Network Assurance Appliance Endpoint Validation
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Network configurations in large data center networks are complex and prone to errors, leading to inconsistencies that can cause significant issues due to hardware errors, software bugs, configuration conflicts, and other factors, making it difficult to validate endpoint configurations between nodes.
Innovation Solution
A network assurance appliance retrieves endpoint information from spine and leaf nodes, compares the data, and generates events to identify inconsistencies, ensuring that endpoint configurations are validated and corrected to maintain network integrity.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If network configurations are manually specified at a centralized controller for large data center networks, then network control and management capability is improved, but configuration errors and inconsistencies increase due to the complexity of low level and high level configurations across multiple network layers
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements a feedback mechanism where the system automatically validates endpoint configurations by comparing intended configurations against actual network state, detecting inconsistencies and reporting errors back to the controller for correction, thereby maintaining configuration accuracy despite manual specification complexity
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs self-validation of endpoint configurations by automatically retrieving endpoint information from multiple sources, comparing configurations, and identifying inconsistencies without requiring manual verification, enabling the network to self-check and self-report configuration errors
2Measurement precision
If endpoint configurations are validated by comparing information from multiple network nodes, then configuration accuracy is improved, but system complexity and validation time increase
Solution Approach 1:
The validation system is designed to work across multiple network nodes and configuration types using a universal validation approach that retrieves endpoint information from various sources (controllers, switches, routers) and applies consistent validation rules, thereby achieving high validation accuracy without proportionally increasing system complexity
Data Source
Figure 1A
Figure 1B
Figure 2A
AI summary
Systems, methods, and computer-readable media are disclosed for validating endpoint information for nodes in a network. A network assurance appliance is configured to retrieve first endpoint information about endpoints in the network from one or more spine nodes in a network and second endpoint information about the endpoints in the network from one or more leaf nodes in the network. The network assurance appliance compares the first endpoint information with the second endpoint information and generates an event based on the comparison.