US 8,300,545 B2 · Application service level mediation and method of using same

Abstract

A method and apparatus for using an application layer demarcation point are described. In one embodiment, the method comprises monitoring end-to-end performance of a network application at an application demarcation point in a network, and mediating between provider infrastructure and customer infrastructure based on results of monitoring.

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Drawings

Claims18

Dependent claims

A method comprising:

monitoring, at a network device located at a demarcation point in a network, performance of a network application relative to a first network latency condition between a first transmission control protocol (TCP) host on a first side and the demarcation point and a second network latency condition between a second TCP host on a second side and the demarcation point;
and
wherein the first network latency condition is determined by recording the arrival time, at the demarcation point, of packets transmitted by the second TCP host to the first TCP host;
recording the arrival time, at the demarcation point, of respective acknowledgement packets corresponding to the packets transmitted by the second TCP host;
and computing the difference between the arrival times of the packets and corresponding acknowledgement packets;
wherein the second network latency condition is determined by recording the arrival time, at the demarcation point, of packets transmitted by the first TCP host to the second TCP host;
recording the arrival time, at the demarcation point, of respective acknowledgement packets corresponding to the packets transmitted by the first TCP host;
computing the difference between the arrival times of the packets and corresponding acknowledgement packets;
and
wherein the first and second network latency conditions are expressed as congestion index values, the method further comprising:
comparing congestion index values over time.

8 more elements

A method comprising:

determining, at a network device located at a demarcation point in a network, a first latency condition between a first set of hosts in the network and the demarcation point and a second latency condition between the demarcation point and a second set of hosts in the network, wherein each of the hosts in the first and second sets are operative to transmit data packets and acknowledge received data packets;
wherein determining the first network latency condition comprises:
recording the arrival time, at the network device, of data packets transmitted by a first host of the second set of hosts to a second host of the first set of hosts;
recording the arrival time, at the network device, of respective acknowledgement packets transmitted by the second host corresponding to the data packets transmitted by the first host;
and
computing a difference between the arrival times of the data packets and corresponding acknowledgement packets;
and
wherein determining the second network latency condition comprises:
recording the arrival time, at the network device, of data packets transmitted by the second host of the first set of hosts to the first host of the second set of hosts;
recording the arrival time, at the network device, of respective acknowledgement packets transmitted by the first host corresponding to the data packets transmitted by the second host;
and
computing a difference between the arrival times of the data packets and corresponding acknowledgement packets;
and
ignoring duplicate data packets and acknowledgement packets transmitted by the first and second hosts.

11 more elements

A method comprising:

determining, at a network device located at a demarcation point in a network, a first latency condition between a first set of hosts in the network and the demarcation point and a second latency condition between the demarcation point and a second set of hosts in the network, wherein each of the hosts in the first and second sets are operative to transmit data packets and acknowledge received data packets;
wherein determining the first network latency condition comprises:
recording the arrival time, at the network device, of data packets transmitted by a first host of the second set of hosts to a second host of the first set of hosts;
recording the arrival time, at the network device, of respective acknowledgement packets transmitted by the second host corresponding to the data packets transmitted by the first host;
and
computing a difference between the arrival times of the data packets and corresponding acknowledgement packets;
wherein determining the second network latency condition comprises:
recording the arrival time, at the network device, of data packets transmitted by the second host of the first set of hosts to the first host of the second set of hosts;
recording the arrival time, at the network device, of respective acknowledgement packets transmitted by the first host corresponding to the data packets transmitted by the second host;
and
computing a difference between the arrival times of the data packets and corresponding acknowledgement packets
recording, at the network device, sequence numbers of each of the data packets transmitted by the first and second hosts;
comparing the sequence numbers of the data packets to sequence numbers in received acknowledgement packets to match the data packets transmitted by the first and second hosts to corresponding ones of the acknowledgement packets;
and
ignoring data packets having sequence numbers lower than sequence numbers of previously received data packets.

12 more elements

A network device for use at a demarcation point in a network, the network device comprising:

a measurement engine operative to maintain information indicative of delays associated with one or more network applications occurring in the network, wherein the delays are based on at least a first delay between a first set of hosts on a first side and the demarcation point and a second delay between a second set of hosts on a second side and the demarcation point, the first set of hosts comprising a first host and the second set of hosts comprising a second host;
a memory coupled to the measurement engine to store the information indicative of the delays occurring in the network;
and
one or more code modules stored in a computer readable storage medium comprising instructions operative to cause the network device to:
determine the first delay by recording in the memory the arrival time, at the demarcation point, of packets transmitted by the second host to the first host;
recording in the memory the arrival time, at the demarcation point, of respective acknowledgement packets corresponding to the packets transmitted by the second host;
and computing the difference between the arrival times of the packets and corresponding acknowledgement packets;
and
determine the second delay by recording in the memory the arrival time, at the demarcation point, of packets transmitted by the first host to the second host;
recording in the memory the arrival time, at the demarcation point, of respective acknowledgement packets corresponding to the packets transmitted by the first host;
computing the difference between the arrival times of the packets and corresponding acknowledgement packets;
wherein the one or more code modules further comprise instructions operative to cause the network device to ignore duplicate packets and acknowledgement packets transmitted by the first and second hosts.

9 more elements

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.

Description4,234 words

Summary295 words

#The present invention relates to the field of network administration; more particularly, the present invention relates to application service providers and their use of an application layer demarcation point to monitor performance.

