Connection Server Mapping for Multi-Datacenter Network Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing network management systems are limited to managing networks within a single datacenter and struggle to efficiently manage multiple datacenters, especially when they span across different types such as on-premises, branch, and virtual datacenters, and virtual private clouds, lacking effective cloud-based solutions for resource management, load balancing, and network monitoring.
Innovation Solution
A cloud-based network management system deploying microservices in a container cluster, with service instances and multi-tenant services, utilizing local managers and connection servers to manage multiple datacenters, ensuring isolation and communication through persistent connections and static load balancing, enabling network policy management and monitoring across diverse datacenter types.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a cloud-based network management system is deployed to manage multiple tenant networks across diverse datacenters, then the system's adaptability and coverage are improved, but the device complexity and difficulty of operation increase
Solution Approach 1:
The system is divided into distinct functional modules including a user interface layer, a service instance layer, a connection server layer, and a datacenter layer. Each layer operates independently with well-defined interfaces, allowing the complex multi-tenant network management system to be constructed from manageable segments that can be deployed and maintained separately.
Solution Approach 2:
Connection servers act as intermediaries between service instances in the public cloud and local managers in datacenters. These connection servers simplify the interaction model by providing a standardized interface that handles authentication, connection management, and message routing, thereby reducing the operational complexity of managing diverse datacenter connections.
2Adaptability or versatility
If service instances are deployed in the public cloud for each datacenter group, then the system's versatility and service customization are improved, but the device complexity and resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
Service instances are designed with multi-functionality to handle multiple datacenter groups simultaneously. A single service instance can manage connections to multiple datacenters by maintaining multiple connection contexts, reducing the need to deploy separate service instances for each datacenter group and thereby reducing overall system complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The system transitions from a one-to-one mapping between service instances and datacenter groups to a many-to-many relationship. Service instances operate in an additional dimensional space where they can selectively activate connections to different datacenter groups based on configuration, allowing versatile service customization without linearly increasing the number of service instances.
3Measurement precision
If local managers are deployed at each datacenter to interact with the network management system, then the system's monitoring capability and control precision are improved, but the device complexity and number of components increase
Solution Approach 1:
Multiple local managers across different datacenters are merged into a unified management model where they all communicate with the same set of service instances through standardized connection servers. This merging approach maintains precise local control at each datacenter while reducing overall system complexity by eliminating the need for separate management systems at each location.
4Adaptability or versatility
If the system supports multiple datacenter types including on-premises and virtual datacenters, then the system's adaptability is improved, but the ease of operation and deployment difficulty worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system applies local quality by allowing each datacenter connection to have customized properties and configurations appropriate to its specific type (on-premises, virtual, cloud). The connection server layer abstracts these differences by providing a unified interface that automatically adapts to the local characteristics of each datacenter, making deployment easier while maintaining support for diverse datacenter types.
Data Source
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AI summary
Some embodiments provide a method for a load balancer executing in a public cloud to load balance requests to datacenters from a network management system implemented in the public cloud. The method receives a message from a network management service for a local network manager at a particular datacenter of multiple datacenters managed by the network management system. The method maps a datacenter identifier for the particular datacenter included in the request to a particular connection server that handles a persistent connection between the local network manager at the particular datacenter and the network management system. Persistent connections between the datacenters and the network management system are handled by multiple different connection servers. The method sends the message to the particular connection server for the particular connection server to transmit the message to the local network manager via the persistent connection.