is "blue", the receiver of packet 624A is "red", and whether the "green" gateway 630A is authorized to transmit the packet. The DRG 630A determines that the transmission of packet 624A is authorized and transmits packet 624A to EP 610B1. The DRG 630A can also inject a "green" identifier into packet 624A to identify that packet 624A traverses a "green" gateway. Upon receiving the packet at EP 610B1, an ingress check is performed to determine if the packet has traversed an authorized path. In this case, EP 610B1 determines that the packet is authorized to travel between different endpoints and can receive packet 624A. About Figures 7-13 More examples are provided.

[0182] Depending on the configuration, alert modes can be used to test policies and / or policy statements within a network environment without enforcing them. For example, a user can create a statement such as "allow color:red network-agent to use color:red buckets". To test this statement, it can be specified as "Allow ALERT-MODE any (enforce.color:red, alert.color:red) host to use any (enforce.color:red, alert.color:red) buckets". To enforce this statement, it can be specified as "Allow enforce.color:red host to use enforce.color:red buckets".

[0183] In some configurations, smartNICs and gateways are used as enforcement points 610. Other devices (physical and / or virtual) may also be used. Generally, when a packet is transmitted, the enforcement point 610 associated with the network data plane evaluates the ingress or egress rules associated with the policy. In this way, packets are not transmitted from the enforcement point 610 until the enforcement point evaluates the rules and determines that the policy authorizes the transmission. Instead of evaluating the policy at a single location, the enforcement point evaluates the policy at many different locations along the route between the source and destination associated with the packet. For example, enforcement points include the source (e.g., checking host tags), at all / part of the network hops (e.g., checking network tags), and at the destination, such as a service / application (e.g., a comprehensive evaluation of all tags, attributes, and context variables).

[0184] Figure 7 This is a simplified block diagram illustrating an environment 700 in which ZTA service 602 interacts with one or more control planes and one or more data planes according to certain embodiments. Environment 700 includes multiple systems communicatively coupled to each other. Figure 7 The system includes ZTA 602, device 622, (one or more) control planes 702 and (one or more) data planes 704.

[0185] Figure 7 The environment 700 depicted herein is merely an example and is not intended to unduly limit the scope of the claimed embodiments. Many variations, substitutions, and modifications are possible. For example, in some embodiments, environment 700 may have a greater... Figure 7 The more or fewer systems or components shown may be combined into two or more systems, or may have different system configurations or arrangements. Figure 7 The systems, subsystems, and other components described herein may be implemented using software (e.g., code, instructions, programs), hardware, or a combination thereof, executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processors, cores) of the respective systems. The software may be stored on a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., a memory device).

[0186] As discussed above, rule engine 606 obtains ZPR policy 608 from the user associated with device 622 and generates rule 612. Distribution engine 604 propagates rule 612 to control planes spanning different regions (not shown). In some configurations, the control planes distribute this data to various data planes. In some configurations, one or more control planes 702 (see below) Figures 22-26 The control plane 702 propagates rule 612 from the ZTA service 602 to one or more data planes 704. According to some examples, the control plane 702 maps resources to their associated tags (e.g., EP 610C is mapped to the tags "red", "authorized", etc.). In some configurations, the distribution engine 604 propagates rule 612 to different regions (not shown).

[0187] As briefly discussed above, in some configurations, control plane 702 assigns origin IDs to resources that have already been tagged. For one or more resources within the network that are not visible to control plane 702, the user can define resources that can be associated with an origin ID. In some examples, the presence of an origin ID within a packet can be used to signal to the EP 610 whether it is undergoing ZPR policy evaluation. Generally, if the EP has already been tagged with a ZPR label, then an origin ID is present.

[0188] Figure 8 The diagram illustrates a Zero Trust Network 800. A Zero Trust Network 800 is a software-defined network operating on top of existing cloud infrastructure, enabling secure, policy-driven communication between clients, services, and routers. It is designed to implement the Zero Trust principle, helping to ensure authentication, authorization, and encryption of network interactions to enhance security and access control. In some examples, a Zero Trust Network (ZTA) can span multiple environments, including public clouds, private data centers, and on-premises locations, providing a flexible and secure network foundation for a wide range of applications and services.

[0189] Network 800 comprises multiple systems that are coupled and communicate with each other. Figure 8 The system includes Zero Trust Network 800, Device 622, Customer Leased 640D, IaaS Leased 640E, and Customer On-Premises Deployment 810.

[0190] Figure 8 The network 800 depicted herein is merely an example and is not intended to unduly limit the scope of the claimed embodiments. Many variations, alternatives, and modifications are possible. For example, in some implementations, environment 800 may have a greater... Figure 8 The more or fewer systems or components shown may be combined into two or more systems, or may have different system configurations or arrangements. Figure 8 The systems, subsystems, and other components described herein may be implemented using software (e.g., code, instructions, programs), hardware, or a combination thereof, executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processors, cores) of the respective systems. The software may be stored on a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., a memory device).

[0191] As shown in the figure, the controller 806 within the customer-leased 640D serves as the central hub for the zero-trust network 800. In some configurations, the controller 816 is responsible for configuring network connectivity, identity management, authentication, and authorization. According to some examples, the controller 816 uses a configured Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) to establish secure, mutually authenticated TLS (mTLS) connections between network components. If the operator prefers to reuse an existing PKI, the controller 816 can use a provided PKI or support a third-party PKI. Example configuration fields for the controller 816 include fields such as identity, control, edge, and possible web, or some other field.

[0192] Identity is the PKI (internal / external) used to establish mutual transport layer security (mTLS) connections between two ZTA components. Control defines how controller 816 listens for incoming connections from router 806. This includes the protocols(s) used for router connectivity and how these connections are managed. Edge instructs controller 816 to initiate edge components and includes characteristics associated with identity (e.g., identity registration), third-party CAs, policies, edge router connectivity, situational awareness, etc. Optional Web fields define webListeners hosted by controller 816. Each webListener can host multiple APIs and be bound to multiple binding ports.

[0193] Router 806 is a component of the zero-trust network 800, used to securely and efficiently route traffic within one or more networks. In some examples, router 806 (such as routers 806A-806F) forms a mesh network and continuously / periodically optimizes the speed and reliability of traffic paths. This dynamic monitoring enables proactive failover, ensuring resilient network connectivity even in the event of node failures. Tunneler 814 is software configured to connect applications and securely move data within network 800.

[0194] Depending on the configuration, controller 816 provides a configuration plane. In some examples, controller 816 configures services and manages the identities used by users, devices, and nodes that constitute network 800. For example, controller 816 can perform authentication and authorization for each connection in network 800.

[0195] Figure 9 This is a simplified block diagram illustrating an environment 900 that enforces rules associated with a ZPR policy at two enforcement points 610 according to certain embodiments. Environment 900 includes multiple systems communicatively coupled to each other. Figure 9 The system includes enforcement points 610A and 610B.

[0196] Figure 9 The environment 900 depicted is merely an example and is not intended to unduly limit the scope of the claimed embodiments. Many variations, substitutions, and modifications are possible. For example, in some embodiments, environment 900 may have a greater... Figure 9 The more or fewer systems or components shown may be combined into two or more systems, or may have different system configurations or arrangements. Figure 9 The systems, subsystems, and other components described herein may be implemented using software (e.g., code, instructions, programs), hardware, or a combination thereof, executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processors, cores) of the respective systems. The software may be stored on a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., a memory device).

[0197] exist Figure 9 In the embodiment depicted, enforcement point 610A includes policy engine 614, mapping 608A, and rule 612A. Enforcement point 610B includes policy engine 614B, mapping 608B, and rule 612B. Enforcement point 610A has an assigned origin ID of A and is associated with the marker "red". Enforcement point 610B has an assigned origin ID of B and is associated with the marker "blue".

[0198] exist Figure 9 In the example, the rule (red) -> (blue) indicated in rule 612A is based on a ZPL policy statement that allows a network participant marked "red" to send to an endpoint marked "blue". In this example, enforcement point 610A determines whether any mapping exists between the source and destination based on the origin IDs of enforcement points 610A and 610B. In this case, mapping 608A indicates that packet 624 originates from the red source and is destined for the blue origin B. In this case, policy engine 614A determines that the "red to blue" rule is allowed and therefore transmits packet 624 to EP 610B. In this example, since EP 610A is the first hop, policy engine 614A injects the origin ID of A into the field of packet 624 before transmission.

[0199] When packet 624 is received by EP 610B, policy engine 614B applies rule 612B associated with the packet received from origin A. In this case, policy engine 614B determines that source OriginID = A is identified in packet 624 and mapping 608B indicates origin A as red. Since EP 610A is marked "red" and EP 610B is blue, the packet is allowed to be received. In some examples, because packet 624 passes the security check, a return packet from EP 610B to EP 610A is allowed.

[0200] Figure 10 This is a simplified block diagram illustrating an environment 1000 that uses a ZPR strategy to access cloud-based services from a virtual network (e.g., a lease) according to certain embodiments. Environment 1000 includes multiple systems communicatively coupled to each other. Figure 10 The system includes virtual network 1002 (e.g., customer lease of cloud network), and enforcement points including EP 610A, EP 610B, EP 610C, EP 610D, SGW 630A, IGW 630B and PAGW 630C.

[0201] Figure 10 The environment 1000 depicted herein is merely an example and is not intended to unduly limit the scope of the claimed embodiments. Many variations, substitutions, and modifications are possible. For example, in some embodiments, environment 1000 may have a greater... Figure 10 The more or fewer systems or components shown may be combined into two or more systems, or may have different system configurations or arrangements. Figure 10 The systems, subsystems, and other components described herein may be implemented using software (e.g., code, instructions, programs), hardware, or a combination thereof, executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processors, cores) of the respective systems. The software may be stored on a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., a memory device).

[0202] exist Figure 10 In the embodiment depicted, one or more resources within VN 1002 are attempting to access one or more resources within service 1004. In the current example, it is assumed that the policy can be expressed as "Allow network-actors red to access resource blue on network green" and "Allow network-actors red to access endpoints blue on network green." The policy statement "Allow network-actors red to access resource blue on network green" allows resources marked "red" to access resources marked "blue" within service 1004. In some examples, ZTA service 602 cannot determine whether services within service 1004 contain blue resources; therefore, this rule does not provide access to specific services with blue resources, but can be interpreted as "Allow all red network-actors to access all services capable of doing ZPR authentication." In this way, the final access check performed at the service will correctly verify that only blue resources within service 1004 are accessed.

[0203] In some examples, the EP 610A can access service 1004 using an SGW 630A or IGW 630B or some other gateway (not shown). Depending on the situation, users send packets to the public VIP of load balancer 1014, and the packets are routed through one of the gateway types based on the user's routing configuration.

[0204] exist Figure 10 In the example shown in the diagram, service 1004 can also be accessed via a private endpoint (PE 1016). According to some examples, the PE (such as PE 1016) instantiates a VNIC with a private IP address from the customer's VCN space within the customer's virtual network 1002. The customer sends packets to this private address, which is then forwarded to the service provider's lease.

[0205] In some examples, the service arrives via the SGW 630A. Depending on the configuration, the SGW can be tagged by the customer using classification labels. In the current example, the EP 610A performs an egress check before transmitting packets to the SGW 630A. The egress check verifies whether traffic destined for the SGW is allowed (e.g., green in this example) using the on-network clause in the ZPR policy. In some examples, when the on-network clause is used, then only packets are allowed to pass through the SGW in the local lease.

[0206] When an authorized gateway (such as the SGW 630A) receives a packet, the SGW 630A performs a check to determine if the destination service is permitted by the ZPR policy. In some examples, when a packet is authorized for transmission to service 1004, the SGW injects an origin ID via the IP option as described above. In addition to the origin ID, when the gateway is on the path to the service, a "Network Classifier" option is added to the IP option. The Network Classifier will contain the actual classification label associated with the gateway path. Services available through the SGW 630A can also be available through IGW and NGW using the same / similar technologies described regarding the SGW 630A.

[0207] In this scenario, the service runs on an instance in a service lease that is directly accessed from an instance (such as EP 610B) created in a customer lease (such as virtual network 1002). In this example, service 1014 ensures that data classification labels for resources available via the service are propagated to EP 610B in the customer lease (labeled blue in this example), and the customer provides a specific "endpoint" policy as described above.

[0208] Assuming these constraints are met, then the enforcement of the ZPR policy and Figure 9 The host-to-host case is the same. However, in order to enable further authorization of the service, the origin ID (e.g., E in this case) is sent to the host via PPv2 in the packet stream of the SmartNIC associated with the EP 610B.

[0209] In the case of PE 1016, packets are forwarded from PE 1016 to PAGW 630C, which bridges access between customer leases (such as Virtual Network 1002) and service provider leases (such as Service 1004). PE 1016 inherits the classification label from its preceding service and performs ingress enforcement as in host-to-host and direct VNIC scenarios. PE 1016 also retains the origin ID on the packet when packets are forwarded from the customer to the PAGW. In some cases, when overlay packets are forwarded to the service provider load balancer 1014, the PAGW 630C injects the origin ID into the IP options on the overlay packet. The load balancer 1014 then injects the origin ID into the packet stream.

