Methods, systems and computer readable media for optimizing placement of virtual network visibility components

A system for optimizing placement of virtual network visibility components, the system comprising:

• a virtual network monitoring tap instance for copying packets in a network;
• a virtual network packet broker instance for located in a first availability zone and receiving and distributing the copied packets to at least one network monitoring tool instance located in a second availability zone separate from the first availability zone;
• and
• a network visibility component placement controller including at least one processor for analyzing a network performance or utilization parameter associated with transmission of the copied packets among the virtual network tap instance, the virtual network packet broker instance and the network monitoring tool instance, wherein analyzing the performance or utilization parameter associated with transmission of the copied packets includes monitoring or predicting wide area network (WAN) bandwidth utilization by the copied packets between the first and second availability zones, and modifying, based on results of the analyzing, placement of at least one of the virtual network packet broker instance and the virtual network monitoring tool instance, wherein modifying, based on results of the analyzing, placement of one of the virtual network packet broker instance and the virtual network monitoring tool instance includes moving the virtual network packet broker instance so that the virtual network packet broker instance and the virtual network monitoring tool instance are located in the same availability zone, and wherein moving the virtual network packet broker instance includes halting and deallocating resources for the virtual network packet broker instance in the second availability zone and allocating resources for the virtual network packet broker instance in the first availability zone.

A virtual network visibility component placement controller comprising:

• at least one processor;
• a memory;
• and
• a virtual network visibility component placement optimizer embodied in the memory and executable by the at least one processor for analyzing a network performance or utilization parameter associated with transmission of the copied packets among a virtual network tap instance, a virtual network packet broker instance located in a first availability zone and a network monitoring tool instance located in a second availability zone separate from the first availability zone, wherein analyzing the performance or utilization parameter associated with transmission of the copied packets includes monitoring or predicting wide area network (WAN) bandwidth utilization by the copied packets between the first and second availability zones, and modifying, based on results of the analyzing, placement of at least one of the virtual network packet broker instance and the virtual network monitoring tool instance, wherein modifying, based on results of the analyzing, placement of one of the virtual network packet broker instance and the virtual network monitoring tool instance includes moving the virtual network packet broker instance so that the virtual network packet broker instance and the virtual network monitoring tool instance are located in the same availability zone, and wherein moving the virtual network packet broker instance includes halting and deallocating resources for the virtual network packet broker instance in the second availability zone and allocating resources for the virtual network packet broker instance in the first availability zone.

A system for optimizing placement of virtual network visibility components, the system comprising:

• a virtual network monitoring tap instance for copying packets in a network;
• a virtual network packet broker instance for operating in a first availability zone and receiving and distributing the copied packets to at least one network monitoring tool instance located in a second availability zone separate from the first availability zone;
• and
• a network visibility component placement controller including at least one processor for analyzing a network performance or utilization parameter associated with transmission of the copied packets among the virtual network tap instance, the virtual network packet broker instance and the network monitoring tool instance, wherein analyzing the performance or utilization parameter associated with transmission of the copied packets includes monitoring or predicting wide area network (WAN) bandwidth utilization by the copied packets between the first and second availability zones, and modifying, based on results of the analyzing, placement of at least one of the virtual network packet broker instance and the virtual network monitoring tool instance, wherein modifying, based on results of the analyzing, placement of one of the virtual network packet broker instance and the virtual network monitoring tool instance includes moving the virtual network monitoring tool instance so that the virtual network packet broker instance and the virtual network monitoring tool instance are located in the same availability zone, and wherein moving the virtual network monitoring tool instance includes halting and deallocating resources for the virtual network monitoring tool instance in the second availability zone and allocating resources for the virtual network monitoring tool instance in the first availability zone.

A non-transitory computer readable medium having stored thereon executable instructions that when executed by a processor of a computer control the computer to perform steps comprising:

• providing a virtual network monitoring tap instance for copying packets in a network;
• providing a virtual network packet broker instance for receiving and distributing the copied packets to at least one network monitoring tool instance located in a first availability zone, wherein providing the virtual network packet broker instance includes providing the virtual network packet broker instance in a second availability zone separate from the first availability zone in which the network monitoring tool instance is located;
• analyzing a network performance or utilization parameter associated with transmission of the copied packets among the virtual network tap instance, the virtual network packet broker instance and the network monitoring tool instance, wherein analyzing the performance or utilization parameter associated with transmission of the copied packets includes monitoring or predicting wide area network (WAN) bandwidth utilization by the copied packets between the first and second availability zones;
• and
• modifying, based on results of the analyzing, placement of at least one of the virtual network packet broker instance and the virtual network monitoring tool instance, wherein modifying, based on results of the analyzing, placement of one of the virtual network packet broker instance and the virtual network monitoring tool instance includes moving the virtual network packet broker instance so that the virtual network packet broker instance and the virtual network monitoring tool instance are located in the same availability zone, and wherein moving the virtual network packet broker instance includes halting and deallocatinq resources for the virtual network packet broker instance in the second availability zone and allocating resources for the virtual network packet broker instance in the first availability zone.