System and method for configuring service appliances as virtual line cards in a network environment
AssigneeCisco Technology, Inc.
InventorsSamar Sharma, Chao Feng, Venkataraman R. Natham
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
An example method is provided and includes configuring a service appliance to offload network control plane and network data plane operations to a switch; establishing a communication channel between the service appliance and the switch; and communicating control messages between the service appliance and the switch over the communication channel. In more particular embodiment, the method can include communicating data messages between the service appliance and the switch over the communication channel.
Claims20
A method, comprising:
- establishing a communication channel between a service appliance and a switch;
- and
- configuring the service appliance to offload network control plane and network data plane operations to the switch, wherein the configured service appliance acts as a virtual line card in the switch, wherein the configuring comprises
- communicating control messages between the service appliance and the switch over the communication channel and configuring a service instance to transmit data messages between the service appliance and the switch over the communication channel, wherein services provided by the service appliance are managed and provisioned at the switch, wherein the services run on the service appliance appearing as the virtual line card in the switch.
Logic encoded in non-transitory storage media that includes instructions for execution and when executed by a processor operable to perform operations comprising:
- establishing a communication channel between a service appliance and a switch;
- and
- configuring the service appliance to offload network control plane and network data plane operations to the switch, wherein the configured service appliance acts as a virtual line card in the switch, wherein the configuring comprises
- communicating control messages between the service appliance and the switch over the communication channel and configuring a service instance to transmit data messages between the service appliance and the switch over the communication channel, wherein services provided by the service appliance are managed and provisioned at the switch, wherein the services run on the service appliance appearing as the virtual line card in the switch.
An apparatus, comprising:
- a memory for storing data;
- and
- a processor operable to execute instructions associated with the data, wherein the processor and the memory cooperate such that the apparatus is configured for:
- establishing a communication channel with a service appliance such that the service appliance is configured to offload network control plane and network data plane operations to the apparatus, wherein the configured service appliance acts as a virtual line card in the apparatus, wherein the configuring comprises
- communicating control messages between the apparatus and the service appliance over the communication channel and configuring a service instance to transmit data messages with the service appliance over the communication channel, wherein services provided by the service appliance are managed and provisioned at the apparatus, wherein the services run on the service appliance appearing as the virtual line card in the apparatus.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.