SDN Controller Proactive Tunnel Configuration for SD-WAN
Find Innovative SolutionsGenerate Solutions
Solution Overview
Problem
In traditional SD-WAN environments, SDN controllers spend significant time computing configuration data for site-to-site tunnels on demand, which can lead to delays and inefficiencies, especially when multiple tunnels need to be configured simultaneously.
Innovation Solution
The SDN controller proactively computes configuration data for all potential site-to-site tunnels in a full mesh topology, even if not all traffic profiles initially meet the policy criteria for direct connections, allowing for efficient on-demand tunnel creation when performance indicators are met.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Loss of energy
If the SDN controller computes configuration data for tunnels on demand, then the system avoids unnecessary computation for tunnels that may not be needed, but the time required to configure tunnels increases significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The SDN controller proactively computes configuration data for all potential site-to-site tunnels in advance, storing it for future use. This preliminary computation eliminates the need to calculate configuration data when tunnels are actually needed, resolving the contradiction between avoiding unnecessary computation and reducing configuration time.
2Productivity
If the SDN controller proactively computes configuration data for all potential tunnels, then the tunnel configuration time is reduced, but the initial computation workload and resource usage increase
Solution Approach 1:
The SDN controller computes configuration data selectively for each potential tunnel pair based on specific criteria (site capabilities, policy requirements), rather than uniformly computing for all possible pairs. This localized approach optimizes the balance between preparation effort and configuration speed.
3Ease of manufacture
If the SDN controller computes configuration data after policies indicate tunnel creation, then computation resources are conserved, but the response time to establish tunnels increases
Solution Approach 1:
The SDN controller performs configuration computation in advance during idle periods or low-utilization times, storing the results for immediate deployment when tunnel creation is triggered by policy conditions. This separates the computation phase from the deployment phase, improving both efficiency and speed.
Data Source
AI summary
This disclosure describes techniques are described for proactively computing configuration information for policy-driven on-demand tunnel creation and deletion between sites in a software-defined networking in wide area network (SD-WAN) environment. In some examples, a controller device is configured to precompute configuration data for an overlay tunnel through the wide area network to connect a first site and a second site of a plurality of sites in the SD-WAN environment. The controller device is further configured to obtain, after precomputing the configuration data, an indication to configure the overlay tunnel. The controller device is also configured to send, in response to receiving the indication to configure the overlay tunnel, at least some of the configuration data to the first site to configure the first site with the overlay tunnel.