Network Configuration Merging with Three-Way Conflict Resolution
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
Configuring network devices is complex and time-consuming, with issues of synchronization between various configurations leading to overwriting or loss of changes, especially when multiple users or sessions are involved, and existing merge methods are inefficient and fail to minimize conflicts.
Innovation Solution
A configuration session system that uses save blocks to represent features, allowing a three-way merge algorithm to integrate ancestor, session, and current configurations, identifying and resolving conflicts before committing changes to the network device.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If multiple users configure network devices simultaneously without restrictions, then configuration flexibility and user accessibility are improved, but configuration synchronization and conflict management deteriorate
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary actions by obtaining an ancestor configuration snapshot before allowing configuration changes. This snapshot serves as a baseline for later merge operations, enabling the system to detect and resolve conflicts between simultaneous configuration changes from multiple users before they are applied to the device.
Solution Approach 2:
The system implements feedback mechanisms by comparing session configurations against the ancestor configuration and current device configuration. When conflicts are detected during the merge process, the system provides feedback to users about conflicting changes, allowing them to review and resolve conflicts before final configuration application.
2Productivity
If configuration changes are applied directly without merging, then configuration application speed is improved, but configuration data loss and overwriting of changes worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary merge operations between the session configuration, ancestor configuration, and current device configuration before applying changes. This preliminary merging process identifies and resolves conflicts in advance, ensuring that no configuration changes are lost or overwritten while maintaining efficient configuration application.
Solution Approach 2:
The merge operation applies local quality by handling only the specific configuration features that have changed or conflict, rather than reapplying the entire configuration. This allows the system to preserve unchanged configurations while selectively merging and resolving only the necessary changes, minimizing information loss and maintaining productivity.
3Ease of manufacture
If traditional merge methods are used for configuration sessions, then implementation simplicity is improved, but merge efficiency and conflict minimization worsen
Solution Approach 1:
The system segments the configuration merge process into distinct phases: obtaining the ancestor configuration snapshot, obtaining the current device configuration, performing the three-way merge between session/ancestor/current configurations, detecting conflicts, and applying resolved changes. This segmentation improves merge efficiency by systematically handling each aspect of the merge process while maintaining implementation simplicity through modular design.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems and methods for merging configurations on network devices based on structured models representing features to be configured are disclosed. By utilizing these structured models embodiments may generally allow configuration merges to be performed substantially on a per feature basis and also allow the merging to be performed in a manner that minimizes conflicts and implementation complexity while substantially improving the performance of those configuration merges.