SD-WAN Multi-Cloud Failover Orchestration via Virtual Bonds

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Solution Overview

Problem

Current SD-WAN migration solutions in a multi-cloud setting rely on a third party witness component, which introduces burdens such as stitching into the fabric, lack of visibility, and single-point failure, making them inefficient and unreliable.

Innovation Solution

The proposed solution eliminates the need for a third party witness component by using virtual bonds to monitor and manage clusters of virtual management components, detecting failover events, and identifying a new destination cloud for migration based on combined weights and configuration parameters, thereby automating the migration process within the existing orchestration plane.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Adaptability or versatility

If a third party witness component is used to manage SD-WAN migration, then migration can be enabled, but device complexity increases and reliability decreases due to single point of failure

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemigration capabilityVSAvoidsystem complexity
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSDevice complexity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and eliminates the third party witness component from the SD-WAN migration architecture. By removing this external dependency, the system achieves migration capability through native multi-cloud orchestration, reducing device complexity and eliminating the single point of failure while maintaining adaptability for migration

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The patent implements multi-cloud orchestration that enables the SD-WAN system to perform migration across multiple cloud providers universally. The orchestration plane can manage workloads across different cloud infrastructures (AWS, Azure, GCP, etc.) without requiring specialized third party components, making the system both adaptable and simple

Inventive Principle:
Principle #6Universality (Multi-functionality)

2Adaptability or versatility

If a third party witness component is stitched into the SD-WAN fabric, then migration management is possible, but ease of operation deteriorates due to additional management burden

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemigration managementVSAvoidmanagement burden
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The patent removes the third party witness component entirely from the architecture. Migration management is achieved through the native multi-cloud orchestration capabilities of the SD-WAN system, eliminating the need to stitch in external components and their associated management burdens

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The SD-WAN orchestration plane performs migration management autonomously using its own multi-cloud capabilities. The system self-manages workload migration across clouds without requiring external witness components, reducing operational burden while maintaining migration management capability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

3Adaptability or versatility

If a third party witness component is used, then migration can be controlled, but reliability worsens due to lack of visibility and single point of failure

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemigration controlVSAvoidsystem reliability
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSReliability

Solution Approach 1:

The patent extracts and eliminates the third party witness component that created reliability issues. Migration control is achieved through the native orchestration plane which has full visibility into the SD-WAN fabric and can control migration without external dependencies, improving reliability while maintaining control capability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The orchestration plane implements native feedback mechanisms to monitor the health and status of cloud infrastructures. This provides full visibility into the migration process and system state, enabling reliable migration control without requiring external witness components that lack visibility

Inventive Principle:
Principle #23Feedback

4Adaptability or versatility

If third party witness component lifecycle is managed, then migration can proceed, but productivity decreases due to additional network burden

Engineering Contradiction:
Improvemigration executionVSAvoidnetwork efficiency
Core Design Contradiction:
Adaptability or versatilityVSProductivity

Solution Approach 1:

The patent removes the third party witness component that imposed additional network burden. Migration execution is achieved through the native orchestration plane which manages migration internally without external components, improving network efficiency and productivity while maintaining migration capability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #2Taking out (Extraction)

Solution Approach 2:

The SD-WAN system performs migration execution autonomously through its own orchestration capabilities. The system manages its own migration lifecycle without requiring external witness components, eliminating the additional network burden and improving overall productivity while maintaining full migration execution capability

Inventive Principle:
Principle #25Self-service

Data Source

PatentEP3997840B1Seamless multi-cloud sdwan disaster recovery using orchestration plane
Publication Date: 2024.06.12 CISCO TECHNOLOGY INC
  • EP3997840B1 patent drawingFigure 1
  • EP3997840B1 patent drawingFigure 2
  • EP3997840B1 patent drawingFigure 3

AI summary

The present disclosure is directed to management of migration of SD-WAN solutions in a multi-cloud structure upon detection of a failover event. In one aspect, a method includes monitoring, using virtual bonds of a network orchestration component, clusters of virtual management components of multiple cloud networks, corresponding virtual management components of one of the multiple cloud networks implementing one or more services of a Software-Defined Wide Access Network (SD-WAN) solution; detecting, using the virtual bonds, a failover event at the one of the multiple cloud networks; and identifying, by the virtual bonds, a new destination cloud network to migrate the one or more services of the SD-WAN solution to, from a source cloud network at which the failover event is detected.