[0210] As briefly discussed above, it may not be easy to determine which services are enabled by a particular policy. In these examples, the service receiving the request performs a final check on the full ZPR policy, including checking the origin of the packet and whether the networks used along the way are allowed to access the requested resource.

[0211] Return packets from the service to the customer also include an origin ID. In the case of PE 1016 or direct EP 610B access, the return origin ID is the origin of PE 1016 or EP 610B. In the case of a gateway, the origin ID can be the origin ID in the service lease (used for the overlay service loaded into ZPR), or it can be the origin ID of the gateway used for the base service. In either case, the customer may not have a specific policy that allows return packets based on the origin ID classification. However, the rules for accessing resources in ZPR can be stateful, which ensures that the packet is allowed at the call to EP 610 based on the standard five-tuple for stateful flow tracing. In some cases, the gateway evaluating the rules associated with the ZPR policy does not perform connection tracing but instead performs a stateful-to-stateless transformation. In these cases, the transformed rules allow return packets from the service to pass through the gateway.

[0212] Figure 11 This is a simplified block diagram illustrating an environment 1100 using ZPR to protect data according to certain embodiments. Environment 1100 includes multiple systems communicatively coupled to each other. Figure 11 The system includes service 1110 and IGW 630.

[0213] Figure 11 The environment 1100 depicted is merely a simplified example and is not intended to unduly limit the scope of the claimed embodiments. Many variations, substitutions, and modifications are possible. For example, in some embodiments, environment 1100 may have a more... Figure 11 The more or fewer systems or components shown may be combined into two or more systems, or may have different system configurations or arrangements. Figure 11 The systems, subsystems, and other components described herein may be implemented using software (e.g., code, instructions, programs), hardware, or a combination thereof, executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processors, cores) of the respective systems. The software may be stored on a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., a memory device).

[0214] exist Figure 11 In the embodiment depicted, a boundary 1104 is created by tagging data 1106 and applying 1108 and associating it with a ZPR policy. As discussed above, tagging can be performed automatically and / or manually. In some cases, data within a customer's lease is automatically tagged, thus protecting the data without interaction from the customer. To protect the data, the ZPR policy statement could be "Allow trusted hosts to send-receive sensitive data over internal networks".

[0215] exist Figure 11 In the example, an untrusted device 622A (e.g., an insider attacker) attempts to access sensitive data 1106 within service 1110. When service 1110 receives the request from 622A, service 1110 evaluates the rules (e.g., "Allow trusted hosts to send-receive sensitive data over the internal network") and discards the request because device 622A is untrusted.

[0216] As another example, an untrusted device 622B (e.g., an external attacker) attempts to access sensitive data 1106 within service 1110. When IGW 630 receives the request from 622B, IGW 630 evaluates the rules (e.g., "Allow trusted hosts to send-receive sensitive data over the internal network") and discards the request because device 622B is outside the internal network where data 1106 resides and device 622B is untrusted.

[0217] Figure 12 This is a simplified block diagram illustrating an environment 1200 that uses ZPR to protect data according to certain embodiments. Environment 1200 includes multiple systems communicatively coupled to each other. Figure 12 The system includes IGW 630A, DRG 630B, device 622A, device 622B, financial mainframe 1206, analysis mainframe 1208, and data 1210.

[0218] Figure 12 The environment 1200 depicted is merely a simplified example and is not intended to unduly limit the scope of the claimed embodiments. Many variations, substitutions, and modifications are possible. For example, in some embodiments, environment 1200 may have a more... Figure 12 The more or fewer systems or components shown may be combined into two or more systems, or may have different system configurations or arrangements. Figure 12 The systems, subsystems, and other components described herein may be implemented using software (e.g., code, instructions, programs), hardware, or a combination thereof, executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processors, cores) of the respective systems. The software may be stored on a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., a memory device).

[0219] exist Figure 12 In the embodiment depicted, boundary 1204 is created by tagging hosts 1206, 1208, data 1210, and users 1212A and 1212B and associating them with ZPR policies. As discussed above, this tagging can be performed automatically and / or manually. To protect data, ZPR policy statements could be "Allow marketing_contractor users to access marketing data via the mycorp network" and "Allow employee users to access financial data via the mycorp network."

[0220] exist Figure 12 In the example, device 622A associated with marketing_contractor user 1212A attempts to access data 1210. When IGW 630A receives the request from 622A, IGW 630A evaluates the rules and discards the request because the network is "Internet" and not the mycorp network.

[0221] As another example, device 622B associated with employee user 1212A attempts to access data 1210. When DRG 630B receives the request from 622B, DRG 630B evaluates the rules and allows the request because the network is "mycorp," the user is an employee, and the request is for financial data. As can be seen in the example above, users do not need to configure rules for each different device. Instead, simple, human-readable policies can be created and stored in one place.

[0222] Figure 13 This is a simplified block diagram of an environment 1300 according to an embodiment, including an enforcement point 610 for enforcing network policies / rules in one or more networks. Environment 1300 includes multiple systems communicatively coupled to each other. Figure 13 The system includes EP 610 and device 1310. EP 610 includes policy engine 614 and packet engine 1304.

[0223] Figure 13 The environment 1300 depicted herein is merely an example and is not intended to unduly limit the scope of the claimed embodiments. Many variations, substitutions, and modifications are possible. For example, in some embodiments, environment 1300 may have a greater... Figure 13 The more or fewer systems or components shown may be combined into two or more systems, or may have different system configurations or arrangements. Figure 13 The systems, subsystems, and other components described herein may be implemented using software (e.g., code, instructions, programs), hardware, or a combination thereof, executed by one or more processing units (e.g., processors, cores) of the respective systems. The software may be stored on a non-transitory storage medium (e.g., a memory device).

[0224] Depending on the configuration, the EP 610 can be configured to perform many different functions based on the policies it is enforcing. In some examples, the policy engine 614 is configured to manage the enforcement of policies / rules associated with received packets. Figure 13 In the examples depicted, EP 610 can run on a virtual or physical device containing at least a portion of computing resources sufficient to perform processing associated with the enforcement of one or more policies / rules. In some configurations, EP 610 is associated with smartNICs and gateways throughout the network. In some configurations, one or more EP 610s can be associated with devices / components. For example, EP 610 can be associated with compute instances within a cloud environment. In some examples, ZTA service 602 can determine which devices / components should include EP 610 based on available resources, whether the device / component is involved in / will be involved in the enforcement of one or more policies, etc. In some configurations, ZTA service 602 deploys / activates EP 610 at any instance / device that will process packets associated with one or more policies / rules.

[0225] As shown in the figure, EP 610 receives / sends data packets to / from devices (such as device 1310). In some cases, the received data packets can be encrypted. Depending on some configurations, EP 610 is configured to use encryption / decryption engine 1306 to decrypt and encrypt traffic as it flows. In some examples, network users / clients authorize EP 610 to decrypt / encrypt traffic. In these cases, EP 610 can access a private key to encrypt / decrypt these data packets.

[0226] Packet engine 1304 is coupled to policy engine 614. Policy engine 614 can communicate with ZTA service 602 to receive mappings 608A, policies 608B, and / or rules 612 associated with the enforcement of one or more ZPR policies. For example, ZTA service 602, distribution engine 604, or some other component / device can instruct EP 610 within smartNIC, gateway, or some other component device to enforce rule 612 associated with one or more ZPR policies.

[0227] Figure 14 This is a simplified diagram of the syntax 1400 for defining a ZPR strategy using ZPL according to an embodiment. Figure 14 The syntax 1400 described herein is merely an example and is not intended to unduly limit the scope of the claimed embodiments. Many variations, alternatives, and modifications are possible.

[0228] In some examples, a single, simple, and easy-to-understand policy can protect data flow across one or more networks. As discussed above, ZPL can be used to define policies that specify who (e.g., users, computing resources) can access data and where that data is allowed to go within one or more networks. ZPL allows users to write data-centric, intent-based policies to control data flow, thereby protecting data and communications at the network layer.

[0229] As an example, policy statements can be as simple as "Allow the 'red' host to read 'blue' data", "Allow the 'biz-analysts' user to use the bucket in the 'analysis' compartment", and "Allow the 'Business-Analyst' user on the 'HR-Apps' host to read 'HR-App-Data' data over the company intranet". This allows the Business-Analyst user on the HR-Apps host to read any resource tagged with HR-App-Data.

[0230] ZPL policy statements focus on allowing tagged (which may be referred to as "ZPR tags" in this document) resources (users, compute instances, etc.) to access similarly tagged data. Policy statements can also use multiple tags, for example, "Allow any (any-ZPR tag, no-ZPR tag) user to manage any (any-ZPR tag, no-ZPR tag) virtual network family in compartment c1", or "Allow all (HIPPA, confidential: secret) hosts to use the "Biz-Analysis" bucket".

[0231] Based on some examples, ZPL integrates with existing policy languages ​​(IAM, NSG, NAP, etc.) by conforming to existing IAM and NSG policy statements. For example, it can have a ZPR statement "Allow the biz-analysts user on host app1 to access customer PII data" and an IAM statement "Allow group biz-analysts to use the bucket in compartment c1". The ZPR policy statement allows network traffic to occur, and the IAM policy grants the user permissions to the bucket.

[0232] Depending on some configurations, policy statements can take the following form: <command> <tag> <subject>on <tag>hosts to <verb> <tag> <resource-type>over <tag>network in <location>The `where any | all {condition}` directive (such as `allow | deny`) specifies whether access to a resource is allowed or denied. <tag>Used to identify data, resources, and users. <subject>The subject making the call (e.g., user, dynamic group, etc.). The hosts file is a keyword for the originating device (e.g., compute instance or function) used for the call. <verb>It is a permitted metaverb (e.g., send-receive). <resource-type>It is the resource being accessed (e.g., a storage bucket or a database). <network>These are keywords used to restrict access to only certain gateways (e.g., Service Gateway (SGW), Internet Gateway (IGW), etc.). Generally, any resource can be tagged with one or more tags. Examples include user, user group, computing resource, computing resource group, storage device, storage device group, data, etc.

[0233] Syntax 1400 focuses on the basic name (subject, <hosts> 、 <network>(etc.) previously had <tag>。(allow | deny) <tag> <subject>with <attribute>on <tag>hosts with <tag>to <verb> <tag> <resource-type>with <attribute>over <tag> <network>with <tag>where<where clause> Tags can be user-defined and / or automatically created for different resources. When packets are routed through the network, each node within the network can enforce the ZPR policy defined using ZPL at Layer 4 and / or Layer 7.

[0234] Figure 15 This is a simplified diagram of the syntax 1500 for defining a ZPR strategy using ZPL according to an embodiment. Figure 15 The syntax described in 1500 is merely an example and is not intended to unduly limit the scope of the claimed embodiments. Many variations, alternatives, and modifications are possible.

[0235] In some examples, strategy statements, such as <statement>1510 allows you to specify whether to allow or deny access to one or more resources based on the content of the statement. As briefly discussed above, ZPL is an easy-to-understand language that uses simple names written in sentence form.

[0236] In some configurations, the following English words may be considered reserved keywords in certain contexts.

[0237] Prepositions: about above across after against along among around as at beforebehind below beneath beneath between beyond by during for from in inside intolike near of on opposite out outside over since through to under until uponusing via with within without Conjunctions and Related Words: also and both but either else if not only or then where while Determiners: a an the all any each every no some In some examples, simple names may be treated specially (e.g., by rule engine 606 in certain contexts, which may be referred to as "context keywords" in this document). A simple name can be used as a command, verb, independent key, or base name if and only if it is not a reserved keyword. Any simple name can be used as a key or value in a key-value pair, even if the simple name is a reserved keyword. Any string can be used as an independent key, even if its content looks like a reserved keyword. Any string can be used as a key or value in a key-value pair, even if its content looks like a reserved keyword. In some examples, tags may be restricted to reduce memory usage (e.g., VNIC memory is very limited). For example, if more than a specified number of tags are detected, the compiler will throw an error.

[0238] In Backus-Noor Normal Form (BNF), angle brackets enclose the names of non-terminal symbols ("metavariate"), the symbol "::=" means "can be replaced by any of the following alternatives", and "|" separates the alternatives. For clarity, non-terminal symbols can be used. <empty>To explicitly state the fact that the alternative may contain no tokens at all; it is governed by the BNF rules. <empty>::= (It has an alternative, namely no tokens at all) definition. About Figure 16 More details about the different syntaxes of ZPL are provided.

[0239] Figure 16 This is a simplified diagram illustrating the different components that can be included in a policy statement using ZPL. As discussed above, policy statements can take the following forms: <command> <subject-clause> <host-clause> <directive> <resource-clause> <network-clause> <location-clause> <where-clause> , <command> <subject> <behavior> <means> <where-clause>wait.

[0240] According to some examples, command 1602 includes an allow command 1604 and a deny command 1606. The allow command 1604 specifies that access to a resource is permitted. The deny command 1606 specifies that access to a resource is denied. The deny command 1606 can assist in delegating responsibilities, denying access to resources, controlling traffic flow within one or more networks, etc. In some configurations, the deny command 1606 cannot be overridden by other ZPL, IAM, or other networking policies. Existing network security technologies, such as Network Access Protection (NAP) and Identity and Access Management (IAM) policies, cannot currently do this. Depending on some configurations, the evaluation of ZPL statements occurs in the following order: deny command 1606, allow command 1604, other policies (e.g., IAM policies (not shown)).

