At&t Intellectual Property I, L.p.

Sandeep Gupta

Michael J Satterlee

Dustin Grant

Sridhar Narahari

Distributed firewalls in a network are disclosed. Example firewall controllers disclosed herein are to instruct a first network node of a software-defined network to implement a first firewall instance of a distributed firewall, the first network node to implement the first firewall instance with a first virtual machine. Disclosed example firewall controllers are also to configure a second network node of the software-defined network to route network traffic through the first firewall instance and, after at least some of the network traffic is dropped by the first firewall instance, instruct the second network node to implement a second firewall instance of the distributed firewall, the second network node to implement the second firewall instance with a second virtual machine.

Methods and apparatus to provide a distributed firewall in a network

Methods and apparatus to provide a distributed firewall in a network are disclosed. Example firewall controllers disclosed herein are to instruct a first network node of a software-defined network to implement a first firewall instance of a distributed firewall, the first network node to implement the first firewall instance with a first virtual machine. Disclosed example firewall controllers are also to configure a second network node of the software-defined network to route network traffic through the first firewall instance and, after at least some of the network traffic is dropped by the first firewall instance, instruct the second network node to implement a second firewall instance of the distributed firewall, the second network node to implement the second firewall instance with a second virtual machine.

Methods and apparatus to provide a distributed firewall in a network are disclosed. An example method includes identifying, at a control plane, a network traffic rule to implement in a network, and determining a first firewall of a distributed firewall in the network to enforce the network traffic rule. Example methods also configure a first software-defined network node to route network traffic to the first firewall. The first firewall is instantiated by a first firewall instance at a second software-defined network node and by a second firewall instance at a third software-defined network node. In response to determining at least some of the network traffic forwarded by the first software-defined network node to the second and third software-defined network nodes is being dropped at the first and second firewall instances, example methods also cause the first software-defined network node to implement a third firewall instance.

Methods and apparatus to provide a distributed firewall in a network are disclosed. An example method includes identifying, at a control plane, a network traffic rule to implement in a network; determining, at the control plane, a distributed firewall for a first firewall in the network to enforce the network traffic rule; instructing, using the control plane, a first software-defined networking node to instantiate the first firewall of the distributed firewall; configuring a second software-defined networking node to route network traffic through the first firewall; and instructing the first software-defined networking node to enforce the network traffic rule.

Information associated with session flows between communication devices and servers is collected and shared. A request is generated for data having predefined attributes within session flows occurring between multiple communication devices and a server over a communication network. The request is sent to a controller having access to information indicating network elements within the communication network traversed by the session flows. The controller selects a network element from among the network elements traversed by the session flows and retrieves the data from the selected network element.

Devices, methods, and computer readable storage devices for collecting information and sharing information associated with session flows between communication devices and servers

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Milpitas, CA, United States of America

Sandeep Gupta