Location-Aware Virtual Service Provisioning in Hybrid Cloud
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional hybrid cloud environments face challenges in reducing network latency and efficiently managing resources across distributed virtual switch components, as they lack a switch infrastructure and effective mechanisms for extending network policies and services into cloud data centers, leading to increased costs and complexity.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a cloud manager and virtual data center identifier system that provides location awareness, enabling dynamic instantiation of virtual switches and service nodes within cloud data centers, and allowing for the creation of a location-aware virtual service provisioning model to reduce latency and improve resource management.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of time
If virtual service nodes are deployed in cloud data centers, then network latency is reduced, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces virtual service nodes as intermediary components deployed in cloud data centers to handle network traffic locally. These virtual service nodes act as mediators between cloud resources and enterprise data centers, providing switching and service functions without requiring physical switch infrastructure in the cloud. This resolves the contradiction by reducing network latency through local processing while avoiding the complexity of deploying and managing physical switch hardware in distributed cloud environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent creates virtual copies of switching and service functions through software-based virtual service nodes rather than deploying physical switch hardware. These virtual instances replicate the essential functions of physical switches (traffic forwarding, policy enforcement, service chaining) in a software form that can be dynamically deployed and managed in cloud data centers. This copying approach reduces latency by placing service functions closer to cloud resources while avoiding the complexity of physical infrastructure deployment.
2Quantity of substance
If enterprise data center leases capacity from public cloud data center, then capacity is increased, but network latency increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments network service functions into distributed virtual service nodes deployed across multiple cloud data centers rather than concentrating all services in a single enterprise data center. This segmentation allows cloud resources to be leased and utilized locally in each cloud data center with their own virtual service nodes, increasing total capacity while reducing latency by keeping traffic local to each segmented service region.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent transitions from a centralized service model (single enterprise data center) to a distributed multi-dimensional architecture where virtual service nodes are deployed across multiple cloud data center locations. This dimensional change from one centralized location to multiple distributed locations enables capacity expansion into cloud environments while reducing latency through geographic distribution of services closer to end users and cloud resources.
3Ease of operation
If virtual switches are extended into cloud data centers, then service provisioning is improved, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent replaces physical switch hardware and complex distributed virtual switch infrastructure with software-based virtual service nodes deployed in cloud data centers. These virtual service nodes provide switching, forwarding, and service functions through software implementations that can be dynamically provisioned and managed without physical hardware deployment. This substitution improves service provisioning efficiency while avoiding the complexity of extending and managing distributed virtual switch hardware into cloud environments.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent designs virtual service nodes as universal, multi-functional components that can be deployed in any cloud data center environment regardless of the underlying cloud provider or infrastructure. These virtual service nodes provide multiple functions (switching, service chaining, policy enforcement, traffic management) through a single versatile platform, improving service provisioning efficiency while avoiding the complexity of provider-specific or infrastructure-specific switch extensions.
Data Source
AI summary
A sense of location is provided for distributed virtual switch components into the service provisioning scheme to reduce latency observed in conducting policy evaluations across a network in a hybrid cloud environment. A management application in a first virtual network subscribes to virtual network services provided by a first virtual service node in the first virtual network. A second virtual network receives the subscription to the virtual network services and starts a virtual switch that switches network traffic for one or more virtual machines in the second virtual network that are configured to extend services provided by the first virtual network into the second virtual network. The second virtual network starts a second virtual service node in the second virtual network that provides network traffic services for the one or more virtual machines.