[0241] The deny command 1606 explicitly denies permissions that are not overridden by other policy statements. The deny command 1606 follows the same syntax as the allow statement. In some configurations, the deny command 1606 is evaluated before any allow command (following the same tree-scoped behavior as the allow command). The benefit of evaluating the deny command 1606 before the allow command 1604 is that the deny command 1606 allows users to delegate policy writing to child compartments without worrying that the child compartments will override the root administrator's intent. In other words, when using ZPL for delegation, delegators can broaden ZPL allow policies, but they cannot override deny commands (written in the parent compartment, even if written as an IAM policy).

[0242] Currently, using IAM policies, an IAM statement might say "Allow group x to use buckets in the lease," but a sub-cell administrator could write "Allow group X to manage buckets in cell c1, which will grant administrative privileges, but only in c1." In contrast, with ZPL, a user can write in the root cell "Deny all users managing all buckets in the lease." A sub-cell administrator could write "Allow group X to manage buckets in cell c1," but the enforcement of these policies will never grant the permission to "Allow group X to manage buckets in cell c1" because a deny statement (1606) created at the root will reject the request before the allow statement created by the sub-cell administrator is evaluated.

[0243] As another example, suppose an administrator does not want a delegate to be able to create or modify VCNs or other network resources. A deny command 1606, such as "deny all users from managing all virtual network families in the compartment named 'c1'", can be used to implement this restriction. An allow command 1604, such as "allow policy delegation of management to users for all data in compartment c1", can be used to grant a delegate any other operation besides that specified in deny command 1606.

[0244] Based on some examples, deny commands include meta-verbs used to determine how the denied permissions are interpreted. If a customer wants to deny only some permissions (e.g., administration), then they also write an allow policy, since denying doesn't grant any permissions. The administration meta-verb 1608 does not prevent inspection, use, and read, but denies use and administration. For example, the deny command 1606 "deny all users from managing all virtual network families in compartment c1" will still use an allow command such as "allow the blue user to use all virtual network families in compartment c1." The use meta-verb 1610 does not prevent inspection and read, but denies use and administration. The read meta-verb 1612 does not prevent inspection but denies read, use, and administration. The access meta-verb 1614 does not grant access and prevents other policies (e.g., IAM) from granting any access.

[0245] As discussed above, one or more tags 1620 can be used to label resources. Examples include users, user groups, compute resources, compute resource groups, storage devices, storage device groups, data, etc. In some configurations, tags and attributes (e.g., names) can be evaluated at Layer 4 by the smartNIC EP, and L7 attributes (including, but not limited to, path, request cookies, request headers, URL queries, request methods, country / region, source IP address, destination IP address) can be evaluated at the target service or egress proxy (e.g., gateway). Policy statements can also use multiple tags 1620, for example, "Allow any (any-ZPR tag or no-ZPR tag) user to manage any (any-ZPR tag, no-ZPR tag) virtual network family in compartment c1", or "Allow all (HIPPA, confidential: secret) hosts to use the 'Biz-Analysis' bucket".

[0246] Tags can be user-defined and / or automatically created for different resources. A tag can be a standalone key or a key-value pair. Key-value pairs have the form "key:value". Whether a space precedes the colon (:) is optional. Whether a space follows the colon (:) is optional. The term "tagged entity" refers to a combination of a base name and a (potentially empty) set of tags. In some examples, tags may be restricted to reduce memory usage (e.g., a smartNIC may have limited memory). For example, if more than a specified number of tags are detected, the rules engine / compiler will throw an error.

[0247] If a single tag appears before the base name, it is written before the base name without additional syntax (except for separating spaces). Examples: "red networks", "region:Europe networks", "'Big Cheese' users", "location: 'New York' users". If more than one tag appears before the base name, the tags can be written in order and separated by commas before the base name. Examples: "approved,red networks", "approved,blue,region:Europe networks", "authorized,'Big Cheese' users", "authorized,department: sales,location: 'New York' users". In some examples, the meaning is the same regardless of whether the tag appears before or after the base name, and the overall order of the tags is not important.

[0248] A tagged entity is a subset of entity classes identified by its base name; that is, those entity classes that have attributes matching each of the listed tags. Therefore, "authorized, 'High Priority', 'Big Cheese' users" refers entirely to users who have attributes matching all of the following tags: authorized, 'High Priority', and 'Big Cheese'. Many tag namespaces can be tagged as ZPR tag namespaces. To reference a tag from a non-default tag namespace (ORG-ZPR), the user prefixes the tag namespace namespace name with a period. For example, if the tag namespace "myAuthTags" is tagged as a ZPR tag namespace and it has a tag called clearance, then that tag would be called myAuthtags.clearance. For example, "Allow users myAuthtags.clearance:secret to read the myAuthtags.clearance bucket". In some configurations, tags can be referenced by their keys and can include or exclude values. For example, for the tag key "colors", to reference a specific value of the colors key, the tag could be referenced as "colors:red". Depending on the configuration, multiple tags can be referenced by commas or spaces as separators and logically joined together (and). Tags can also be combined with tags that are prefixes to objects using the `with` clause. For example, `"tag1, tag2 users with tag3"` means users who have all three tags: `tag1`, `tag2`, and `tag3`. As another example, `"authorized 'High Priority', 'Big Cheese' users"` refers to users who have attributes matching all the tags `authorized`, `'High Priority'`, and `'Big Cheese'`.

[0249] The base name 1630 refers to a simple name (e.g., "word") that may have associated tags. Depending on some configuration, the base name 1630 may include, but is not limited to, user 1630A (e.g., "authorized user"), host 1630B (e.g., "blue host"), internet 1630C (e.g., "all internet networks"), extranet 1630D, resource-kinds 1630E (e.g., endpoint, "Customer-app-2" endpoint) and data 1630F (e.g., "PII data").

[0250] Based on some examples, verb 1640 includes, but is not limited to, sending 1640A, receiving 1640B, sending-receiving 1640C, and accessing 1640D. Sending 1640A allows initiating a connection (in the sense of stateful networking). In some examples, sending 1640A complies with IAM and other network policies. Receiving 1640B allows receiving connections (in the sense of stateful networking) and, in some examples, complies with IAM and other network policies. Send-receiving 1640C allows sending and receiving data (in the sense of stateless networking) and, in some examples, complies with IAM and other network policies. Accessing 1640D complies with IAM policies and behaves like sending-receiving because it only allows L4 connections and does not grant L7 permissions.

[0251] Attribute 1650 can be associated with different clauses in ZPL. In some examples, attribute 1650 is supported on users and data (target resource types and endpoints). Attribute 1650 can be referenced in the with clause 1650A, without clause 1450B, and where clause 1450C. Attribute 1650 is referenced in the with clause 1650A by using the attribute name followed by an equal sign and a string (e.g., name = 'mygroup'). Multiple values ​​logically ORed together can be referenced using the keyword in, e.g., name in('mygroup', 'yourgroup'). Some network-specific attribute examples include CIDR (v4 and v6), example: cirr = '10.10.10.10 / 12', IP address (v4 and v6), example: ip = '140.160.240.12', and port, example port in(443, 557). And the protocol, for example, protocol = 'ICMP'.

[0252] Different attributes can be associated with different resources. For example, the sample object bucket resource attributes may include, but are not limited to, approximateCount (int), the number of objects, approximateSize (int), autoTiering (String), isReadOnly, publicAccessType (string): NoPublicAccess, ObjectRead, ObjectReadWithoutList, StorageTier (string): Standard, Archive, and Versioning (String): Enabled, Suspended, Disabled). Example compute instance properties include, but are not limited to, agentConfig, availabilityConfig, availabilityDomain, capacityReservatinoId, compartmentID, dedicatedMHostID, displayName, extendedMetadata(object), faultDomain, imageID, instanceOptions(object:areLegacyImdsEndpointsDisab led, (Boolean)), Opc-request-id, ipxeScript, launchMode, launchOptions (object) (bootValueType, firmware, isConsistentVolumeNamingEnabled, isPvEncryptionInTransitEnabled, networkType, remoteDataVolueType), lifecycleState (Moving, Provisingk Running, Stopped, etc.), metadata, platformConfig, preemptibleIsntanceconifg, region, shape, shapeConfig (object), sourceDetails (object), timeCreated and timeMaintenanceRebootDue).

[0253] The attribute is accessed using name='value' or name in ( <set>The value is a string literal and appears within single quotes. For example, attribute = 'value' or attribute in ('value1', 'value2') is an OR condition.

[0254] When referencing attributes in the WHERE clause 1650C, more fully qualified names can be used. In some examples, any context variables from the IAM policy are also allowed to be used as in the ZPL WHERE clause 1650C. Users can also use attributes (from only users and data (endpoints, resource types)) as part of the WHERE clause. The clause also supports ANY (OR) and ALL (AND) statements. These clauses are designed to allow users to define complex and advanced policies.

[0255] Syntax for a single condition: variable = | != value

[0256] Syntax for multiple conditions: any|all { <condition> , <condition>, ...}

[0257] BNF Paradigm: <where-clause> ::= <condition> | <complex-where-statement> <condition> ::= <attribute> <operation> <value> <attribute> ::= <string> | <simple-name> <operation> ::= = | != <value> ::= <string> <complex-where-statement> ::= <any-all> { <condition-list> } <any-all>::= any | all <condition-list> ::= <condition> | <condition> , <condition-list> The with clause means applicable. <base-name>Those attributes. The without clause has the opposite effect, where those attributes must not be... <base-name>Above. Some examples include "Deny developer users access to the development server without status='reserved'", "Deny developers without k:v", and "Deny developers without a key".

[0258] Scope 1460 identifies the scope of policy statements. Scopes may include In identifiers 1660A (e.g., "incompartment c1"), compartment identifiers 1660B (e.g., "in compartment c1"), and (e.g., "lease" which can be used for admit / endorse statements across lease situations).<tenancy name> The "of" identifier 1660D and the lease identifier 1660E (e.g., "in tenancy c1"). Some examples include "allow" <tag>User management of all compartments c1 <tag>"Storage bucket", "Allow" <tag>User Management <tag>In the lease <tag>"Storage bucket", "Allow" <tag>User Management <tag>In compartment C1 <tag>"Storage bucket" and "Allow" <tag>User Management <tag>In compartments c1:c1.1:c1.1.1 <tag>Storage bucket.

[0259] The over-network clause 1670 within ZPL allows users to specify network locations that can be used for packet flows. In some examples, a network location represents a set of cloud infrastructure resources controlled by the customer, consisting of a group of network devices. The over-network clause 1670 allows users to differentiate their internet traffic from their internal cloud infrastructure traffic and their extranet traffic, and has the ability to require traffic to travel through an SGW (instead of over the internet). These network devices can include an entire VCN, an enterprise network, or they can include a specific set of gateways (IGW, SGW, etc.) on a specific VCN. They are used in the over-network clause to represent a group of network devices. From ZPL's perspective, a network location simply represents a set of network resources. For example, "Allow any-zpr-tag users to manage the colors:blue bucket on the colors:blue network in compartment c23" allows any user on any network participant to manage the blue bucket, but only if traffic flows through VCNs and gateways in network locations marked with blue.

[0260] In some configurations, users can also use ZPL without IAM / to write network-focused policies. Based on some examples, resource-type endpoints can be used. Endpoints represent target host endpoints (e.g., IP addresses and ports), and by default, they allow access to all protocols / ports unless explicitly specified. However, if the resource type is the Internet, ZPL will throw an error and fail to save the policy if the port / protocol is not specified in the statement, because opening all protocols to the Internet is not a secure default. A customer could write a policy like: Allow host 'Customer-app-1' to send and receive from the 'Customer-app-2' endpoint. This allows 'Customer-app-1' to communicate with 'Customer-app-2' via any protocol. If they want to be more specific, they could write a policy like: Allow host 'Customer-app-1' to send and receive from the 'Customer-app-2' endpoint using protocols in ('HTTP', 'SQL'). This further restricts communication to HTTP and SQL protocols.

[0261] ZPL's advantage lies in its focus on data and its unification of networking and IAM policies. Users can write high-level, data-centric policies that protect data from misconfigurations at lower levels (NSG, FW, networking). Users do not need to keep L4 and L7 policies synchronized. Using ZPL, users can define policies to evaluate host tags (L4), evaluate gateway tags (e.g., network clauses), evaluate port / protocol for egress / ingress protection (L4), protect data from being leaked to the Internet (L4), protect data from being leaked to other leases (via multi-tenant endpoints) (L7), write statements that emphasize unified data over L4 and L7 authentication (L7), evaluate target tags (e.g., databases, buckets) (L7), evaluate user group tags (L7), evaluate resource types (e.g., databases, buckets), enable data keywords (L7), evaluate OCI L7 permissions (inspect, read, use, manage) (L7), evaluate other context variables (name, etc.) (L7), evaluate locations (i.e., compartments) and other scopes (L7), evaluate L7 attributes (paths, cookies, etc.) (L7), and egress protection based on user / tag targets (L7).

