Multi-Site Logical Network Templates for Policy Consistency
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing technologies face challenges in managing logical networks that span multiple physical sites, such as datacenters, requiring solutions to ensure data transfer between sites while maintaining site autonomy and network integrity.
Innovation Solution
A network management system with a global manager and local managers at each site, utilizing a hierarchical tree structure to define and enforce logical network policies across sites, ensuring seamless data transfer and policy enforcement through asynchronous replication and distributed databases.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Adaptability or versatility
If a separate network definition is created for each site, then site-specific customization is achieved, but device complexity and maintenance burden increase
Solution Approach 1:
The network definition is segmented into template portions (common across sites) and site-specific portions (customizable per site). This allows each site to have customized configurations without duplicating the entire network definition, thereby reducing overall complexity while maintaining adaptability.
Solution Approach 2:
A master template network definition is created that serves as a universal blueprint for multiple sites. This template can be replicated and customized for different sites, eliminating the need to create separate definitions from scratch for each site while still allowing site-specific adaptations.
2Adaptability or versatility
If manual network definition creation is performed for each site, then customization control is maintained, but time consumption and labor costs increase
Solution Approach 1:
The master template network definition is prepared in advance with common configurations pre-defined. This preliminary action eliminates the need to manually create network definitions from scratch for each site, significantly reducing creation time while maintaining customization capability through site-specific modifications.
Solution Approach 2:
The master template network definition is copied and reused across multiple sites. Instead of creating unique definitions for each site, the template is replicated and then customized with site-specific parameters, dramatically reducing the time and effort required for network definition creation.
3Productivity
If full network definitions are transferred between sites, then complete configuration is achieved, but error propagation and inconsistency risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
Site-specific portions are extracted from the master template, allowing independent modification and validation. This separation ensures that errors in one site's customization do not propagate to other sites, while still maintaining consistency in the common template portions across all sites.
4Manufacturing precision
If network definitions are frequently updated across sites, then configuration accuracy is improved, but synchronization complexity and error risks increase
Solution Approach 1:
All site network definitions are merged with the master template, which serves as the single source of truth. This unified approach ensures that updates to common configurations are automatically propagated to all sites, maintaining accuracy while simplifying synchronization through centralized template management.
Data Source
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AI summary
As more networks move to the cloud, it is more common for corporations or other entities to have networks spanning multiple sites. While logical networks that operate within a single site are well established, there are various challenges in having logical networks span multiple physical sites (e.g., datacenters). The sites should be self-contained, while also allowing for data to be sent from one site to another easily. Various solutions are required to solve these issues.