Network Device Persona Assignment via Link Count Bucketing
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Solution Overview
Problem
Existing overlay networking techniques in private cloud environments lack efficient methods for automating the assignment and configuration of network device personas, leading to suboptimal network administration and orchestration, especially in diverse network topologies with varying quantities of network links.
Innovation Solution
A management service that uses statistical analysis to compute a bucketing factor based on the quantity of network links, grouping devices into upper-tier and lower-tier categories, and automatically recommending and applying corresponding network device configurations, thereby streamlining network administration and orchestration.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Productivity
If manual network device configuration is used, then configuration accuracy can be maintained, but network administration efficiency deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system enables network devices to self-configure by automatically discovering their role in the network topology and applying appropriate configurations without manual intervention. The management service autonomously performs configuration tasks that were previously manual, thereby improving efficiency while maintaining accuracy through automated validation.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the configuration parameters dynamically based on the detected network role. By analyzing topology parameters (number of links, position in hierarchy) and adjusting configuration parameters accordingly, the system achieves efficient automated configuration while maintaining accuracy through role-appropriate parameter selection.
2Adaptability or versatility
If network devices are configured with fixed personas, then configuration simplicity is maintained, but adaptability to diverse network topologies deteriorates
Solution Approach 1:
The system transitions from fixed personas to dynamic persona assignment. The management service detects the actual network role of each device based on topology analysis and assigns personas dynamically. This allows the same hardware to be configured differently based on its position in the network, improving adaptability while keeping the configuration process simple through automated role detection.
Solution Approach 2:
The invention changes the configuration parameters dynamically based on the detected network role. By analyzing topology parameters (number of links, position in hierarchy) and adjusting configuration parameters accordingly, the system achieves efficient automated configuration while maintaining accuracy through role-appropriate parameter selection.
3Measurement precision
If statistical analysis is used for persona recommendation, then configuration accuracy is improved, but computation time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary topology discovery and role detection during the configuration process. By pre-analyzing the network topology and determining device roles before final configuration, the system achieves accurate persona recommendations through statistical analysis while minimizing overall computation time through efficient preliminary processing.
Data Source
AI summary
In an example implementation consistent with the features disclosed herein, network devices of a physical network are bucketized for automatic configuration based on statistical analysis of the quantity of network links for the network devices. The quantity of network links for each of the network devices is identified. A bucketing factor for the network devices is computed. The bucketing factor equals a sum of a mean and a confidence interval value for the quantity of network links for the network devices. A persona for a provisioned network device is recommend based on the bucketing factor. The persona is assigned to the provisioned network device. A network device configuration is applied to the provisioned network device based on the persona assigned to the provisioned network device. A virtual network may be created on the physical network.