Centralized Troubleshooting Tool for Virtual Network Debugging
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Solution Overview
Problem
In distributed virtual network environments, troubleshooting is complicated due to the need to manage multiple physical endpoints, remember various user passwords, identify logical resources across physical endpoints, and analyze command history and IP addresses, which can be difficult for users.
Innovation Solution
A centralized troubleshooting tool provides a single consistent user interface to monitor and debug distributed virtual networks, allowing users to query and compare information from different physical endpoints, presenting data uniformly and enabling analysis of logical resources and network services.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If distributed architecture is used to achieve scaling and performance, then system scalability and availability are improved, but troubleshooting complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized troubleshooting tool as an intermediary system that mediates between the user and multiple physical endpoints. This tool provides a unified interface that abstracts the complexity of the distributed architecture, allowing users to troubleshoot without directly interacting with individual endpoints. The intermediary consolidates access to multiple PEs through a single point of control, resolving the contradiction between distributed scalability and centralized troubleshooting complexity.
2Reliability
If users log into different physical endpoints to troubleshoot, then direct access to system components is achieved, but user operational difficulty increases
Solution Approach 1:
The centralized troubleshooting tool implements a universal interface that can access and control multiple different physical endpoints through a single system. This multi-functional platform eliminates the need for users to learn and switch between different login procedures, CLI commands, and interface styles for each endpoint. The unified tool performs the function of accessing any PE in the distributed system, thereby maintaining direct access capability while dramatically improving ease of operation.
3Ease of manufacture
If multiple physical endpoints are managed individually, then precise control over each endpoint is achieved, but information management complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges the management of multiple physical endpoints into a single unified interface. The centralized troubleshooting tool combines access to numerous PEs, their configuration data, command histories, and status information into one consolidated system. This merging approach maintains the ability to precisely control individual endpoints while eliminating the information management complexity that arises from handling each endpoint separately, including password management, connection tracking, and data correlation.
Data Source
AI summary
Some embodiments provide a method for troubleshooting a virtual network that is implemented across a plurality of computing devices. The method provides a command line interface (CLI) for receiving and executing commands for debugging and monitoring the virtual network. Each command is for communicating with a set of the computing devices in order to monitor a network service being provided by the set of computing devices. The CLI operates in multiple different contexts for monitoring multiple different types of network services. While the CLI is operating in a particular context for a particular type of network service, the method receives a command comprising a set of identifiers. The method determines the validity of the received command under the particular context. When the received command is valid under the particular context, the method transmits data to a computing device identified by the received command.