Topology-aware controller associations in software-defined networks

A computer-implemented method for network management, comprising:

• accessing, by one or more processors, network information for a plurality of nodes, each node associated with at least one device;
• creating, by the one or more processors, a plurality of node clusters based on minimizing a total amount of traffic connecting nodes within each node cluster to one or more networks, each node cluster including a subset of nodes of the plurality that is isolated from other nodes of other node clusters, and the subset of nodes for each node cluster includes
• at least one parent node and a corresponding group of child nodes having a data path through the at least one parent node,
• the at least one parent node of each node cluster is isolated from the at least one parent node of each other node cluster, and
• and each controller controls the at least one parent node and each group of child nodes for a corresponding node cluster;
• assigning, by the one or more processors, each of the plurality of nodes to one of the plurality of node clusters in accordance with a minimal total traffic determination;
• and
• configuring, by the one or more processors, each of a plurality of controllers for control of the subset of nodes associated with one or more of the node clusters.

A non-transitory computer-readable medium storing computer instructions for network management, that when executed by one or more processors, cause the one or more processors to perform the steps of:

• access network information for a plurality of nodes, each node associated with at least one device;
• assign to each node a weight representing a total amount of traffic associated with the node;
• determine that a first combined weight of a first node and a second node is less than a capacity of a first controller, the second node is a parent to the first node;
• in response to determining that the first combined weight is less than the capacity, determine that a second combined weight of the first node, the second node, and a third node is less than the capacity, the third node is a child to the second node;
• in response to determining that the second combined weight is less than the capacity, determine that a third combined weight of the first node, the second node, the third node, and a fourth node is equal to or greater than the capacity, the fourth node is a parent to the second node;
• and
• in response to determining that the third combined weight is equal to or greater than the capacity, assign the first node, the second node, and the third node to the first controller and assign the fourth node to a second controller.