[0262] Figure 17 The illustration shows an example method 1700 for preparing resources for enforcing the ZPR policy, based on various aspects. Method 1700 can be... Figures 1-14 and Figures 22-26 One or more components of a computing device execute the method. A computer-readable storage medium includes computer-readable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the computing device to perform method 1700. Method 1700 can be executed in any suitable order. It should be appreciated that method 1700 may include more than Figure 17 The steps described in the text may have more or fewer steps.

[0263] At 1702, an origin ID is assigned to a resource within one or more networks. In some configurations, the Data Security Control Plane (DSCP) assigns an origin ID to each enforcement point within one or more networks. As discussed above, an EP may include a VNIC (e.g., a smartNIC), a gateway 630, and other resources involved in transmitting packets within one or more networks.

[0264] At 1704, the resource is tagged. As discussed above, data and other resources are tagged. Generally, data discovery can be used to automatically tag resources and / or users can tag resources manually. In some examples, users tag resources such as, but not limited to, client applications (compute instances), IAM principals (groups and dynamic groups), networking gateways, data stored in storage services (e.g., databases, object buckets, etc.).

[0265] In some configurations, users tag resources 1704, such as, but not limited to, tagging data stored in storage services (e.g., databases, object buckets, etc.) 1704A, tagging hosts 1704B, tagging gateways 1704C, tagging smartNICs 1704D, tagging other enforcement points 610 (not shown), tagging applications 1704E (e.g., compute instances), tagging IAM subjects (groups and dynamic groups), tagging client-defined resources 1704, etc. As discussed above, resources may have one or more associated tags including zero or more attributes.

[0266] At 1706, the tag is propagated to network resources. As discussed above, after a resource is tagged (e.g., automatically / manually), the tag is propagated down the service to its associated network resources. For example, a client may use a data classification tag to tag a compute instance, and the ZTA service 602 and / or some other device / component propagates these tags to the attached EP (e.g., VNIC). In some examples, the service may expose endpoints. In these cases, the data classification tag on the service resource causes the VNIC to inherit that data classification tag, resulting in the appropriate enforcement of ZPR policies by the L4 network policies implemented at the VNIC. Higher-level services use one of the Virtual Networking CP APIs to assign tags to the VNICs they own.

[0267] Figure 18 The illustration shows an example method 1800 for zero-trust packet routing using ZPL, based on various aspects. Method 1800 can be derived from... Figures 1-14 and Figures 22-26 One or more components of a computing device execute the method. A computer-readable storage medium includes computer-readable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the computing device to perform method 1800. Method 1800 can be executed in any suitable order. It should be appreciated that method 1800 may include more than Figure 18 The steps described in the text may have more or fewer steps.

[0268] At 1802, a ZPR policy is created using ZPL. As discussed above, a ZPR policy consists of policy statements that use ZPL to declare the security intent associated with the tagged resource. ZPL can be used to define policies specifying who (e.g., users, computing resources) can access data and where that data is allowed to go in one or more networks. The use of ZPL allows users to write data-centric, intent-based policies to control data flow, thereby protecting data and communications at the network layer. For example, policy statements can be as simple as "Allow the 'red' host to read 'blue' data", "Allow the 'biz-analysts' user to use the bucket in the 'Analysis' compartment", "Allow the 'Business-Analyst' user on the 'HR-Apps' host to read 'HR-App-Data' data through the corp-internal network", allowing the Business-Analyst user on the HR-Apps host to read any resource tagged with HR-App-Data. Depending on some configuration, policy statements can take the form: (allow | deny) alert-mode <tag> <subject>on <tag>hosts to <verb> <tag> <resource-type>over <tag>network in <location>where any | all{condition}.

[0269] At 1804, the rule to be enforced is determined. As discussed above, the rule engine 606 associated with ZTA service 602 can access the ZPR policy from policy 608B and determine the rule to be enforced based on the analysis of the policy.

[0270] At 1806, the rule is distributed to different enforcement points 610. As discussed above, after the rule is determined, the distribution engine 604 can provide the rule 612 to and / or make it available to one or more different enforcement points 610 within the network (e.g., smartNIC, gateway, ...).

[0271] At point 1808, these rules are enforced by enforcement point 610. As discussed above, rule 612, determined according to the policy, is enforced at enforcement point 610 within one or more networks. Generally, no resource (e.g., user, application, etc.) is allowed to access tagged data unless that resource is also tagged. For example, if the tag "PII" is applied to data stored in an object bucket and database, then the tagged PII data is protected from any access from the Internet and from any untagged users and clients. In some examples, even if a user has IAM privileges on the data, they cannot access the data in any way if they are not tagged with "PII". Enforcement of policy rules helps ensure that only clients with the appropriate "PII" tag can access data tagged with PII. When a client makes a request to the application server, the packet will have an Origin-ID, and the intermediate SmartNIC and destination service will map it to the appropriate ZPR tag by invoking the data classification service.

[0272] As packets are routed through the network, each enforcement point can check the source and destination ZPR tags against a ZPL policy and, based on the policy, block the packet or send it to the next hop. When a packet reaches a gateway, the gateway can perform additional checks and allow the packet only if it has been routed to a resource containing EP 610. The EP verification policy associated with that resource (e.g., a service) then allows packets originating from instances with specific tags.

[0273] Figure 19 The illustration shows an example method 1902 for performing ZPR at EP 610, based on various aspects. Method 1900 can be performed by... Figures 1-14 and Figures 22-26 One or more components of a computing device execute the method. A computer-readable storage medium includes computer-readable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the computing device to perform method 1900. Method 1900 can be executed in any suitable order. It should be appreciated that method 1900 may include more than Figure 19 The steps described in the text may have more or fewer steps.

[0274] At 1902, the sender's identity and the policy to be enforced are checked. As discussed above, instead of relying on the receiving device to enforce the network policy, the first EP 610 involved in transmitting the data packet can determine whether the packet should be sent to the next hop / destination or blocked from being sent to the next hop / destination.

[0275] At 1904, the rule to be enforced is determined. As discussed above, rule 612 can be received from the ZTA service 602, the distribution engine 604, and / or from some other device component. As discussed above, rule 612 is associated with controlling the flow of traffic in one or more networks. EP 610 may also receive a mapping 608A indicating one or more tags associated with different origins and what the origin ID of a particular component / device configured for EP 610 is.

[0276] At 1906, the rule is executed. As discussed above, EP 610 can use policy engine 614 to execute each rule associated with the policy. For example, policy engine 614 can determine whether the receiving device at the destination is allowed to receive data packets, whether the user / device submitting the request is authorized to send the request, etc.

[0277] At 1908, a determination is made regarding whether to authorize EP 610 to transmit the packet to the next hop / destination. As discussed above, if EP 610 determines that each rule executed has passed the specified conditions, then the processing flow proceeds to 1910. If one or more rules in the rules have not passed the specified conditions, the processing flow proceeds to 1914.

[0278] At 1910, the sender of EP 610 associates the origin ID and / or one or more other parameters with the data packet. As discussed above, EP 610 may inject the origin ID of the sender of EP 610 into the header of the data packet. Examples of other parameters that may be associated with the data packet include, but are not limited to, tags associated with one or more resources, the type of device sending the data packet, identifiers indicating the network used to access EP 610, etc.

[0279] At position 1912, a data packet is transmitted. As discussed above, in some examples, EP 610 transmits data packets when authorized based on a policy.

[0280] At point 1914, an alarm can be triggered when determined. As discussed above, in some examples, the alarm mode can be used to determine which packets will be allowed / denied without actually preventing packets from being transmitted / received.

[0281] Figure 20 The illustration shows an example method 2000 for performing ZPR at the receiving EP 610, based on various aspects. Method 2000 can be performed by... Figures 1-14 and Figures 22-26 One or more components of a computing device execute the method. A computer-readable storage medium includes computer-readable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the computing device to perform method 2000. Method 2000 can be executed in any suitable order. It should be appreciated that method 2000 may include more than Figure 20 The steps described in the text may have more or fewer steps.

[0282] At 2002, a data packet is received. As discussed above, data packets can be received from another EP 610 in the network flow between the source and destination.

[0283] At point 2004, the identities of the sender and receiver, as well as the policy to be enforced, are checked. As discussed above, instead of relying solely on the receiving device to enforce network policies, any / all EP 610s involved in transmitting data packets can determine whether the packets should be sent to the next hop / destination or blocked from being sent to the next hop / destination.

[0284] At 2006, the rule to be enforced is determined. As discussed above, rule 612 can be received from ZTA service 602, distribution engine 604, and / or from some other device component. As discussed above, rule 612 is associated with controlling the flow of traffic in one or more networks. EP 610 may also receive a mapping 608A indicating one or more tags associated with different origins and what the origin ID of a particular component / device configured for EP 610 is.

[0285] At point 2008, rules are executed. As discussed above, EP 610 can use policy engine 614 to execute each rule associated with a policy. For example, policy engine 614 can determine whether the receiving device at the destination is allowed to receive data packets, whether the user / device submitting the request is authorized to send the request, etc.

[0286] At 2010, a determination is made regarding whether to authorize EP 610 to transmit the packet to the next hop / destination. As discussed above, if EP 610 determines that each rule executed has passed the specified conditions, then the flow proceeds to 2012. If one or more rules have not passed the specified conditions, the flow proceeds to 2014.

[0287] At 2012, the EP 610 sender associates the origin ID and / or one or more other parameters with the data packet. As discussed above, the EP 610 may inject the origin ID of the sending EP 610 into the header of the data packet. Examples of other parameters that may be associated with the data packet include, but are not limited to, tags associated with one or more resources, the type of device sending the data packet, identifiers indicating the network used to access the EP 610, etc.

[0288] At point 2014, data packets are transmitted. As discussed above, in some examples, EP 610 transmits data packets when authorized based on a policy.

[0289] Figure 21 The illustration shows an example method 2100 for evaluating ZPL policy statements and other policy statements based on various aspects. Method 2100 can be derived from... Figures 1-14 and Figures 22-26 One or more components of a computing device execute the method. A computer-readable storage medium includes computer-readable instructions that, when executed by one or more processors of a computing device, cause the computing device to perform method 2100. Method 2100 can be executed in any suitable order. It should be appreciated that method 2100 may include more than Figure 21 The steps described in the text may have more or fewer steps.

[0290] At 2102, the deny policy ZPL statement is evaluated. As discussed above, rule 612 can be received from the ZTA service 602, the distribution engine 604, and / or from some other device component. EP 610 can also receive a mapping 608A indicating one or more tags associated with different origins and what the origin ID of a specific component / device configured for EP 610 is. In some configurations, the ZPL policy statement is evaluated before other policy statements (e.g., IAM or some other networking policy), so that the ZPL policy statement is enforced before other networking policies, preventing the ZPL policy from being overridden. According to some examples, the ZPL deny statement is evaluated before the ZPL allow statement. The advantage of evaluating the deny statement 1406 before the allow command 1404 is that the deny command 1406 allows the user to delegate policy writing to sub-cells without worrying that the sub-cells will override the root administrator's intent.

[0291] At 2104, the ZPL permission statement is evaluated. As discussed above, the ZPL permission statement is evaluated next.

[0292] At 2106, other policy statements are evaluated. As discussed above, other policy statements can be written using an alternative networking policy (such as IAM). By evaluating other policies after the ZPL statement, IAM will not override the ZPL policy statement.

[0293] Example CSPI architecture for providing cloud services

[0294] As noted above, Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) is a specific type of cloud computing. IaaS can be configured to provide virtualized computing resources over a public network (e.g., the Internet). In the IaaS model, cloud providers can host infrastructure components (e.g., servers, storage devices, network nodes (e.g., hardware), deployment software, platform virtualization (e.g., hypervisor layer), etc.). In some cases, IaaS providers can also provision various services to accompany these infrastructure components (example services include billing software, monitoring software, logging software, load balancing software, and clustering software, etc.). Therefore, because these services may be policy-driven, IaaS users can implement policies to drive load balancing to maintain application availability and performance.

[0295] In some cases, IaaS customers can access resources and services over a wide area network (WAN) such as the Internet and can use the cloud provider's services to install the remaining elements of the application stack. For example, a user can log in to the IaaS platform to create virtual machines (VMs), install an operating system (OS) on each VM, deploy middleware such as databases, create buckets for workloads and backups, and even install enterprise software into that VM. The customer can then use the provider's services to perform various functions, including balancing network traffic, troubleshooting application issues, monitoring performance, and managing disaster recovery.

[0296] In most cases, cloud computing models will require the involvement of cloud providers. Cloud providers can, but are not necessarily, third-party providers specializing in (e.g., provisioning, renting, selling) IaaS services. Entities may also choose to deploy private clouds, thus becoming their own infrastructure service providers.

[0297] In some examples, IaaS deployment is the process of placing a new application or a new version of an application onto a prepared application server, etc. It may also include the processing of server preparation (e.g., installation libraries, daemons, etc.). This is typically managed by the cloud provider, below the hypervisor layer (e.g., servers, storage devices, network hardware, and virtualization). Therefore, the customer can be responsible for processing (OS), middleware, and / or application deployment (e.g., on self-service virtual machines, etc., which can be started on demand).

