SDN Verification System for State Inconsistency Detection
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Solution Overview
Problem
Edge-based Software Defined Networks (SDNs) face challenges in maintaining consistency between high-level network service definitions and low-level configurations due to communication problems, human errors, and software bugs, leading to state inconsistencies that can disrupt network functions and potentially cause security breaches.
Innovation Solution
A methodology and system that systematically collect and compare network configuration data from both controller and end-hosts, converting it into a common format to identify inconsistencies across multiple network layers, and generate alerts for administrators to remediate issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If network configuration data is collected and compared across distributed end-hosts and controllers, then state inconsistency detection capability is improved, but system complexity and overhead increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a verification system as an intermediary component that mediates between the SDN controller and end-hosts. This verification system collects configuration data from both sources, parses it into comparable formats, and performs consistency checks. By positioning this intermediary verification layer, the system achieves comprehensive inconsistency detection without requiring direct complex interactions between all controller and end-host pairs, thus managing system complexity while improving reliability.
Solution Approach 2:
The verification system is segmented into distinct functional modules: a data collection subsystem that gathers configuration data from multiple sources, a state parsing subsystem that converts data into standardized representations, and a verification subsystem that performs comparison operations. This segmentation allows each component to handle specific tasks independently, reducing overall system complexity while enabling thorough inconsistency detection across the distributed network.
2Measurement precision
If comprehensive network configuration data is collected from all end-hosts and controllers, then detection accuracy is improved, but data processing time and resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The verification system implements incremental verification that focuses on detecting specific types of inconsistencies (state mismatches between controller and end-hosts) rather than performing exhaustive analysis of all configuration parameters. By targeting partial verification of critical state information, the system achieves sufficient detection accuracy for security and operational consistency without processing every detail of the configuration data, thus reducing processing time and resource consumption.
3Reliability
If real-time inconsistency detection is implemented, then network security and health are improved, but system overhead and resource consumption increase
Solution Approach 1:
The verification system performs inconsistency detection periodically rather than continuously in real-time. The system collects configuration data from controllers and end-hosts at scheduled intervals, parses the data into standardized formats, and compares states at these periodic checkpoints. This periodic operation maintains network security and health monitoring capabilities while significantly reducing system overhead and resource consumption compared to continuous real-time monitoring, as the verification processes can be executed during off-peak periods or at controlled intervals.
Data Source
AI summary
Identifying state inconsistency in edge-based software defined networks is disclosed. A verification server may receive controller network configuration data from a controller of an edge-based software defined network (SDN) and end-host network configuration data from at least one end-host of the SDN. The verification server may parse the controller network configuration data into a network state representation and the end-host network configuration data into the network state representation. The network state representation of the controller network configuration data and the end-host network configuration data may be compared to identify state inconsistency in the SDN. Responsive to identifying the state inconsistency, an alert and/or a report may be generated and transmitted to an administrator user interface.