Cloud Fabric Deployment Engine for Network Switch Provisioning
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Solution Overview
Problem
The deployment of network fabrics in data centers is time-consuming and prone to costly configuration errors due to the iterative process of upgrading and configuring switch devices, which varies significantly between devices and requires unique provisioning requirements, leading to unpredictable timing and potential errors.
Innovation Solution
A fabric deployment management engine generates a cloud-based network fabric based on a network fabric topology file, configures and validates cloud-based networking devices, retrieves deployment image files, and stores them in a database, allowing for the efficient deployment and validation of physical networking devices by mapping physical device identifiers to IP addresses and using pre-validated images for quick provisioning.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If an iterative process of upgrading and configuring switch devices is used, then the network fabric can be deployed with proper configurations, but the deployment time becomes substantial and unpredictable
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies preliminary action by creating a cloud-based staging area where network fabric configurations are pre-tested and validated before being deployed to physical devices. The staging area allows configurations to be prepared, tested, and validated in advance, eliminating the need for iterative testing during actual deployment and significantly reducing deployment time while maintaining configuration accuracy.
2Reliability
If cloud-based staging area is used for validation, then configuration errors can be avoided, but the overall process complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies copying by creating a virtual copy of the network fabric in a cloud-based staging area. This virtual representation mirrors the physical network topology and allows configurations to be tested in an identical but isolated environment. The copy approach enables validation without affecting physical devices while keeping the process manageable through automated orchestration.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent uses the cloud-based staging area as an intermediary between configuration creation and physical deployment. This intermediate environment acts as a buffer that validates configurations before they reach the physical network, reducing errors while managing complexity through automated processes that handle the intermediary step transparently.
3Reliability
If each switch device undergoes multiple reboots and validations, then deployment reliability improves, but the unpredictable timing and unique errors persist
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple validation steps into a single comprehensive validation process executed in the cloud-based staging area. Instead of performing separate validations that cause multiple reboots and unpredictable timing, all validations are consolidated and executed beforehand in the virtual environment, ensuring reliability while making the overall deployment process predictable and time-efficient.
Data Source
AI summary
A network fabric deployment system includes a fabric deployment management system that is coupled to a DHCP server. The fabric deployment management system generates a cloud-based network fabric that is based on a network fabric topology file and that includes a plurality of cloud-based networking devices that are assigned a physical networking device identifier that identifies a corresponding physical networking device. The fabric deployment management system configures and validates each of the plurality of cloud-based networking devices causing each physical networking device identifier being mapped to an IP address at the DHCP server and then retrieves a deployment image file from each of the plurality of cloud-based networking devices that have been configured and validated, and stores each of the deployment image files in a database in association with the physical networking device identifier such that the corresponding physical networking device boots from that deployment image file.