Staged Network Device Upgrades via Graph-Based Scheduling
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Solution Overview
Problem
Network device upgrades in datacenters often result in significant service disruptions due to the lack of support for in-service software upgrades (ISSU), leading to prolonged downtime and impact on tenant services.
Innovation Solution
A method and system for staging image upgrades on network devices by generating a graph representing switch distributions and services, where vertices are colored based on services provided to tenants, allowing switches serving the same tenant to be upgraded in different stages, thereby minimizing disruptions.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Reliability
If network devices are upgraded sequentially one at a time, then service disruption to individual tenants is minimized, but the total upgrade time becomes extremely prolonged
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the upgrade process into multiple stages, where each stage upgrades a subset of network devices while maintaining others at the previous version. This allows parallel upgrading of multiple devices without causing complete service disruption, as fallback devices remain operational. The segmentation resolves the contradiction by enabling concurrent upgrades (reducing total time) while maintaining service availability through staged rollouts.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements dynamic upgrade scheduling where the system can adjust upgrade stages based on service requirements and device interdependencies. The upgrade process is made flexible and adaptive, allowing simultaneous upgrades at different stages for different device groups, thus reducing total upgrade time while maintaining service reliability through dynamic resource allocation.
2Loss of time
If all network devices are upgraded simultaneously, then the total upgrade window is minimized, but service disruption becomes severe and widespread
Solution Approach 1:
The patent divides the network device population into multiple upgrade stages, where each stage contains a subset of devices that can be upgraded simultaneously. This segmentation allows the system to achieve parallel upgrading (minimizing total upgrade window) while ensuring that not all devices are upgraded at once, thus maintaining service availability through staged deployment and fallback capabilities.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements partial upgrading where only a portion of devices are upgraded in each stage rather than all devices simultaneously. This partial action approach allows the system to make progress toward full upgrading while maintaining service reliability by keeping unupgraded devices as fallback options, thus resolving the contradiction between upgrade speed and service availability.
3Loss of time
If network devices do not support ISSU, then upgrading requires complete device downtime, but implementing ISSU support would require device replacement or complex configuration
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a centralized controller as an intermediary that manages the upgrade process across multiple devices. The controller coordinates staged upgrades, tracks device states, and manages failover logic, thereby enabling multi-device parallel upgrading without requiring each individual device to support complex ISSU functionality. This intermediary approach reduces per-device complexity while achieving the goal of minimized downtime.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent implements automated upgrade management where the system automatically stages and coordinates upgrades across devices without requiring manual intervention at each device. The centralized controller handles the complexity of coordinated upgrading, allowing individual devices to undergo simple upgrade processes while the system as a whole achieves efficient, parallel upgrading with minimal downtime.
Data Source
AI summary
Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable storage media for stage upgrades in a network. The system generates graph-data structured based representations of devices in the network, wherein respective attributes of the representations is selected based on respective services provided by the devices to tenants in the network and identities of respective tenants serviced by the devices. Next, the system generates a graph showing a distribution of the devices in the network according to the representations, wherein the representations are interconnected in the graph based on service roles of associated devices with respect to tenants in the network and other devices associated with the tenants. The system then schedules an upgrade of devices based on the graph, the upgrade being scheduled in stages, each stage including devices selected for upgrade in that stage, wherein the devices for each stage are selected by identifying devices having respective representations assigned to that specific stage.