API Gateway Routing for Cloud NAT Network Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Cloud-based network management systems face challenges in managing large-scale networks with device-initiated management sessions and frequent network address changes, particularly when separated by network address translation (NAT) services, leading to issues with horizontal scaling, microservice crashes, connection drops, and inefficient session management.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a cloud-based network management system using microservices, specifically Device Communication Managers (DCMs) and Device Operations Managers (DOMs), with asymmetric communication mechanisms and persistent application-layer sessions, utilizing unique device identifiers (UUIDs) for session affinity and routing through an API gateway, enabling scalable and robust management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If cloud-based NMS manages large-scale networks with frequent address changes through NAT services, then network scalability is improved, but session management reliability deteriorates due to connection drops and microservice crashes
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces an API gateway as an intermediary component that mediates between NMS applications and microservices. The gateway maintains session state and routing information, allowing it to recover from microservice crashes by redirecting sessions to available instances. This intermediary layer decouples the session management function from individual microservices, improving reliability while maintaining scalability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements dynamic session management where the API gateway can dynamically route sessions to different DCM or DOM instances based on current system state. When microservices crash or scale, the gateway dynamically adjusts session routing without requiring centralized caching, allowing the system to adapt to changing conditions while maintaining session persistence.
2Ease of operation
If centralized caching is used to manage session state, then session management simplicity is improved, but system overhead and scalability deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts the session state management function from centralized caching and embeds it directly into the API gateway. This allows the gateway to maintain session information locally using its own data structures, eliminating the need for external centralized caching infrastructure. The extraction reduces system overhead while maintaining the simplicity of centralized management through the gateway's integrated approach.
3Productivity
If DCM and DOM microservices are deployed in separate pools, then system scalability is improved, but communication reliability deteriorates due to connection management challenges
Solution Approach 1:
The API gateway is designed as a universal component that handles communication with both DCM and DOM microservices through a unified interface. It maintains routing tables that map sessions to appropriate microservice pools and implements a single communication protocol for both types of services. This universal approach allows independent scaling of DCM and DOM pools while maintaining reliable communication through the gateway's coordinated management.
Data Source
AI summary
Scalable, robust cloud-based network management systems (NMSs) are described. In one, an NMS includes a set of NMS applications, a pool of device communication managers (DCMs), and a pool of device operations managers (DOMs). Each of the DCMs and DOMs executed by the processors as software containers. The NMS includes an API gateway configured to route remote procedure calls (RPCs) from the DCMs to the DOMs via the APIs exposed by the DOMs and according to device identifiers of the managed elements. The DOMs are configured to establish a set of persistent application-layer communication sessions from the DOMs to the DCMs and to direct communications from the NMS applications to the DCMs over the persistent application-layer communication sessions according to a mapping between device identifiers associated with the managed elements and network addresses associated with the DCMs.