Global Private Network Management via Cloud Gateway
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Solution Overview
Problem
Companies face challenges in efficiently and cost-effectively networking their branch offices, as traditional wide area networks (WANs) require expensive leased lines and custom broadband solutions, making it difficult to scale and manage global private networks across different geographic locations.
Innovation Solution
A network management service (NMS) is used to configure and manage scalable global private networks by exposing graphical user interfaces, APIs, and CLI, allowing users to visualize and interact with network graphs, perform queries, and automate network changes, using cloud provider networks to connect stand-alone networks and provide self-healing capabilities.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If traditional leased line WANs are used to connect branch offices, then network reliability is improved, but cost and device complexity increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a network gateway as an intermediary device that connects branch offices to the global network. Instead of directly provisioning expensive leased lines between every pair of branches, the gateway acts as a central mediation point that simplifies connectivity while maintaining reliability through controlled access and routing.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates a virtual copy of the corporate network infrastructure in the cloud, allowing branch offices to connect to this virtualized network environment. This copying approach eliminates the need for physical leased lines between all locations while maintaining network reliability through virtual network functions and software-defined networking.
2Quantity of substance
If custom broadband Internet solutions are developed to reduce costs, then cost decreases, but implementation time and complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent creates a universal broadband access solution that can be deployed across multiple branch offices using the same infrastructure and configuration. The network gateway and cloud-based services provide multi-functional capabilities that work across different locations and broadband providers, eliminating the need for custom solutions at each site and significantly reducing implementation time.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent changes the fundamental parameters of network access by transitioning from dedicated leased lines to shared broadband Internet access. This parameter change allows the use of lower-cost, higher-capacity broadband connections while maintaining security and reliability through software-based network virtualization and gateway control, rather than relying on physical infrastructure parameters.
3Area of stationary object
If more branch offices are added to the global network, then network coverage is improved, but management complexity and costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent moves network management from a physical dimension to a virtual dimension by implementing cloud-based network management. Instead of managing each branch office's physical network equipment individually, the system provides centralized management of virtual network resources, gateways, and services through a cloud platform, allowing seamless addition of new branches without increasing management complexity.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the global network into independent, modular components including network gateways at each branch, virtual private clouds, and service modules. This segmentation allows new branch offices to be added as independent units that connect to the existing network infrastructure without requiring reconfiguration of the entire network, thereby maintaining manageable complexity while expanding coverage.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure describes techniques for configuring and managing scalable global private networks associated with a service provider. Different input mechanisms, such as an API, a UI, or a CLI may be utilized to configure, and manage a global private network that spans across the cloud in different geographic locations and connects to different stand-alone networks. The user may proactively use the input mechanisms to configure and query different network resources to reactively configure settings for reacting to one or more events. The input mechanisms may also be utilized to define the network resources to be modeled within the global private network as well as connections within the global network. A user may configure events/metrics to be monitored, tasks/workflows to be performed, and the like. In some configurations, a network management service (NMS) may perform health monitoring and reachability monitoring to identify possible issues in the global network.