Dell Products Inc.

3com Corporation

Scalent Systems, Inc.

Hewlett-packard Company

Chandrasekharan Nilakantan

Lawrence M Stein

Nagaraj Arunkumar

Ly Loi

Gary Michael Jaszewski

Saroop Mathur

Siva V Kumar

Gary Lewis

Andrew Leslie Laursen

Mei-Ying Chan

Michael J Seaman

Padmavathi V Uppalapati

Srinivas Dabir

Lunardi Teguh

Kiho Yum

Ta-Sheng Lin

Michael John Seaman

Gary M Jaszewski

A method of configuring a data network with a controller, the data network including a plurality of hosts each associated with at least one of a plurality of switches, the method including receiving a request to boot an operating system image on one of the plurality of hosts, the operating system image having network connectivity requirements. Further, the method includes selecting a host out of the plurality of hosts on which to boot the operating system image. The method also includes booting the operating system image on the host, and configuring a switch out of the plurality of switches associated with the host based upon the network connectively requirements of the operating system image. Additionally, the method includes configuring networking attributes of a network interface in the host based upon the network connectivity requirements of the operating system image.

System and method for automated network configuration

An information handling system is provided. The information handling system includes a network infrastructure, the network infrastructure comprising a plurality of network switches in communication with a network controller and a first network server with a network orchestrator running thereon and generating network infrastructure requirements. The information handling system further includes a second network server that has a connection manager running thereon. The connection manager is configured to receive the network infrastructure requirements from the network orchestrator and to convert the specified network infrastructure requirements to instructions suited to the network controller. An associated method for facilitating communication between one or more network orchestrators and network infrastructure is also provided. The information handling system and associated method decouple the network orchestrator from the management of the network infrastructure.

Systems and methods for managing connections in an orchestrated network

A method of automatically configuring a data network, the data network including a controller and a virtualization host with a hypervisor installed thereon, the method including creating a virtual switch in the hypervisor and communicatively coupling the virtual switch to a first physical network interface in the virtualization host. Further, the method includes receiving a request to boot an operating system image in a virtual machine in the hypervisor, the operating system image having network connectivity requirements. The method also includes creating a first virtual port in the virtual switch based upon the network connectivity requirements of the operating system image and creating a first virtual network adapter in the virtual machine in the hypervisor. Further, the method includes communicatively coupling the first virtual network adapter to the first virtual port in the virtual switch and configuring networking attributes of the first virtual network adapter in the virtual machine.

Automated host device virtual network configuration system

System and method for automated virtual network configuration

One embodiment of the invention includes a method of managing network communications in a network device. The network device includes software components and modules. Some of the components control the interaction between modules, while other components perform specific functions for associated modules. A module manager component controls the creation and destruction of modules as well as their interactions. A communications manager component manages network communications in the network device. The network communications is supported by creating a number of modules that are associated with components that implement different parts of a network protocol. As a result of the use of the modules, a component need not know which other component(s) it depends upon, nor need it know which other component(s) depend upon it. This allows components to be used together very easily in many different configurations. The modules also allow the same component to be used by multiple modules.

Method and apparatus for supporting network communications

Methods and systems for determining paths for flows within a multi-stage network made up of clusters of processing nodes. The flow paths may be determined without knowledge of whether or not packets of a particular flow will actually traverse specific ones of the clusters within the multi-stage network. In various implementations, the nodes of the multi-stage network may be coupled to one or more physical network switches through respective physical interfaces and a virtual connectivity grid superimposed thereon and configured through the use of a flow routing framework and system management framework to group the nodes into a number of clusters. The nodes of each cluster are configured to perform similar packet processing functions and the clusters are interconnected through virtual networks to which the nodes are communicatively coupled via virtual interfaces overlaid on top of the physical network interfaces.

Method and apparatus for achieving dynamic capacity and high availability in multi-stage data networks using adaptive flow-based routing

Method and apparatus supporting network communications

The present invention provides a method and system for managing communication in a data network. The method and system involves monitoring the communication channels at the host level. The hosts are updated with the monitoring information following which they take a coordinated decision in cases of failure of a channel. The data network comprises a plurality of hosts, which are connected to each other through a plurality of channels. A monitor host is elected out of the plurality of hosts to periodically broadcast a system state packet to the plurality of hosts. The system state packet contains information about the state of the plurality of channels and the plurality of hosts for a given channel. Each of the plurality of hosts compares the observed state of channels, as observed by it, with the reported state as reported in the system state packet. In case a host identifies a discrepancy between the observed state and the reported state, it broadcasts a host state packet, updating the monitor host about the observed state. The monitor host, on the basis of the information contained in the host state packet, updates the system state packet and broadcasts the updated system state packet to the plurality of hosts. Based on the updated system state packets, each of the plurality of hosts may select an alternate optimal channel for communication in case a channel fails.

Method and system for managing communication in a data network

Network traffic from a central device across a communication link to a remote device is controlled based upon central traffic management resources in the central device. The central traffic management resources are coupled to a communication link and monitor data packets received across the communication link to learn characteristics of the remote network. Based on the learned characteristics, traffic management messages are generated in the central traffic management resources. These messages are forwarded to an interface device on the remote network, where traffic on the communication link is controlled in response to the traffic management messages. Thus, the remote interface is configured automatically by central traffic management resources running in the central device without human intervention at the remote network. The traffic management messages manage traffic across a communication link of two types. First, traffic management messages identify types of packets to be forwarded from the remote interface across the communication link. Second, traffic management messages identify types of packets to be composed by the remote interface for communication to users of the remote network. Thus, packages originating on the remote network are filtered so that only necessary packets are forwarded to the central site. Similarly, packets which normally originate from the central site are 'spoofed' at the remote site in response to management messages generated at the central site. The central traffic management resources execute a transport protocol for the traffic management messages which are independent of a network address for the remote interface.

Remote smart filtering communication management system

A reverse address resolution protocol for use in a communication network which allows resolution logic to provide a higher level protocol information (such as an IP address) to a source of a request for such information, independent of the physical network address of such source. The protocol is used in a processor having a plurality of ports, at least one of such ports connected by a point-to-point channel to a remote network device. Reverse address resolution protocol is responsive to a resolution request from the remote network device across the point-to-point channel to supply the higher level protocol information based upon the port through which the resolution request is received, rather than the physical network address of the requesting device. Thus, a remote device may be coupled to a network, and connected to a central management site across a point-to-point communication link, in a 'plug and play' mode. The person connecting the device to the remote network does not need to determine the physical network address of the device or configure the device with a higher level address protocol.

System for reverse address resolution for remote network device

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Cupertino, CA, United States of America

Chandrasekharan Nilakantan