[0298] In some examples, IaaS provisioning can refer to acquiring computers or virtual hosts for use, or even installing necessary libraries or services on them. In most cases, deployment does not include provisioning, and provisioning may need to be performed first.

[0299] In some cases, IaaS provisioning presents two distinct challenges. First, there's the initial challenge of provisioning a set of initial infrastructure before anything is operational. Second, once everything is provisioned, there's the challenge of evolving the existing infrastructure (e.g., adding new services, changing services, removing services, etc.). In some cases, both challenges can be addressed by enabling configuration that declaratively defines the infrastructure. In other words, the infrastructure (e.g., which components are needed and how they interact) can be defined by one or more configuration files. Therefore, the overall topology of the infrastructure (e.g., which resources depend on which resources and how they work together) can be described declaratively. In some cases, once the topology is defined, workflows for creating and / or managing the different components described in the configuration files can be generated.

[0300] In some examples, the infrastructure can have many interconnected components. For example, there may be one or more Virtual Private Clouds (VPCs) (e.g., a potential on-demand pool of configurable and / or shared computing resources), also known as the core network. In some examples, one or more inbound / outbound traffic group rules may also be provided to define how inbound / outbound traffic to the network is structured, along with one or more virtual machines (VMs). Other infrastructure elements, such as load balancers, databases, etc., may also be provided. The infrastructure can evolve incrementally as more and / or additional infrastructure elements are desired.

[0301] In some cases, continuous deployment techniques can be used to enable the deployment of infrastructure code across various virtual computing environments. Furthermore, the described techniques enable infrastructure management within these environments. In some examples, service teams may write code that they expect to deploy to one or more, but often many, different production environments (e.g., across various geographical locations, sometimes spanning the entire world). However, in some examples, the infrastructure on which the code will be deployed must first be established. In some cases, provisioning can be done manually, resources can be provisioned using provisioning tools, and / or once the infrastructure is provisioned, the code can be deployed using deployment tools.

[0302] Figure 22 This is a block diagram 2200 illustrating an example pattern of an IaaS architecture according to at least one embodiment. Service operator 2202 may be communicatively coupled to secure host lease 2204, which may include a virtual cloud network (VCN) 2206 and a secure host subnet 2208. In some examples, service operator 2202 may use one or more client computing devices, which may be portable handheld devices (e.g., iPhone®, cellular phone, iPad®, computing tablet, personal digital assistant (PDA)) or wearable devices (e.g., Google Glass® head-mounted display), running software (such as Microsoft Windows Mobile®) and / or various mobile operating systems (such as iOS, Windows Phone, Android, BlackBerry 8, Palm OS, etc.), and supporting the Internet, email, short message service (SMS), Blackberry®, or other communication protocols. Alternatively, client computing devices may be general-purpose personal computers, including, for example, personal computers and / or laptops running various versions of Microsoft Windows®, Apple Macintosh®, and / or Linux operating systems. Client computing devices can be workstation computers running a variety of commercially available UNIX® or UNIX-like operating systems, including but not limited to any of the various GNU / Linux operating systems (such as, for example, Google Chrome OS). Alternatively or additionally, client computing devices can be any other electronic device, such as thin client computers, internet-enabled gaming systems (e.g., Microsoft Xbox game consoles with or without Kinect® gesture input devices), and / or personal messaging devices capable of communicating over a network that can access VCN 2206 and / or the internet.

[0303] VCN 2206 may include a local peering gateway (LPG) 2210, which may be communicatively coupled to a secure shell (SSH) VCN 2212 via the LPG 2210 included in SSH VCN 2212. SSH VCN 2212 may include an SSH subnet 2214, and SSH VCN 2212 may be communicatively coupled to a control plane VCN 2216 via the LPG 2210 included in control plane VCN 2216. Furthermore, SSH VCN 2212 may be communicatively coupled to a data plane VCN 2218 via the LPG 2210. Control plane VCN 2216 and data plane VCN 2218 may be contained within a service lease 2219 that may be owned and / or operated by an IaaS provider.

[0304] The control plane VCN 2216 may include a control plane demilitarized zone (DMZ) layer 2220 that acts as a peripheral network (e.g., a portion of a corporate network between a corporate intranet and an external network). DMZ-based servers can assume limited liability and help control vulnerabilities. Furthermore, the DMZ layer 2220 may include one or more load balancer (LB) subnets 2222, a control plane application layer 2224 that may include one or more application subnets 2226, and a control plane data layer 2228 that may include one or more database (DB) subnets 2230 (e.g., one or more front-end DB subnets and / or one or more back-end DB subnets). One or more LB subnets 2222 contained in the control plane DMZ layer 2220 can be communicatively coupled to one or more application subnets 2226 contained in the control plane application layer 2224 and an Internet gateway 2234 that can be contained in the control plane VCN 2216. The application subnets 2226 can be communicatively coupled to one or more DB subnets 2230 contained in the control plane data layer 2228, as well as a service gateway 2236 and a Network Address Translation (NAT) gateway 2238. The control plane VCN 2216 may include the service gateway 2236 and the NAT gateway 2238.

[0305] The control plane VCN 2216 may include a data plane mirror application layer 2240, which may include one or more application subnets 2226. The one or more application subnets 2226 included in the data plane mirror application layer 2240 may include a virtual network interface controller (VNIC) 2242 capable of executing a compute instance 2244. The compute instance 2244 may communicatively couple the one or more application subnets 2226 of the data plane mirror application layer 2240 to the one or more application subnets 2226 that may be included in the data plane application layer 2246.

[0306] Data plane VCN 2218 may include data plane application layer 2246, data plane DMZ layer 2248, and data plane data layer 2250. Data plane DMZ layer 2248 may include one or more LB subnets 2222 communicatively coupled to one or more application subnets 2226 of data plane application layer 2246 and Internet gateway 2234 of data plane VCN 2218. One or more application subnets 2226 may be communicatively coupled to service gateway 2236 and NAT gateway 2238 of data plane VCN 2218. Data plane data layer 2250 may also include one or more DB subnets 2230 communicatively coupled to one or more application subnets 2226 of data plane application layer 2246.

[0307] The Internet gateway 2234 of the control plane VCN 2216 and data plane VCN 2218 can be communicatively coupled to the metadata management service 2252, which can be communicatively coupled to the public Internet 2254. The public Internet 2254 can be communicatively coupled to the NAT gateway 2238 of the control plane VCN 2216 and data plane VCN 2218. The service gateway 2236 of the control plane VCN 2216 and data plane VCN 2218 can be communicatively coupled to the cloud service 2256.

[0308] In some examples, the service gateway 2236 of the control plane VCN 2216 or data plane VCN 2218 can make application programming interface (API) calls to the cloud service 2256 without traversing the public internet 2254. API calls from the service gateway 2236 to the cloud service 2256 can be unidirectional: the service gateway 2236 can make API calls to the cloud service 2256, and the cloud service 2256 can send requested data to the service gateway 2236. However, the cloud service 2256 may not initiate API calls to the service gateway 2236.

[0309] In some examples, secure host lease 2204 can be directly connected to service lease 2219, which would otherwise be isolated. Secure host subnet 2208 can communicate with SSH subnet 2214 via LPG 2210, which enables bidirectional communication between otherwise isolated systems. Connecting secure host subnet 2208 to SSH subnet 2214 allows secure host subnet 2208 to access other entities within service lease 2219.

[0310] Control plane VCN 2216 may allow users of service lease 2219 to set up or otherwise provision desired resources. Desired resources provisioned in control plane VCN 2216 may be deployed or otherwise used in data plane VCN 2218. In some examples, control plane VCN 2216 may be isolated from data plane VCN 2218, and the data plane mirror application layer 2240 of control plane VCN 2216 may communicate with the data plane application layer 2246 of data plane VCN 2218 via VNIC 2242, which may be included in both the data plane mirror application layer 2240 and the data plane application layer 2246.

[0311] In some examples, users or clients of the system can make requests, such as create, read, update, or delete (CRUD) operations, via the public internet 2254, which can transmit requests to the metadata management service 2252. The metadata management service 2252 can transmit requests to the control plane VCN 2216 via internet gateway 2234. Requests can be received by one or more LB subnets 2222 contained in the control plane DMZ layer 2220. The LB subnets 2222 can determine that the request is valid, and in response to this determination, can transmit the request to one or more application subnets 2226 contained in the control plane application layer 2224. If the request is validated and requires a call to the public internet 2254, the call to the public internet 2254 can be transmitted to a NAT gateway 2238 that can make calls to the public internet 2254. The request may expect stored metadata to be stored in one or more DB subnets 2230.

[0312] In some examples, the data plane mirroring application layer 2240 can facilitate direct communication between the control plane VCN 2216 and the data plane VCN 2218. For example, it may be desirable to apply configuration changes, updates, or other appropriate modifications to resources contained in the data plane VCN 2218. Through VNIC 2242, the control plane VCN 2216 can communicate directly with the resources contained in the data plane VCN 2218, and thus can perform configuration changes, updates, or other appropriate modifications.

[0313] In some embodiments, the control plane VCN 2216 and data plane VCN 2218 may be included in a service lease 2219. In this case, the system's users or customers may not own or operate the control plane VCN 2216 or the data plane VCN 2218. Alternatively, the IaaS provider may own or operate both the control plane VCN 2216 and the data plane VCN 2218, both of which may be included in the service lease 2219. This embodiment can enable the isolation of networks that might prevent users or customers from interacting with resources from other users or customers. Furthermore, this embodiment can allow users or customers of the system to privately store databases without relying on the public internet 2254, which may not have the desired level of threat protection for storage.

[0314] In other embodiments, one or more LB subnets 2222 included in the control plane VCN 2216 may be configured to receive signals from the service gateway 2236. In this embodiment, the control plane VCN 2216 and the data plane VCN 2218 may be configured to be invoked by the IaaS provider's customers without invoking the public internet 2254. The IaaS provider's customers may expect this embodiment because the database(s) used by the customer can be controlled by the IaaS provider and can be stored on a service lease 2219, which may be isolated from the public internet 2254.

[0315] Figure 23 This is a block diagram 2300 illustrating another example pattern of an IaaS architecture according to at least one embodiment. Service operator 2302 (e.g., Figure 22 The service provider 2202) can communicatively couple to the secure host lease 2304 (e.g., Figure 22 Secure hosting lease 2204), the secure hosting lease 2304 may include a virtual cloud network (VCN) 2306 (e.g., Figure 22 VCN 2206) and Secure Host Subnet 2308 (e.g., Figure 22 The secure host subnet 2208). VCN 2306 may include a local peering gateway (LPG) 2310 (e.g., Figure 22 The LPG 2210, which can be communicatively coupled to the Secure Shell (SSH) VCN 2312 (e.g., via the LPG 2210 contained in the SSH VCN 2312) Figure 22 SSH VCN 2212). SSH VCN 2312 can include SSH subnet 2314 (e.g., Figure 22 SSH subnet 2214), and SSH VCN 2312 can be communicatively coupled to control plane VCN 2316 via LPG 2310 included in control plane VCN 2316 (e.g., Figure 22 Control plane VCN 2216). Control plane VCN 2316 may be included in service lease 2319 (e.g., Figure 22 In the service lease 2219), and the data plane VCN 2318 (e.g., Figure 22 The data plane VCN 2218 may be included in a customer lease 2321 that may be owned or operated by a user or customer of the system.

[0316] The control plane VCN 2316 may include one or more LB subnets 2322 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane DMZ layer 2320 of (one or more) LB subnets 2222) (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane DMZ layer 2220 may contain one or more application subnets 2326 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane application layer 2324 of (one or more) application subnets 2226 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane application layer 2224) may contain one or more database (DB) subnets 2330 (e.g., similar to...). Figure 22 The control plane data layer 2328 of (one or more) DB subnets 2230 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane data layer 2228). One or more LB subnets 2322 contained in the control plane DMZ layer 2320 can be communicatively coupled to one or more application subnets 2326 contained in the control plane application layer 2324 and an Internet gateway 2334 that can be contained in the control plane VCN 2316 (e.g., Figure 22 Internet gateway 2234), and application subnet(s) 2326 can communicatively couple to DB subnet(s) 2330 contained in control plane data layer 2328 and service gateway 2336 (e.g., Figure 22 Service gateway 2236) and Network Address Translation (NAT) gateway 2338 (e.g., Figure 22 (NAT gateway 2238). The control plane VCN 2316 may include the service gateway 2336 and the NAT gateway 2338.

[0317] The control plane VCN 2316 may include a data plane mirror application layer 2340 that may contain one or more application subnets 2326 (e.g., Figure 22 The data plane mirror application layer 2240). One or more application subnets 2326 contained in the data plane mirror application layer 2340 may include computational instances 2344 (e.g., similar to...). Figure 22 The virtual network interface controller (VNIC) 2342 (e.g., the VNIC of 2242) of the computing instance 2244. The computing instance 2344 may facilitate the mirroring of the application subnet(s) 2326 of the application layer 2340 in the data plane and may be included in the application layer 2346 in the data plane (e.g., Figure 22 Communication between one or more application subnets 2326 in the data plane application layer 2246 via VNIC 2342 contained in the data plane mirror application layer 2340 and VNIC 2342 contained in the data plane application layer 2346.

