United Router Farm Virtualization for Network Management
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Solution Overview
Problem
Traditional router management is complex and inefficient due to the need for individual configuration of each router, which hinders remote and automated management, especially in network virtualization scenarios where centralized control is lacking.
Innovation Solution
The implementation of a United Router Farm (URF) system that virtualizes multiple routers as a single logical router, utilizing a master-slave architecture where a master node controls and manages slave nodes through a centralized control plane, enabling remote configuration and management across the network.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Manufacturing precision
If individual router configuration is performed manually by network administrators, then each router can be precisely configured, but the management complexity and time consumption increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent merges multiple individual router configurations into a unified virtual router configuration. The virtual router consolidates the control planes of multiple physical routers, allowing a single configuration action to propagate to all member routers simultaneously, thereby reducing management complexity while maintaining configuration precision
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual router provides universal configuration management across multiple physical routers. A single virtual router configuration can be applied to numerous member routers, enabling one configuration interface to manage diverse routing devices with different individual configurations through a unified multi-functional platform
2Ease of operation
If centralized control plane is implemented in a single router, then configuration management is simplified, but the system becomes vulnerable to single points of failure
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the centralized control plane across multiple physical routers that form a virtual router. Each member router maintains local control plane functionality while participating in the virtualized configuration management, distributing the control functions to eliminate single points of failure while preserving centralized configuration capabilities
Solution Approach 2:
The virtual router configuration provides beforehand cushioning by pre-establishing redundant control paths across multiple member routers. If one member router fails, the configuration management can continue through other members, providing fault tolerance and maintaining system availability while preserving ease of operation
3Extent of automation
If remote access to router control plane is enabled via protocols like OpenFlow, then automated configuration is possible, but complete router control and distributed protocol utilization are limited
Solution Approach 1:
The virtual router provides a universal control interface that can automate configuration while maintaining adaptability to various router types and protocols. The virtualization layer abstracts the diversity of underlying routers, enabling automated management through a single interface while preserving the ability to utilize distributed protocols and control mechanisms across different hardware platforms
Data Source
AI summary
One embodiment of the present invention provides a computing system. The computing system includes a processor, a memory, a discovery mechanism, a switch management mechanism, and a configuration management mechanism. The discovery mechanism discovers a remote switch. The switch management mechanism registers the remote switch and transmits a switch image to the remote switch, thereby allowing the remote switch to install the image. The configuration management mechanism configures the remote switch, thereby allowing the remote switch to be controlled by the computing system.