US 10,959,098 B2 · Dynamically specifying multiple public cloud edge nodes to connect to an external multi-computer node

Abstract

Some embodiments establish for an entity a virtual network over several public clouds of several public cloud providers and/or in several regions. In some embodiments, the virtual network is an overlay network that spans across several public clouds to interconnect one or more private networks (e.g., networks within branches, divisions, departments of the entity or their associated datacenters), mobile users, and SaaS (Software as a Service) provider machines, and other web applications of the entity. The virtual network in some embodiments can be configured to optimize the routing of the entity's data messages to their destinations for best end-to-end performance, reliability and security, while trying to minimize the routing of this traffic through the Internet. Also, the virtual network in some embodiments can be configured to optimize the layer 4 processing of the data message flows passing through the network.

Claims21

Dependent claims

A method for connecting a multi-computer node (MCN) for an entity to a virtual network defined over a set of one or more one public cloud datacenters, the method comprising:

at a set of one or more controllers:
providing, to the multi-computer node (MCN), identifiers identifying a plurality of managed forwarding nodes (MFNs) in the set of public cloud datacenters for the MCN to generate a measurement for each MFN that quantifies an attribute of a connection between the MCN and the MFN;
receiving, from the MCN, measurements for the identified MFNs;
based on the received measurements, selecting a subset of at least two MFNs for the MCN to use to connect to the virtual network, the subset of MFNs not including all of the plurality of MFNs;
and
providing the subset of at least two MFNs to the MCN to use to connect to the virtual network, wherein providing the subset of at least two MFNs to the MCN comprises providing a plurality of routes each of which uses one of the at least two MFNs as an ingress MFN to enter the virtual network for data message flows that are destined for another MCN connected to the virtual network.

3 more elements

A non-transitory machine readable medium storing a controller program for connecting a multi-computer node (MCN) for an entity to a virtual network defined over a set of one or more one public cloud datacenters, the controller program comprising sets of instructions for:

providing, to the multi-computer node (MCN), a list of identifiers identifying a plurality of managed forwarding nodes (MFNs) in the set of public cloud datacenters for the MCN to generate a measurement for each identified MFN that quantifies an attribute of a connection between the MCN and the MFN, the plurality of MFNs comprising candidate MFNs through which the MCN can connect to the virtual network;
receiving, from the MCN, the measurements generated by the MCN for each of the identified MFNs;
using the received measurements to perform path searches that identify a set of one or more desired routes between the MCN and at least one other MCN for the entity connected to the virtual network, the identified set of desired routes using a subset of two or more MFNs for the MCN to use to connect to the virtual network, the subset of MFNs not including all of the plurality of MFNs;
and
providing the subset of MFNs to the MCN to use to connect to the virtual network, by providing a plurality of routes each of which uses a different MFN as an ingress MFN to enter the virtual network for data message flows that are destined for another MCN connected to the virtual network.

2 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Dynamically specifying multiple public cloud edge nodes to connect to an external multi-computer node

Life of this patent

Dynamically specifying multiple public cloud edge nodes to connect to an external multi-computer node

Life of this patent

Abstract

Claims21