Virtual Network Malfunction Diagnosis via Distributed Logic Agents
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Solution Overview
Problem
Diagnostic methods for physical network devices are ineffective for virtual networks due to their distributed and complex nature, making it difficult to identify and troubleshoot malfunctions in virtual network systems with thousands of hypervisors.
Innovation Solution
A diagnostic tool that applies logic rules to determine malfunctions in virtual networks by collecting and processing user-provided symptoms, using a logic engine to fetch relevant facts from agents on virtual network components, and producing new facts to identify potential issues such as configuration errors or physical network issues.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If traditional diagnostic methods for physical network devices are used on virtual networks, then the diagnostic process becomes overly complex and ineffective, but the distributed nature of virtual networks makes it difficult to identify malfunctions
Solution Approach 1:
The patent introduces a diagnostic tool as an intermediary component that mediates between the user and the complex distributed virtual network system. This tool collects symptoms from multiple hypervisors and applies logic rules to diagnose malfunctions, shielding the user from the underlying system complexity while maintaining diagnostic accuracy.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent extracts the essential diagnostic functionality from the complex distributed system by creating a separate diagnostic tool that collects only the necessary symptom information from multiple hypervisors. This extraction approach simplifies the diagnostic process by focusing on relevant data while ignoring unnecessary system complexity.
2Loss of information
If data is collected from all nodes in the distributed virtual network, then complete diagnostic information is obtained, but the data collection time and processing overhead increase significantly
Solution Approach 1:
The patent implements preliminary action by having agents on each hypervisor continuously collect and maintain symptom information in the background before diagnostics are needed. When a malfunction occurs, the diagnostic tool can immediately query this pre-collected data without requiring real-time data gathering from all nodes, thus reducing diagnostic time while maintaining information completeness.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent applies partial action by collecting symptom information from only the necessary subset of hypervisors related to the reported malfunction rather than querying all nodes in the distributed network. This selective approach reduces data collection time and processing overhead while obtaining sufficient information for accurate diagnosis.
3Reliability
If the diagnostic tool queries all hypervisors for symptom information, then comprehensive data is gathered, but the network overhead and processing load increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent applies local quality by having each hypervisor maintain local symptom information through local agents rather than requiring centralized collection from all nodes. The diagnostic tool queries only the specific hypervisors relevant to the reported issue, reducing network overhead while maintaining diagnostic reliability through localized data availability.
4Stability of the object's composition
If the system maintains synchronized data across all nodes, then data consistency is improved, but the synchronization overhead and system complexity increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent segments the data consistency problem by allowing each hypervisor to maintain independent local symptom information rather than requiring centralized synchronization. This segmentation approach reduces synchronization complexity and overhead while maintaining sufficient data consistency for diagnostic purposes through the coordinated operation of local agents.
Data Source
AI summary
A method is provided to diagnose one or more malfunctions in a virtual network having a network functionality implemented in a distributed manner by hypervisors, each performing part of the network functionality. The method includes receiving user input of observed facts about the virtual network, where the observed facts include identifiers of virtual components in the virtual network, and adding the observed facts to a knowledge base. The method further includes, in response to the identifiers of the virtual components, querying agents on the hypervisors for collected facts related to the virtual components, receiving and adding the collected facts to the knowledge base, and applying logic rules to the knowledge base to produce one or more diagnoses of the virtual network.