Centralized Configuration Self-Healing for Network Device Swarms
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing networked devices face challenges in automatically detecting and repairing configuration issues due to large numbers, geographic distribution, and limited technical knowledge of end users, leading to device failures and misbehavior.
Innovation Solution
A centralized management system (CMS) groups devices into device swarms, analyzes configuration fingerprints, and automatically directs remedial actions such as reboots or updates to maintain consistent configurations across large networks.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Quantity of substance
If devices are deployed in large numbers across wide geographic areas by end users, then network coverage and device proliferation increase, but automatic detection and repair of configuration issues becomes impractical
Solution Approach 1:
A centralized management system acts as an intermediary between devices and users, collecting configuration fingerprints from devices and comparing them against a golden image to detect and remediate configuration issues automatically, making large-scale device management practical despite geographic distribution and user expertise limitations
Solution Approach 2:
The system continuously monitors device configurations by collecting fingerprints from devices and comparing them to the golden image, providing feedback loops that enable automatic detection and remediation of configuration drift, allowing practical management of large device populations
2Reliability
If configuration data is updated or fixed, then device functionality improves, but configuration data can become corrupted or inconsistently applied
Solution Approach 1:
The golden image serves as a pre-prepared, verified correct configuration state that is established before deployment. When configuration issues are detected, the system can restore devices to this pre-validated golden image, ensuring configuration integrity and consistency across the device fleet
Solution Approach 2:
The system creates and maintains a golden image copy of the correct configuration state. This copy is used as a reference to compare against actual device configurations and to restore devices that have experienced configuration corruption or drift, ensuring consistent and reliable device operation
3Extent of automation
If centralized management system monitors all devices, then configuration issues are detected automatically, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system extracts only the essential configuration fingerprint data from devices for monitoring purposes, rather than managing entire configuration files. This extraction approach simplifies the centralized management system while maintaining effective configuration monitoring and comparison capabilities
Data Source
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AI summary
Novel techniques are described for centrally directed self-healing of networked devices. Large numbers of networked devices can be configured according to configuration data. A central management system (CMS) can group the devices into device swarms having identical nominal device configurations. The CMS can determine a swarm-agreed configuration state for each device swarm that corresponds to a determined "correct" configuration for devices in the device swarm. Over time, the devices send configuration fingerprints to the CMS to indicate their current configuration states, and the CMS can analyze the current configuration states against the swarm-agreed configurations to detect potential configuration issues. In response, the CMS can automatically direct remedying of the detected configuration issues in accordance with the swarm-agreed configurations.