Network Switch Fabric Management via Intermediary Control
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current information handling systems face challenges in managing switch fabrics with both physical and virtual components, requiring consistent and proper configuration across both portions to ensure efficient service deployment, which is often difficult to achieve due to the complexity of coordinating attributes like accessibility, bandwidth, latency, and security.
Innovation Solution
A system comprising a management unit that provisions, configures, and monitors a network of switches including both physical and virtual switches, using user-defined policies and dynamic policies to ensure consistent operation and status monitoring, with an agent unit coupled to each switch to execute commands and provide status information to the management unit.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If a management unit coordinates both physical and virtual switch configurations, then configuration consistency is improved, but system complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a management unit as an intermediary system that sits between the physical and virtual network components. This management unit receives configuration parameters from a virtual machine manager and distributes them to both physical switches and virtual switches, ensuring consistent configuration across the entire network fabric without requiring direct coordination between all components.
Solution Approach 2:
The management unit is designed to handle multiple functions: it configures physical switches, configures virtual switches, monitors network status, and coordinates with the virtual machine manager. By consolidating these diverse functions into a single multi-functional management unit, the system achieves configuration consistency while managing complexity through functional integration.
2Reliability
If dynamic policies are executed to control switches, then service quality is improved, but processing time increases
Solution Approach 1:
The system pre-configures policy rules and parameters in the management unit before they are needed for actual switch control. When service quality adjustments are required, the management unit can immediately execute pre-prepared dynamic policies without needing to process complex decision logic in real-time, thus maintaining high service quality while minimizing processing delays.
Data Source
AI summary
A system for operating a plurality of information handling systems forming a network including a plurality of switches is provided. The switches include physical and virtual switches each having ports coupling information handling systems to one another. The system including a management unit configured to provide commands to the switches and to collect a status information for each of the switches; and an agent unit coupled to each of the switches, the agent configured to receive the commands from the management unit, provide the commands to the switch associated thereto, monitor status of the switch associated thereto, and provide the status information to the management unit. A method for operating a network and a computer program to perform the method for using a system as above is also provided. A network managing device configured to couple to a service provider in a network as above is also provided.