# US 2016/0099835 A1 · System and method for extending cloud services into the customer premise

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- Number: US 2016/0099835 A1
- Document ID: US20160099835A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 14/858,753
- Filed: 2015-09-18
- Published: 2016-04-07
- Earliest claimed: 2011-01-10
- Assignees: Fiberlink Communications Corporation
- Applicants: Fiberlink Communications Corporation
- Inventors: Vineeth NARASIMHAN; Joshua LAMBERT; Thomas HERCHEK; Ryan Elliot HOPE; Nitish JHA; Rahul JAIN; Sumeet SINGH
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20160099835A1

## CPC

- H04L 41/0806: for initial configuration or provisioning, e.g. plug-and-play
- H04L 41/046: comprising network management agents or mobile agents therefor
- H04L 41/0816: the condition being an adaptation, e.g. in response to network events
- H04L 43/00: Arrangements for monitoring or testing data switching networks
- H04L 47/825: {Involving tunnels, e.g. MPLS}
- H04L 51/046: Interoperability with other network applications or services
- H04L 63/029: {Firewall traversal, e.g. tunnelling or, creating pinholes}
- H04L 67/02: based on web technology, e.g. hypertext transfer protocol [HTTP]
- H04L 67/10: in which an application is distributed across nodes in the network (software deployment G06F8/60; multiprogramming arrangements G06F9/46)
- H04L 67/1014: based on the content of a request
- H04L 67/125: involving control of end-device applications over a network
- H04L 67/56: Provisioning of proxy services (store-and-forward switching systems in data switching networks H04L12/54)
- H04W 4/50: Service provisioning or reconfiguring
- G06F 9/06: using stored programs, i.e. using an internal store of processing equipment to receive or retain programs
- G06F 9/5088: {involving task migration}
- H04L 51/58: Message adaptation for wireless communication
- H04L 63/168: {above the transport layer}
- H04L 63/20: {for managing network security; network security policies in general (filtering policies H04L63/0227)}
- H04L: TRANSMISSION OF DIGITAL INFORMATION, e.g. TELEGRAPHIC COMMUNICATION (arrangements common to telegraphic and telephonic communication H04M)
- H04W: WIRELESS COMMUNICATION NETWORKS (broadcast communication H04H; communication systems using wireless links for non-selective communication, e.g. wireless extensions H04M1/72)
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

A cloud extension agent can be provided on a customer premise for interfacing, via an outbound secure connection, cloud based services. The cloud extension agent can reach the cloud based services through existing firewall infrastructure, thereby providing simple, secure deployment. Furthermore, the secure connection can enable substantially real-time communication with a cloud service to provide web-based, substantially real time control or management of resources on the customer premises via the cloud extension agent.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A method for providing cloud-based network management services comprising:
providing at least one cloud extension agent that facilitates cloud-based management of corporate computing resources by execution on one or more computers that are part of a corporate network, the corporate network being separated from the Internet by at least one firewall, the firewall operating independently of the cloud extension agent, wherein each cloud extension agent is configured to:
initiate a secure network connection to a cloud-based management platform, which comprises at least one remote data center, outbound through the firewall over the Internet using a standard internet protocol,
gather status information, from one or more local servers on the corporate network that manage a plurality of user devices that are authorized to remotely access resources on the corporate network, the status information including information regarding the compliance status of the plurality of user devices and the configuration status of one or more local servers,
report the status information to the cloud-based management platform via the secure network connection,
receive, from the cloud-based management platform via the secure network connection, a set of instructions for management of the one or more local servers, and
make changes to the configuration of the one or more local servers in response to the set of instructions;
providing to an administrator, as part of the cloud-based management platform, a web-based portal that allows the administrator to request configuration changes to the one or more local servers; and
creating, in response to configuration changes initiated via the web-based portal, the set of instructions to be sent to the at least one cloud extension agent via the secure network connection.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising:
providing, as part of the cloud-based management platform, a device management database that comprises a repository of the status information received from the at least one cloud extension agent.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, further comprising sending the set of instructions to the at least one cloud extension agent in substantially real time in response to the configuration changes initiated via the web-based portal.

