Cisco Technology, Inc.

Edward A Kersey

Chris O'Rourke

Louis F Menditto

Mark Albert

Richard A Howes

Pranav Kumar Tiwari

Tzu-Ming Tsang

James A Jordan

William Monte LeBlanc

Bruce F Wong

Jacob Mark McGuire

James A Jordon

A system and method are disclosed for providing a network service. A first criteria specifying a first set of flows from a first service manager is received at a forwarding agent. The first criteria specifies an expiration time interval. The first criteria is stored on the forwarding agent. A second criteria is received that specifies a second set of flows from a second service manager at the forwarding agent. The second set of flows includes flows that are in the first set of flows and the second criteria is designated as a lower priority criteria. The second criteria is stored on the forwarding agent. The first criteria is deleted from the forwarding agent upon the expiration of the expiration time interval. A packet is received that belongs to a flow that is included in the first set and the second set. It is determined that the packet matches the second set ant the packet is forwarded to the second service manager.

Backup service managers for providing reliable network services in a distributed environment

A system and method are disclosed for providing a fault tolerant network service. A packet is received that corresponds to a flow from a forwarding agent at a primary service manager and instructions are determined at the primary service manager for handling packets corresponding to the flow. The instructions are sent to the forwarding agent and the instructions are stored at the primary service manager. A replication packet is sent to a backup service manager. The replication packet includes the instructions for handling packets corresponding to the flow.

Stateful failover of service managers

A system and method are described for selecting a server to handle a connection. The method includes receiving at a service manager a connection request intercepted by a network device having a forwarding agent that is operative to receive instructions from a service manager, the connection request having been forwarded from the forwarding agent on the network device to the service manager. A preferred server is selected at the service manager from among a group of available servers. The preferred server is the server that is to service the connection request. Instructions are sent from the service manager to the forwarding agent. The instructions include the preferred server that is to service the connection request so that the connection request may be forwarded from the network device to the preferred server.

Load balancing using distributed forwarding agents with application based feedback for different virtual machines

A method of providing a network service is disclosed. The method includes implementing a forwarding agent on a router. The forwarding agent is operative to receive instructions from a service manager. Packets are forwarded from the forwarding agent to the service manager, and the forwarding agent receives instructions from the service manager detailing how to handle the forwarded packets.

Integrating service managers into a routing infrastructure using forwarding agents

A system and method are described for providing instructions for forwarding packets. The method includes broadcasting a general instruction specifying a plurality of flows to a plurality of forwarding agents and receiving at a service manager a first message responsive to the general instruction indicating that a packet for a specific flow has been received by a specific forwarding agent. A specific instruction is generated at the service manager for handling the specific flow and the specific instruction for handling the specific flow is sent to the specific forwarding agent.

Sending instructions from a service manager to forwarding agents on a need to know basis

A system and method are disclosed for specifying network address translation for a set of packets. A first set of instructions is sent to a forwarding agent specifying criteria for designated packets that are designated to undergo network address translation. A matching packet is received from the forwarding agent that matches the specified criteria. A network address translation scheme is determined for the matching packet. A second set of instructions are sent specifying the network address translation scheme for packets associated with the matching packet.

Network address translation using a forwarding agent

A method of obtaining instructions for routing a packet is described that includes receiving a packet having a packet flow identifier that includes a packet source IP address, a packet destination IP address, a packet source port, and a packet destination port and checking whether the packet flow identifier matches a stored instruction. If the packet flow identifier does not match a stored instruction, whether the packet flow identifier matches a stored criteria is checked and if the packet matches a stored criteria, the packet is forwarded to a service manager.

Synchronizing service instructions among forwarding agents using a service manager

A system and method are disclosed for controlling access to a server. Instructions are sent to a forwarding agent that instruct the forwarding agent to forward packets to a service manager from clients attempting to establish a client connection to the server. A client connection is established with the client. A server connection is established from the service manager to the server and data is transferred from the server connection to the client connection.

Proxying and unproxying a connection using a forwarding agent

A system and method for providing a network service is described. A fragment criteria is sent from a service manager to a forwarding agent that instructs the forwarding agent how to determine whether a received packet fragment at the forwarding agent matches the fragment criteria. A matching packet fragment is received from the forwarding agent at the fragment service manager. The fragment is assembled into a packet at the fragment service manager and in the event that the fragment completes the packet, a flow identifier specifying a flow is determined from the completed packet and completed packet is sent to a service manager that handles the flow specified in the flow identifier.

Handling packet fragments in a distributed network service environment

A system and method are disclosed for providing a plurality of network services. The method includes receiving at a forwarding agent a plurality of matching instructions corresponding to a specified flow from one or more service managers and storing the plurality of matching instructions on the forwarding agent having a forwarding agent network interface. A packet for the specified flow at the forwarding agent is received on the forwarding agent network interface. A highest service priority matching instruction stored on the forwarding agent is determined. The packet is processed according to the highest priority matching instruction. A next highest service priority matching instruction stored on the forwarding agent is determined and the packet is processed according to the next highest service priority matching instruction.

Cascading multiple services on a forwarding agent

A system and method are described for partitioning a network service among a plurality of service managers. The method includes configuring a first service manager to send a first request to a forwarding agent for packets meeting a first criteria and sending the first request to the forwarding agent. A second service manager is configured to send requests to the forwarding agent for packets meeting a second criteria and the second request is sent to the forwarding agent. Packets are checked at the forwarding agent to determine whether the packets meet the first criteria or the second criteria and packets that meet the first criteria are received at the first service manager; and packets that meet the second criteria are received at the second service manager.

Growing community of inventors

Alpharetta, GA, United States of America

Edward A Kersey