#Services delivered by providers of networked application services, by their nature, span a variety of provider and customer owned and managed infrastructures. For example, the application services begin at a provider or customer owned hosting platform within a provider or customer owned data center infrastructure, travel across one or more wide-area networks (WANs) owned and managed by one or more service providers and across one or more customer owned WAN and LAN infrastructures, before reaching a customer-owned desktop or mobile computing platform.

#As application traffic traverses service boundaries between the source provider and infrastructure supplier providers and source provider and customers, the source provider's ability to effect overall service-levels is greatly diminished. Because there is no application-aware demarcation point that aligns with the source provider's service boundary, there is no easy way to establish an actionable service-level agreement. A source provider cannot control the performance of application service over portions of infrastructure it does not own or control.

Brief description of the drawings5 figures

#The present invention will be understood more fully from the detailed description given below and from the accompanying drawings of various embodiments of the invention, which, however, should not be taken to limit the invention to the specific embodiments, but are for explanation and understanding only.

#FIG. 1 illustrates a network environment that includes an application level demarcation point.

#FIG. 2 illustrates an exemplary network environment in which an application demarcation point is utilized.

Detailed description3,827 words

#A method and apparatus for using an application layer demarcation point are described. The application layer demarcation (demarc) point is provided to enable providers of application services to measure the quantitative performance and qualitative performance (e.g., an application is too slow) of networked applications end-to-end and to mediate between performance impacts of the underlying service layers and service boundaries. Thus, a service boundary demarcation point for the application is provided that enables source providers of application services to mediate between the underlying infrastructure which they own and manage (or its supplier partners) and the customer's infrastructure.

#Since a service provider cannot manage customer infrastructure it does not own or control, proving an application-aware demarcation and mediation point allows a service provider to develop actionable service-level agreements that align with its service boundary. In this manner, a service provider delivering service at the application layer may use a demarcation point at the application layer to enable verification that the service was delivered. This is performed without changing the clients or servers in the network.

#Using the application layer demarcation allows for monitoring and measuring performance (e.g., congestion or a lack thereof) and whether performance problems (e.g., packet discard and retransmission that slows overall response time, etc.) are on the service side or on the customer side of the network. In one embodiment, in regard to congestion, identifying performance problems includes identifying the class of traffic that is being effected in order to help facilitate solving the problem for the customer and/or providing services to the customer to remove or reduce the problem.

Facts

Application

12/480,089Filed 8 Jun 2009 · continuation

Priority

10 Nov 2000

Published

US 2009/0245127 A11 Oct 2009

Granted

30 Oct 2012

Term ended

23 Jan 2021

Estimated · how

20 years from earliest known nonprovisional domestic filing plus recorded patent term adjustment, including 74 days of adjustment. Maintenance-fee lapses, terminal disclaimers and statutory extensions have not been checked. The continuity chain may be incomplete; this is not an enforceability determination.

Classification6 codes

H04L 43/0852
Monitoring or testing based on specific metrics, e.g. QoS, energy consumption or environmental parameters: delays
H04L 67/56
Network services: provisioning of proxy services
H04L 67/564
Provisioning of proxy services: enhancement of application control based on intercepted application data
H04L 69/02
Network arrangements, protocols or services independent of the application payload and not provided for in the other groups of this subclass:…

Family

Application09/710,442Parent of this continuation · filed 10 Nov 2000

Application11/286,021Parent of this continuation · filed 23 Nov 2005

US 2009/0245127 A1Pre-grant publication · published 1 Oct 2009

US 7,545,752 B2Parent of this continuation

Application11/286,021Parent of this continuation

US 2006/0146729 A1Published application

US 8,300,545 B2This patent

From the US filing history. Foreign family members aren’t listed.

Timeline

10 Nov 2000Priority claimedParent application 09/710,442
8 Jun 2009Application filedUS 12/480,089
8 Jun 2009Assigned to Packeteer, Inc.assignment of assignor's interest
1 Oct 2009PublishedUS 2009/0245127 A1
1 Dec 2011Assigned to Blue Coat Systems, Inc.assignment of assignor's interest
16 Feb 2012Assigned to Jefferies Finance LLCfirst lien patent security agreement
16 Feb 2012Assigned to Jefferies Finance LLCsecond lien patent security agreement
16 Oct 2012Assigned to Blue Coat Systems, Inc.release of security interest in patent collateral recorded at r/f 027727/0178
30 Oct 2012GrantedUS 8,300,545 B2
3 Jul 2013Assigned to Jefferies Finance LLC, AS Collateral Agentsecond lien patent security agreement
22 May 2015Assigned to Jefferies Finance LLC, AS the Collateral Agentsecurity interest
29 May 2015Assigned to Blue Coat Systems, Inc.release of security interest in patent collateral at reel/frame no. 30740/0181
29 May 2015Assigned to Blue Coat Systems, Inc.release of security interest in patent collateral at reel/frame no. 27727/0144
1 Aug 2016Assigned to Blue Coat Systems, Inc.release of security interest
27 Aug 2016Assigned to Symantec Corporationassignment of assignor's interest
21 Nov 2019Assigned to Ca, Inc.assignment of assignor's interest
23 Jan 2021Term endedEstimated, includes 74 days of adjustment

Application service level mediation and method of using same

Life of this patent

Application service level mediation and method of using same

Life of this patent

Life of this patent

Abstract

Drawings

Drawings

Claims18

Description4,234 words

Drawings

Classification6 codes

Life of this patent

Description4,234 words