[0318] The Internet gateway 2334 included in the control plane VCN 2316 can be communicatively coupled to the metadata management service 2352 (e.g., Figure 22 Metadata management service 2252), which can communicatively couple to the public Internet 2354 (e.g., Figure 22 The public internet 2354 can communicatively couple to a NAT gateway 2338 contained in a control plane VCN 2316. The service gateway 2336 contained in the control plane VCN 2316 can communicatively couple to a cloud service 2356 (e.g., ...). Figure 22 Cloud services 2256).

[0319] In some examples, data plane VCN 2318 may be included in customer lease 2321. In this case, the IaaS provider may provide control plane VCN 2316 for each customer, and the IaaS provider may establish a unique compute instance 2344 for each customer, included in service lease 2319. Each compute instance 2344 may allow communication between control plane VCN 2316 included in service lease 2319 and data plane VCN 2318 included in customer lease 2321. Compute instance 2344 may allow resources provisioned in control plane VCN 2316 included in service lease 2319 to be deployed or otherwise used in data plane VCN 2318 included in customer lease 2321.

[0320] In other examples, an IaaS provider's customer may have a database residing in customer lease 2321. In this example, control plane VCN 2316 may include data plane mirror application layer 2340, which may include one or more application subnets 2326. Data plane mirror application layer 2340 may reside in data plane VCN 2318, but may not reside in data plane VCN 2318. That is, data plane mirror application layer 2340 may have access to customer lease 2321, but may not reside in data plane VCN 2318 or be owned or operated by the IaaS provider's customer. Data plane mirror application layer 2340 may be configured to invoke data plane VCN 2318, but may not be configured to invoke any entity contained in control plane VCN 2316. Customers may expect to deploy or otherwise use resources provisioned in the control plane VCN 2316 in the data plane VCN 2318, and the data plane mirroring application layer 2340 can facilitate the customer's expected deployment or other use of resources.

[0321] In some embodiments, an IaaS provider's customer may apply filters to data plane VCN 2318. In this embodiment, the customer may determine what data plane VCN 2318 can access, and the customer may restrict access from data plane VCN 2318 to the public internet 2354. The IaaS provider may not be able to apply filters or otherwise control data plane VCN 2318's access to any external networks or databases. Applying filters and controls to data plane VCN 2318 contained in customer lease 2321 helps isolate data plane VCN 2318 from other customers and the public internet 2354.

[0322] In some embodiments, cloud service 2356 may be invoked by service gateway 2336 to access services that may not exist on public internet 2354, control plane VCN 2316, or data plane VCN 2318. The connection between cloud service 2356 and control plane VCN 2316 or data plane VCN 2318 may not be real-time or continuous. Cloud service 2356 may reside on different networks owned or operated by an IaaS provider. Cloud service 2356 may be configured to receive calls from service gateway 2336 and may be configured not to receive calls from public internet 2354. Some cloud services 2356 may be isolated from other cloud services 2356, and control plane VCN 2316 may be isolated from cloud services 2356 that may not be in the same region as control plane VCN 2316. For example, control plane VCN 2316 may be located in "Region 1", and cloud service "Deployment 11" may be located in both "Region 1" and "Region 2". If the service gateway 2336, contained in the control plane VCN 2316 located in region 1, makes a call to deployment 11, then that call can be transmitted to deployment 11 in region 1. In this example, the control plane VCN 2316 or deployment 11 in region 1 may not be communicatively coupled to or otherwise communicate with deployment 11 in region 2.

[0323] Figure 24 This is a block diagram 2400 illustrating another example pattern of an IaaS architecture according to at least one embodiment. Service operator 2402 (e.g., Figure 22 The service provider 2202) can communicatively couple to the secure host lease 2404 (e.g., Figure 22 Secure hosting lease 2204), the secure hosting lease 2404 may include a virtual cloud network (VCN) 2406 (e.g., Figure 22 VCN 2206) and Secure Host Subnet 2408 (e.g., Figure 22 The secure host subnet 2208). VCN 2406 may include LPG 2410 (e.g., Figure 22 The LPG 2210), which can be communicatively coupled to the SSH VCN 2412 via the LPG 2410 contained in the SSH VCN 2412 (e.g., Figure 22 SSH VCN 2212). SSH VCN 2412 can include SSH subnet 2414 (e.g., Figure 22 The SSH subnet 2214), and the SSH VCN 2412 can be communicatively coupled to the control plane VCN 2416 via the LPG 2410 contained in the control plane VCN 2416 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane VCN 2216) and coupled to the data plane VCN 2418 via the LPG 2410 contained in the data plane VCN 2418 (e.g., Figure 22 Data plane 2218). Control plane VCN 2416 and data plane VCN 2418 may be contained in service lease 2419 (e.g., Figure 22 In the service rental (2219).

[0324] The control plane VCN 2416 may include a load balancer (LB) subnet 2422 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane DMZ layer 2420 of (one or more) LB subnets 2222) (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane DMZ layer 2220 may include one or more application subnets 2426 (e.g., similar to...). Figure 22 The control plane application layer 2424 of (one or more) application subnets 2226 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane application layer 2224), may include (one or more) DB subnets 2430, and the control plane data layer 2428 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane data layer 2228). One or more LB subnets 2422 contained in the control plane DMZ layer 2420 can be communicatively coupled to one or more application subnets 2426 contained in the control plane application layer 2424 and an Internet gateway 2434 that can be contained in the control plane VCN 2416 (e.g., Figure 22 Internet gateway 2234), and application subnet(s) 2426 can communicatively couple to DB subnet(s) 2430 contained in control plane data layer 2428 and service gateway 2436 (e.g., Figure 22 The service gateway) and Network Address Translation (NAT) gateway 2438 (e.g., Figure 22 (NAT gateway 2238). The control plane VCN 2416 may include the service gateway 2436 and the NAT gateway 2438.

[0325] Data plane VCN 2418 may include data plane application layer 2446 (e.g., Figure 22 Data plane application layer 2246), data plane DMZ layer 2448 (e.g., Figure 22 Data plane DMZ layer 2248), and data plane data layer 2450 (e.g., Figure 22 The data plane data layer 2250. The data plane DMZ layer 2448 may include one or more trusted application subnets 2460 and one or more untrusted application subnets 2462 that are communicatively coupled to the data plane application layer 2446, and one or more LB subnets 2422 of the Internet gateway 2434 contained in the data plane VCN 2418. The one or more trusted application subnets 2460 may be communicatively coupled to the service gateway 2436 contained in the data plane VCN 2418, the NAT gateway 2438 contained in the data plane VCN 2418, and one or more DB subnets 2430 contained in the data plane data layer 2450. The one or more untrusted application subnets 2462 may be communicatively coupled to the service gateway 2436 contained in the data plane VCN 2418 and the one or more DB subnets 2430 contained in the data plane data layer 2450. The data plane data layer 2450 may include one or more DB subnets 2430 that can be communicatively coupled to the service gateway 2436 contained in the data plane VCN 2418.

[0326] One or more untrusted application subnets 2462 may include one or more primary VNICs 2464(1)-(N) that can be communicatively coupled to tenant virtual machines (VMs) 2466(1)-(N). Each tenant VM 2466(1)-(N) may be communicatively coupled to a corresponding application subnet 2467(1)-(N) that may be contained in a corresponding container egress VCN 2468(1)-(N), which may be contained in a corresponding customer lease 2470(1)-(N). A corresponding secondary VNIC 2472(1)-(N) may facilitate communication between one or more untrusted application subnets 2462 contained in data plane VCN 2418 and application subnets contained in container egress VCN 2468(1)-(N). Each container exit VCN 2468(1)-(N) may include a NAT gateway 2438, which may communicatively couple to the public Internet 2454 (e.g., Figure 22 The public internet (2254).

[0327] The Internet gateway 2434, contained in the control plane VCN 2416 and the data plane VCN 2418, can be communicatively coupled to the metadata management service 2452 (e.g., Figure 22 The metadata management system 2252 can communicatively couple to the public internet 2454. The public internet 2454 can communicatively couple to a NAT gateway 2438 contained in a control plane VCN 2416 and a data plane VCN 2418. The service gateway 2436 contained in the control plane VCN 2416 and the data plane VCN 2418 can communicatively couple to a cloud service 2456.

[0328] In some embodiments, the data plane VCN 2418 may be integrated with the customer lease 2470. Such integration may be useful or desired by the IaaS provider's customer in certain situations, such as when support may be expected during code execution. A customer may provide code that could be destructive, might communicate with other customer resources, or might otherwise cause undesirable effects. In response, the IaaS provider may determine whether to run the code provided by the customer to the IaaS provider.

[0329] In some examples, an IaaS provider's customer may grant the IaaS provider temporary network access and request functionality attached to the data plane application layer 2446. The code running this functionality may execute in VMs 2466(1)-(N) and may not be configured to run anywhere else on the data plane VCN 2418. Each VM 2466(1)-(N) may be connected to a customer lease 2470. The corresponding container 2471(1)-(N) contained in VMs 2466(1)-(N) may be configured to run the code. In this case, dual isolation may exist (e.g., container 2471(1)-(N) runs the code, where container 2471(1)-(N) may be contained in at least one or more untrusted application subnets 2462 containing VMs 2466(1)-(N)), which can help prevent incorrect or otherwise unintended code from corrupting the IaaS provider's network or the networks of different customers. Containers 2471(1)-(N) may be communicatively coupled to customer lease 2470 and may be configured to transmit or receive data from customer lease 2470. Containers 2471(1)-(N) may not be configured to transmit or receive data from any other entity in the data plane VCN 2418. After the code execution is complete, the IaaS provider may terminate or otherwise dispose of containers 2471(1)-(N).

[0330] In some embodiments, one or more trusted application subnets 2460 may run code that can be owned or operated by an IaaS provider. In this embodiment, one or more trusted application subnets 2460 may be communicatively coupled to one or more database subnets 2430 and configured to perform CRUD operations in one or more database subnets 2430. One or more untrusted application subnets 2462 may be communicatively coupled to one or more database subnets 2430, but in this embodiment, one or more untrusted application subnets may be configured to perform read operations in one or more database subnets 2430. Containers 2471(1)-(N) that may be contained in each customer's VM 2466(1)-(N) and may run code from the customer may not be communicatively coupled to one or more database subnets 2430.

[0331] In other embodiments, the control plane VCN 2416 and the data plane VCN 2418 may be coupled without direct communication. In this embodiment, there may be no direct communication between the control plane VCN 2416 and the data plane VCN 2418. However, communication can occur indirectly through at least one method. The LPG 2410 may be established by an IaaS provider, which can facilitate communication between the control plane VCN 2416 and the data plane VCN 2418. In another example, either the control plane VCN 2416 or the data plane VCN 2418 may invoke the cloud service 2456 via the service gateway 2436. For example, an invocation of the cloud service 2456 from the control plane VCN 2416 may include a request for a service that can communicate with the data plane VCN 2418.

[0332] Figure 25 This is a block diagram 2500 illustrating another example pattern of an IaaS architecture according to at least one embodiment. Service operator 2502 (e.g., Figure 22 The service provider 2202) can communicatively couple to the secure host lease 2504 (e.g., Figure 22 Secure hosting lease 2204), the secure hosting lease 2504 may include a virtual cloud network (VCN) 2506 (e.g., Figure 22 VCN 2206) and Secure Host Subnet 2508 (e.g., Figure 22 The secure host subnet 2208). VCN 2506 may include LPG 2510 (e.g., Figure 22 The LPG 2210), the LPG 2510 can be accessed via SSH VCN 2512 (e.g., LPG 2210), Figure 22 The LPG 2510 in SSH VCN 2212 is communicatively coupled to SSH VCN 2512. SSH VCN 2512 may include SSH subnet 2514 (e.g., Figure 22 SSH subnet 2214), and SSH VCN 2512 can be communicatively coupled to control plane VCN 2516 via LPG 2510 included in control plane VCN 2516 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane VCN 2216) and coupled to the data plane VCN 2518 via the LPG 2510 contained in the data plane VCN 2518 (e.g., Figure 22 Data plane 2218). Control plane VCN 2516 and data plane VCN 2518 may be included in service lease 2519 (e.g., Figure 22 In the service rental (2219).

[0333] The control plane VCN 2516 may include one or more LB subnets 2522 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane DMZ layer 2520 of (one or more) LB subnets 2222) (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane DMZ layer 2220 may include (one or more) application subnets 2526 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane application layer 2524 of (one or more) application subnets 2226 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane application layer 2224) may include (one or more) DB subnets 2530 (e.g., Figure 24 The control plane data layer 2528 of (one or more) DB subnets 2430 (e.g., Figure 22 The control plane data layer 2228). One or more LB subnets 2522 contained in the control plane DMZ layer 2520 can be communicatively coupled to one or more application subnets 2526 contained in the control plane application layer 2524 and an Internet gateway 2534 that can be contained in the control plane VCN 2516 (e.g., Figure 22 Internet gateway 2234), and application subnet(s) 2526 can communicatively couple to DB subnet(s) 2530 contained in control plane data layer 2528 and service gateway 2536 (e.g., Figure 22 The service gateway) and Network Address Translation (NAT) gateway 2538 (e.g., Figure 22 (NAT gateway 2238). The control plane VCN 2516 may include the service gateway 2536 and the NAT gateway 2538.

