Cloud Device Manager Using NAT and Message Queues
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Solution Overview
Problem
Conventional device managers struggle to access and manage devices with private IP addresses across multiple sites and networks, as they cannot distinguish between overlapping private IP addresses, limiting their ability to operate effectively in cloud-based environments and requiring costly modifications.
Innovation Solution
A cloud-based device management system uses logical IP addresses, network address translation (NAT) services, and message queuing (MQ) to translate and route management commands, allowing device managers to operate across multiple sites with overlapping private IP addresses, facilitating communication through message queuing services and encryption.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a device manager uses private IP addresses to access devices, then it can manage devices within a local network, but it cannot access devices across multiple sites with overlapping IP addresses or in cloud-based environments
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a network address translation (NAT) service as an intermediary between the device manager and managed devices. The NAT service maintains mapping tables that translate public IP addresses to private IP addresses, enabling the device manager to access devices across multiple sites without direct knowledge of their private addresses. This mediator resolves the contradiction by allowing versatile access while maintaining simple device manager operation.
2Ease of operation
If a device manager operates as a cloud service, then it can provide centralized management, but it cannot access devices using private IP addresses directly
Solution Approach 1:
The NAT service acts as a reliable intermediary that the cloud-based device manager uses to access devices. The service maintains persistent mapping tables and handles address translation reliably, ensuring that centralized management commands can reach devices despite the cloud environment's inability to directly use private IP addresses.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs preliminary address translation by maintaining mapping tables in advance. When the device manager needs to access a device, the NAT service has already prepared the translation from public to private IP address, ensuring reliable access without real-time conversion delays or failures.
3Ease of manufacture
If multiple clients use overlapping private IP addresses, then each client can use standard IP addressing, but the device manager cannot distinguish between devices from different clients
Solution Approach 1:
The NAT service serves as a mediator that maintains separate mapping tables for different clients. Each client's devices are translated through their own NAT instance, which keeps the mappings isolated. This allows clients to use overlapping IP addresses freely while the device manager can still precisely identify devices through the unique combination of public IP and NAT-mapped private IP.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the device manager is modified to address cloud-based access issues, then it can operate in cloud environments, but development costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
Rather than modifying the device manager to handle complex address translation and cloud access logic, the patent introduces a NAT service intermediary that handles all these complexities. The device manager remains unchanged and continues to operate with simple IP addressing, while the NAT service transparently manages cloud-based access requirements.
Solution Approach 2:
The NAT service provides universal functionality that works across multiple clients, sites, and cloud environments. By creating a single multi-functional service that handles address translation, mapping, and routing, the system avoids the need to develop and maintain separate solutions for different cloud access scenarios, reducing overall development costs.
Data Source
AI summary
Embodiments described herein provide a system. The system stores, in a storage device, a first and a second data structures. The first data structure maps a logical Internet Protocol (IP) address of a device to a site IP address of the device at a customer site. The second data structure maps the logical IP address to a message queue (MQ) name identifying a queue, which is associated with the customer site and facilitated by a message queuing service. During operation, the system identifies a command packet for the device. The destination address of the command packet can be the logical IP address. The system then replaces, in the command packet, the logical IP address with the site IP address based on the first data structure to generate a modified packet and forwards an MQ message comprising the modified packet to the queue using the message queuing service.