Detecting VLAN misconfiguration
AssigneeJuniper Networks, Inc.
InventorJisheng Wang
Life of this patent
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Abstract
Disclosed are methods for detecting misconfigured VLANs. In some embodiments, traffic on a VLAN across multiple access points is categorized. Traffic on the VLAN at a single access point is then also categorized. The categorization of the VLAN traffic at the single access point can be in response to, for example, communication errors or other conditions. The two categorizations are then compared to determine if the VLAN traffic at the AP is consistent with the VLAN traffic across a network (e.g., an enterprise network). If the VLAN traffic at the AP is generally consistent with that across the network, this may indicate that a downstream network component, such as a switch or router, is misconfigured. Thus, some embodiments programmatically reconfigure the downstream component to forward traffic for the VLAN.
Claims24
A method, comprising:
- collecting, from a plurality of access points (APs), first communication statistics of first network communications occurring over a plurality of uniquely identified virtual local area networks (VLANs);
- assigning, by one or more hardware processors, a first category indicative of a multi-AP characterization to a first VLAN of the plurality of uniquely identified VLANs based on the first communication statistics associated with the first VLAN and at least two APs of the plurality of APs;
- detecting, by the one or more hardware processors, errors in second network communications on the first VLAN at a first AP of the plurality of APs, the first AP configured to forward traffic of the first VLAN to a port on a network component;
- assigning, by the one or more hardware processors, a second category indicative of a single-AP characterization to the first VLAN based on second communication statistics of the second network communications on the first VLAN at the first AP of the plurality of APs;
- wherein the first category and the second category assigned to the first VLAN each include at least one of a continuous traffic category, an intermittent traffic category, a site-specific category and a black hole category,
- in response to determining the first category and the second category assigned to the first VLAN are equivalent, determining whether the first VLAN is misconfigured;
- and
- generating an output based on the determination of whether the first VLAN is misconfigured.
A system, comprising:
- hardware processing circuitry;
- one or more hardware memories storing instructions that configure the hardware processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:
- collecting, from a plurality of access points (APs), first communication statistics of first network communications occurring over a plurality of uniquely identified virtual local area networks (VLANs);
- assigning a first category indicative of a multi-AP characterization to a first VLAN of the plurality of uniquely identified VLANs based on the first communication statistics associated with the first VLAN and at least two APs of the plurality of APs;
- detecting errors in second network communications on the first VLAN at a first AP of the plurality of APs, the first AP configured to forward traffic of the first VLAN to a port on a network component;
- assigning a second category indicative of a single-AP characterization to the first VLAN based on second communication statistics of the second network communications on the first VLAN at the first AP of the plurality of APs;
- wherein the first category and the second category assigned to the first VLAN each include at least one of a continuous traffic category, an intermittent traffic category, a site-specific category and a black hole category,
- in response to determining the first category and the second category assigned to the first VLAN are equivalent, determining whether the first VLAN is misconfigured;
- and
- generating an output based on the determination of whether the first VLAN is misconfigured.
A non-transitory computer-readable storage medium comprising instructions that when executed configure hardware processing circuitry to perform operations comprising:
- collecting, from a plurality of access points (APs), first communication statistics of first network communications occurring over a plurality of uniquely identified virtual local area networks (VLANs);
- assigning a first category indicative of a multi-AP characterization to a first VLAN of the plurality of uniquely identified VLANs based on the first communication statistics associated with the first VLAN and at least two APs of the plurality of APs;
- detecting errors in second network communications on the first VLAN at a first AP of the plurality of APs, the first AP configured to forward traffic of the first VLAN to a port on a network component;
- assigning a second category indicative of a single-AP characterization to the first VLAN based on second communication statistics of the second network communications on the first VLAN at the first AP of the plurality of APs;
- wherein the first category and the second category assigned to the first VLAN each include at least one of a continuous traffic category, an intermittent traffic category, a site-specific category and a black hole category,
- in response to determining the first category and the second category assigned to the first VLAN are equivalent, determining whether the port on the network component is misconfigured;
- and
- generating an output based on the determination of whether the port is misconfigured.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.