[0334] Data plane VCN 2518 may include data plane application layer 2546 (e.g., Figure 22 Data plane application layer 2246), data plane DMZ layer 2548 (e.g., Figure 22 Data plane DMZ layer 2248), and data plane data layer 2550 (e.g., Figure 22 The data plane data layer 2250). The data plane DMZ layer 2548 may include one or more trusted application subnets 2560 that can be communicatively coupled to the data plane application layer 2546 (e.g., Figure 24 (one or more) trusted application subnets 2460) and (one or more) untrusted application subnets 2562 (e.g., Figure 24 The data plane VCN 2518 may include one or more untrusted application subnets 2462 and one or more LB subnets 2522 of Internet gateway 2534. One or more trusted application subnets 2560 may communicatively couple to service gateway 2536, NAT gateway 2538, and DB subnets 2530 in data plane VCN 2550. One or more untrusted application subnets 2562 may communicatively couple to service gateway 2536 and DB subnets 2530 in data plane VCN 2518. Data plane VCN 2550 may include one or more DB subnets 2530 that may communicatively couple to service gateway 2536 in data plane VCN 2518.

[0335] One or more untrusted application subnets 2562 may include a primary VNIC 2564(1)-(N) communicatively coupled to tenant virtual machines (VMs) 2566(1)-(N) residing within one or more untrusted application subnets 2562. Each tenant VM 2566(1)-(N) may run code in a corresponding container 2567(1)-(N) and is communicatively coupled to an application subnet 2526 that may be contained in a data plane application layer 2546 contained in a container egress VCN 2568. A corresponding secondary VNIC 2572(1)-(N) may facilitate communication between one or more untrusted application subnets 2562 contained in a data plane VCN 2518 and the application subnets contained in a container egress VCN 2568. The container egress VCN may include a public internet 2554 (e.g., Figure 22 NAT gateway 2538 for the public Internet 2254.

[0336] Internet gateway 2534, contained in control plane VCN 2516 and data plane VCN 2518, can be communicatively coupled to metadata management service 2552 (e.g., Figure 22 A metadata management system 2252 is provided, which can communicatively couple to the public internet 2554. The public internet 2554 can communicatively couple to a NAT gateway 2538 contained in a control plane VCN 2516 and a data plane VCN 2518. A service gateway 2536 contained in a control plane VCN 2516 and a data plane VCN 2518 can communicatively couple to a cloud service 2556.

[0337] In some examples, Figure 25 The architecture shown in the block diagram 2500 can be considered as... Figure 24 This is an exception to the pattern shown in the architecture of block diagram 2400, and this pattern may be what the IaaS provider's customers expect if the IaaS provider cannot communicate directly with the customer (e.g., in a disconnected region). The customer can access in real time the corresponding container 2567(1)-(N) contained in each customer's VM 2566(1)-(N). Container 2567(1)-(N) can be configured to invoke a corresponding auxiliary VNIC 2572(1)-(N) contained in one or more application subnets 2526 of the data plane application layer 2546, which may be contained in a container egress VCN 2568. The auxiliary VNIC 2572(1)-(N) can transmit the call to a NAT gateway 2538, which can then transmit the call to the public internet 2554. In this example, containers 2567(1)-(N), which can be accessed by clients in real time, can be isolated from the control plane VCN 2516 and from other entities contained in the data plane VCN 2518. Containers 2567(1)-(N) can also be isolated from resources from other clients.

[0338] In other examples, a client can use container 2567(1)-(N) to invoke cloud service 2556. In this example, the client can run code within container 2567(1)-(N) requesting a service from cloud service 2556. Container 2567(1)-(N) can then forward the request to auxiliary VNIC 2572(1)-(N), which can then forward the request to a NAT gateway, which can forward the request to the public internet 2554. The public internet 2554 can then forward the request via internet gateway 2534 to one or more LB subnets 2522 contained in control plane VCN 2516. In response to determining that the request is valid, the one or more LB subnets can forward the request to one or more application subnets 2526, which can then forward the request to cloud service 2556 via service gateway 2536.

[0339] It should be recognized that the IaaS architectures 2200, 2300, 2400, and 2500 depicted in the figures may have other components besides those depicted. Furthermore, the embodiments shown in the figures are merely some examples of cloud infrastructure systems that can be incorporated into embodiments of this disclosure. In some other embodiments, the IaaS system may have more or fewer components than shown in the figures, may combine two or more components, or may have different configurations or component arrangements.

[0340] In some embodiments, the IaaS system described herein may include application suites, middleware, and database service offerings delivered to customers in a self-service, subscription-based, elastically scalable, reliable, highly available, and secure manner. An example of such an IaaS system is the Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) provided by this assignee.

[0341] Figure 26 An example computer system 2600, in which various embodiments can be implemented, is illustrated. System 2600 can be used to implement any of the computer systems described above. As shown, computer system 2600 includes a processing unit 2604 that communicates with a plurality of peripheral subsystems via a bus subsystem 2602. These peripheral subsystems may include a processing acceleration unit 2606, an I / O subsystem 2608, a storage subsystem 2618, and a communication subsystem 2624. Storage subsystem 2618 includes a tangible computer-readable storage medium 2622 and system memory 2610.

[0342] Bus subsystem 2602 provides a mechanism for allowing various components and subsystems of computer system 2600 to communicate with each other as intended. While bus subsystem 2602 is schematically shown as a single bus, alternative embodiments of the bus subsystem may utilize multiple buses. Bus subsystem 2602 can be any of several types of bus architectures, including memory buses or memory controllers, peripheral buses, and local buses using any of the various bus architectures. For example, such architectures may include Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) buses, Microchannel Architecture (MCA) buses, Enhanced ISA (EISA) buses, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local buses, and Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) buses, which may be implemented as Mezzanine buses manufactured according to the IEEE P1386.1 standard.

[0343] A processing unit 2604, which may be implemented as one or more integrated circuits (e.g., a conventional microprocessor or microcontroller), controls the operation of the computer system 2600. One or more processors may be included in the processing unit 2604. These processors may include single-core or multi-core processors. In some embodiments, the processing unit 2604 may be implemented as one or more independent processing units 2632 and / or 2634, each including a single-core or multi-core processor. In other embodiments, the processing unit 2604 may also be implemented as a quad-core processing unit formed by integrating two dual-core processors into a single chip.

[0344] In various embodiments, processing unit 2604 can execute various programs in response to program code and can maintain multiple concurrently executing programs or processes. At any given time, some or all of the program code to be executed can reside in processor(s) 2604 and / or storage subsystem 2618. With appropriate programming, processor(s) 2604 can provide the various functions described above. Computer system 2600 may additionally include processing acceleration unit 2606, which may include digital signal processor (DSP), dedicated processor, etc.

[0345] I / O subsystem 2608 may include user interface input devices and user interface output devices. User interface input devices may include keyboards, pointing devices such as mice or trackballs, touchpads or touchscreens integrated into a display, scroll wheels, click wheels, dials, buttons, switches, keyboards, audio input devices with voice command recognition systems, microphones, and other types of input devices. User interface input devices may include, for example, motion sensing and / or gesture recognition devices, such as the Microsoft Kinect® motion sensor, which enables users to control and interact with input devices such as the Microsoft Xbox® 360 game controller via a natural user interface using gestures and voice commands. User interface input devices may also include eye posture recognition devices, such as the Google Glass® blink detector, which detects eye activity from the user (e.g., "blinking" when taking a photo and / or making menu selections) and translates the eye posture into input in an input device (e.g., Google Glass®). Furthermore, user interface input devices may include voice recognition sensing devices that enable users to interact with a voice recognition system (e.g., the Siri® navigator) via voice commands.

[0346] User interface input devices may also include, but are not limited to, 3D mice, joysticks or pointing sticks, game panels and drawing tablets, as well as audio / video devices such as speakers, digital cameras, digital camcorders, portable media players, webcams, image scanners, fingerprint scanners, barcode readers, 3D scanners, 3D printers, laser rangefinders, and eye-tracking devices. Furthermore, user interface input devices may include, for example, medical imaging input devices such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), positron emission tomography (PET), and medical ultrasound equipment. User interface input devices may also include, for example, audio input devices such as MIDI keyboards, digital musical instruments, etc.

[0347] User interface output devices may include display subsystems, indicator lights, or non-visual displays such as audio output devices, etc. Display subsystems may be cathode ray tubes (CRTs), flat panel devices such as those using liquid crystal displays (LCDs) or plasma displays, projection devices, touchscreens, etc. Generally, the term "output device" is used to encompass all possible types of devices and mechanisms for outputting information from computer system 2600 to a user or other computer. For example, user interface output devices may include, but are not limited to, various display devices that visually convey text, graphics, and audio / video information, such as monitors, printers, speakers, headphones, car navigation systems, plotters, voice output devices, and modems.

[0348] Computer system 2600 may include storage subsystem 2618, which provides a tangible, non-transitory, computer-readable storage medium for storing software and data constructs that provide the functionality of the embodiments described in this disclosure. The software may include programs, code modules, instructions, scripts, etc., which, when executed by one or more cores or processors of processing unit 2604, provide the aforementioned functionality. Storage subsystem 2618 may also provide a repository for storing data used according to this disclosure.

[0349] like Figure 26 As illustrated in the example, storage subsystem 2618 may include various components, including system memory 2610, computer-readable storage medium 2622, and computer-readable storage medium reader 2620. System memory 2610 may store program instructions that can be loaded and executed by processing unit 2604. System memory 2610 may also store data used during instruction execution and / or data generated during program instruction execution. Various types of programs may be loaded into system memory 2610, including but not limited to client applications, web browsers, middleware applications, relational database management systems (RDBMS), virtual machines, containers, etc.

[0350] System memory 2610 may also store operating system 2616. Examples of operating system 2616 may include various versions of Microsoft Windows®, Apple Macintosh® and / or Linux operating systems, various commercially available UNIX® or UNIX-like operating systems (including, but not limited to, various GNU / Linux operating systems, Google Chrome® OS, etc.) and / or mobile operating systems such as iOS, Windows® Phone, Android® OS, BlackBerry® OS, and Palm® OS. In some implementations of computer system 2600 that execute one or more virtual machines, the virtual machine, along with its guest operating system (GOS), may be loaded into system memory 2610 and executed by one or more processors or cores of processing unit 2604.

[0351] System memory 2610 can be configured differently depending on the type of computer system 2600. For example, system memory 2610 can be volatile memory (such as random access memory (RAM)) and / or non-volatile memory (such as read-only memory (ROM), flash memory, etc.). Different types of RAM configurations can be provided, including static random access memory (SRAM), dynamic random access memory (DRAM), etc. In some embodiments, system memory 2610 may include a basic input / output system (BIOS), which contains basic routines such as those that facilitate the transfer of information between components within computer system 2600 during startup.

[0352] Computer-readable storage medium 2622 may represent remote, local, fixed and / or removable storage devices and storage media for temporarily and / or more permanently containing and storing computer-readable information for use by computer system 2600, including instructions executable by processing unit 2604 of computer system 2600.

[0353] Computer-readable storage medium 2622 may include any suitable medium known or used in the art, including storage media and communication media, such as, but not limited to, volatile and non-volatile, removable and non-removable media implemented by any method or technology for storing and / or transmitting information. This may include tangible computer-readable storage media such as RAM, ROM, electrically erasable programmable ROM (EEPROM), flash memory or other memory technologies, CD-ROM, digital versatile disc (DVD) or other optical storage, magnetic tape cassette, magnetic tape, disk storage or other magnetic storage devices, or other tangible computer-readable media.

[0354] As an example, computer-readable storage medium 2622 may include hard disk drives that read from or write to non-removable non-volatile magnetic media, disk drives that read from or write to removable non-volatile magnetic disks, and optical disc drives that read from or write to removable non-volatile optical discs (such as CD ROMs, DVDs, and Blu-ray® discs or other optical media). Computer-readable storage medium 2622 may include, but is not limited to, Zip® drives, flash memory cards, Universal Serial Bus (USB) flash memory drives, Secure Digital (SD) cards, DVD discs, digital audio tapes, and the like. Computer-readable storage medium 2622 may also include solid-state drives (SSDs) based on non-volatile memory (such as flash memory-based SSDs, enterprise flash drives, solid-state ROMs, etc.), volatile memory-based SSDs (such as solid-state RAM, dynamic RAM, static RAM), DRAM-based SSDs, magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM) SSDs, and hybrid SSDs using a combination of DRAM-based and flash memory-based SSDs. Disk drives and their associated computer-readable media can provide non-volatile storage for computer-readable instructions, data structures, program modules and other data for computer system 2600.