### Claim 4 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the step of sending the set of instructions further comprises sending the set of instructions using an XMPP protocol over the secure network connection.

### Claim 5 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the web-based portal comprises a dashboard that allows the administrator to view status and policy information pertaining to the plurality of user devices in substantially real-time.

### Claim 6 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the web-based portal allows the administrator to manage a plurality of policies for managing the plurality of user devices via the Internet.

### Claim 7 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the web-based portal allows an administrator to remotely diagnose problems with one of the at least one cloud extension agent and the one or more local servers, via the Internet.

### Claim 8 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the web-based portal allows an administrator to remotely upgrade the at least one cloud extension agent via the Internet.

### Claim 9 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the web-based portal allows the administrator to publish network policies to the at least one cloud extension agent via the Internet.

### Claim 10

A method for extending cloud services into the customer premise comprising:
providing a cloud extension agent for execution on a computer that is part of a local network, the corporate network being separated from the Internet by at least one firewall that operates independently of the cloud extension agent, wherein the cloud extension agent is configured to:
initiate a secure connection to a remote data-center over the Internet, outbound through the at least one firewall, using a standard internet protocol,
report, via the secure connection status information comprising information about the compliance status of a plurality of user devices that are authorized to remotely access resources on the local network and the identity of users of the plurality of user devices,
receive, via the secure connection, a first set of instructions for configuration of one or more local computing resources on the local network, and
change the configuration of the one or more local computing resources in response to the first set of instructions via an API exposed by the one or more local resources; and
providing to an administrator, as part of the remote data-center, a web-based portal that allows the administrator to request configuration changes to the one or more local computing resources; and
creating, in response to requested configuration changes initiated via the web-based portal, the set of instructions to be sent to the cloud extension agent via the secure connection.

### Claim 11 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, further comprising:
providing, as part of the remote data-center, a device management database that comprises a repository of the status information received from the cloud extension agent.

### Claim 12 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, further comprising sending the first set of instructions to the cloud extension agent in substantially real time in response to the configuration changes initiated via the web-based portal.

### Claim 13 (depends on 12)

The method of claim 12, wherein the step of sending the first set of instructions comprises sending the instructions using an XMPP protocol over the secure connection.

### Claim 14 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, wherein the web-based portal comprises a dashboard that allows the administrator to view status and policy information pertaining to the plurality of user devices in substantially real-time.

### Claim 15 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, further comprising providing, via the remote data center, a web-based portal that allows an administrator to manage a plurality of policies for managing the first set of user devices via the Internet.

### Claim 16 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, further comprising providing, via the remote data center, a web-based portal that allows a user to remotely diagnose problems with one of the cloud extension agent and the one or more local resources, via the Internet.

### Claim 17 (depends on 10)

The method of claim 10, further comprising providing, via the remote data center, a web-based portal that allows an administrator to publish network policies to the cloud extension agent via the Internet.

### Claim 18

A method for providing cloud-based management of mobile devices comprising:
providing, at one or more remote data centers, a web-based interface for management of policies for a first set of user devices that are authorized to remotely access resources in a corporate network;
maintaining, in a first database associated with the one or more remote data centers, policy and configuration information related to the first set of user devices;
receiving, over the Internet via a first secure connection initiated by a first cloud extension agent, a first cloud extension agent being part of the corporate network and the imitation using a standard internet protocol, status information reflecting the compliance status of one or more user devices in the first set of user devices; and
in response to policy changes initiated through the web-based interface, sending control instructions over the first secure connection from the one or more remote data centers to the first cloud extension agent;
wherein the first cloud extension agent is configured to execute the control instructions to configure one or more servers on the corporate network.

### Claim 19 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, further comprising:
selectively presenting the status information to an administrator using the web-based interface.

### Claim 20 (depends on 18)

The method of claim 18, further comprising:
receiving, over the Internet, a second secure connection initiated by a second cloud extension agent using the standard internet protocol, wherein the second cloud extension agent is part of the corporate network and is available in the event of failure of the first cloud extension agent.