Database protocol for exchanging forwarding state with hardware switches
US9699070B2 · kind B2 · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 31, 2013 |
| Grant date | Jul 4, 2017 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | May 14, 2034 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC H)Electricity
- CPC primaryH04L41/5096
- WIPO fieldDigital communication
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
Some embodiments provide a set of one or more network controllers that communicates with a wide range of devices, ranging from switches to appliances such as firewalls, load balancers, etc. The set of network controllers communicates with such devices to connect them to its managed virtual networks. The set of network controllers can define each virtual network through software switches and/or software appliances. To extend the control beyond software network elements, some embodiments implement a database server on each dedicated hardware. The set of network controllers accesses the database server to send management data. The hardware then translates the management data to connect to a managed virtual network.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.