[0355] Machine-readable instructions executable by one or more processors or cores of processing unit 2604 may be stored on a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may include physically tangible memory or storage devices, including volatile memory storage devices and / or non-volatile memory devices. Examples of non-transitory computer-readable storage media include magnetic storage media (e.g., disks or tapes), optical storage media (e.g., DVDs, CDs), various types of RAM, ROM, or flash memory, hard disk drives, floppy disk drives, removable memory drives (e.g., USB drives), or other types of storage devices.

[0356] The communication subsystem 2624 provides an interface to other computer systems and networks. The communication subsystem 2624 serves as an interface for receiving data from other systems and sending data from computer system 2600 to other systems. For example, the communication subsystem 2624 enables computer system 2600 to connect to one or more devices via the Internet. In some embodiments, the communication subsystem 2624 may include radio frequency (RF) transceiver components (e.g., advanced data network technologies using cellular telephone technologies, such as 3G, 4G, or EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution), WiFi (IEEE 802.11 series standards), or other mobile communication technologies, or any combination thereof), a global positioning system (GPS) receiver component, and / or other components for accessing wireless voice and / or data networks. In some embodiments, as an addition to or alternative to the wireless interface, the communication subsystem 2624 may provide a wired network connection (e.g., Ethernet).

[0357] In some embodiments, the communication subsystem 2624 may also represent one or more users who may use the computer system 2600 to receive input communications in the form of structured and / or unstructured data feeds 2626, event streams 2628, event updates 2630, etc.

[0358] As an example, the communication subsystem 2624 can be configured to receive data feeds 2626 in real time from users of social networks and / or other communication services, such as Twitter® feeds, Facebook® updates, web feeds such as Rich Site Summary (RSS) feeds, and / or real-time updates from one or more third-party information sources.

[0359] Furthermore, the communication subsystem 2624 can also be configured to receive data in the form of a continuous data stream, which may include event streams 2628 and / or event updates 2630 that are essentially continuous or unbounded real-time events without a clearly defined termination. Examples of applications that generate continuous data may include, for example, sensor data applications, financial quote machines, network performance measurement tools (e.g., network monitoring and traffic management applications), clickstream analysis tools, vehicle traffic monitoring, and so on.

[0360] The communication subsystem 2624 can also be configured to output structured and / or unstructured data feeds 2626, event streams 2628, event updates 2630, etc. to one or more databases, which can communicate with one or more streaming data source computers coupled to the computer system 2600.

[0361] The computer system 2600 can be one of a variety of types, including handheld portable devices (e.g., iPhone® cellular phones, iPad® computing tablets, PDAs), wearable devices (e.g., Google Glass® head-mounted displays), PCs, workstations, mainframes, information stations, server racks, or any other data processing system.

[0362] Due to the constantly evolving nature of computers and networks, the description of the computer system 2600 depicted in the figures is merely a concrete example. Many other configurations with more or fewer components than the system depicted in the figures are possible. For example, custom hardware may be used and / or specific elements may be implemented using hardware, firmware, software (including applets), or a combination thereof. Additionally, connections to other computing devices, such as network input / output devices, may also be employed. Based on the disclosure and teachings provided herein, those skilled in the art will recognize other ways and / or methods for implementing the various embodiments.

[0363] While specific embodiments have been described, various modifications, alterations, alternative constructions, and equivalents are also included within the scope of this disclosure. The embodiments are not limited to operation within certain specific data processing environments, but can be freely operated within multiple data processing environments. Furthermore, although the embodiments have been described using a specific series of transactions and steps, those skilled in the art will understand that the scope of this disclosure is not limited to the described series of transactions and steps. Various features and aspects of the above embodiments can be used individually or in combination.

[0364] Furthermore, while embodiments have been described using specific combinations of hardware and software, it should be recognized that other combinations of hardware and software are also within the scope of this disclosure. Embodiments may be implemented using only hardware, or only software, or a combination thereof. The various processes described herein can be implemented in any combination on the same processor or on different processors. Accordingly, where a component or service is described as being configured to perform certain operations, such configuration can be accomplished, for example, by designing electronic circuits to perform operations, by programming programmable electronic circuits (such as microprocessors), or any combination thereof. Processes may communicate using a variety of technologies, including but not limited to conventional technologies for inter-process communication, and different pairs of processes may use different technologies, or the same pair of processes may use different technologies at different times.

[0365] Accordingly, the specification and drawings are intended to be illustrative rather than restrictive. However, it will be apparent that additions, omissions, deletions, and other modifications and alterations may be made thereto without departing from the broader spirit and scope set forth in the claims. Thus, while specific disclosed embodiments have been described, they are not intended to be limiting. Various modifications and equivalents are within the scope of the following claims.

[0366] In the context of describing the disclosed embodiments (especially in the context of the following claims), the terms "a," "an," and "the," and similar designations, are to be interpreted as covering both singular and plural, unless otherwise indicated herein or obviously contradicted by the context. Unless otherwise stated, the terms "comprising," "having," "including," and "containing" are to be interpreted as open-ended terms (i.e., meaning "including but not limited to"). The term "connected" should be interpreted as partially or wholly contained in, attached to, or joined together, even if something exists in between. Unless otherwise indicated herein, the enumeration of value ranges herein is intended only as a shorthand method for individually referencing each individual value falling within that range, and each individual value is incorporated into the specification as if it were individually enumerated herein. Unless otherwise indicated herein or obviously contradicted by the context, all methods described herein can be performed in any suitable order. The use of any and all examples or exemplary language (e.g., "such as") provided herein is intended only to better illustrate the embodiments and does not constitute a limitation on the scope of this disclosure, unless otherwise stated. Nothing in the specification should be construed as indicating that any unclaimed element is essential to the practice of this disclosure.

[0367] Extractive language, such as the phrase "at least one of X, Y, or Z", is intended to be understood in the context in which items, terms, etc., can be X, Y, or Z, or any combination thereof (e.g., X, Y, and / or Z), unless otherwise expressly stated. Therefore, such extractive language is generally not intended to, and should not, imply that certain embodiments require the presence of at least one of X, at least one of Y, or at least one of Z, each individually.

[0368] This document describes preferred embodiments of the present disclosure, including the best modes known for implementing the present disclosure. Variations of those preferred embodiments will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading the foregoing description. Those skilled in the art should be able to suitably employ such variations and may practice the present disclosure in ways different from those specifically described herein. Accordingly, the present disclosure includes all modifications and equivalents to the subject matter recited in the appended claims, where permitted by applicable law. Furthermore, unless otherwise indicated herein, the present disclosure includes any combination of the foregoing elements in all its possible variations.

[0369] All references cited in this article, including publications, patent applications and patents, are incorporated into this article by reference to the same extent as if each reference individually and specifically indicated to be incorporated by reference and elaborated in full in this article.

[0370] All references cited herein, including publications, patent applications and patents, can be implemented using a computer program product containing a computer program / instructions that, when executed by a processor, cause the processor to perform any method.

[0371] In the foregoing specification, various aspects of this disclosure have been described with reference to specific embodiments thereof, but those skilled in the art will recognize that this disclosure is not limited thereto. The various features and aspects of the foregoing disclosure may be used individually or in combination. Furthermore, embodiments may be used in any number of settings and applications other than those described herein without departing from the broader spirit and scope of this specification. Accordingly, this specification and the accompanying drawings should be considered illustrative rather than restrictive.< / location> < / tag> < / tag> < / verb> < / tag> < / subject> < / tag> < / tag> < / tag> < / tag> < / tag> < / tag> < / tag> < / tag> < / tag> < / tag> < / tag> < / tag> < / condition> < / condition> < / condition-list> < / condition-list> < / any-all> < / complex-where-statement> < / string> < / value> < / operation> < / simple-name> < / string> < / attribute> < / value> < / operation> < / attribute> < / condition> < / complex-where-statement> < / condition> < / where-clause> < / condition> < / condition> < / set> < / means> < / behavior> < / subject> < / where-clause> < / location-clause> < / network-clause> < / resource-clause> < / directive> < / host-clause> < / subject-clause> < / empty> < / empty> < / statement> < / tag> < / network> < / tag> < / attribute> < / tag> < / verb> < / tag> < / tag> < / attribute> < / subject> < / tag> < / tag> < / network> < / hosts> < / network> < / verb> < / subject> < / tag> < / location> < / tag> < / tag> < / verb> < / tag> < / subject> < / tag> < / any> < / any> < / realm> < / subject> < / attribute> < / network> < / verb> < / subject> < / tag> < / tag> < / network> < / tag> < / attribute> < / tag> < / verb> < / tag> < / tag> < / attribute> < / subject> < / tag> < / tag> < / network> < / hosts> < / subject> < / attribute> < / network> < / verb> < / subject> < / tag> < / tag> < / network> < / tag> < / attribute> < / tag> < / verb> < / tag> < / tag> < / attribute> < / subject> < / tag> < / tag> < / network> < / hosts>

Claims

1. A method of performing zero trust packet routing in one or more networks using a zero trust packet routing policy architecture, the method comprising: receiving a packet at an enforcement point within one or more networks comprising a plurality of enforcement points; accessing one or more rules associated with a policy specifying how traffic flows through the enforcement point and other enforcement points of the one or more networks, wherein the policy comprises one or more layer 4 rules and one or more layer 7 rules; and enforcing the one or more rules associated with the policy at the enforcement point.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising: assigning each of the enforcement points a unique origin ID; and associating each of the enforcement points with one or more tags.

3. The method of any of claims 1-2, wherein an enforcement point comprises a network virtualization device (NVD) comprising a smartNIC and a virtual interface comprising a gateway.

4. The method of any of claims 1-3, wherein enforcing the one or more rules comprises enforcing the one or more rules prior to transmitting the packet to a next hop.

5. The method of any of claims 1-4, further comprising preventing the packet from being transmitted to a next hop based on a failure of at least one of the one or more rules.

6. The method of any of claims 1-5, further comprising: determining a source of the packet based at least in part on an origin ID; determining a destination of the packet; and wherein enforcing the rules comprises preventing the packet from being transmitted to a next station based at least in part on one or more of the source or the destination.

7. The method of any of claims 1-6, further comprising distributing the one or more rules to the enforcement point and other rules to other enforcement points within the one or more networks.

8. The method of any of claims 1-7, further comprising propagating one or more tags to the enforcement point.

9. The method of any of claims 1-8, wherein enforcing the one or more rules comprises generating an alert based on a failure of at least one of the rules.

10. A system comprising: one or more networks comprising enforcement points; a policy specifying how traffic flows through the one or more networks, wherein a policy statement references a tag associated with a resource of the one or more networks, wherein the tag comprises a first tag identifying first data, a second tag identifying an identity of a user, a third tag identifying an identity of a computing resource, a fourth tag identifying an identity of a network; one or more processors; and a non-transitory computer-readable medium storing a set of instructions which, when executed by the one or more processors, cause performance of processes comprising: determining, based on the policy, rules to be enforced at enforcement points within the one or more networks; ​ ​ ​ Distribute the rules to enforcement points within the one or more networks, wherein the rules include one or more Layer 4 rules and one or more Layer 7 rules; and At each enforcement point in the enforcement process, the rules associated with the policy are enforced.

11. The system of claim 10, wherein the enforcement point includes a network virtualization device (NVD), the network virtualization device including a smartNIC and a virtual interface containing a gateway, and wherein enforcing the rule includes performing layer 4 processing and layer 7 processing.

12. The system according to any one of claims 10-11, further comprising: Assign a unique origin ID to each enforcement point in the enforcement process; as well as Each enforcement point in the enforcement points is associated with one or more tags.

13. The system of any one of claims 10-12, wherein enforcing the rule includes enforcing the rule before transmitting the data packet to the next hop.

14. The system of any one of claims 10-13, wherein enforcing the rule comprises: The source of the data packet is determined at least in part based on the origin ID; Determine the destination of the data packet; as well as The data packet is prevented from being transmitted to the next station, at least in part based on one or more of the source or the destination.

15. The system of any one of claims 10-14, further comprising propagating one or more tokens to each enforcement point in the enforcement points.

16. A computer-readable medium including instructions, which, when executed, cause one or more processors to perform operations including: Receive data packets at an enforcement point within one or more networks that include multiple enforcement points; One or more rules associated with a policy specifying how traffic flows through the enforcement point and other enforcement points of the one or more networks; and Enforce the one or more rules associated with the policy at the enforcement point, wherein enforcing the one or more rules includes evaluating one or more layer 4 rules and one or more layer 7 rules.

17. The computer-readable medium of claim 16, further comprising: Assign a unique origin ID to each enforcement point in the enforcement process; as well as Each enforcement point in the enforcement points is associated with one or more tags.

18. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 16-17, wherein the enforcement point includes a network virtualization device (NVD) comprising a smartNIC and a virtual interface including a gateway.

19. The computer-readable medium according to any one of claims 16-18, further comprising: The source of the data packet is determined at least in part based on the origin ID; Determine the destination of the data packet; as well as The data packet is prevented from being transmitted to the next station, at least in part based on one or more of the source or the destination.

20. The computer-readable medium of any one of claims 16-17, further comprising propagating one or more markers to various enforcement points in the enforcement points.

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