Firewall Message Unwrap Gateway for Local Network Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing remote management services face challenges in communicating with computing devices protected by firewalls, as not all devices can establish connections with external networks, requiring sophisticated programming and significant memory and processing resources for message forwarding.
Innovation Solution
A remote management service establishes a connection with a device in a local network without a prior connection request, using a wrapped message that is unwrapped and forwarded within the local network, simplifying the forwarding of device management requests in real-time.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a remote management service communicates with devices protected by firewall through specific communication protocols, then device management capability is improved, but device complexity and resource requirements increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a gateway device as an intermediary between the remote management service and firewalled devices. The gateway establishes a persistent connection through the firewall once, and then relays management messages to devices without requiring each device to independently establish external connections. This mediator approach resolves the contradiction by maintaining device management capability while eliminating complex programming requirements from individual devices.
2Adaptability or versatility
If message forwarding is implemented through firewall using traditional methods, then remote device management is enabled, but memory and processing resources are significantly consumed
Solution Approach 1:
The gateway acts as a message relay that handles the burden of protocol translation and firewall navigation. Instead of each device consuming resources to forward messages through the firewall, the gateway centralizes this functionality. The gateway receives management messages from the remote service and forwards them to appropriate devices, significantly reducing the processing and memory requirements on individual devices.
Solution Approach 2:
The gateway establishes a persistent connection through the firewall in advance, before any device management operations are needed. This preliminary action eliminates the need for devices to repeatedly attempt connection establishment and message forwarding through the firewall, reducing real-time processing requirements during actual device management operations.
3Adaptability or versatility
If all devices in local network can be managed remotely, then management coverage is improved, but connection establishment complexity increases for devices without prior connection requests
Solution Approach 1:
Instead of devices initiating connections to the remote management service, the gateway initiates the connection to the remote service and then pulls device management messages through this established connection. This inverted approach allows the gateway to manage devices that cannot or do not initiate external connections, improving management coverage while simplifying connection establishment.
Data Source
AI summary
Examples disclosed herein relate to unwrap a message received from a remote management service in a first device and to provide the message to a second device. Examples include a first message received in a first device from a remote management service through a firewall, which is unwrapped into a second message. The second message is provided to its destination. In examples, the second message is received in the first device and unwrapped into a third message. The third message is provided to a second device.